Understanding the Common Core by Pat Beck There has been increasing attention paid to Common Core at the National, State, and Local levels in the past few weeks. Several stories have run in the national media questioning the implement of this program. Several state legislators have discussed this and some have championed these changes. This issue has been raised at several local school board meetings and the public is becoming more aware. Dubious Origins So what is Common Core and where did it come from? Common Core is a Federally-adopted, nation-wide education standard created by private associations and lobbying groups. These standards were never presented to Congress for approval and never signed by the President into law. Initial funding for this program was provided by private groups including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation who pledged $100 million for the project. It was originally adopted by 46 of the 50 states although several states are now attempting to reject it. During the economic downturn in 2009, states were struggling to meet their financial obligations and the Obama Administration bribed the states with a portion of $4.35 Billion in Stimulus Funds if they would adopt the Common Core standards. They then sweetened the pot by offering waivers from the most stringent aspects of the No Child Left Behind standards. If that didn’t work, they threatened to withhold their Title I funding that provides funding for special educational programs and teacher training and development. State officials were given less than two months to analyze the program before deciding to adopt it. Many aspects hadn’t even been created yet but they were asked to accept it, sight unseen. Gov. Jan Brewer, along with former State Superintendent of Schools, Tom Horne (current AZ Attorney General) as well as the State School Board, bit at this dangling carrot in January of 2010 and it was adopted in Arizona. Substandard Standards The proponents of this program will tell you they are needed to “help American children compete in the global marketplace”. If that’s the case, why are these standards lower than the standards currently in place in many cases? A math scholar working on Common Core’s own advisory panel stated that these standards would not prepare students to succeed at major colleges. It replaces half of the classical literature currently taught in schools with instructional manuals, technical reading, including how to read a menu. Some estimates have students graduating high school only reading at a 7th grade level. Local schools no longer “local” Because this is national standard, no one will be exempt. Public schools, religious institutions such as Catholic schools, charter schools, and even those who homeschool their children will be required to adhere to these so-called standards. If you have an issue with the program, there will be no one to call, no one to complain to, and no one in charge. There will be nothing your local schools, school boards, or state officials can do. The bureaucracy of the Federal Department of Education will have complete control of your student’s educational progression. Poor Education at High Expense Part of the Common Core standards is replacing previously used testing programs with a new computer-based testing system. Arizona is using a system called the PARCC system and it was proposed and sponsored by District 5 state representative Doris Goodale from Kingman. It requires that all assessment testing be done by computer 2-4 times a year. Currently, no school in the state has the number of computers needed to fulfill that requirement. The money needed to purchase these computers will not be provided by the Federal government or by the state. So, the local districts will be required to purchase millions of dollars of computers at their own expense just to comply with the law. Now we see why Bill Gates and his foundation were so supportive of this program. Your child under the microscope The most controversial aspect of this program is the data mining and tracking of our children. This does much more than monitor test scores. Over 400 data points are recorded and tracked on each and every child from before they start Kindergarten until after they graduate college and begin their careers. These data points include health history, disciplinary history, family income status, and religious affiliation. This information is not only collected, analyzed and stored permanently by the Federal Government, but also passed on to private corporations for their use. One of these corporations is InBloom, Inc., another Bill Gates creation. This information could be used by future employers to determine hiring practices. Imagine an interviewer being able to access every grade you received in every class you ever took. How many days you missed in school due to illness? Did you get along well with your classmates? What income level you came from and what you might expect to be paid? For example, if your math scores were subpar in elementary school, you might be turned down for a job in the banking industry. It’s frightening to think how this incredible data grab might be used in the future. Why? Now that you know a little more about this program, you have to ask yourself why anyone would suggest lower standards, higher prices, no choices, and spied on kids as a solution to anything. The answer may be found in another aspect of this program. Students are to choose a career path by the 9th grade and education will then be tailored to their future job requirements. These career decisions will be made with the input of administrators who will use the data that has been accumulated to steer the student in a particular direction. In other words, if your Science scores are too low, forget about being a doctor. If you struggled with Language Arts, say goodbye to your dream of being a writer. Even if your scores are perfect, how many of us know what we want to do with our lives in our freshman year of high school. Why would they remove half the classical literature? Why don’t the math standards prepare children for university studies? There are those who believe that the economy is too inefficient. They believe that capitalism wastes resources. They think there is no need to educate a plumber past the 8th grade. What good will Algebra be to a baker? Why would a carpenter care about Shakespeare? All those points are valid if our goal is to simply fill the holes in the American economic machine. If we are just cogs; replaceable parts in the government’s ATM machine, then why go through the expense? They want worker bees. Drones. A trained labor force. Nothing more. Classical literature promotes critical thinking. Mathematics instills logic and problem solving skills. Science inspires innovation and an “outside the box” mentality. These are qualities that made America great. These qualities are disruptive to a top-down, state controlled economy. They are no longer needed when someone else is doing the thinking. What good is individuality when your fate has already been decided? Look into this for yourselves and start asking questions. Call your State and Federal representatives and demand an explanation. Call Gov. Brewer, Tom Horne, John Huppenthal (current AZ Superintendent of schools, and Doris Goodale and ask why they sacrificed our children’s future for short-term budget relief? We can still stop this but it takes effort on the local and state levels.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 22:06:33 +0000
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