“Free public schools.” —Plank #10 of the Communist Manifesto, 1848.
First American compulsory attendance laws were passed in Massachusetts in 1852.
This battle was lost a long time ago.
I recently started as a substitute teacher in two different public school districts and had my first exposure to Common Core. From what I’ve seen, some of it is nothing but propaganda. I had to read a common core recommended book to kindergarteners on earth day. It made such wild leaps of logic (i.e. eating all your food to save polar bears). The kids were as confused as I was.
So after reading the story, I asked if anyone knew what compost was and talked about how you can do things in your own environment to take care of yourself.
Another lesson was about consumers and producers and said nothing about people who do things for themselves. I found an opportunity to talk about self reliance. Really is irritating what is being taught to the kids these days. Be dumb as a rock and dependent on others.
devoid of traditional values, centralized and socialized-- you combine that with the abusive medicating of kids and you have a brave new world...
National Governor’s Association (“NGA”), and the Council of Chief State School Officers (“CCSO”), No Child Left Behind Act, President George W. Bush, federal education funds, state Governors and state education Superintendents, Common Core, Inc., a non-profit, 501 (c) 3 organization based in Washington, D.C., American Federation of Teachers, the Fordham Institute, the Foundation for Excellence In Education, former Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter (R-Idaho), Governor Jerry Brown (D-California), and Governor Duval Patrick (D-Massachusetts), all support the Common Core effort.
When I read that list, I think, WOW! that's a ton of money chasing a problem that is fundamentally simple. Not only is it ton of money, it is a ton of wasted money, because as you have so many people and organizations "collaborating" on a simple problem you end up with a non solution.
The vast majority of politicians and educators are ignorant to the fact it takes very little knowledge to teach every single course taught in American schools, including all AP courses. The knowledge required is equivalent of what used to be taught to college freshmen.
It doesn't take advanced degrees. It doesn't take mega billion dollars of waste. It simple takes a person, not even a teacher, that can decompose a topic into small lessons that are easily consumed by children. Our language hasn't changed, our history hasn't changed, and math and science taught at this level hasn't changed. What changes are political agendas and current events. It isn't surprising that there is so much emphasis on political agendas in our schools and so little emphasis on the things that really matter because all of this is being driven by government and the quest for power and money.