Posted on 05/05/2013 6:28:53 AM PDT by Kaslin
Is President Obama taking-over our nation’s public schools? Is a United Nations agenda infiltrating America’s K-12 classrooms? No, not exactly. Not Yet. But the so-called “Common Core” public education agenda could be paving the way for some serious trouble.Here are a few basic assumptions that people are making about Common Core – along with the facts of the matter.
Assumption # 1 : “Common Core” is a set of educational curriculum requirements being imposed on the states by the Obama Administration. Technically speaking, this is false. “Common Core,” whose official name is the “Common Core State Standards Initiative,” is not, itself, about curriculum. It is a set of academic standards that students in the various grade levels are expected to achieve. It has not been created by the Obama Administration, but rather, it is actually an effort that first emerged at the state level, undertaken by state governors and state superintendents of education nationwide. The official sponsoring organizations of the initiative are the National Governor’s Association (“NGA”), and the Council of Chief State School Officers (“CCSO”).
Attempts to impose academic standards on public educators date back to the early 1980’s. In the 1990’s it became a state-driven matter, while The federal No Child Left Behind Act, signed in to law by President George W Bush in January of 2002, required the states to create their own academic standards, and then to achieve them, in order to receive federal education funds.
During the past decade, state Governors and state education Superintendents began to collaborate in an effort to bring uniformity to their respective states’ academic standards, and today, there are three primary organizations that advance the Common Core agenda. The NGA and the CCSO, as noted above, remain as the official sponsoring organizations of the initiative. Separately, a group called Common Core, Inc., a non-profit, 501 (c) 3 organization based in Washington, D.C., writes curriculum (not academic standards) that is intended to help educators comply with Common Core Standards.
Assumption #2: The Common Core State Standards Initiative receives bipartisan support around the country. This is true. Both right-leaning and left-leaning individuals and groups across the U.S. support the Common Core initiative. The left-leaning American Federation of Teachers and the Fordham Institute, both champion the Common Core effort, as does the Foundation for Excellence In Education, an organization headed-up by the Republican former Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush. Similarly, both Republican and Democrat Governors - including Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter (R-Idaho), Governor Jerry Brown (D-California), and Governor Duval Patrick (D-Massachusetts), all support the Common Core effort.
Yet just as Common Core receives bipartisan support, it is also subject to bipartisan opposition. The conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation, along with libertarian leaning groups like the Pioneer Institute of Boston, opposes the Common Core effort. Glenda Ritz, a Democrat who currently serves as Indiana’s State Superintendent of Education, also opposes the Common Core initiative.
Ritz’ election in the heavily Republican state of Indiana is often cited as evidence of Common Core’s unpopularity. In November of 2012, Ritz unseated Indiana’s incumbent Republican State Superintendent, Dr. Tony Bennett, in part by campaigning against the Common Core initiative and claiming that Indiana’s adoption of the Common Core standards would result in a loss of state sovereignty. Ritz ended up receiving more votes in that election than did the new (and popular) Governor of Indiana, Mike Pence.
Assumption #3: The Common Core Initiative allows the U.S. Federal Government to directly control educational content nationwide. This is false. However, a scenario like this could come about indirectly.
Federal law prohibits the federal government from dictating educational curriculum content to the nation’s public schools. In fact, according to independent legal research conducted by the Pioneer Institute, no less than three separate statutes prohibit this from happening.
Yet on President Barack Obama’s watch, there has been a concerted effort within his administration to control public education with the Common Core agenda. Back in 2009 and 2010 when the administration was distributing so-called “stimulus” funds, the U.S. Department of Education devised what was called the “Race To The Top” initiative. Public schools could apply for and receive the stimulus money, but they had to meet specific criteria.
One of the criteria was for schools to adopt teacher evaluation procedures (this was a good thing, despite the outrage to the idea from teachers’ unions). Another criteria was for school districts to adopt higher “college and career standards” for students. And it just so happened that, in order to qualify for the stimulus funds, many states chose at that time to adopt the “Common Core” academic standards as a means of qualifying for the funds.
Interestingly, when the state of Massachusetts first applied for the “Race to the Top” stimulus funds in the first round of funds disbursements, the state had not yet officially adopted the Common Core standards, and ended up ranking only 13th among the 17 states that qualified for the “extra” funds. Later, after Massachusetts officially adopted the Common Core academic standards, the state received a #1 ranking when it next applied for the funds.
The lesson from Massachusetts was pretty clear. Adopt Common Core standards, and you’ll get more money from Washington. The Obama Administration could technically and legally mandate educational content to the states, but it has successfully used a “third party entity,” of sorts – the Common Core initiative – to have its way with the states. Given this precedent, it’s not difficult to see how the feds could eventually begin requiring certain types of curriculum for kids nationwide.
Many of the nation’s Governors and state school Superintendents who support Common Core still like to remind their constituents that the initiative is a “state thing,” not a “federal thing” – and, therefore, it’s a good thing. For them, to reject the agenda is to ignore their brilliance.
But all Americans should heed the warning: when a majority of the states begin to all do the same thing in terms of public policy, we, the people, become an easier target for federal control.
“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.
Fundamentally, our nation's socialist-entitlement schools, (that is a monstrous, price-fixed, godless, monopoly cartel,) is EVIL.
Those that seek to work for, establish, and support in any way this monster are either evil, very stupid, or completely brainwashed Useful Idiots.
Government schooling is our nation's and freedom's most serious threat, and there isn't much time left because children in this schools are being taught to fear and hate guns, hate the Second Amendment, and to fear and hate gun owners. In five to twelve years they will be voters.
The National Rifle Association thinks it will prevail? Really? Our government schools are far bigger, far more powerful, and funded far better with dollars ( collected by police threat) than the NRA.
In my opinion the worst thing is disengaged people who don’t waste time on school elections or attending school board meetings. Its easier to blame than do.
People around here are crying about taxes going up so the school can build a practice gym they don’t need but less than a thousand people of the 4000 odd households in the district bothered to show up to vote. Of those who voted and estimated 70% were school employees.
We can talk homeschooling all we want but the simple fact is that only a very tiny fraction will do it and the public system will continue pumping out the marxists of tomorrow.
If people truly want to get rid of the public schools, gaining control of them is the first step.
devoid of traditional values, centralized and socialized-- you combine that with the abusive medicating of kids and you have a brave new world...
Also not everyone can afford to send their kids to private school
Exactly why we’ve got to get people engaged in their local schools. Personally I’d like to see the feds removed from education altogether.
I don’t even have kids and never miss a vote and manage to attend at least half the school board meetings. Very few parents do that much but those who do have expressed appreciation that I care enough about their kids and the future of the country.
Come to think of it. Those who do home school or send their kids to private school are the people who should be most engaged in public schools.
If they’ve found something that works, they should be pushing it in the public schools.
Every state has some sort of standards for specific grade levels, and they have for some time. Ideally, teachers haven't just taught whatever they want. Teachers in every state should be teaching the standards put in place by their state. Every state should have their standards available for public use on their Dept of Ed website.
Common Core standards are an attempt to get everyone on the same page in regards to broad grade level concepts that are taught across the country. While I understand that centralization is generally not a great idea, in today's more mobile society, there is some logic to this.
Common Core applies to Math and English/Language Arts only. There are not CCSS for government, history, science, and so forth, although many of the language arts standards deal with non-fiction.
The CCSS direct what broad ideas should be mastered at grade levels, but it does not specify curriculum nor methodology. They are not, so far as I can tell, politically charged in any way.
Example of specific standards:
8th Grade English/Language Arts: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
4th Grade Math: Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions referring to the same whole and having like denominators, e.g., by using visual fraction models and equations to represent the problem.
These are not radical, Marxist ideas. The problem is what it has always been... the curriculum selected to implement the standard. For example, in the E/LA example above, the standard does not specify a particular book. A Tale of Two Cities would fit the standard, but so would a book glorifying lesbian marriage.
The Common Core State Standards for all grade levels may be found at this website: http://www.corestandards.org
As a teacher, one of the things I like (and lazy teachers don't) is that the dreaded achievement tests follow the standards exactly. As a teacher, if I've taught the math standards properly, my students will do fine on the test and will be ready for the next math class where more complex material will be introduced. Student achievement on these tests form the bulk of my annual evaluation score.
I appreciate your willingness to wade through a long post.
James Clavell’s - The Children’s Story
Wake up! The schools have been the Left’s propaganda machines for over three decades. Check out President Reagan’s report: A Nation At Risk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C1IV00LLDQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Va0b0tL1M&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojxtz-9vSr8&feature=related
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.
Indeed public schools are for teaching not learning.
First, thank you for working as a substitute teacher. This is an often thankless, poorly paid duty. Even more impressive is that you share your knowledge with the students. It's not common.
I agree that the earth day nonsense is a poor choice for kindergarten students. However, we need to assign blame properly. That's the teacher's fault, not the Common Core. There is no Common Core recommended reading list, at least not from the program itself. The teacher selected that book.
If you go to the Common Core website and look for English/Kindergarten, you'll see that the standards are very common sense. Here are some samples:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.4 Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.5 Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.6 With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.
If you've got poor teachers in your district, don't let them off the hook by blaming Common Core.
I understand that some don’t support public schools.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I am one of those people who does NOT support FORCING godlessness on captive children and using POLICE THREAT to force citizens to pay for this abomination.
I do not support a system that FORCES children into a socialist-entitlement environment where the children risk learning to be comfortable with the socialism that the voting mob has given them. I don’t support using police threat to FORCE citizens to pay for this EVIL, either.
Let’s call it what it is: EVIL!
I teach math to middle school students. Math fluency is a prerequisite for many of the jobs of the future. Surveys of employers say that they need applicants with better math skills. By teaching my students to the best of my ability, I put them in a position to get a job one day.
I'm passionate about what I do. I pray for my students every day during our "moment of silence" just before we recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I left a job paying four times as much as I make now to dedicate myself to young people. I love my kids and want them to be successful. I am granted $100 a year for supplies and materials to bring math alive. Students in my poor rural school outperform many of their more affluent suburban counterparts. I sleep well at night.
My children are NOT unusual. Homeschoolers are doing similarly well all across this nation.
**IF** the so-called education experts REALLY REALLY REALLY cared about kids they would knocking on the doors of homeschooler to find how they do this. They aren't. I concluded their interest in something other than how well children learn math.
That was the cost of our homeschool curriculum for the entire year. I don't know how I managed with merely a bag of beans and few paper cups.
“So after reading the story, I asked if anyone knew what compost was”
Yes, teacher, you just read some.
History/Social Studies
Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).
Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.
Science
Compare and contrast findings presented in a text to those from other sources (including their own experiments), noting when the findings support or contradict previous explanations or accounts.
Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.
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