Common Core Education Standards

[Ed W]

A local woman with an anti-common core agenda plans to attend a school board meeting here in Owasso. Now, I admit to not knowing much about common core, so I looked on the OK state departmen of education website. Janet Barresi is a supporter and a well known conservative. Yet other conservative voices are adamantly opposed to CC. Why is that?

It appears that our state standards are set by our state department of education. The opposition to CC apparently believes the standards are set by some elite liberal cabal and that somehow this is a federal takeover of every local classroom. Even the standardized testing will be designed at the state level, something that I think is a poor idea, but one that's clearly intended to keep the process within our borders.

Some of the opposition is of the black-helicopters-and-aluminum-foil-hats variety, full of conspiracy theories and darkly grim outcomes complete with the de rigueur "socialist" rhetoric.

Thoughts?

[sgrizzle]

My kids are in the early years of elementary schools and we have been hearing about it for years. Their teachers all seem very favorable to Common Core and have been adopting many practices in advance of the formal adoption.

The two real complaints I've seen fall under this heading:
1. Teaching to the test. I believe this can be a concern of any teaching guideline. I'm not going to say we should go without guidelines for fear of lack of organic learning. I haven't seen anything specifically that seems to indicate schools would need more resources so it sounds like it's just up to good teaching.

2. Demographics. With the common core comes a large amount of demographic data they want to capture on the children and their home situation. I would say with my own kids that if there is not family to be involved with the child's schoolwork in the evening, the child will fail. Children come home with homework, reading, projects, etc. Even as early as first grade. In families where the parents can't be involved or don't choose to be involved, the children suffer. I'm assuming that the reason for capturing demographic information on the parents of children is to determine how the home life effects a child's learning. It seems a bit over-reaching to some, but the schools are providing education essentially for free. Currently Google knows more about you than your child's teacher does.

[Ed W]

A local pol, who I will only identify as...uh...Moe, wrote this about common core:

"Many have simply come to view the media with distrust and for good reason. With no reliable source of news and public information, ignorance becomes the norm.

...our schools and education system have fallen victim to an ambitious reformation, doing away with proven and effective education methods and replacing them with the likes of Common Core, which will result in our children being, not educated, as we might think, but indoctrinated into the Socialist thinking that will strengthen the ambitious in our government in the advancement of their Progressive, Socialist agenda."

When you actively reject most news and information sources, ignorance follows naturally, a point Moe overlooks.

Everything this guy finds disagreeable is socialism, of course. But given our "proven an effective education methods" Oklahoma ranks both 43rd AND rates a B+ from ALEC, an organization known for conservative values and a possibly suspect education ranking system. Really? Forty third AND a B+? Other sources are all over the map as well. So if we carefully select the baseline, almost anything can be attributed to improving Oklahoma's education system.

Gotta go. The black helicopters are hovering over the house again and there's an odd buzzing noise coming from the television. And that calico cat acting so nonchalant over on the couch just could be a well-trained Federal agent.