Common Core - Why You Should Be Concerned

Common Core
 As part of the stimulus bill of 2009, passed by democrats in Congress, the administration offered  financial incentives through its Race to the Top initiative to establish national educational standards. To compete for this money, states had to adopt standards common to multiple states; it was Common Core which met this proposal. While it was touted as being voluntary,  many states contend it resembled coercion through its carrots and sticks approach. Many states were in poor financial shape at the time and agreed to adopt Common Core. While the constitutional authority over education rests with the states and localities, this move to centralize the control of the public education system is clearly unconstitutional. To date, 46 states have adopted these standards in exchange for much needed federal money. For the first time, however, the federal government is now dictating curriculum content.  http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/04/states-must-reject-national-education-standards-while-there-is-still-time
http://www.cato.org/blog/pushed-common-core-thanks-volunteering

English and Language Arts
Common Core shifts away from classic literature and emphasizes instead, informational text. It requires students to spend only half of their class time studying literature, and by their junior and senior year of high school, only 30% of their class time.  http://frontpagemag.com/2012/mary-grabar/common-core-phasing-western-culture-out-of-education/
http://michellemalkin.com/2013/01/25/rotten-to-the-core-part-2-readin-writin-and-deconstructionism/
Some claim the substitution of great literary works for informational text reflects political propaganda. Consider the example of using an essay from 2009 New Yorker on health care to show that Obamacare is wise policy.  http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/12/obamacore-the-substitution-of-propaganda-for-great-literatiure-in-our-schools.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+powerlineblog%2Flivefeed+%28Power+Line%29

Although the stated effort is to make students 'college-ready', Common Core "may lead to a decreased capacity for analytical thinking," claims University of Arkansas professor Sandra Stotsky.
Says Michelle Malkin, investigative journalist, "Stotsky, an unrelenting whistleblower who witnessed the Common Core sausage-making process firsthand, concluded: “An English curriculum overloaded with advocacy journalism or with ‘informational’ articles chosen for their topical and/or political nature should raise serious concerns among parents, school leaders, and policymakers. Common Core’s standards not only present a serious threat to state and local education authority, but also put academic quality at risk. Pushing fatally flawed education standards into America’s schools is not the way to improve education for America’s students.”   http://michellemalkin.com/2013/01/25/rotten-to-the-core-part-2-readin-writin-and-deconstructionism/

Math
NYU Professor John Goodman found that the math standards under Common Core offer much lower expectations when it comes to algebra and geometry than standards set in other countries.
http://michellemalkin.com/2013/01/23/rotten-to-the-core-obamas-war-on-academic-standards-part-1/
According to Malkin's research "Under Common Core, as the American Principles Project and Pioneer Institute point out, algebra I instruction is pushed to 9th grade, instead of 8th grade, as commonly taught. Division is postponed from 5th to 6th grade. Prime factorization, common denominators, conversions of fractions and decimals, and algebraic manipulation are de-emphasized or eschewed. Traditional Euclidean geometry is replaced with an experimental approach that had not been previously pilot-tested in the U.S."
Ze'ev Wurman, longtime math advisory expert, says, “I believe the Common Core marks the cessation of educational standards improvement in the United States. No state has any reason left to aspire for first-rate standards, as all states will be judged by the same mediocre national benchmark enforced by the federal government."  http://michellemalkin.com/2013/01/23/rotten-to-the-core-obamas-war-on-academic-standards-part-1/

History
CSCOPE curriculum in Texas (which falls under the umbrella of Common Core) and not subject to regulation since they claim it is 'instructional material' and not 'curriculum' injects political correctness into its teaching of history. In March, historian David Barton, along with other guests, discussed on the Glenn Beck show what was being revised in the teaching of history. "Using a chart, Barton documented and mapped out core CSCOPE material, which eliminates national values, Americanism or rather, American exceptionalism, the study of federalism and majority rule (the core of our constitution) along with patriotic symbols like the Liberty Bell. Christopher Columbus, Rosh Hashanah and Christmas are all relegated to the dustbin along with American military history. Equality and a belief in justice is replaced by “fairness” and instruction on American propaganda and imperialism."  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/03/07/cscope-exposing-the-nations-most-controversial-public-school-curriculum-system/
Update: CSCOPE will no longer be providing lesson plans for Texas, thanks to strong opposition from parents and teachers to abandon the program.


Data Mining
Very disturbing will be the data mining on our kids - using various devices to measure behavior in the classroom - MRI scans, wireless sensors, posture seats, cameras, etc., all in the name of trying to create more effective teaching. The purpose is to provide constant streams of data to examine behavioral and psychological characteristics such as: frustration, motivation, flow, confidence, boredom and fatigue.  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/03/28/eye-trackers-wrist-bands-posture-seats-mood-meter-a-close-look-at-the-tech-proposed-to-track-your-kids-in-schools/
According to the Dept. of Education's own handbook, "data mining techniques can track students’ trajectories or persistence and learning over time, thereby providing actionable feedback to students and teachers. In addition, functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, and psychological indicators offer insight into the biology and neuroscience underlying observed students’ behaviors."
For further information about this handbook and its implications, see interview by Glenn Beck with Medical Technology Analyst Nic Anderson.  http://www.glennbeck.com/2013/04/10/medical-technology-analyst-discusses-the-spooky-implications-of-data-mining-in-common-core/
Other information to be collected from students will include health history, blood type, parents' income, parents' voting status, religious affiliation and more.

See post on "Tracking Students" for actual examples of technological intrusions implemented so far in some schools.

Government Directed Education
Hundreds of studies have shown that movement towards free market education produces greater outcomes than greater centralization of education.
"Out of 150 statistical comparisons, market-like delivery of education outperformed government monopoly delivery by a ratio of 15-1."  http://www.cato.org/publications/testimony/common-core-threat-state-districts-students
At this point in time, some states are looking to reconsider and/or pull away from instituting Common Core (e.g. Indiana, Michigan, Alabama).  http://www.heritage.org/search?query=common+core

Conclusions About Common Core

• It removes parents from decisions over what their children are taught.

• Control over content taught in local schools is given over to bureaucrats in Washington, rather than being in the hands of local school leaders and parents.

• Education by government monopoly delivers poorer outcomes in achievement.

• Data mining through technology will create intrusions into all of our lives - real purpose of which has not been revealed yet.

• Lessons in math, language arts and history will serve to lower academic standards rather than raise them.