The Common Core State Standards, a set of educational standards adopted by 45 states to regulate what students learn in school each year, have loyal supporters in both political parties but keep getting criticism from the right and left—and at least implicitly from bipartisan legislation in Congress.
Some conservatives have dubbed the standards "Obamacore," saying they are akin to a federal takeover of schools. However, the movement is state-led. Despite criticism, the Common Core still has some supporters not only from some powerful voices in the business community but also from some Republicans. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, both potential presidential candidates, are among Republicans who firmly supports the standards, but not many other Republicans stand with them, Jonathan Martin writes for The New York Times.
"I'm a big fan of Jeb Bush; I think he's an important leader on many issues," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, another presidential hopeful. "But on the question of the Common Core, I emphatically do not agree with Common Core." Others agree with him. Indiana became the first state to abandon the standards when Republican Gov. Mike Pence signed legislation last month. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a possible GOP presidential candidate, said he wants his state to create its own educational goals.
Many Republicans' rejection of the Common Core stems from President Obama's support of it and the idea of states' receiving federal grants for adopting the standards. Bush doesn't seem swayed. He said, "So the idea that something that I support—because people are opposed to it means that I have to stop supporting it if there's not any reason based on fact to do that? I just don't feel compelled to run for cover when I think this is the right thing to do for our country." (Read more)
Bipartisan legislation that subtly disapproves of the Common Core has passed the House Education Committee and recently also the full House. The bill's primary purpose is to reauthorize the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA). The idea is to allow education research to be "timely, relevant and accessible," Alyson Klein writes for Education Week.
The bill doesn't directly decry the Common Core State Standards, but it does discuss the federal government's role in curriculum. The House GOP summary of the bill says the legislation "dictates that no funds can be used to mandate, direct, control or coerce the curriculum or academic standards or assessments of a state of local educational agency."
A House Democratic aide told Klein, "This language reflects current law and current practice, and it doesn't change anything" because federal law prevents the federal government from controlling curriculum, standards or assessments. Klein notes that this isn't the first bill to say the federal government can't support a particular set of standards, and some of the bills even mentioned the Common Core by name, which this one does not. (Read more)
The bill discusses better collection of data regarding "high school graduation rates, school safety, discipline and teach preparation and evaluation," Klein writes. It promotes not only collecting accurate data but also protecting it and using it to improve student outcomes. (Read more)
Some on the left also oppose the standards, saying they are too difficult and that they impose upon teachers who are not pleased about having to respond to a top-down mandate, Times columnist David Brooks writes. However, he says the Common Core's opponents are part of an "ideological circus" that is "burying the sensible idea in hysterical claims and fevered accusations. . . . States from New York to Oklahoma are thinking of rolling them back. This has less to do with substance and more to do with talk-radio bombast and interest group resistance to change. . . . [The standards] are being attacked on the right because they are common and on the left because they are core."
Brooks writes that just seven years ago, state education standards were very disorganized, and many students who graduated from high school were neither ready for college nor ready for employment. The current standards are not curriculum and do not dictate how teachers should teach. Instead, they represent a goal for what students should know at the end of each year. "The new initiative is clearly superior to the old mess," he writes.
Also, he writes that the standards are not as unpopular with teachers as some people may think. In fact, a survey in Kentucky showed that 77 percent of teachers are excited to implement them, and another survey showed that the majority of Tennessee teachers think the standards are working out well so far. (Read more)
Some conservatives have dubbed the standards "Obamacore," saying they are akin to a federal takeover of schools. However, the movement is state-led. Despite criticism, the Common Core still has some supporters not only from some powerful voices in the business community but also from some Republicans. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, both potential presidential candidates, are among Republicans who firmly supports the standards, but not many other Republicans stand with them, Jonathan Martin writes for The New York Times.
"I'm a big fan of Jeb Bush; I think he's an important leader on many issues," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, another presidential hopeful. "But on the question of the Common Core, I emphatically do not agree with Common Core." Others agree with him. Indiana became the first state to abandon the standards when Republican Gov. Mike Pence signed legislation last month. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a possible GOP presidential candidate, said he wants his state to create its own educational goals.
Many Republicans' rejection of the Common Core stems from President Obama's support of it and the idea of states' receiving federal grants for adopting the standards. Bush doesn't seem swayed. He said, "So the idea that something that I support—because people are opposed to it means that I have to stop supporting it if there's not any reason based on fact to do that? I just don't feel compelled to run for cover when I think this is the right thing to do for our country." (Read more)
Bipartisan legislation that subtly disapproves of the Common Core has passed the House Education Committee and recently also the full House. The bill's primary purpose is to reauthorize the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA). The idea is to allow education research to be "timely, relevant and accessible," Alyson Klein writes for Education Week.
The bill doesn't directly decry the Common Core State Standards, but it does discuss the federal government's role in curriculum. The House GOP summary of the bill says the legislation "dictates that no funds can be used to mandate, direct, control or coerce the curriculum or academic standards or assessments of a state of local educational agency."
A House Democratic aide told Klein, "This language reflects current law and current practice, and it doesn't change anything" because federal law prevents the federal government from controlling curriculum, standards or assessments. Klein notes that this isn't the first bill to say the federal government can't support a particular set of standards, and some of the bills even mentioned the Common Core by name, which this one does not. (Read more)
The bill discusses better collection of data regarding "high school graduation rates, school safety, discipline and teach preparation and evaluation," Klein writes. It promotes not only collecting accurate data but also protecting it and using it to improve student outcomes. (Read more)
Some on the left also oppose the standards, saying they are too difficult and that they impose upon teachers who are not pleased about having to respond to a top-down mandate, Times columnist David Brooks writes. However, he says the Common Core's opponents are part of an "ideological circus" that is "burying the sensible idea in hysterical claims and fevered accusations. . . . States from New York to Oklahoma are thinking of rolling them back. This has less to do with substance and more to do with talk-radio bombast and interest group resistance to change. . . . [The standards] are being attacked on the right because they are common and on the left because they are core."
Brooks writes that just seven years ago, state education standards were very disorganized, and many students who graduated from high school were neither ready for college nor ready for employment. The current standards are not curriculum and do not dictate how teachers should teach. Instead, they represent a goal for what students should know at the end of each year. "The new initiative is clearly superior to the old mess," he writes.
Also, he writes that the standards are not as unpopular with teachers as some people may think. In fact, a survey in Kentucky showed that 77 percent of teachers are excited to implement them, and another survey showed that the majority of Tennessee teachers think the standards are working out well so far. (Read more)
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