What Is Common Core?
This post aims to be as unmistakably direct and documented as possible. Feel free to use it without asking permission.
DOES COMMON CORE PREPARE STUDENTS FOR COLLEGE?
Not for a 4-year university. It minimally prepares students for the non-collegiate workforce or for non-selective community colleges.
A key Common Core creator, Jason Zimba, said that the Common Core can prepare students for non-selective colleges but that it does not prepare students for STEM careers. He said: “I think it’s a fair critique that it’s a minimal definition of college readiness… but not for the colleges most parents aspire to… Not only not for STEM, it’s also not for selective colleges. For example, for U.C. Berkeley, whether you are going to be an engineer or not, you’d better have precalculus to get into U.C. Berkeley.”
IS THERE AN AMENDMENT PROCESS FOR VOTERS TO ALTER THE COMMON CORE?
No. When it changes, it will be changed by those who wrote them. (See official site .)
ARE COMMON CORE STANDARDS LOCALLY CONTROLLED?
No. They are under copyright by an unelected, private D.C. group called NGA/CCSSO which has reserved the legal right to alter them. The federal government has made money and waivers conditional on using Common Core standards and tests.
DO THE COMMON CORE STANDARDS IMPROVE K-12 EDUCATION?
No one knows. They are an unpiloted experiment. But people who are financially invested in Common Core say yes to the question, while people who aren’t financially interested, and who study and analyze the Common Core standards, say no.
Dr. James Milgram (Stanford University emeritus professor who served on the official Common Core validation committee) reported:
“I can tell you that my main objection to Core Standards, and the reason I didn’t sign off on them was that they did not match up to international expectations. They were at least 2 years behind the practices in the high achieving countries by 7th grade, and, as a number of people have observed, only require partial understanding of what would be the content of a normal, solid, course in Algebra I or Geometry. Moreover, they cover very little of the content of Algebra II, and none of any higher level course… They will not help our children match up to the students in the top foreign countries when it comes to being hired to top level jobs.“
Dr. Sandra Stotsky (University of Arkansas emeritus professor who served on official Common Core validation committee and also refused to sign off on the academic legitimacy of the Common Core) said:
“As empty skill sets, Common Core’s ELA standards do not strengthen the high school curriculum. Nor can they reduce post-secondary remedial coursework in a legitimate way. As empty skill sets, Common Core’s ELA “college readiness” standards weaken the base of literary and cultural knowledge needed for authentic college coursework, decrease the capacity for analytical thinking… and completely muddle the development of writing skills.” Full testimony here.
IS COMMON CORE LEGAL?
No. Under the Constitution, education belongs to individual states. It is illegal for the federal government to interfere in the states’ right of making educational decisions. National standards are illegal. National data collection is illegal. And the General Educational Provisions Act prohibits the federal government from directing education –very, very clearly:
“No provision of any applicable program shall be construed to authorize any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system, or over the selection of library resources, textbooks, or other printed or published instructional materials by any educational institution or school system…”
DOES COMMON CORE REALLY TAKE AWAY MOST OF THE TRADITIONAL CLASSIC LITERATURE AND NARRATIVE WRITING?
Yes. Although it does not specify which classic books cannot be read, the Common Core contains a chart that explains that in fourth grade, students must cut their classic/fiction reading to 50%. By twelfth grade, students must reduce their classic/fiction reading to 30% with informational text taking up 70% of the time spent reading.
| Grade | Literary | Information |
| 4 | 50% | 50% |
| 8 | 45% | 55% |
| 12 | 30% | 70% |
WHAT IS INFORMATIONAL TEXT?
Informational text is anything that used to belong mostly in other subjects. It is now taking 70% of high school seniors’ English class readings, in the form of scientific writings, political writings; opinion pieces; almost anything other than classic novels, poetry, plays or other fictional works.
WHY DON’T COMMON CORE PROPONENTS WANT STUDENTS TO LEARN MUCH MATH?
It costs money to educate beyond minimal workforce training. In this 2013 document put out by the NCEE (National Center on Education and the Economy) we learn that it’s not important under Common Core to have high educational standards in high school; it’s seen as a waste of time to educate the high school graduates past Algebra II. They’re pushing for an emphasis on the lowest common denominator, while deceptively marketing Common Core as a push for “rigorous” academics.
Read these Common Core proponents’ lips: “Mastery of Algebra II is widely thought to be a prerequisite for success in college and careers. Our research shows that that is not so… Based on our data, one cannot make the case that high school graduates must be proficient in Algebra II to be ready for college and careers. The high school mathematics curriculum is now centered on the teaching of a sequence of courses leading to calculus that includes Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus and Calculus. However, fewer than five percent of American workers and an even smaller percentage of community college students will ever need to master the courses in this sequence in their college or in the workplace… they should not be required courses in our high schools. To require these courses in high school is to deny to many students the opportunity to graduate high school because they have not mastered a sequence of mathematics courses they will never need. In the face of these findings, the policy of requiring a passing score on an Algebra II exam for high school graduation simply cannot be justified.”
The report goes on to say that traditional high school English classes, with their emphasis on classic literature and personal, narrative writing, is useless. The report says that Common Core will save students from the irrelevant classics with a new emphasis on technical subjects and social studies via the dominance of informational text:
“The Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts (CCSSE) address reading in history/social studies as well as science and technical subjects, and in so doing may increase the relevance of high school instruction.”
In calling classic literature and personal writing irrelevant, these Common Core proponents underscore the idea that job prep matters, but not the pursuit of wisdom or knowledge.
WHY DID ALMOST EVERY STATE IN THE U.S. DROP THEIR EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS, WHETHER LOWER OR HIGHER, TO ADOPT COMMON CORE STANDARDS?
Proponents say that the reason was to improve education. Opponents say that it had nothing to do with education; that the standards were adopted without analysis or any vetting because the adoption was offered by the federal government under time pressure, in exchange for a chance at large federal grant monies called Race to the Top. Even those states that applied and won no money (like Utah) stayed with Common Core, because there were many other federal reasons and incentives to do so.
WILL THE COMMON CORE STANDARDS REMAIN AS THEY ARE TODAY?
No. Common Core’s official site says: “The Standards are intended to be a living work: as new and better evidence emerges, the Standards will be revised accordingly.” There’s no way for the governed to revise the document by which they’ve agreed to be governed.
WHY DOES THE STATE SCHOOL BOARD SAY WE’RE FREE TO CHANGE THEM?
States can’t delete anything. We can add –a tiny bit. A Common Core 15% rule says: “A State may supplement such standards with additional standards, provided that the additional standards do not exceed 15 percent of the State’s total standards”
(This rule is repeated in the federal waivers from No Child Left Behind, in the Race to the Top Assessments Grant application, in documents of both PARCC and SBAC testing groups, and in the implementation guide of Achieve, the group contracted to create Common Core.)
WILL THE CREATORS OF COMMON CORE CHANGE THESE STANDARDS WITHOUT OUR APPROVAL?
Yes. Common Core’s official site says: “The Standards are intended to be a living work: as new and better evidence emerges, the Standards will be revised accordingly.” There’s no invitation for the governed to revise.
WHERE DO PROPONENTS GET THE NOTION THAT COMMON CORE WILL IMPROVE EDUCATION?
From believable, expensive marketing lines. Not from evidence. Opponents point out that there was never any field testing for Common Core standards; so this is a national experiment using virtually all children. Supporters never attempt to explain how education is supposedly improved by Common Core, nor show a pilot state or pilot classroom where Common Core had been successfully used. Beyond the many pleasant-sounding and but words, there is no documentation or evidence to back up any of the claims that the standards are higher, nor the other claims such as “Common Core was internationally benchmarked” or “is rigorous” or “improves college and career readiness.” They are baseless advertising words.
Upon this lack of evidence we build our children’s futures.
ARE COMMON CORE STANDARDS FREE TO US?
No. The standards’ development and marketing was paid for primarily by Bill Gates. The Common Core tests for most states was paid for primarily by the federal government. States pay countless millions for the rest of the Common Core Initiative: the re-training, new text purchases, aligned computer technologies, etc. They incorrectly say that these high costs would have been spent anyway, even without Common Core.
WAS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT “HANDS-OFF” THE STATES’ ADOPTION OF COMMON CORE?
No. Secretary Duncan announced and praised the release of the standards in 2010. He bribed states using Race to the Top grant money. He contracted with the testing groups to micromanage the Common Core tests, in exchange for federal grant money.
DID THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BRIBE STATES TO ADOPT COMMON CORE?
Yes. States received federal ARRA money to implement pre-common core reforms that paved the way for Common Core, including building a State Longitudinal Database System. There were 4 federal key objectives for education reforms laid out by President Obama which were the four conditions for receiving stimulus monies. Federally defined common standards and tests were one of the conditions.
More evidence of bribery and coercion can be seen in the timing of a majority of the states’ adopting Common Core simultaneously with the Race to the Top money lure. And recently, a group of U.S. Senators have denounced what the Executive Branch (Obama Administration) has done in coercing states with Common Core bribes.
IS COMMON CORE RELATED TO STUDENT DATA MINING?
Yes. But Secretary Arne Duncan told the American Society of News Editors that opponents make “outlandish claims. They say that the Common Core calls for federal collection of student data. For the record, we are not allowed to, and we won’t.”
He just told a bold-faced lie. The federal Edfacts Exchange collects data for local, state and federal levels. The federal government paid for the states to build matching and interoperable State Longitudinal Database Systems. The White House hosts Datapalooza where Common Core and common data standards are spoken of warmly and together. The Department of Education is listed as a partner at the EIMAC (Education Information Management Advisory Consortia) There are many other things that the Department of Education has done to take away student privacy, aiming aims to align common data standards with common educational standards.
WHAT SPECIFICALLY DID THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DO TO REMOVE PRIVACY FROM STUDENT DATA?
— It bribed the states with ARRA Stimulus monies to build 50 linkable, twinlike State Longitudinal Database Systems (SLDS). This created a virtual national database.
— It altered the (previously privacy-protective) federal FERPA (Family Educational Rights Privacy Act) law to make access to personally identifiable student data –including biological and behavioral data– “legal”. Now, the act of requiring parental consent (to share personally identifiable information) has been reduced from a requirement to just a “best practice” according to the altered federal FERPA regulations.
For more information on this, study the lawsuit between the Electronic Information Privacy Center and the Department of Education.
— The US Department of Education partnered with private groups, including the Data Quality Campaign and the CCSSO (that’s the Council of Chief State School Officers –copyright holders on Common Core–) to collect student data nationally.
For a 15-minute crash-course on Common Core’s connection with student data mining, watch this video by Jane Robbins of the American Principles Project:
IS THIS ABOUT MAKING MONEY AT THE EXPENSE OF QUALITY EDUCATION?
Yes. Educational gains are not the motivator for Common Core. Notice that proponents are either financially invested in the implementation of Common Core, or else must be subservient to it and call it good because they rely on payment from those who are invested. The financial obligation should make the following groups’ promotion of Common Core extremely suspect:
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – Microsoft – Pearson Education – National PTA – Jeb Bush – Harvard University – National Governors’ Association – Council of Chief State School Officers – Fordham Institute – Manhattan Institute – Exxon, and many, many more.
IS COMMON CORE RESPECTED BY HIGHER ED?
132 professors of Catholic Universities recently wrote a letter denouncing Common Core on both academic and moral grounds.
Also:
Dr. Anthony Esolen of Providence College in Rhode Island has written:
“What appalls me most about the standards … is the cavalier contempt for great works of human art and thought, in literary form. It is a sheer ignorance of the life of the imagination. We are not programming machines. We are teaching children. We are not producing functionaries, factory-like. We are to be forming the minds and hearts of men and women… to be human beings, honoring what is good and right and cherishing what is beautiful.”
Dr. Thomas Newkirk of University of New Hampshire has written:
The standards are portrayed as so consensual, so universally endorsed, so thoroughly researched and vetted, so self-evidently necessary to economic progress, so broadly representative of beliefs in the educational community—that they cease to be even debatable… The principle of opportunity costs prompts us to ask: “What conversations won’t we be having?” Since the CCSS virtually ignore poetry, will we cease to speak about it? What about character education, service learning? What about fiction writing in the upper high school grades? What about the arts that are not amenable to standardized testing? … We lose opportunities when we cease to discuss these issues and allow the CCSS to completely set the agenda, when the only map is the one it creates.”
Dr. Daniel Coupland of Hillsdale College has written:
“Yes, man is made for work, but he’s also made for so much more… Education should be about the highest things. We should study these things of the stars, plant cells, Mozart’s Requiem… not simply because they’ll get us into the right college or into the right line of work. Rather, we should study these noble things because they can tell us who we are, why we’re here… If education has become –as Common Core openly declares– preparation for work in a global economy, then this situation is far worse than Common Core critics ever anticipated. And the concerns about cost, and quality, and yes, even the constitutionality of Common Core, pale in comparison to the concerns for the hearts, minds, and souls of American children.”
Dr. Christopher Tienken of Seton Hall University has written:
“Education reform in the United States is being driven largely by ideology, rhetoric, and dogma instead of evidence…. Where is the evidence of the efficacy of the standards? … Let us be very frank: The CCSS are no improvement over the current set of state standards. The CCSS are simply another set of lists of performance objectives.” Dr. Tienken also has two powerful short videos on the subject of standards and of assessments.
Dr. Alan Manning of Brigham Young University has written:
“The Core standards just set in concrete approaches to reading/writing that we already know don’t work very well. Having the Core standards set in concrete means that any attempts to innovate and improve reading/writing instruction will certainly be crushed. Actual learning outcomes will stagnate at best. An argument can be made that any improvement in reading/writing instruction should include more rather than less attention the reading/analysis of stories known to effective in terms of structure (i.e. “classic” time-tested stories). An argument can be made that any improvement in reading/writing instruction should include more rather than fewer exercises where students write stories themselves that are modeled on the classics. This creates a more stable foundation on which students can build skills for other kinds of writing. The Core standards would prevent public schools from testing these kinds of approaches.”
Dr. Bill Evers of Hoover Institute at Stanford University noted:
“The Common Core — effectively national math and English curriculum standards coming soon to a school near you — is supposed to be a new, higher bar that will take the United States from the academic doldrums to international dominance.
So why is there so much unhappiness about it? There didn’t seem to be much just three years ago. Back then, state school boards and governors were sprinting to adopt the Core. In practically the blink of an eye, 45 states had signed on.
But states weren’t leaping because they couldn’t resist the Core’s academic magnetism. They were leaping because it was the Great Recession — and the Obama administration was dangling a $4.35 billion Race to the Top carrot in front of them. Big points in that federal program were awarded for adopting the Core, so, with little public debate, most did.”
Dr. Terrence Moore of Hillsdale College has written:
“Literature is the study of human nature. If we dissect it in this meaningless way, kids not only do not become college and career ready, they don’t even have a love of learning; they don’t even have an understanding of their fellow men… The thing that bothers me more than anything else is found on page number one of the introduction. That says that Common Core is a living work. That means that the thing that you vote on today could be something different tomorrow, and five years from now it is completely unrecognizable.” (Dr. Moore also wrote a most excellent book about Common Core English standards, entitled “The Storykillers.”)
Dr. Sandra Stotky (spoken of at the top) has written:
“The wisest move all states could make to ensure that students learn to read, understand, and use the English language appropriately before they graduate from high school is first to abandon Common Core’s ‘standards’…”
“The notion that Common Core’s college and career readiness standards are “rigorous” needs to be publicly put to bed by Arne Duncan, his friends at the Fordham Institute and the media. Two of Common Core’s own mathematics standards writers have publicly stated how weak Common Core’s college readiness mathematics standards are. At a public meeting of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in March 2010, physics professor Jason Zimba said, “The concept of college readiness is minimal and focuses on non-selective colleges.”
Dr. Stotsky also testified that:
“Beyond the lack of clarity from the outset about what college readiness was intended to mean and for whom, Common Core has yet to provide a solid evidentiary base for its minimalist conceptualization of college readiness–and for equating college readiness with career readiness. Moreover… it had no evidence on both issues.”
“Common Core supporters still can’t figure out how to deal with legitimate criticisms of its English language arts (ELA) standards. So they just keep parroting the line that Common Core’s ELA skills are actually standards, are rigorous and prioritize literary study, when it’s quite obvious to any English teacher that they are none of the above.”
“Common Core was/is not about high-quality national education standards. It was/is not about getting low-income, high-achieving students into advanced math and science courses in high school and then into college. CCSSI was and is about how to lower the academic level of what states require for high school diplomas and for admission to public colleges.”
“Of course, Common Core proponents can’t say that lowering academic standards is their goal. Instead, they claim that its standards will reduce the seemingly terrible problems we have with interstate mobility (actually less than 2 percent nationally) or enable Massachusetts teachers to know how Mississippi students compare to theirs (something they never said they were eager to learn), or facilitate nationally the sale of high-tech products to the public schools (something the P-21 skills folks were eager for). They have looked desperately for motivating issues and these are the best cards in their deck, as poor as they are.”
“Their major selling point is how poor our K-12 public education system is in too many states. But it needs to be strengthened, not weakened. We continue to need capable doctors and engineers who build bridges and tunnels that won’t collapse.”
“Are we as a society really ready to agree to Common Core’s low-expectations for college readiness (as professors Zimba and McCallum indicate)? Are we willing to lower the bar as a way of closing the achievement gap?”
“We hear no proponents or endorsers of Common Core’s standards warning this country about the effects of the college-readiness level in Common Core’s mathematics standards on postsecondary and post-baccalaureate academic and professional programs. We hear no proponents or endorsers of Common Core’s standards advising district superintendents and state education policy makers on the kind of mathematics curriculum and courses they need to make available in our secondary schools if our undergraduate engineering colleges are to enroll American students. At this time we can only conclude that a gigantic fraud has been perpetrated on this country, in particular on parents in this country, by those developing, promoting, or endorsing Common Core’s standards. We have no illusion that the college-readiness level in ELA will be any more demanding than Common Core’s college-readiness level in mathematics.” – Sept. 2013 paper: Can This Country Survive Common Core’s College Readiness Level? by R. James Milgram and Sandra Stotsky
Dr. William Mathis, of the University of Colorado, has written:
“The adoption of a set of standards and assessments, by themselves, is unlikely to improve learning, increase test scores, or close the achievement gap. • For schools and districts with weak or non-existent curriculum articulation, the CCSS may adequately serve as a basic curriculum. • The assessment consortia are currently focused on mathematics and English/language arts. Schools, districts, and states must take proactive steps to protect other vital purposes of education such as citizenship, the arts, and maximizing individual talents – as well as the sciences and social sciences. As testbased penalties have increased, the instructional attention given to non-tested areas has decreased. • Educators and policymakers need to be aware of the significant costs in instructional materials, training and computerized testing platforms the CCSS requires. It is unlikely the federal or state governments will adequately cover these costs. • The nation’s “international economic competitiveness” is unlikely to be affected by the presence or absence of national standards.”
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Parents and retired teachers, it is up to us to stop this thing. Teachers who are currently teaching, or principals, or others who work in the education sales industry dare not speak up too loudly or risk losing their jobs. It is up to us.
COMMON CORE 
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Stop Common Core!
hey best friend
After one year, alot of pain but also, a little gain. With 22 states sponsoring legislation and national coverage starting to create a buzz, we can only hope that the tides are turning in our direction. With folks like you blasting information every which way, it definitely has made a difference. In my neck of the woods, we’re fighting every day. This week we are starting a new project. My daughter who has three of my grandchildren in the throws of the CC nightmare, will host a Stop Common Core House Demonstration. She’s invited a group of moms, maybe some dads to come for coffee and cake and become acquainted with what is happening under their noses in the school curricula. We will show a video, Dr. Duke Pesta and Mary Black, Freedom Project Education, hand out literature packets and provide a handbook that I put together for anyone who wants to take up the gauntlet. I am hoping that from this group, we will encourage others to have similar in-home parties and keep it going. The parents are the FIrst,and Best Line of Defense for the kids. They need to be more involved. Wish me luck! I let you know how we make out.
Packets! Could I see what you have compiled? I have a growing are here in NC and need all the help I can get
Vicky, If you send me an email, I’ll forward the info. My “Old brain” won’t figure out how to send the files this way. I look forward to hearing from you.
If only I could figure out how to copy a file to this site. My old brain won’t let me do it. If you send me an email at janilen@1791.com, I’ll get the documents right to you. Sorry. Some days my techno skills need to be re-aligned and that’s putting it mildly. However, I’d be happy to help you Vickie even though it will have to be regular old email.
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Vicki, I’ll send the Handbook that I’ve developed. I also did a PowerPoint that is a snap shot of the agenda. I need to update it, but will send it to you anyway for your information. Don’t know how to copy to this site, will send via email.
This Common Core: 101 comes in time for me to sit down tomorrow and write my three-minute presentation which I’ll present at Tuesday’s Las Cruces Public Schools board meeting. Key points…
DID THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BRIBE STATES TO ADOPT COMMON CORE?
IS COMMON CORE RELATED TO STUDENT DATA MINING?
WHAT SPECIFICALLY DID THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DO TO REMOVE PRIVACY FROM STUDENT DATA?
I’ve shared this with numerous news organizations, both mainstream and alternate. Only received one acknowledgement AND a retweet. Thank you WikiLeaks Forum! https://twitter.com/wikileaks_forum
https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeffrey-field/busted-why-school-systems-across-the-country-refuse-to-inform-students-theyre-be/10153835105740111
Pierson co located in Great Britain now has ownership and control of the text book publishing companies in the US?
Major universities now have chairs located in the major teaching universities to promote rewrite of history favoring philosophies not favorable to our American history.
Federal government now advancing attacks against our gun rights in violation of their oath of office to defend and protect the Constitution? Why no grand jury investigation and prosecution for treason?
Citizens are ignorant about their responsibilities especially voting registration.
Common core curriculum has no lesson on Presidents for celebrating president’s day?
Only one country in the world grants citizenship to those born within its boundaries?
Only modern countries fail to reproduce the number of its inhabitants to continue its population base and therefore its cultural development?
Wake up America!
Reblogged this on Wyoming Against the Common Core and commented:
Here is a wonderful post from Christel that breaks down the basics of Common Core! I hope that this helps those new to our cause!
Reblogged this on Timbered Classrooms… and commented:
It costs money to educate beyond minimal workforce training. In this 2013 document put out by the NCEE (National Center on Education and the Economy) we learn that it’s not important under Common Core to have high educational standards in high school; it’s seen as a waste of time to educate the high school graduates past Algebra II. They’re pushing for an emphasis on the lowest common denominator, while deceptively marketing Common Core as a push for “rigorous” academics.
Read these Common Core proponents’ lips: “Mastery of Algebra II is widely thought to be a prerequisite for success in college and careers. Our research shows that that is not so… Based on our data, one cannot make the case that high school graduates must be proficient in Algebra II to be ready for college and careers. The high school mathematics curriculum is now centered on the teaching of a sequence of courses leading to calculus that includes Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus and Calculus. However, fewer than five percent of American workers and an even smaller percentage of community college students will ever need to master the courses in this sequence in their college or in the workplace… they should not be required courses in our high schools. To require these courses in high school is to deny to many students the opportunity to graduate high school because they have not mastered a sequence of mathematics courses they will never need. In the face of these findings, the policy of requiring a passing score on an Algebra II exam for high school graduation simply cannot be justified.”
We need to come together as a nation and stop this!! Set up many rallys and get our governments attention!
I have a LOT more reading to do to catch up to the knowledge and history and updates that Christel has put together here. My opinion is that she is BRILLIANT, and I am trying to free time to help her and other parents and educators fighting for our students to have better educational experiences in the best way: THE AMERICAN WAY – with freedom for teachers to discern again and plan lessons for their individual students. That’s what we are trained and excited to do when we leave college. We can’t wait to put our inspirations, dedications, and expertise to work, feeling out each child and helping them move forward in the classroom. This is best done the way we ALWAYS have done it. Parents coming in to help, some as educated as the teachers themselves. Aides (if the money could only get to the school to hire them instead of getting RID of so many) – who get training to be effective. What we do NOT need is a dictatorship coming from a central federal government, filtered down to consdescending district specialists, NEITHER of whom have ANY IDEA what unique individuals are in each classroom K-12 in America. The teachers need PERSONAL control back. They fall in love with their students within the first week of school and this is their motivation to work hard and do what is needed each day for them. But instead, we spend our nights trying to read complicated descriptions of standards written by …people far away. I’m glad to have a prospective, but ALL TEACHERS STUDY THIS IN TRAINING. Then they get pounded by the district over and over according to current thought, and trained when necessary…and many more hours that is necessary. This takes AWAY from their ability to plan from day to day. Their time at HOME and getting away from school to relax and think about students is non-existent anymore. Classes are crammed in on weeknight evenings, and some required, leaving little time to think about students. This may or may NOT be related to common core. I think the situation for teachers is much worse than JUST common core, but CC is the final straw for me. Teaching in a public setting is hardly teaching at all. It’s administering dictated criteria – which is BASICALLY needed but leaves little room for a teacher’s creativity and talent anymore. I felt like they could have given my job to high school students to do by the time I finished and “retired” early. All my hopes and dreams to personally care for a student was out the window, each day becoming a day to please district observers and satisfy THEIR ideas, whether it pertains to your students or not. I resented having to justify EVERY move I made – again it took away from my flow of progress for the students. I told my principal in 2006 when she observed and interviewed me I felt like I was working for a communistic organization. “This is EXACTLY how you will teach or else” was the feeling – I felt trapped and unable to function. About 6 more years of the dictatorial kind of administration was all I could take. I’m quitting everything that is dear to me on May 31 of this year and burying myself in COMMON CORE study – having saved over 300 emails I couldn’t read, and will be jumping in with whole body to fight this interference in our system. One more thing that made America great is fading away. Can we afford our CHILDREN to be that one more thing? They ARE the future. I want them inspired to learn – not brainwashed with what OTHERS think – but free to DREAM as they think for themselves, and watch those aspirations come true.
Thanks you for this great comment, Susan. And yes, Christel is brilliant!
Thank you, not thanks you
I never thought our education system would come to this level. We should have seen it coming in the past years. Not only in this administration but others as well. Common Core will be a menace to society as well as our children. Lets save our children from this demon they call education.
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What Is Common Core: 101
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Now I know why so many of my teacher friends hate CC! Thank God, my sons are all out of high school and 2 are working and our youngest is in the Air Force. I feel sorry for my future grandchildren if Common Core is allowed to continue.
Anyone know how I can share this on Facebook?
Indiana just passed the bill…no more common core here!!! Not sure what that means for schools here. Will we go back to the old books and the old way of teaching?
Daughter teacher for 20 years. I see how hard she works and how she worries about her students. Just ran across the article below. Worry I have is that children under the common core are being, no other way to put it, brainwashed. There has to be a better way. Direct me to where one can read the “common core manuel” and also to stop this in my state
Article follows: sourced at end of article
In the idyllic expanses of New York’s Lakeland Central School District, the “informational texts” for fourth graders are disturbing agitprop from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
As EAGnews.org reports, the entire text forced on the fourth-grade kids was taken word-for-word from the PETA website PETAkids.com—home of the “30-day vegan pledge,” militant screeds against KFC and statement such as: “Zoos collect animals and put them on display to make money.”
The text is entitled: “Should Animals Be Kept in the Classroom?”
According to Jessica Fiorillo, the perturbed mother who has taken issue with the text, the reading was part of a lesson on “text structure.”
Then, the reading provides the nine-year-old students with detailed descriptions of the deaths of some animals.
There’s a snake that got zapped in a microwave. There’s a couple chinchillas that “were horribly beaten and left for dead.” There’s a rabbit in a daycare that was left sick and languishing until it was too late. There are four pigs that suffered injuries from a gruesome acid attack. And, finally, there’s a lamb that was spray-painted, duct-taped outside a building and “left alone overnight in freezing temperatures.”
The remaining three paragraphs are filled with scaremongering and upsetting imagery about the lives of lonely pets, the possibility of salmonella poisoning and warnings about severe allergic reactions.
“I was disgusted, appalled and in complete disbelief that a school would basically send home a guide on how to kill household pets,” Fiorillo told EAGnews. “My husband after first reading it thought it was a handout from PETA not school work.”
The mad mom said subsequent questions about the text included standard-issue queries such as “What is the main idea of the article?” There was also: “How does using this text structure help you understand more about keeping animals in the classroom?”
Fiorillo said she emailed her child’s teacher but got no response. Her husband had a meeting with the principal.
“The principal actually said to my husband that this was part of the Common Core curriculum,” she claimed.
“There is no reason for a child to see this,” Fiorillo said. “If it involved reading comprehension there are many other topics that would have worked.”
http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/27/common-core-shows-fourth-graders-gory-painful-ways-to-kill-class-pets/#ixzz2xPund0tU
Hello! I have a comment to make about the visual aspects of this site… but first I want you to know that I love what you’re doing and I say more power to you! My comment is just that I would love to read and read and read what you have on this site, but I can’t because the color aspects (white print on a dark background) make it so difficult for me to read. I know some people like it this way, but it makes my eyes go buggy! I just simply can’t read more than a few sentences without my eyes and head starting to hurt. I just randomly googled this subject and came up with this site that would give some more info on what I’m talking about. Thanks for all you do!!
http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200608/light_text_on_dark_background_vs_readability/
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Looking for other people in my school district that want to collaborate regarding this fight. So far I have found only 1 person who shares my concerns about Common Core. I am in Poway Unified School District, San Diego, CA. dmhustosky@yahoo.com
I have an opinion I hope that is allowed if not just delete please. Love what you’re doing. As a grandmother I have great concerns for the education of my grandchildren. I have noticed that they are not being challenged enough nor have they been taught enough common core will make this worse. I am not saying the teachers aren’t teaching, but the teachers have to teach children to pass certain tests. This takes away from the child’s education. Two things brings me to this assumption; many times cashiers can not count change correctly and when asked who freed the slaves I was told Martin Luther King. Shocked beyond belief! This common core will be the destruction of our country through our children as it was in Germany under Hitler. Children all learn at different rates and are interested in different things that is what makes them unique. We don’t even let them fail because we don’t want to lower their self-esteem, so EVERYBODY wins and passes. So what do they have work toward? Passing some test so the school gets more money. Hogwash!
This sentence is quite disturbing: ‘It costs money to educate beyond minimal workforce training’. Our Federal Education Department is saying they will teach the bare minimum to students so they can get a job that pays minimum wages. What about letting the teachers teach a good foundation of the basics and continue to expand their minds. Separate them into A B C groups, as was done when I was a child, so they can learn at their rate and the teacher can teach them and even help them excel. Because all children don’t learn at the same pace and the smarter children are being held back and the teacher is frustrated trying to keep everybody up to standards and at the same level, one size does not fit all.
I have grown children but if I had school aged children I believe that I as a parent it would be my responsibility to get them the best education possible and by any means. Parents do have the power. Having people over to ones house to discuss the problem it nice but it seems like hiding because we are afraid. People are threatened with job loss if they speak out…well don’t let them speak out. Just don’t put your child in school. If no students showed up for class somebody has to address the problem ASAP. While fighting the system for change is right, it’s the children that lose if it takes to long. I know it sounds a bit radical but it’s our children’s life we are talking about and it is a short period for them once they are behind it’s hard to catch up. Not to mention this common core is brainwashing them, stifling their abilities and oppressing them.
While my opinion is a bit harsh I am Praying that you parents can get this changed for the sake of the children. Don’t let the government take your children from you. Yes education needs to be changed but not through the federal government through the school system and parents. United we stand.
H Susie,
I too am a proud Grandmother who knows beyond a doubt the CCSS will be the end of educational freedom. As a non-educator, non-expert and non-professional but as a parent and grandparent, I have been up and down the State of New Jersey with a small group of warriors, ringing the bell and sounding the alarm re this disaster. We have made strides but still have along way to go. We managed to get legislation sponsored and are now lobbying for co-sponsors and movement through committees. In every presentation or short two minute talk I always stress that this agenda is non-political and only about our children and the taxpayers, however, they continue to make it about politics. Until we end this agenda, we will not stop, we will not back down, Our children common! Keep the faith and keep sounding the alarm. God is our strength.
Jan in NJ
Know whats the best thing about getting non-experts to be passionately involved in a cause? Reason and logic have little effect on them. They “know” what they know. They feel their rightness in their heart. And no mere expert will be able to convince them otherwise unless they are experts on connecting at the emotional level. Because their connection to the cause is not on an intellectual level. Anti-Common Core organizers exploit this for all it is worth.
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Lets face it. You people who vote Democrat get what you deserve. They call themselves Progressives. Progressive is actually a sugar coated word for Communist. Core is actually a preparation for the Democratic party’s vision of Communist America. The former Soviet Union used these methods to indoctrinate children into the far left ideology. No coincidence that PETA, which is far left, appears in the Democrats ‘educational process’. More like REEDUCATION. Im sure that ALL their ‘social’ studies revolve around far left teachings. I dont even have to look at this Core crap to know that. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that 50 percent of the American people are lower than trash. Putin said that those are the ones who voted for Obama and the Democrats. Putin stated that ‘you think that these people would have learned from the Soviet experience just how vile Communism and the left wing is’. What is Common Core? IT IS A PROGRAM THAT WAS USED IN COMMUNIST SOCIETIES TO INDOCTRINATE CHILDREN INTO THE LEFT WING. IT IS ALSO USED FOR THE COMMUNISTS TO DETERMINE WHAT YOUR CHILD WILL DO FOR AN OCCUPATION. Yes, the government will dictate what your child will do for a living. Under communism, the government forces everyone to have a job and the job is chosen for you. You have no occupational choices. Communism demands that everyone work for the ‘common good’ and the entire philosophy is WORKER based. Arts have no place in it. NOW DO YOU FINALLY UNDERSTAND COMMON CORE? Go ask Putin. He grew up under it and knows how bad it is. BTW, apparently it doesnt work at all because communism only lasted 74 years in Russia before it collapsed. Not even a human lifetime. If you vote Democrat, you reap what you sow. What George Washington and Thomas Jefferson called, ‘The ignorance of the common masses’.
You folks need to get your facts straight. Common Core was developed by states for states. Common Core lets each district pick the books our children read and what subjects they write about. Common Core only sets timetables and common standards. Almost all states will see standards rise. Don’t fall victim to the hype. Stop going to the same old web sites or radio stations for your information. Check the facts.
For years, no, actually decades parents have been complaining about failing schools. And every time a school systems makes changes a bunch of parents start yelling about what is right or wrong. Parents need to get a grip on things and start looking at themselves. Education starts at home. That is a plain and simple fact. If you child is not doing well then you need to take a hard look at your parenting skills.
I am a parent and my daughter is going into her junior year of high school and she is in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program for her last two years. When she was younger I made appoint to ask her to do more, especially in math, so that she would have a better opportunity to understand and do well in her later years.
When I was younger I as barely a 2.0 student and I frustrated my parents. My parents like so many others expected the school to do it all. It got to the point that they told me that all they expected from me was a 2.0. If you are reading this then I think you are probably getting the point. As parents you have a right to high expectation but what are you going to contribute to those expectations. Do no expect the schools to do it because they have too teach to the lowest common dominator because parents are not willing to ask more of their children at home by lending a hand in their education.
If you want your child to do better then you better get involved. And that does not mean showing up at sporting events. What it means actually is sitting down and teaching your child from day one. Stop blaming republicans and democrats and start looking yourselves.
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People who want to be taken seriously about educational standards should do a better job of presenting what they are in favor of. All these pages here, all about what’s wrong with Common Core. And those opinions are all over the place. If you don’t think Common Core standards are high enough or strict enough (the complaint in many of the tidbits above), then point to something that you think will do the job better.
But then the Stop Common Core effort is more about getting states to give public money to private and charter schools than it is about raising the abilities of high school graduates. What the Stop Common Core effort does best is show how much havoc one can create by stirring up public outrage with minimal funding.
For the record, Snert Lee, I am opposed to giving tax money to private schools or to open more charter schools because with federal funds come federal mandates. I am for individual rights, parental rights, student rights, local autonomy and the protection of the US Constitution. We’re free to raise standards to whatever level we define as appropriate when we are free of the Common Core Initiative –and Common Data Standards and Data Systems that are tracking us and inventorying us without our consent.
I started reading from the top earlier today…happily checking facts as I went and grateful for the information. Then I got to the question “IS COMMON CORE LEGAL?” and the answer…it all digressed from there. Please be aware that I am as concerned about this Common Core method as anyone else posting to the site…BUT…parents need facts. The FACT is that Common Core belongs to, mainly, two groups….the National State Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers (NGA/CCSSO). These are not some vague private groups located in Washington DC, these are the people who make decisions at the STATE level. Did the federal government give states monetary incentive to participate in the form of grants for education? Yes…it did. Did your state have to participate…nope. States need to be way more informative about education and citizens need to get their ducks in a row, stop making wild, rambling, assumptions….put together some cohesive thoughts and IDEAS for presentation to their state representatives and let their voices be heard. At least an intelligent conversation may ensue and intelligent answers just might be the result.
Snert, it’s not true that NGA and CCSSO represent American individuals like a congress. Many governors don’t belong to NGA; not all superintendents belong to CCSSO. We can’t unelect their members. Their meetings are closed. Zero transparency and zero influence by us on their decision making process. Yet they hold great power, including copyright over state standards. If the NGA/CCSSO were a bakery they’d be handing out cakes to states, saying add your own frosting and sprinkles but don’t even think about complaining about the recipe in this cake. We put in what we liked.
Common Core is Globalization in a book bag. Reject the “world” and fight for the Constitution.
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Hi, my name is Rene Armstrong & I’ve been doing research on my own for 7 years and building a plan 4 People Who Want 2 Do Something About Common Core, But Don’t Have A Plan: JOIN ME! http://www.gofundme.com/cure4commoncore
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