A Call for Common Core’s Repeal

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Americans for Prosperity Communications Director Joel Aaron Foster calls the Common Core Curriculum Standards the most dangerous offense against educational freedom currently facing the nation. Speaking to the Pickens County Tea Party recently, Foster said it will fundamentally transform education in America. The topic is of great interest these days because Common Core is the set of standards used for the current curriculum now in Georgia schools.

Common Core is part of the Obama Administration’s Race to the Top Program. The Race to the Top program promised to give waivers to school district’s for the Bush Era No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program, which many districts deemed restrictive due to unreasonable requirements. As such, Race to the Top promised waivers for NCLB. One of the requirements for these waivers, however, was the adoption of the Common Core Curriculum. The White House, where Race to the Top found its genesis, enticed states with money, which states would receive for its implementation if they chose to adopt it. Notably, Foster pointed out that this was offered at a time when most school districts in most states were struggling financially.

So, what’s wrong with the Common Core? Foster’s first criticism of the standards is the manner in which it was “developed,” presented, and injected into state governments.

“This deal,”

he said,

“was being offered to states at a time when most, the lion’s share of our state legislations around the country were out of session.”

He went on to say states were given a very restrictive window of time to accept the Race to the Top offer, a two to three week window. If states declined the program, they would not receive the money. During this time, when state legislations were out of session, Foster said the “only ones left in the buildings” were the governors, who, not knowing the content of the curriculum because it was still being developed, accepted it.

“Legislators around the country did not have any say in any vetting process,”

he explained,

“…And they took the money, as they did in Georgia in 45 other states, with out even knowing what the Common Core standards were. Turns out the standards were not completed—some parts were not even begun to be written when the offer was on the table.”

Foster said Georgia received just shy of $400 million dollars in the deal. The money is intended to cover the implementation costs. Recent testimony from the former Texas Commissioner of Education, though, reveals that the program will cost states a third more over the next ten years to implement the program than states will receive from the federal government. Foster said Georgia received $385 million for Race to the Top. However, it will cost the state $585 million to implement the program over the next ten years, with such requirements as testing systems and technology.

Since Common Core was not approved legislatively and given the go-ahead by governors, the old way of approving public school curriculum is washed away. Previously, public school curriculum was presented to the public for a few weeks before local boards of education approved them. The situation with Common Core by-passes that process, creating a top-down order, where the curriculum is dictated to the states and districts without public knowledge of the components of the curriculum.

Another criticism of Common Core is what Foster calls the standardization of mediocrity. During his presentation, Foster explained that five validation committee members would not sign-off on the curriculum because it was below par. In her testimony Sandra Stotsky, one of the committee members, said once Common Core is fully adopted high school seniors will be reading on a seventh grade reading level. Another committee member, who worked on the math portion, said Common Core would put the nation two years behind our next closest competitors in math studies. As such, Common Core has not been validated. Further, Foster says Common Core has never been tested, mainly because it’s been given to school districts piecemeal.

Foster argues for the repeal of Common Core in Georgia.

“We the people,”

Foster said,

“Should want answers on behalf of our children; on behalf of our own state sovereignty; on (behalf) of our own finances, and the future of our kids.”

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