The Common Core Conundrum

Editorial by Burlington Star-News, May 2, 2014.

At a forum about public education in April at Elon University three statements about Common Core and its role in our schools stood out.

One was by Elon professor Jeff Carpenter, who observed that the Common Core standards now being put in place in 40 states, including North Carolina, have become “so politicized that it’s no longer about the curriculum.”

The other was by Alamance County’s Republican state Rep. Dennis Riddell, who noted that “We can toughen standards without Common Core.”

And the third was from a parent who did not identify herself. She said, “I’m a parent who doesn’t hate the Common Core. My son will learn to solve 21st century problems with 21st century methods.”

So who’s right?

In a way, all three. This is part of the reason why Common Core has become the newest line of scrimmage in the ongoing national game of political football. As usual, it’s dividing political partisans, educators, parents, liberals, conservatives, and people who simply pick a side for no apparent reason.

Indeed, as the Times-News has pointed out in several articles on this subject, Common Core has critics of every description, and there is a lot of misinformation out there about it. Part of the reason for the confusion is the tendency of government entities, particularly education entities, to speak in terms only they understand. It doesn’t help matters that local boards of education or school systems had little say in defining or refining the standards put in place.

But one fact critics get wrong is this one: Common Core was not developed by the federal government, although it has promoted it by dangling Race to the Top funds to school systems that put it in place. Common Core was developed by the National Governors Association and state education superintendents. Republican Gov. Pat McCrory at one time endorsed Common Core but has backed away of late from either supporting or criticizing it. One avid supporter of Common Core is the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, a pro-business group.

Common Core was created, ostensibly, to provide standards for students who enter not only a national but global job market. The idea is that a student who graduates with a high school diploma in Alamance County will be able to meet the demands of a potential employer or university in any community around the nation. What it is supposed to accomplish is guarantee that those completing a public school education have foundational instruction in essential areas.

While one size doesn’t usually fit all, it does help to have a reasonable and tough standard. It’s also a given that how students are instructed through the years would require some evolution to deal with a world that is also in a constant state of change.

Like any new program in all walks of life, Common Core has bugs and associated problems. The state board OK’d it in 2010, and the standards just cropped up for ABSS students in 2012-13.

Riddell, for one, believes it was implemented in too big a hurry and says some of the mandates deserve more discussion. That’s the reason he endorses a legislative proposal to review Common Core standards with the idea of either altering or scuttling it.

We see no harm in discussing the standards. In fact, Common Core already has a built-in five-year cycle for making appropriate adjustments. But lawmakers who enter the talks ready to end the program or immediately alter it on the fly are shortsighted. Teachers, students and parents need time to adjust to the changes. Let’s see what works and what does not.

Then an informed decision can be reached.

 http://www.thetimesnews.com/opinion/our-opinion/the-conundrum-concerning-common-core-1.314117?ot=hmg.PrintPageLayout.ot&print=nophoto