First the bad news. Common Core, propelled by grants which had a suspicious resemblance to bribes, spread across the country like kudzu in North Carolina. All but a few states surrendered coherent thoughts, like tipsy journalists meeting Obama for the first time.

This was a really big issue. People needed to understand that none of the ideas had been tested or proven. None of the people working on this were asked to do so. Who were these people? Really, the people behind Common Core were pseudo-experts like the National Council of Teachers of English, National Council of Teachers of Math, and so many others in education. They pretend to be independent. But really they seem to be puppets run by the people who have been running schools all along (i.e. the Education Establishment).

Anyway, this thing was pushed through with unseemly haste. The state governments should be embarrassed and disgraced.

Now, there is some good news. As many as 20 states are reconsidering. Some states have looked at the economic consequences and don’t like them. Some are hearing a lot of complaints from parents. Some legislators are actually looking at what the Common Core Commissars want to do.

One small example: I’m working on a piece now about “close reading,” which is just nonsense.  We have second graders who don’t know how to read but now we’re going to insist that they do “close reading.”


Here is a short statement giving eight reasons why Common Core must be rolled back:
http://www.examiner.com/article/common-core-conspiracy-unraveling-update?cid=db_articles