Blog Song for the Moment
Don McLean, Everybody Loves Me, Baby (American Pie, 1971).
Heard Jack Lessenberry's commentary last week about opposition in the Michigan State Legislature to adopting the Common Core. He called this opposition, to my surprise, the "lunatic fringe." Lessenberry's a pretty moderate guy, so for him to label it this way was strong stuff.
What's the Common Core? Basically, it's what they, way back when, used to call the "Three Rs." Reading, 'riting, and 'rithametic. According to the Common Core website,
But this Common Core has run into the localism that has long prevailed in US education. Michigan adopted it back in 2010, but renewal of its funding comes up in August. A Republican faction in Michigan opposes that, and a Tea Party Republican on the Michigan House Education Committee, Tom McMillin, took the lead, slipping some lines into the budget bill that erase funding for Common Core initiatives.
In an op-ed, McMillin presents the Core--what some right-wing wits are calling "obamacore"--as a federal takeover of education, an opportunity for the Feds to steal student data, but what really has pissed him off was the lack of transparency around the development of the Core. At the Statehouse hearings, he badgered Department of Education officials, repeatedly asking about the process by which the Common Core was adopted, to such an extent that a chair, a fellow Republican Tim Kelly, cut him off.
It's odd that McMillin focuses on the process rather than the content of the Common Core. No questions about whether the Core will improve educational outcomes, just veiled unsupported accusations that the Michigan officials lied about public input in the development of the standards, and that they represent a massive federal intrusion in local governance. He bases his argument on two members of the Common Core Validation Committee who refused to sign off on the final version, neglecting to mention that there were 27 other members who did sign off, along with a bipartisan executive committee of six governors and four state superintendents. This is a very centrist, technocratic policy proposal that only in feverish minds constitutes a left-wing conspiracy.
But there are good reasons to question the Common Core. It is a top-down effort, orchestrated by governors, top education officials, academics, and funded by an array of organizations, from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the NEA to the Aspen Institute and the New American Foundation. So I suppose one could dismiss the Core as yet another elitist effort that is not in touch with the daily grind of education. In other words, how capable are school districts of implementing the Core, and will it ameliorate or exacerbate the growing inequality in our country's educational system? Also, The No Child Left Behind Act has already incentivized 'teaching to the test,' and will the Common Core standards turn into goals that teachers end up mechanistically trying to realize?
As well, the Obama administration made a political mistake, I believe, in contributing funds to the Common Core initiative, and in compelling states bidding for "Race to the Top" education grants.
But, heck, I'm just sniping here. There is faction of Americans that will criticize the Obama administration for whatever it does, and I'm glad some people with expertise and money have tried to do what so many local school boards have failed to do--raise the bar on education outcomes.
Don McLean, Everybody Loves Me, Baby (American Pie, 1971).
What's the Common Core? Basically, it's what they, way back when, used to call the "Three Rs." Reading, 'riting, and 'rithametic. According to the Common Core website,
The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort that established a single set of clear educational standards for kindergarten through 12th grade in English language arts and mathematics that states voluntarily adopt. The standards are designed to ensure that students graduating from high school are prepared to enter credit bearing entry courses in two or four year college programs or enter the workforce. The standards are clear and concise to ensure that parents, teachers, and students have a clear understanding of the expectations in reading, writing, speaking and listening, language and mathematics in school.In other words, this is a pretty conventional attempt to assure that high school students are better prepared to enter the workforce or higher education. The standards try to ensure, given the now wild mobility of Americans, and that some states were cheating on their report cards, that college admission officers and employers across the country can have some sort of solid expectation of what a high school diploma actually means. It's also an effort to make the US education system more competitive in the global arena.
But this Common Core has run into the localism that has long prevailed in US education. Michigan adopted it back in 2010, but renewal of its funding comes up in August. A Republican faction in Michigan opposes that, and a Tea Party Republican on the Michigan House Education Committee, Tom McMillin, took the lead, slipping some lines into the budget bill that erase funding for Common Core initiatives.
In an op-ed, McMillin presents the Core--what some right-wing wits are calling "obamacore"--as a federal takeover of education, an opportunity for the Feds to steal student data, but what really has pissed him off was the lack of transparency around the development of the Core. At the Statehouse hearings, he badgered Department of Education officials, repeatedly asking about the process by which the Common Core was adopted, to such an extent that a chair, a fellow Republican Tim Kelly, cut him off.
After the hearing, Kelly said it was "unfortunate when you have some members that aren't listening to the answers that are beingprovided. You may not like the answer, but that doesn't mean you keep repeating the question."
It's odd that McMillin focuses on the process rather than the content of the Common Core. No questions about whether the Core will improve educational outcomes, just veiled unsupported accusations that the Michigan officials lied about public input in the development of the standards, and that they represent a massive federal intrusion in local governance. He bases his argument on two members of the Common Core Validation Committee who refused to sign off on the final version, neglecting to mention that there were 27 other members who did sign off, along with a bipartisan executive committee of six governors and four state superintendents. This is a very centrist, technocratic policy proposal that only in feverish minds constitutes a left-wing conspiracy.
But there are good reasons to question the Common Core. It is a top-down effort, orchestrated by governors, top education officials, academics, and funded by an array of organizations, from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the NEA to the Aspen Institute and the New American Foundation. So I suppose one could dismiss the Core as yet another elitist effort that is not in touch with the daily grind of education. In other words, how capable are school districts of implementing the Core, and will it ameliorate or exacerbate the growing inequality in our country's educational system? Also, The No Child Left Behind Act has already incentivized 'teaching to the test,' and will the Common Core standards turn into goals that teachers end up mechanistically trying to realize?
As well, the Obama administration made a political mistake, I believe, in contributing funds to the Common Core initiative, and in compelling states bidding for "Race to the Top" education grants.
But, heck, I'm just sniping here. There is faction of Americans that will criticize the Obama administration for whatever it does, and I'm glad some people with expertise and money have tried to do what so many local school boards have failed to do--raise the bar on education outcomes.
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