American schools will have new standards
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eDo you hear that? It's the sound of the federal government and its cavalry of education consultants on its way to rescue the broken American public school system with an arsenal of new national academic standards. The standards described as "challenging" were recently drafted and unveiled by a panel which convened under the auspices of the nation's governors and state superintendents. The American Federation of Teachers has already viewed the draft and, with its early endorsement and full support, will help siphon standards to all states rather swiftly. President Obama approves of the efforts initiated by governors, which includes participation of educators; it won't be long before the new national standards show up in classrooms in grades k-12.
The early draft already made public will be fine-tuned over the coming months and, upon final approval in April, will then be xeroxed to all states for use. Alaska and Texas did not participate in the efforts to establish national standards choosing, instead, to keep theirs as-is. Some states will execute the standards quickly, while others, such as California, may delay implementation because of approval procedures which differ from state to state. States who wish to opt out of the national standards will face no penalties. In other words, no state will be sent to the principal's office.
What do these new, advanced standards look like? Well, they are described as "concepts to be learned" rather than specific goals in a specific curriculum. It all seems familiar and yet the st