HAS ARNE DUNCAN JUNKED THE COMMON CORE?
Or is he just jerking us around?
This week the state senate of Utah joined the gathering protest against the federally coerced Common Core State Standards by passing a bill asserting state sovereignty to withdraw from the Common Core. Kudos to the state’s legislature for passing the bill and to Governor Herbert for his support of it.
Utah’s effort comes on the heels of similar efforts in Indiana, South Carolina and elsewhere. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, fresh off his temper tantrum against dissident South Carolina, weighed in on the Utah effort with a letter supposedly affirming Utah’s right to change the Common Core standards at will. Specifically, he stated, “States have the sole right to set learning standards.”
If Duncan meant what he seemed to say, then the Common Core Initiative falls apart. So could this be what he meant, given his consistent cheerleading and arm-twisting for Common Core? Unlikely. More likely is that he