Backlash of new education standards is rooted in suspicion of federal government
James Shuls of the conservative Show-Me Institute considers himself an outspoken critic of the Common Core, a set of national standards that define what English and math skills public school children should learn at each grade level.
But even Shuls was surprised at how quickly a public meeting on the subject got out of hand this month, when parents and grandparents began shouting at Missouri education department official inside a Lindbergh School District meeting room.
They accused the official of lying. Of wanting to collect private information about their children. Of trying to control students’ thoughts.
“Some of it is misinformation,” Shuls said later. “Some of it is real legitimate concerns parents have.”
The growing backlash to the Common Core, to be fully in effect in Missouri and Illinois in the 2014-15 school year, has less to do with the skills and knowledge the standards promote than the motivations many parents fear are behind them.
They were developed in 2009 after the National Governors Association began pushing for a common and more challenging set of English and math standards for the nation’s schools. The effort involved hundreds of educators. It received bipartisan support from the nation’s governors. Backers include Republican Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, and Democratic Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon.
Once educators developed the standards, the Obama administration endorsed them. The U.S. Department of Education made adoption of the Common Core one of two