Ed Secretary defends Common Core: Feds didn't write, approve... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

Ed Secretary defends Common Core: Feds didn't write, approve... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com:

Ed Secretary defends Common Core: Feds didn't write, approve or mandate them. 

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US Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Common Core: "States signed on to the Common Core because it was the right thing to do."

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By Maureen Downey

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan took on the critics of Common Core Tuesday in a speech to the American Society of News Editors. It’s quite a defense and you ought to read the full speechbefore commenting. Here are excerpts:.

Academic standards used to be just a subject for after-school department meetings and late-night state board sessions. But now, they're a topic for dueling newspaper editorials. Why? That's because a new set of standards—rigorous, high-quality learning standards, developed and led by a group of governors and state education chiefs—are under attack as a federal takeover of the schools. And your role in sorting out truth from nonsense is really important.

So I'd like to explain how we arrived at this place. I'll talk about information and misinformation, and ask you to help Americans draw a bright line between the two.

You and I wake up every day to similar worries and similar hopes. We just attach different labels to them. You wonder