The Common Core Is So Wrong for Louisiana
In February I wrote a post for this blog predicting that the common core would be a disaster for Louisiana. This opinion piece in the New York Times confirms my conclusion that this standard is wrong for most of our public schools and particularly wrong for Louisiana. This untested elitist curriculum is sure to make our students and teachers look like failures when really it is the standard that is wrong.
The reformers love to say that if we just "raise the bar" our students will rise to the challenge and learn much more. They confidently state that the only reason many of our students perform poorly on national tests is that we, the educators, are guilty of "the soft bigotry of low expectations". John White purposely boxed the entire Louisiana education system into a corner recently by making the politically correct statement that "our Louisiana children are just as smart as the students in other states." (and therefore by implication deserve the same high standards). My opinion is that John White knows very little about Louisiana children and is not qualified to make this or any other judgement about our students.
I think the adoption of the common core is like the case of a 10th grade PE class where the instructor is told by
The reformers love to say that if we just "raise the bar" our students will rise to the challenge and learn much more. They confidently state that the only reason many of our students perform poorly on national tests is that we, the educators, are guilty of "the soft bigotry of low expectations". John White purposely boxed the entire Louisiana education system into a corner recently by making the politically correct statement that "our Louisiana children are just as smart as the students in other states." (and therefore by implication deserve the same high standards). My opinion is that John White knows very little about Louisiana children and is not qualified to make this or any other judgement about our students.
I think the adoption of the common core is like the case of a 10th grade PE class where the instructor is told by
