The Quick and the Ed » An Outsider’s View on the Common Core

The Quick and the Ed » An Outsider’s View on the Common Core:

AnAn Outsider’s View on the Common Core

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03 Jul 2013

by Thomas Dawson

Categories: Accountability and Standards, Data Testing Assessment, ESEA/No Child Left Behind,Improving Schools and School Systems, K-12 Education

I do not work on K-12 education policy every day, but having worked on these issues in the past, I can’t help but follow all the media noise around the Common Core State Standards.

To put it mildly, the Common Core engenders strong opinions from policymakers and experts alike. They either love them or hate them. But to my outsider’s point-of-view, what’s missing amid the political back and forth are real discussions about the standards’ quality.

Some conservatives in particular, trying to steady themselves after the 2012 elections and in light of President Obama’s recent stumbles, have lambasted the Common Core as the latest federal takeover of K-12 education. These criticisms are not new; since the standards’ introduction, many conservatives have expressed reservations. But the complaints now appear to be more vocal, particularly as some states led by GOP governors have begun to back away from them.

This is not to say all conservatives share skepticism of the Common Core. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and more recently former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee have urged Republican governors to