UPDATE: Trib reports there's still no 'Safe Passage' Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Common Core Standards not so common

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Common Core Standards not so common:

Trib reports there's still no 'Safe Passage' in place for CPS kids

This morning's Tribune reports that security plans on new school routes are still in flux, with just weeks to go before schools open. The chaos within the CPS bureaucracy is threatening the lives and safety of thousands of children affected by Rahm's mass school closings.CPS Liar-In-Chief Becky Carroll claims it's all good and that plans are on track to smoothly shift students from 47 schools bein

by Mike Klonsky / 3min 

Common Core Standards not so common

CCCS were supposed to prepare students for a global economy by equipping them with critical thinking skills. They were touted as a way to even the playing field so that class, race and gender wouldn't determine what and who were being taught (See Jean Anyon on Social Class and School Knowledge).

But it appears that the implementation of Common Core standards reflects and reproduces the growing divide and inequities between have and have-not states and school districts. Given the expensive and redundant testing regimen that comes with CCCS, it's the testing,  publishing and training companies that are benefiting, more than the poorest and neediest kids.

A new report issued by the Center on Education Policy finds that, "cuts or freezes in state funding … have negatively affected CCSS implementation activities in some states," with 20 states reporting K-12 funding deceases. Twelve of these states reported that these reductions led to scaling back Common Core efforts. States also reported that their