Louisiana Educator: Building the Plane in Flight

Louisiana Educator: Building the Plane in Flight:

Building the Plane in Flight

Scott Richard, Executive Director for the Louisiana School Boards Association, pointed out some of the serious problems with the new Common Core State Standards in recent comments to the Press Club. I agree with Richard that the standards are being rushed into full effect without adequate preparation. BESE and the State Department of Education are ramming this additional reform into our public schools in a big hurry based on the assumption that these new standards will magically improve the performance of our students. This so called “reform” may be more like throwing a tired swimmer a huge rock and then telling him to swim with it an extra hundred yards to shore. We may not be pleased with the results.

Unlike some of the more vocal critics of the Common Core, I don't believe the CCSS is a Federal Government takeover of our educational system. That has pretty much already happened in many respects. I don't believe the Common Core is a secret plan to shape the minds of our children to make them into willing robot-like workers for the multinational corporations. And I don't believe