Sunlight as disinfectant: Why the Common Core deserves a loud and untidy debate
It isn’t always easy to hear complaints and misunderstandings about the Common Core, new standards meant to increase critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the nation’s 100,000 public elementary and secondary schools.
Changing the way teachers teach and test students has been anything but smooth in the 46 states that have initially adopted the standards.
Dr. John B. King, Jr.
It should come as no surprise for a major sea change in education to meet both criticism and cheers.
The Common Core has already seen its share of both at the local and national levels. And parents, teachers and students will continue to need more information and reassurance about new expectations, curricula and tests.
That’s why it was so disturbing when New York State Education Commissioner John King, Jr. abruptly canceled four town-hall style meetings about the new standards earlier this month after being heckled by angry parents in Poughkeepsie.
King’s explanation—that the meeting had been “co-opted by special interests”—rang hollow to many, and was seen as undermining the democratic process of debating new initiatives, particularly one as