Trouble in Common Core City: Too Many Music Men, Not Enough Librarians
Last week Glenn Beck brought parents to 700 theaters nationwide to warn them of the perils of the Common Core, and the dangers of government brainwashing. Andy Schmookler has written a post comparing Beck's fear-mongering with Professor Harold Hill of the musical play and movie, The Music Man. The funny thing is that Common Core itself is being sold by yet another version of Professor Hill, in the form of billionaire Bill Gates.
To start with, here is how Schmookler connects Beck and the River City con man:
Beck's move here reminded me of "The Music Man," the con man in the musical of that namewho comes to an Iowa town to fleece the good people there. What Beck and the con artist in "The Music Man" have in common is that to accomplish their own hidden aims they tap into the anxieties that parents have regarding their children.What the Music Man was selling were fictitious musical instruments and band uniforms, and he did it by playing on parental fears of corrupting influences on their children (fears aroused by the arrival in town of a Pool Hall, which starts with 'P' which rhymes with 'T' which stands for 'trouble').Beck's pitch against the Common Core is selling a different fear: that the federal government is seeking to take control of their children away from their parents for purposes of indoctrination.
True enough. But I part ways with Schmookler in two regards. First,Trouble in Common Core City: Too Many Music Men, Not Enough Librarians - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: