I have been warning about the dangers of Common Core for years. It has gone from being something that threatened our education system and our society itself in the future to a clear and present danger that is active among us. Here, in brief, are some important things you need to know about it and how it affects your children.
Common Core is the culmination of an effort to bring education under the purview of the federal government that began with the creation of the Department of Education in 1979. Since that time, the Department of Education has risen to become the third most profitable organization in the country behind Apple and Exxon Mobile. In 2013, it netted $41.3 billion from federal student loans.
http://www.debt.org/2013/11/27/department-education-profit-student-loans/This consolidation of power has been a slow process, going through several stages of legislation under both Republican and Democrat administration. America 2000, under the first George Bush led to No Child Left Behind under the second George Bush.
Because it is unconstitutional and violates specific federal law for the Department of Education to create a national curriculum / standards, the work was done through non government organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Governor’s Association. The federal government in turn did what it does best, provided unfunded mandates to the states to drain money and then offered money back in return for adopting Common Core.
http://truthinamericaneducation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Reasons-for-Concern-about-the-Common-Core-Gen-03-13-12.pdfBecause it was created by these groups, they hold the copyright on the standards. They can change them at any time with the states having no ability to change them. At most, the states can add 15 percent new standards, but that is it. This control is achieved through the copyright and agreements from receipt of federal money such as Race to the Top.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/16882-debunking-myth-of-common-core-education-as-state-led-videohttp://truthinamericaneducation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Reasons-for-Concern-about-the-Common-Core-Gen-03-13-12.pdfDespite buzz-words like rigorous, Common Core is based on preparing students for a non-selective community college after high school. It does things such as moving calculus out of the curriculum (for all practical purposes because it moves algebra a grade later). Because it is one size fits all, those students that would have excelled get pulled down to the norm. Despite original claims that it was benchmarked to international standards, evidence showing this was not the case has forced those claims to be revised. In fact, the standards are decidedly less rigorous and intense than those of many of those in the international community.
http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/reigniting-the-math-wars-over-the-death-of-calculus/http://www.christianpost.com/news/common-core-cirriculum-a-look-behind-the-curtain-of-hidden-language-92070/http://tavernkeepers.com/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-common-core/
