Stop the rush to the Common Core

The Common Core — effectively national math and English curriculum standards  coming soon to a school near you — is supposed to be a new, higher bar that will  take the United States from the academic doldrums to international  dominance.

So why is there so much unhappiness about it? There didn’t seem to be much  just three years ago. Back then, state school boards and governors were  sprinting to adopt the Core. In practically the blink of an eye, 45 states had  signed on.

But states weren’t leaping because they couldn’t resist the Core’s academic  magnetism. They were leaping because it was the Great Recession — and the Obama  administration was dangling a $4.35 billion Race to the Top carrot in front of  them. Big points in that federal program were awarded for adopting the Core, so,  with little public debate, most did.

Major displeasure has come only recently, because only recently has  implementation hit the district level. And that means moms, dads and other  citizens have recently gotten a crash course in the Core.

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