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Don't Politicize the Common Core State Standards!
Ohanian Comment: This letter shows the myth-making about the Common Core State [sic] Standards $2 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will buy.



Date: November 2009
Purpose: to support implementation of a strategic plan for national PTAs to promote college-readiness, and higher student performance outcomes
Amount: $2,000,000




Authorship of this piece is attributed to Learning First Alliance and
Executive Director of the National PTA

By Eric Hargis

Like many Americans, I have relocated several times in order to move ahead in my career. As a California native, I certainly expected things to be different moving to New York City, to Atlanta and to Washington, DC. From weather to clothing styles and customs, things are not the same from one state to the next. But one thing that must be the same regardless of which state you live in is a quality education for our children.

As a parent, the Common Core State Standards provide my wife and me with a clear understanding of what my children are expected to learn at each grade level, K through 12, regardless of what state the job takes our family (with the exception of a notable few). That the Standards are evidence-based and developed in collaboration with teachers, school administrators and experts gives me confidence that my kids will graduate fully prepared for college.

Unfortunately, like so many other issues, the Common Core State Standards are surrounded by myths and are being misrepresented for supposed political gain; the incredible value that the Standards provide to parents wanting to be fully engaged in their children's education makes this all the more dangerous and could represent a huge loss to our education system in America. . . .

Bashing anything done by the Federal Government, always a popular sport in America, has now reached Olympic class status, and there are those claiming that the Standards are a government take-over of education and call them "Common Core National Standards." This isn't even a Pinocchio stretch of the truth, but an out and out lie. The truth is, states are driving this process and have been involved at every level — from the drafting and development stages through revisions and the final product.

In fact, states voluntarily adopted the Standards. States can even go above the content of the Standards by 15% to cover content that they feel is important but not currently a part of the Standards. Importantly, states and school districts still have autonomy in decisions made on how to teach the Standards in the classroom. . . .
For the rest of this distortion of reality about the Common Core State [sic] Standards, go to the url below.



— Learning First Alliance/Eric Hargis
Education Week blog
May 24, 2012
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/transforming_learning/2012/05/dont_politicize_the_common_core_state_standards.html

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