The Stop Common Core Argument: There is no one "common" path or yellow brick road to educational excellence.

 

CCSS proponents would have you to believe the standards will create an educational utopia and nudge us to a better place.  Let's look at the facts.  They may lead to a wizard who promises a lot but in reality, it's just rhetoric.

Follow the educational reform yellow brick road!  We now have standards that will make our kids college and career ready!  STEM jobs will surface because our students will now know science and math!   Common Core will enable students to be ready for 21st century jobs!  Don't worry that the proponents don't list exactly what those 21st jobs are.  No, no, listen to the CCSS proponents and education will morph from black and white film technology into technicolor.

Common sense would tell you if a salesperson tells you about a product and how fantastic it is, but has no proof of what he/she is selling is an actual item (such as a list of 21st century jobs), you wouldn't pay for that product.  It would be similar to giving money to a shyster who insists he/she has a product that will work but can't show you the product he/she promises will produce the effects promised. 

It's the same for the CCSS claims.  They are not researched based and cannot be backed up by data.  For a program that relies on "data driven" results, CCSS proponents don't have any of those "data driven" research facts to back up their theories.  CCSS is nothing but a massive stimulus program tied up with fancy language (rigorous, college/career ready, 21st century, global workforce, etc) to bamboozle taxpayers and legislators to buy into an educational program that appears to help students be successful.

It's nothing but a shell game.  From Forbes and Dear High School Graduate: Everything You've Been Told Is False:

When I graduated from Omaha Creighton Prep High School back in 1977, my fellow grads and I entered a benign, forgiving, if U.S.-hegemonic, economic order where one could find paid work — albeit of a blue collar variety — just by completing high school. A world where even a C student was guaranteed some kind of white-collar employment just by earning a college degree; any kind of degree, with any kind of major, from a wide variety of public or private institutions.

High School Graduates of the Class of 2013, those days are over. Not only are there not a plethora of decent-paying jobs just waiting for you upon graduation, there are structural changes afoot in the U.S. economy making your human labor “incidental.”

...No doubt you’ve been told that more — and better targeted — skill sets are the expensive answer to your job predicament. At least that’s what the increasingly desperate education industry  – and their lax-loan lackeys in the Obama Department of Education – want you to believe. Unfortunately, as authors Kenneth Gray and Edwin Herr note, only 21% of all jobs in the U.S. require a bachelor’s degree or higher. In addition, according to economist and professor Peter Morici, “more than half of recent graduates are working” in an occupation “that does not require a college education.”

...Moreover, even if you pursue a degree in a field that requires a college diploma, the fast-evolving global marketplace may still determine in a few years time that those “in-demand” skills you studied so hard to accrue are suddenly superfluous. Economists call this commoditization. And just as it happened with website designers and A & R hacks in the early 2000s, and lawyers and journalists in the late 2000s, commoditization could quickly transform today’s in-vogue STEM fields too. Especially when one considers that for every two U.S. students that graduate with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) degrees, only one is deployed in a STEM job.

Read more here.

From a reader and a response from the author:

Business_Owner 2 days ago

Auto repair, plumbing repair, electrical repair, air conditioning repair, heating system repair, home repair, roofing repair …. There are probably others but everyone should get the point. There are a LOT of jobs that don’t require a college degree and pay good money.

My business is a repair business. I primarily sharpen and repair beauty, barber and groomer tools along with sewing and upholstr scissors. I also sharpen knives, axes, hatchets, lawn mower blades, shovels, manual hedge trimers, loppers, most anything with a smooth edge. Add to this list some veterinary tools and livestock clipper blades.
I am also a hair stylist specializing in razor hair cuts for men.

At either of my “businesses” I regularly make 20$ an hour.

I have no college degree and I didn’t play sports in High School. I was too busy with a lawn care, attic and basement cleaning service.

James Marshall Crotty, Contributor 2 days ago

Amen. We are not all destined to be, nor happy being, software developers, robotics engineers, or whatever STEM field du jour is being pushed these days. We need to steer each young person down a path that makes sense for each of them. Fulfillment in work can happen through so many different fields, most of which do not require a four-year college degree. Thank you.

So, the questions are: why are we cheerleading Common Core standards to make everyone common when commonality is what we should be avoiding?  Why are we preparing students for jobs when the CCSS folks don't even know what those jobs are?  If only 21% of jobs require a bachelor's degree, why are we pushing students into college?

Those are the questions to ask in your school board meetings, to your superintendents, your legislators and in social media postings.  Why won't CCSS proponents deal with the facts instead of theories?  Do you believe this is about education or something else? But "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain".  Just as the Wizard of Oz had to step up to the plate and explain his proclamations, it's time for the CCSS group to do the same.  It's too bad this isn't a movie and we can walk away from this suspension of reality.

Don't Pay Attention to the Organizers Behind the Curtain!

The word "tyranny" seems to be popping up these days when talking about education. Don Powers, an attorney reviewing how education operates these days, wrote:

“What we discovered is a transition to a tyrannical form of government. Sections of the USCA that supported local, states’ rights and local control of schools as well as sections that placed restrictions on the Federal DOEd were being repealed all together and in instances replaced by sections that grant more control to the federal level. We also checked other areas of the USCA and found this to be the rule, and not the exception. From the historical records, that we could check with our meager resources, it has apparently been going on since before the1960’s.”

Check out the heading on our blog and its reference to living in a totalitarian democracy, which could be considered as living in a tyrannical society.

Here's a blog by Mark Garrison about how common core standards equal tyranny. What is the theme running through Mr. Powers' assessments, living in a totalitarian democracy, and equating common core standards to tyranny?

Think of the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy and company were helpless and powerless when their destiny and decisions were in the hands of the "all powerful Wizard of Oz". Remember when he was discovered and he plead: "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" He knew he was all talk and could not provide Dorothy, The Tin Man, The Cowardly Lion and The Scarecrow what they needed. They had to find the answers themselves. By pretending he knew the answers when he was truly powerless made him a tyrant. He had no solutions but he had the power to bluster and scare folks into thinking he was the all powerful Wizard of Oz.

This is a description of the Federal Government and its current role in education: it has all the power and no answers. We don't even know who or which interests are writing the standards for our children. We are told "pay no attention to those who have the power over your childrens' education". Don't peek behind the curtain, otherwise the charade might be up.

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The Common Core: Whose Standards Are They?

Posted on October 5, 2011

In the past decades, testing has played a central role in justifying and bringing about some of the most controversial reforms, such as school choice via charter schools, merit pay for teachers, and military academies for inner city youth. But possibly the most politically significant reform of all is the adoption of national standards and assessments. Whatever one may think of “choice” and “merit pay” and “boot strapping,” they are undoubtedly the legacy of Anglo-American political thought.

But the idea — let alone the adoption of — a national curriculum appears as a sharp break with the foundation of the American Republic, the commitment to “state’s rights,” to decentralization and a relatively weak central government.

Thus begins the introduction of my forthcoming book, Testing for Tyranny: The Political Significance of a National Curriculum and Testing Regime in the United States.

At present, the push to implement the so-called Common Core Standards (not federal, not national, as Diane Ravitch would have it, but “common,” and so the choice of language is significant) represents a turning point in American history. There are many questions that must be answered about this initiative, the most important one being this: Whose standards are they? Whose interests do they serve?

This question is being posed from a variety of perspectives. For example, a Tea Party activist noted this:

The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers (collectively, NGA Center/CCSSO), as the owners of the Common Core State Standards (College- and Career-Readiness Standards and K-12 Standards in English Language Arts and Math), grant this license to the Licensee identified below, subject to the terms set forth herein. The Common Core State Standards are protected by copyright and/or other applicable law, and any use of the Common Core State Standards other than as authorized under this License is prohibited.

And so:

As a parent, where will you go if you feel a change should be made to the ELA or math content to be taught to the students in your neighborhood and community schools? To the school? the local school board? to the state education dept or the state school board? to the federal government? Sorry, it is out of their hands. They no longer have control over the content for ELA and math that is to be taught to the students in the states that have adopted the CCSS.

This line of questioning might help explain the choice of language and the administrative mechanisms used to push the standards. If they were national, this notion of ownership would seem counter productive (who owns the American Flag)? If they were federal, clearly they are in the control of the federal government, owned by it, but presumably on behalf of the people as a whole.. But they are merely “common” — ushered in and controlled by an “association” of associations that is neither federally constituted nor bound to a state, a “public/private partnership” of government leaders and business interests; an entity that does not report to a legislature or even a defined constituency.

And now the Schlechty Center releases, Whose Standards Are They?

Offering a broad minded and thoughtful presentation of standards and their role in education, the paper is particularly significant for the guidance it provides school personnel in organizing discussions about the Common Core Standards in their schools and communities. It offers a concrete guide for evaluating the Common Core Standards, affirming the right of communities to have a say over the nature and function of the education provided to their youth.

Asking the “who decides” question is by far the most important question to ask when examining the Common Core initiative. Discussions narrowly fixated on implementation, or even concerns about whether national standards and tests will improve education, serve to veil consideration of how contemporary education reform (such as the Common Core) serves to re-articulate governing arrangements such that the vast majority — parents, teachers, administrators, local school boards, and youth — are excluded from involvement in decisions that directly affect their lives, and their future.

Related Posts:

• Race to the Top Assessment Program: Part II – The Political Significance of Assessment Governance
• Race to the Top Assessment Program: Part 1 – Danger, Will Robinson, Irrational Discourse Ahead!
• “Best Urban School District in America” Blocks Access to Websites Critical of “Education Reform”
• Bruce Baker: Smart Guy (Gates) makes my list of “Dumbest Stuff I’ve Ever Read!”
• Detroit Free Press: MEAP may be replaced by national online test

TAGS:
national standards, school governance, standards and testing

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One point I'd like to make. Garrison writes:

Asking the “who decides” question is by far the most important question to ask when examining the Common Core initiative. Discussions narrowly fixated on implementation, or even concerns about whether national standards and tests will improve education, serve to veil consideration of how contemporary education reform (such as the Common Core) serves to re-articulate governing arrangements such that the vast majority — parents, teachers, administrators, local school boards, and youth — are excluded from involvement in decisions that directly affect their lives, and their future.

This is how the original 800 page Race to the Top document was produced as well...parents, taxpayers and youth are excluded from involvement in decisions that directly affect their lives, and their future.

It is time to cast aside the curtain and expose this bluster for what it is: Nonsense.

This is the Most Entertaining Explanation of the Education Reform Debacle to Date

This is a humorous (albeit dark) explanation of the education reform plan that has been many years in the making. It lays out the major players and their influence in American public education. The "educational reform movement" has truly been bi-partisan, and according to this scenario painted by the movie, the American people are dealing with power hungry philanthropists and politicians from both sides of the aisle.

This comes to you from "Gates & The Land of Oz; OII, NCLB & RTTT".

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Gates & The Land of Oz: OII, NCLB, & RTTT

By livingbehindthegates

Guardian of the Emerald City Gates

Guardian of the Emerald City Gates: “Who rang that bell?”
Dorothy, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Tin Woodsman: [all four together] “We did!”
Guardian of the Emerald City Gates: “Can’t you read?”
Scarecrow: “Read what?”
Guardian of the Emerald City Gates: “The notice!”
Dorothy: “What notice?”
Guardian of the Emerald City Gates: “It’s on the door – as plain as the nose on my face! It… oh… “

Guardian of the Emerald City Gates: [gasps] “The Wizard? But nobody can see the Great Oz! Nobody’s ever seen the Great Oz! Even I’ve never seen him!” [All Oz quotes, as taken from IMB, Favorite Quotes of the Wizard of Oz]

Based on the No Confidence Vote by NEA for the past two years awarded to Arne Duncan, you would think he was the man behind the curtain in the Land of Oz. This surreal classic tale is rife with reality in the Department of Education, and the Neo-Corporatocracy hostage government. Today I am writing to expose the REAL man behind the curtain of NCLB and RTTT in the Land of Oz.

Duncan as "Wicked Witch of the West" and Dorothy as "Public Schools"

Duncan’s role suddenly switches to become the Wicked Witch.

Wicked Witch of the West: “Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of spears! Thought you were pretty foxy, didn’t you? Well! The last to go will see the first three go before her! And your mangy little dog, too!”

Public Ed Caught in Storm of Century Between Forces of NCLB and RTTT

Public education is caught F5 storm of century, 2 fronts which have been building pressure like a freight train crashing down on children and teachers, NCLB and RTTT. Who is behind the scenes of this storm?

I’ve found the data, that 4 letter word teachers across the land have all begun to hate… the data that exposes the man behind the curtain of NCLB & RTTT…

Wizard of Oz: “Do not arouse the wrath of the great and powerful Oz. I said come back tomorrow.”

The evidence that backs up my dogmatic thinking came yesterday from a site called AllGov- Everything Our Government Really Does.

What is lurking behind the curtain of the Department of Education, NCLB, and RTTT?

The Office of Innovation and Improvement [OII]

Overview: “Located within the Department of Education, The Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII) manages various grant programs, ranging from charter schools to dropout prevention, and coordinates the public school choice and supplemental education services that are provided under the No Child Left Behind Act. In managing these grant programs and implementing new educational reforms, OII attempts to improve student achievement, increase parental awareness, and prepare the educational system, both technologically and instructionally, for more advanced learning.

What it does: The Office of Innovation and Improvement was created in order to help manage the spending of money created by the No Child Left Behind Act. In addition, the OII decides how to distribute the funds of its 28 grant programs (see below). When distributing these funds, their main goal is to improve student achievement, increase parental awareness, and keep the education system up to date. The OII is also responsible for administering earmarks, which are funds allocated by Congress to be spent on predetermined projects.

The Flying Monkeys of Earmark Funds governed by OII:

OII Grants and Initiatives

Who is lurking behind the curtain of OII, pulling the strings of NCLB & RTTT?

“James H. Shelton III has served as assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement since April 2009, putting him in charge of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement. In this position, he oversees the $650 million Investing in Innovation Fund. President Barack Obama pledged to prohibit government employees from doing business with former employers.

However, Shelton was granted a waiver to deal with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, for which he worked for more than five years prior to joining the Obama administration.” – [All-Gov, DOE, OII]

Clearly, James H. Shelton, III worked under the Bush Administration to govern the funding for Bush’s schtick, NCLB, and through the waiver was a hand-me-down to then govern the funding of Obama’s carrot RTTT.

But Shelton is just one of the many Flying Monkeys, leaving Duncan to act as the Wicked Witch.

Based on Shelton’s 5 years at the Gates Foundation, we know who the real man behind the curtain is now.

Bill Gates is Behind the Curtain in the Land of NCLB and RTTT

Wizard of Oz: [speaking in a booming voice into microphone]

“I am the great and powerful… “
[then, realizing that it is useless to continue his masquerade, moves away from microphone, speaks in a normal voice]

Bill Gates is exposed as the man behind the curtain who pulls all the strings for NCLB & RTTT.

Gates, Duncan, and the Flying Monkeys Hold Public Ed Hostage

The Great and Powerful Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West, and the Flying Monkeys are still alive, all of them covering the skies of every state in a Murder of Flying Monkeys, snatching up the PUBLIC, locking them up behind the Gates of the Emerald City, forever to be kept out of public education. Truth is stranger than fiction!