Commenters on the AJC’s Get Schooled blog are divided on the Common Core State Standards, adopted by Georgia but now under attack in Cobb County. In Cobb, the school board voted against purchasing new math textbooks because they were aligned with Common Core, which critics contend is a federal attempt to wrest education control from localities. Here is a sampling of comments:
Eduktr: If all parents, not just those well off, were free to choose their kids' schools, this would pretty much be a non-issue.
Catlady: Maybe they could put stickers over the words "Common Core," declaring there is no such thing as evolution, the earth is 6,000 years old, and everyone must own a gun. Might be cheaper, and they could hire cheaply under the table to get it done.
Popcorn: More research, new textbooks, same edubabble. Math is math, for goodness' sake. It has not changed one bit in forever. Just shut up and teach it. Or discipline your offspring to shut up and learn it. Just another opportunity to create excuses for crappy parents and crappy educators.
Starik: Cobb County has been known as a tea party and conservative Christian area for a long time, as well as a mostly white county. Now they're becoming diverse racially, and the ideological battle is beginning. The AJC's analysis of the school board seems to indicate that the representatives of east Cobb — where the money is — vote for mainstream schools meeting national standards. Poorer, semi-rural areas' representatives vote for traditional Southern values. These two groups are not compatible.
Class80: Common Core = Flavor of the Month. What will happen when we change to the new Flavor of the Month in two years? What will we do with those millions of dollars of textbooks that have "Aligned with Common Core" printed on every page?
Alicia: Students who are graduating from high school are not prepared for college. Period. Some of the students in Georgia's schools are unable to successfully complete the more difficult and rigorous work required of them in college. They are also unable to score high enough on the SAT or ACT — again, those despised standardized tests — to get into the college of their choice. Blah, blah, blah all you want about Common Core State Standards. Take it from those on the front lines of education, the Common Core is not the enemy. Why not focus your energy on fighting the cuts to education and leave teaching to the professionals?
Michele: I am an avid supporter of the Common Core State Standards. As a military brat, I attended 11 different schools in 12 years. I missed fundamental instruction and duplicated fundamental instruction because of all the differences in curriculum between states and school districts across the country. The Common Core professes to standardize instruction. This would definitely be an advantage in the mobile society in which we live.
