Over at the Mooresville Tribune, the headline reads, Repealing Common Core will harm our students.  Nice theatrical title. No, keeping Common Core will continue the harm to our students. The article is mercifully short, so go read it. It’s by Nancy Gardner.

You remember Nancy, right?  She’s the Mooresville High school English teacher who showed up at the Common Core Legislative Research Committee and cheerleaded for the standards at the public comments forum.  Refresh your memory and watch her speech here.   Gardner makes sure to hit every talking point she can in it and manages to contradict herself a few times. See if you spot it.

Of note in the video clip, she says outright at the start that she works with the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ). Why is that important? They’ve received more than $6.3 million from the Gates Foundation since 2010 for Common Core and “virtual” related projects. CTQ has been a hub for implementing Common Core in NC.

Back to that Op-Ed

Fair warning – Weapons grade snark ahead.

My favorite line of Gardner’s Op-Ed was this one:

“The Common Core standards have created a shift in which teachers become coaches and students become learners.”

I have a visualization of someone running on a beach with a sunset in the background and the theme to Chariots of Fire playing in the back of my head now, don’t you?  The idea that a set of standards is some kind of magic bullet is positively ludicrous. Good teachers + good curriculum are what unlock kids heads, not a set of standards.

So – another Common Core Op-Ed chock full of heart-string tugging style language and the latest talking points like:

• We’ve spent so much money already
• Teachers have spent time training
• These are 21st standards for 21st colleges

Bear with me while I take down these three points.

The Money: Yeah, we spent money on something that we have no idea if it will ever work, but in fact is rapidly becoming unpopular . Solution?  Let’s continue to throw money at it, because in education throwing money at the problem always works, right?  It’s only estimated to cost tax payers about $642 million over the next couple years. No biggie right?  I’m sure June Atkinson can tell us exactly how the money will be spent just like she didn’t at the NCGA hearings. Transparency is not her strong suit — especially when asked point blank.

The Training: Yeah, again here we have a problem. Dr. Atkinson couldn’t tell us who got what training or if it even was tied to Common Core. I’ve spoken to teachers from multiple schools in Wake county and asked them about this Core training. They laughed at me.

It would be nice if someone pinned down Dr. Atkinson on the training piece, since she changed her figures from one meeting to the next. First it was $58 million, then it was $66 million. No one called her out on that. Sorry, but as a taxpayer, I don’t trust her or DPI as far as I can throw my checkbook.

The 21st Century:  The Common Core’s stated goal is to prepare the middle 40% for a 2 year non-selective college. That’s their vision for the 21st century and that’s the common core idea of a 21st century college.  Common Core is not about raising standards or a real education, it’s about molding a workforce with “21st century skills”.

I left a comment on the article, as I have been doing anytime I see one of these fluff pieces. Parents need to start doing the same.  Many people haven’t even heard of Common Core and will read a propaganda piece like this one. That’s the point of these Op-eds, folks. The Core supporters know they have to reach the people who don’t know about Common Core in order to flip public opinion.  Start making noise!

Comment is as follows:

Ms. Gardner is likely an excellent teacher and was so before Common Core. Claiming these standards are the path to the future makes me question her judgement however.

FACT: Common Core is a fundamentally flawed experiment. The creators cannot provide proof it will do what they claim and their talking points have been a long series of lies — all debunked at some point or another.

FACT: The k-3 are largely age and developmentally inappropriate. Not a single early ed teacher was involved.

FACT: The increased use of subjective informational texts over classic literature is the opposite of what research and history show to be effective in raising critical thinking.

FACT: The math sets our students back about 2 years and does not support STEM path students.

FACT: There is little to no support for special needs students in Common Core.

FACT: Our Superintendent is also the President elect of one of the two trade groups who own the COPYRIGHTED Common Core standards. She put Common Core as a brand name in our Race to The Top Application months before the standards were even released.

FACT: Common Core will cost tax payers an estimated $642 million plus in the next five years. That’s ON TOP of our current budget.

FACT: This is the loss of state control over education. No matter what the proponents say, that’s the truth. Our schools were bought and paid for by companies seeking to shape a workforce, not provide true education.

FACT: The Common Core is not about raising standards. The stated goal is to send the middle 40% of students to a 2 year non-selective college. Again, this is about shaping a workforce, not a student.

Ms. Gardener, wake up.