Common Core A-Comin'

On the heels of the Republican National Convention comes an interesting perspective on the Common Core State Standards, courtesy of Education Week. In an article dated August 30 and titled, "Common Core State Standards Dividing GOP," author Alyson Klein opines that conservatives are divided broadly into two camps. One camp embraces the Common Core Standards, as evidenced by a majority of Republican governors whose states have signed on to the standards among the total of 46 states—including Indiana—and the District of Columbia.

However, another camp sees too much of a federal stamp on the Common Core State Standards, with some members deriding them as "Obamacore." The standards, developed jointly by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association, get a mixed review even among the inner circle. Writes Klein, "Tom Luna, the Idaho superintendent of public instruction, and the president of CCSSO, rejected the idea that the standards were cooked up by the feds, saying he was part of the state-level conversations at their inception." On the other hand, Klein quotes Luna as saying, "If it [the standards] ever becomes a mandate, Idaho would be the first state to get out."

The GOP platform generically embraces "high standards" in education but is silent on the Common Core. "Still," writes Klein, "some state lawmakers—including Sen. Mike Fair of South Carolina, an attendee here—are trying to get their states to dump the standards, or at least delay their implementation."


Readers who have not already done so might want to explore the official Common Core website at http://www.corestandards.org.