COMMON CORE

Common Core. A good thing? A bad thing?

When it comes to our public schools, who doesn't want rigorous standards set for our students! I held my own children to high standards, and I want smart grand-kids too.

So what is there to fault with Common Core? After all, every kid should know his three R’s. Every kid. Throughout the nation. Without exceptions.

And therein lies the problem. It is a national project; a consolidated program aimed at every student in every state. The foundation will be national tests. And a national curriculum that cranks-out auto responders – oops, I meant pupils that will pass every test.

So what is wrong with that? The problem is that it will establish a system that will control the minds of all our nation’s children.

Some people say that Common Core is merely an implementation to make sure everyone knows 2+2=4. And only the student’s teacher will know how the student answered the test questions. And furthermore, the teacher will be in control of the classroom instruction.

However, once a system is in place for basic subjects, the system will naturally expand to include more areas, and then expand some more, and some more, and yet even more. The road cannot lead anywhere but to an ever expanding federally mandated education system that teaches not only math, but also molds public opinion on matters from global warming to ObamaCare.

The person who writes the tests will, within a generation, steer the mentality of the nation. The mechanism will program the ‘leaders of tomorrow’; it will define what is right and wrong, what is politically correct.

To administer the tests, each student will need a unique ID akin to their Social Security number, if not their actual SS#. That will enable the system to monitor every student, personally and in aggregate form. It will track not only who is smart and who is dumb, but also who is compliant and opposes  the ‘tested’ viewpoint on everything from global warming to social issues to origins.

Because the Common Core tests will be administered on-line in multiple states, you can be certain they will use the student’s SS# to document the test results of each student – there is no other way to do it. There will be a master database on everyone. And if students do not answer questions “correctly” – including the ones such as whether gun control is beneficial – then the teacher will be compelled to fashion their instruction more in line with the test creator’s agenda. Otherwise, federal funding will be withheld – a scenario that already occurs. This aspect of common core may not bother you if your viewpoints match those of the current party in power, but what goes around comes around. Be careful what you wish for.

When supporters of Common Core tell you that “If you like your current child’s teacher, you can keep her, period” – don't believe it.