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The Hegemony of the Common Core Educational Standards by Michael Avramovich
Albert Einstein once observed, "It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." As more people learn about the Common Core educational standards being introduced into American schools, they are likely to echo his sentiment.
What are these standards, and why do they pose such a dire outlook for our children's education? Common Core educational standards were first launched in 2009, by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Although these organizations have official, governmental-sounding names, they are actually private groups financed primarily by the Gates Foundation (which has given $200 million towards the development of Common Core), along with other foundations and various corporations.
But that doesn't mean that Common Core is a wholly private and voluntary initiative. Some of the Gates' funding went to President Obama's Department of Education, which pushed the standards to the states. Obama also used $4.35 billion of stimulus money to create an incentive for states to implement Common Core. All but five states (Virginia, Texas, Nebraska, Alaska, and Minnesota) rushed to grab a share of these federal funds. Meanwhile, neither Congress, the state legislatures, nor local school boards were ever given an opportunity to weigh in on Common Core, effectively making the standards a top-down, one-size-fits-all initiative of the federal government.
Moreover, most of the states induced with federal money to participate in the standards never actually received any of the related stimulus funds. But now that they are committed to Common Core, they are obligated to spend what some have estimated to be at least a collective $16 billion to implement it. Clearly, states and local communities will need to raise taxes or borrow heavily to fund this endeavor.
A System of Federal Control
Common Core itself encompasses specified national education standards for each grade level from kindergarten through high school. Thus, in the states that have signed on, it will dictate what all public schoolchildren learn and don't learn. But even children who are homeschooled or in private school will be affected, because all students will be given nationally administered tests, and, beginning in 2016, these tests (such as the SAT and ACT) will be based on Common Core. In fact, one of the chief architects of the Common Core standards, David Coleman, is now head of the College Board that prepares the SAT, and he is revamping the 2016 test to align with the standards.
At first, it might seem a good thing to have national educational standards, especially since we are a mobile society. But there have been no studies showing the efficacy of Common Core with respect to student outcomes. Moreover, by imposing one set of universal standards, Common Core standards stereotypes students, and prevents them and their parents from enjoying the benefits of educational choice.
What people are saying about Touchstone:
Common Core fundamentally means federal control of school curricula by Department of Education bureaucrats. There are grounds for viewing this as an unconstitutional usurpation by the federal government over educational standards and policies. After all, power over education is not one of the enumerated powers granted to the federal government under our Constitution. Educational matters have traditionally been handled by state and local school boards, state legislatures, and parents, consistent with the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution.
Common Core seeks to impose on all elementary and secondary school students a comprehensive national education system with a national curriculum. Students are then evaluated based upon tests, the results of which, in turn, determine teachers' evaluations, as well as their promotions and raises. Thus, Common Core obliges teachers to teach "to the test."
Michael Avramovich is a lawyer in private practice, and is Adjunct Professor of International Business and Trade Law at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. He also serves as a volunteer speaker on behalf of The Voice of the Martyrs, and is a regular contributor to the Touchstone blog, Mere Comments.
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