COMMON CORE IS NOT THE WAY by Tim Lintz

[Tim Lintz]

COMMON CORE IS NOT THE WAY

Common Core is a set of guidelines instituted by a Federal mandate to change and control our children’s educational standards. This change and control impacts all of us even if we do not have children in school at this time.  We should all understand how Common Core is impacting us as a country.

Common Core is a special interest takeover of education that replaces local control with national standards, treating every child as though they are the same and learn at the same rate. These standards affect every school in the nation. It allows bureaucrats into the classroom. The standards established through Common Core fail to account for innovation or critical thinking. Education should be about rewarding excellence and treating children like the unique individuals they are.  This should not be a race to mediocrity and commonality.With the adoption of Common Core all American children will be tracked, monitored, and in reality educated from Washington DC, while their parents have no voice in their child’s education.

We need to stop Common Core’s federal takeover of education.   What started out some years ago as a suggestion, a thought by the Association of Governors, was jumped on by the Federal government as a way to control even further the education and minds of our children.  They even offered a large sum of money to the state that would accept their guidelines first.  Common Core standards threaten parents’ rights, children’s privacy, and traditional American values.

Less than four years ago Indiana for example became an early adopter of the national Common Core education standards.  Now, Gov. Mike Pence has signed legislation making Indiana the first state to opt out of the controversial K-12 guidelines of Common Core standards.  This may be a key in helping other states take another look at the implementation of Common Core.  

As we have all too often seen, Federal "solutions" rarely solve anything other than adding a layer of bureaucracy that will inevitably do more harm than good.  Recently  according to an article in Freedom Works, Indiana has become the first of 45 states to opt out of the national education standard known as Common Core, and critics of the controversial K-12 program say the move could "open the floodgates" for others to follow.

Growing criticism over costs imposed by the program, as well as fears that by setting a national education standard, the program has already begun dictating curriculum, and made Common Core an increasingly polarizing issue.

Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker told a convention in January that the Common Cores standards should be revisited.  So now a legislative panel has recently issued a series of recommendations for modifying the standards in Wisconsin.
Louisiana's Governor Bobby Jindal used the Indiana news as a reason to revisit Common Core in his state.

The government has too much control over our lives, especially with the addition of control over our healthcare.  Now, with Common Core the government wants control over our children’s education, which means control over our future.  You cannot place all children in a box and expect all children to obtain the same level at the same rate.  Nor, should we allow our children to be tracked and monitored by Washington DC. 

 by Tim Lintz