Today’s Washington Post editorial describes the bizarre toxicity of the name “Common Core,” which has been poisoned by both those on the “right” — the Mike Huckabees and Rand Pauls of the country — as well as those on the “left,” like post-makeover Diane Ravitch and the radical arms of teacher unions.This politically-driven contamination of a simple two-word phrase is absurd, of course, because any educator, parent, or public school supporter is committed to the tenet that American students should be exposed to higher standards and a more challenging curriculum.
The editorial sets the scene at this year’s Iowa County Fair, long known for its devotion to red-meat (fried and on a stick, of course):
THE IDEOLOGUES have so disfigured Common Core that supporters of the educational reform now dare not speak its name. “The term ‘Common Core’ is so darned poisonous, I don’t even know what it means,” Jeb Bush said in response to a question at the Iowa State Fair on Friday. The former Florida governor then described what he does favor: “I’m for higher standards, state-created, locally implemented, where the federal government has no role in the creation of standards, content or curriculum.” In other words, he’s for Common Core.
Perhaps unaware that what they were hearing was practically identical to the policy that’s now reviled on the tea-party right, the audience members clapped and cheered.
And on the left (whatever that means anymore)
Liberal opposition to Common Core, meanwhile, is proving at least as harmful. Teachers unions have resisted the accountability that consistent and meaningful testing might bring, and they have used their own form ofCommon Core sabotage: Along with misguided anti-test activists, they have encouraged parents to refuse to let their children take exams meant to assess how well students are meeting Common Core expectations. They have succeeded in undermining educational standards in New York: Parents pulled an astonishing 20 percent of students grades 3 through 8 out of the tests last school year, upsetting efforts to track student progress.
What we’ve got here is not a problem of substance but of semantics. So where do we go from here? Just this: those who remain committed to the needs of students, especially disadvantaged ones, will continue to look for leaders unbowed by transient marketing issues and political posturing, those willing to stay the course on higher standards.
The editorial concludes,
Those worried about disadvantaged students should be particularly upset. Until the advent of testing, school districts were able to hide their failure to educate poor and minority students and those with learning challenges. Sabotaging standards will allow a return to that era of abdication. The left-right movement of activists, ideologues and unions that is “poisoning” the Common Core brand is willing to sacrifice transparency and accountability for the sake of ideology, job security or some combination. Credit to Mr. Bush, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and other leaders who are fighting the poison.
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