EDUCATION POLITICS-Carol Burris says that Common Core is dying “the death of a thousand cuts.” Its supporters claim that the critics represent the extreme right, notably the Tea Party. Of course, the Tea Party is vociferous against the Common Core, but they are not alone.
In Néw York, the Tea Party does not have a large presence, yet opposition is strong, coming mainly from suburban parents. The Chicago Teachers Union voted unanimously to oppose Common Core, and they don’t have many Tea Party members.
Common Core has plenty of friends in the Obama administration and major corporations. For the tech industry and the testing and textbook industry, the Common Core is a huge multi-billion dollar industry.
Burris responds to those who say there is no alternative to the Common Core. New York had a new set of standards in reading developed by educators. It was swept away by Common Core.
Can Common Core survive the intense controversy it ignited? Speaking as a historian, having seen great theories sweep in and out, I would say that the rushed creation and implementation of the standards doomed them. This was a time for deliberate speed, not a hurried and untested plan.
Buying the support of education interest groups in D.C. is not the same as winning the support of the American public.
(Diane Ravitch is a historian of education at New York University. Her most recent book is Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools. This column was posted earlier on Diane’s blog.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 40
Pub: May 16, 2014
