Schools of choice would end common core.
Via The Atlantic
This March, millions of school kids will take new standardized tests that are designed to accompany the Common Core standards. As that deadline looms, anxiety grows in suburban communities. Conspiracy theories, too, have grown out of parents’ natural instinct to protect their children from bureaucracies and self-styled experts. A teacher backlash against the school-reform efforts and the lack of leadership on this issue have made it more difficult for parents to get facts.[…]
Among the most vocal opponents to the new standards are conservative, Tea Party Republicans, who are ideologically opposed to any expansion of the federal government—something they inaccurately equate to the Common Core initiative. And these politically motivated critics, who have rallied against a national system of learning standards for decades, have their own conspiracy theories about the Common Core, too. These include claims that the the standards will turn students gay, that it preaches an anti-American agenda, and that Muslim Brotherhood and communists shaped the content.[…]
I happen to live in a middle-class suburb outside of New York City—one that could easily be considered the capital of “white suburban moms.” And I’m realizing Duncan was on to something: Their wrath is real, and it’s based largely on misperception and widespread fearmongering perpetuated by the Tea Party skeptics and anxious state policymakers.
My friends and neighbors post links almost daily on Facebook to articles claiming the Common Core “curriculum,” as they perceive it, is destroying American youth. It has single-handedly taken recess away from kids, they argue. The upcoming tests demoralize kids and teachers. The new curricula and tests are an assault on an otherwise idyllic world where kids used to learn naturally—like those lucky children in Finland. Instead of actually instilling knowledge in students, teachers drill irrelevant facts into kids’ heads in order to game the testing results. And since the new exams will be taken on computers, hackers might even reveal the test results to colleges.[…]
Perhaps the “white suburban mom” protests will dissipate after the test results are publicized. Suburban schools tend to be relatively high-achieving and have historically done very well on state-level standardized tests, so there is no reason to believe that the new tests will produce drastically different results. Parents in these areas, moreover, often supplement their children’s education with tutors and other resources. These schools will do fine on any national comparison.