Common Core is not the evil tea party followers believe it is
Published June 8, 2014
Editorial by News and Observer, June 7, 2014.
The tea party subsidiary of the Republican Party has tossed wrenches into the orderly process of politics and government from near and far. From Alaska came Sarah Palin, the governor the GOP nominated for vice president in 2008 whose wacky conspiracy-theory politics continue to make her a nice living on the lecture circuit.
Then there was the merry band of tea party followers in Congress who stood ready to take the country over the brink by fighting routine raises of the debt ceiling. Economic depression? Oh, what’s the big deal, they seemed to say. In state legislatures, including North Carolina, tea party zealots continue to lead the GOP down a sorry path of anti-government policies from kicking the poor and the disabled to the curb with cuts in Medicaid to attacking any Republican who dares to stick a toe in the mainstream.
The crusade of late by the tea party in this state and elsewhere has been to eliminate the Common Core State Standards for public education created by the National Governors Association and state schools chiefs. The standards establish measures by which students and schools can determine whether young people are prepared for their post-high school lives of higher education and work.
McCrory a question
Now the Common Core standards are in danger, with both houses of the General Assembly having passed measures doing away with them. Gov. Pat McCrory is against dumping the standards, but he is ambivalent about whether he will veto the legislature’s reckless action.
Yes, the standards are higher in terms of course requirements than they used to be, and 45 states, including this one, adopted them on the belief that they would provide states with insight as to how their students stacked up against those from around the country. That, in turn, will give states and the nation a perspective on how American students stand against those around the world with whom they’ll compete in the global marketplace ... of ideas and of work.
The standards make sense for students who want to achieve and for parents who want to know how their kids are really doing. And, as evidenced by a full-page advertisement taken out by business leaders and education officials in The News & Observer last week, they make sense for business.
That makes it so curious as to why leaders of the business-friendly Republican Party in the General Assembly would preside over the abandonment of Common Core in favor of state-established standards that lawmakers say they want to be just as high as Common Core’s.
They just make sense
The only explanation is that those GOP leaders are being led around by tea party extremists who truly believe that Common Core is some kind of big-government conspiracy designed to indoctrinate students into what ... they don’t know. And the tea party types believe, surely, that their big enemy, President Obama, is behind it all.
That’s ludicrous. Governors and school officials, people of both major parties and varying political and educational philosophies, came up with and supported Common Core because it made sense.
Some GOP lawmakers want state education officials to come up with new standards in lieu of Common Core right now, something state Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson rightly says would be “virtually impossible.”
Once again, GOP lawmakers are legislating based on wild ideology based on suspicion and imagination and little else. Will they ever have the courage to say “Enough!” to the destructive extremists of their party?
June 8, 2014 at 9:03 am
Richard Bunce says:
N&O hates testing, loves the test...
June 8, 2014 at 9:32 am
A.P. Dillon - LadyLiberty1885 says:
Another Anonymous N&O Op ed likely written by the Chamber of Commerce for them in which they demonize parents, students and teachers who see the Common Core for what it is: a flawed set of experimental standards.
MEMO TO N&O: This isn't Right or Left. This isn't the Tea Party. One of my friends involved in this is as Liberal as they come and she LOATHES Common Core. This movement includes people from all walks of life and ideologies and we're sick of our own news outlets smearing us.
Let me know how that "tea party is racist" label you are attempting to put on your readership works out for ya?
BTW folks, there's not a single factual bit in this op-ed beside the second threat to legislators by the chamber:
The first threat was made clear by Gene Arnold on NCSPIN a few weeks back where he said outright that the Chamber was going to choke donations to legislator campaigns unless they kill common core. With all due respect to Mr. Arnold. I thank him for being arrogant enough to say that out loud on television for all to hear. The public should know how the Chamber is attempting to silence the public on this issue with their money and influence.
The News and Observer should be ASHAMED of themselves for this propaganda piece that serves only to smear their own readers.
June 8, 2014 at 4:18 pm
Norm Kelly says:
First, this editorial appeared in the N&D. Should be 'nough said, but it probably ain't so. The N&D normally supports the same things that lefties support, including teachers.
Second, it's not just tea people disparaging Common Core.
Third, it's too early in the process to claim it's not the evil so many say it is. How long has the process been in place? How many kids have graduated from high school having used Common Core standards their entire school life? None? Really? Then, you are right, you can claim it's success anytime now. It's obvious that the standards are having the effect of producing kids with the ability to think critically and logically.
I haven't bothered reading this post yet. It's hard to get past the opening to see what other kinds of crap follows. It's kinda like listening to the occupier. Why bother? What a waste of time. He's gonna do what he wants to do no matter what he says. He's gonna lie to the public no matter how he has to do it. He's gonna violate the law, any law, any time he wants and nobody does anything to stop him. So why listen to him babble on? See, just like reading this N&D editorial. Waste of time.
June 8, 2014 at 7:32 pm
Norm Kelly says:
I find myself sitting around with a few minutes to spare. Figured why not read the trash. So I pick up this N&D editorial. Trash is as trash does, to paraphrase Forest.
'The tea party subsidiary of the Republican Party'. Interesting way to refer to tea people. When the N&D refers to certain demoncrat party members do they write 'the socialist subsidiary of the Democrat party ...'? Do they point out that Obama is a socialist? Do they point out that Harry is not just senile but also a socialist? Did they ever point out that not only is David Price confused, he's a socialist as well. All of the demon party members believe central control is the ultimate; it's what's best for the country and especially what's right for the little people.
'the Republican Party has tossed wrenches into the orderly process of politics and government...'. Is this what the N&D writes in order to refer to the legislature when it was in control of the demon party? The demons were orderly? The process of politics on the demon side is orderly? Maybe. Not only wouldn't I know, but I don't care. What I do care about is that whether it's orderly or not is not what matters. What matters is how the pols in power treat the citizens and businesses in their districts. Do the pols in charge believe we should be free? Or do we have a bunch of pols who believe the philosophy of 'there oughta be a law ...'? Just because Republicans are doing things DIFFERENT from what the demons did DOES NOT mean it's not orderly. The libs, including the N&D editorial staff, may not like the new orderly, but the less happy they are, the happier we are and the better it is for EVERYONE in the state, the better it is for the economy as a whole.
Speaking of Sarah Palin 'whose wacky conspiracy-theory politics'. You mean like the time she talked about the death panels that would be a part of Obamacare/socialized medicine? That one came true, there are death panels, call them what you wish. So this was not a wacky conspiracy theory at all. How about the theory that Harry Reid is senile? That one also is true and has nothing to do with conspiracy. So, what exactly do you speak of when you say such disparaging things about Mrs. Palin? Do you refer to any comments she may have made, as have other conservatives, about Obama being a muslim, or being a muslim-sympathizer? I don't recall her saying anything about this, but it can be documented and proved true. Bergdahl is only the latest example of Barry bending over backwards to please our enemy.
'routine raises of the debt ceiling'. So, just because it's become routine doesn't mean it's actually a good thing. Our country is now OVER $17TRILLION in debt with NO END IN SIGHT! What part of attempting to get Washington in line is a BAD thing? And the facts show that we were not on the brink of financial collapse. Also, it's interesting that libs, in Washington and at the N&D, forget that only one time in our history has our debt rating been lowered. That's right - when the libs controlled the Senate and when Barry was the occupier. Should this have been a sign to the libs? Well, yes. It should have been, but libs are more concerned about paying people to vote for them, more concerned about central planner control, than they are about the future of the country. Libs are more concerned about creating socialized medicine, a complete take-over of the health care industry, than they are in preserving a good economy for our kids & grandkids. It's more important for libs to appeal to a specific group with a specific policy than to be concerned about the consequences of that policy for the general population. What part of simply passing a debt ceiling increase WITH NO restrictions makes sense to the N&D editorial staff? Just like the $2BILLION dollar debt the libs in Raleigh took on to pay for unemployment payments, how does the N&D plan to pay off the $17TRILLION+ debt? If not when the debt ceiling comes up, then when? And HOW?
'with cuts in Medicaid'. Let's look at history and the truth; something libs & N&D are unfamiliar with. Remember when socialized medicine passed along party lines? Remember there were all those back room deals to get people on board with the scheme? Also remember that THE LIB/DEMONCRAT PLAN called for DRASTIC cuts to medicare. This was done by the libs in order to claim that Obamascare wouldn't bankrupt the country. But it was THE LIBS who drastically cut Medicare, not the Republicans. Medicaid got cut? Really? I thought medicaid was EXPANDED across the country to take on Obamascare patients. How could it be cut at the same time that it was expanded? Is this funny money again?
Common Core is NOT just STANDARDS as supporters want to claim. CC is curriculum. Which is bad. I know of a 5th grader who had points deducted from a math paper because she didn't follow the CC method for getting the right answer! She showed her work. She got the correct answer. But lost points because she didn't follow the method. This isn't teaching, this isn't accepting critical thinking by kids. This is indoctrination! This is curriculum not Standards! Not every kid learns the same; not every kid is the same. But standards allow for flexibility. Curriculum and government mandates do NOT allow for flexibility. And the only reason that 45 states accepted CC as quickly as they did is because of the bribe offered by the central planners. Prior to the bribe, how many states had accepted CC? Prior to the bribe, how many schools had proved that CC was the right direction to go? Prior to the bribe, how many kids had successfully completed a CC curriculum? Until you have FACTS and INFORMATION, you can NOT draw conclusions. Unless you are a lib. When you are a lib, facts are irrelevant and to be ignored.
Referring to the demons left in the state legislature, the N&D editorial staff writes ' wild ideology based on suspicion and imagination'. Well, actually I guess they meant this in reference to the Republican majority. But what drove the demons when they controlled? What drives the demons in Washington now? Already being $17TRILLION in debt and planning to go further into debt isn't a wild ideology? It takes a great deal of imagination to believe that adding MORE government programs and MORE government expense isn't going to drive the national debt even higher/deeper. It's also based on a wild ideology not based in intelligence, truth, or facts. At the state level, our state budget has been in the $20billion range for a number of years. The demon party accepted a $2billion loan from the central planners to pay for a portion of a SINGLE line item. Not only did the demons put the state into debt by 10% of the total budget, but their wild ideology and imagination let them go into debt WITH NO PLAN TO PAY IT BACK! And then they wanted to DO IT AGAIN, and complained when the Republicans stopped this goofy, wild, ideological, partisan sprint to the brink.
I guess I was right about this post in the N&D from the beginning, before I had even read it. Waste of time. Lack of truth/honesty. Wildly partisan and ideological. Trying to stir up the demon party base using hyperbole and misinformation. I expect the majority of the N&D readers will suck it up. Low information voters tend to read this rag as well as vote for demons. They also tend to listen to the buffet slayer, as if he had something useful to say. Waste of time has come to an end.
