Common Core’ Nationalizes and Dumbs Down Public School Curriculum

‘Common Core’ Nationalizes and Dumbs Down Public School Curriculum


‘Common Core’ Nationalizes and Dumbs Down Public School Curriculum

Ron Paul
Infowars.com
May 27, 2013

http://www.infowars.com/common-core-nationalizes-and-dumbs-down-public-school-curriculum/
In addition to shredding civil liberties, launching a utopian global war for democracy, and going on a spending spree that would make LBJ blush, the so-called “conservative” Bush administration dramatically increased federal control over education via the “No Child Left Behind” act. During my time in Congress I heard nothing but complaints about this law from teachers, administrators, and, most importantly, students and parents. Most of the complaints concerned No Child Left Behind’s testing requirements, which encouraged educators to “teach to the test.”

Sadly, but not surprisingly, instead of improving education by repealing No Child Left Behind’s testing and other mandates, the Obama administration is increasing national control over schools via the “Common Core” initiative. Common Core is a new curriculum developed by a panel of so-called education experts. The administration is trying to turn Common Core into a national curriculum by offering states increased federal education funding if they impose Common Core’s curriculum on their public schools. This is yet another example of the government using money stolen from the people to bribe states into obeying federal dictates.

Critics of Common Core say it “dumbs down” education by replacing traditional English literature with “informational texts”. So students will read such inspiring materials as studies by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the EPA’s “Recommended Levels of Insulation,” and “Invasive Plant Inventory” by California’s Invasive Plant Council. It is doubtful that reading federal reports will teach students the habits of critical thinking and skepticism of government that the Founders considered essential to maintaining a free republic.

Like Obamacare, Common Core (now dubbed “ObamaCore” by some) has sparked a backlash in the states, leading some to propose legislation forbidding state participation in the scheme. I hope these efforts lead to states not just opting out of Common Core, but out of No Child Left Behind and all other federal education programs as well.

Parents can also effectively “opt out” of programs like Common Core by seeking alternatives to government education. It is no coincidence that, as federal control over education increases, the quality of public education has declined and more parents have chosen to homeschool.

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http://www.infowars.com/common-core-nationalizes-and-dumbs-down-public-school-curriculum/

Quote :

Critics of Common Core say it “dumbs down” education by replacing traditional English literature with “informational texts”. So students will read such inspiring materials as studies by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the EPA’s “Recommended Levels of Insulation,” and “Invasive Plant Inventory” by California’s Invasive Plant Council

When I was in 3rd grade we read Little House on the Prairie. In 6th grade we read Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. In Junior High and High school I remember reading Great Expectations [hated it] Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four [loved 'em both]. Oh yeah, have our kids ever been dumbed down. I remember getting in trouble and almost getting expelled over my report on Tom Sawyer because I used the "N" word. I won the argument soundly in front of a private bevy of faculty and the school principal proving my use was a direct quote from the text and was in the book that way many times over my one teeny-tiny quote. I didn't get expelled. Try doing that nowadays.

California has adopted a test called CASHEE. California State High school Exit Exam. My kids say it's easy to pass. But I don't mind it. We make sure that the kids know the basics before they leave school. That sounds good to me.

Researcher - I read some of those exact same books in high school and my kids report that they have read them too. (I have a senior about to graduate, an 8th grader and a 4th grader. All in public schools) My son's 4th grade teacher read to them Farmer Boy Feast also by Laura Ingalls Wilder. written from the aspect of her husband when he was a kid. It also contains a cookbook and every Thanksgiving the teacher asks for volunteers to bring in the dishes and all the kids get to try a bite of everything. Succotash, mince pie, chicken and noodle pie etc. My point is that there are still really GREAT schools and really GREAT teachers in this country. We are not all going to heck in a hand basket. Unfortunately, the funding and the rules are for the most troubled schools which are more likely to be in the inner cities.

What i've noticed is that It's the Parents that make a difference in the schools. Every teacher at the elementary school asks and gets several parent volunteers everyday in each classroom. We help in small groups with math, reading, library, computer lab, everything. I think it keeps the teachers on their toes because parents are there everyday witnessing what is being taught and how it is being taught. It also lets the kids know that this stuff they are learning is important.

One more thing. My 8th grader just took the spring time tests (out here its called STAR testing) and he noticed that the history they were tested on was all from last years (7th grade) material. He felt like his teacher didn't teach them anything for the test (He was in Honor's History). What good is that? So he can be tested next year on the knowledge from this year? Who'd remember. I don't mind teaching to the test, if the test has high standards. BTW, I was dumbfounded to learn that freshman do not take a history class.

Parents make the difference in education. Not Federal Government mandates.

Take a look at what's in some of these Common Core texts:

And also this:

More on Common Core from a high school geometry teacher:

http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/kristina-ribali/common-core-from-a-high-school-geometry-teachers-p?source=twitter

Items like this make me so happy we decided to homeschool...and even more appreciative of my wife who has been a fantastic teacher along the way!