Detractors of the Common Core State Standards Initiative have argued for months now that the “state” part of its title is misleading. By their estimation, the forty-five states that have adopted the standards are under the yoke of the federal government, signing onto Common Core under duress and out of desperation for extra cash. This analysis is not crazy; it’s a fact that, for better or worse, Arne Duncan seduced states into participating in Common Core with the lure of Race to the Top grants. But now that RTT’s largesse is largely spent, most states—half of them, at minimum—are free to bail at any time. Yet at the end of a landmark legislative season that featured conservative breakthroughs on vouchers, collective bargaining, and pensions, not a single state took action to back out of Common Core. (Some discussed doing so.) Were the hundreds of Republicans swept into office in November too busy to make the “states’ rights” argument a top priority? Or perhaps do they agree with Jeb Bush (and Joel Klein) that the move to common standards—developed and owned by the states—is just common sense?
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Click to listen to commentary on Bush and Klein's stance on Common Core from the Education Gadfly Show podcast |
“The Case for Common Educational Standards,” by Jeb Bush and Joel Klein, Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2011
“Pop quiz on Common Core,” by Mike Petrilli, Flypaper, June 27, 2011