First Blog

For the last several years, we’ve seen a parade of prominent educators, businessmen, and politicians extolling the virtues of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).   Big money has been spent, and in the educational enterprise, big means really big.   The US Department of Education conditioned some state funding on the basis of states accepting and implementing the new standards.  Partly because of the probably correct perception our public education system was failing, the CCSS were adopted with virtually no testing by at least forty states.   It was hoped, actually expected, that most states would now be rowing with common ores and the result would be a stronger national educational system.    But these standards are intellectually demanding as to what is taught and importantly to how they are to be taught.    Many of our students and teachers were not up to the challenge.   The teachers were given insufficient training, and the students were left in the wake of this giant oil