“It’s hard. And it makes me feel stupid.” Common Core for Dummies
And now some words about Common core for Smarties.
Common Core has been adopted by all states except Alaska, Indiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Our dumbest state, Mississippi even adopted it. But with the Tea Party split on everything but kicking Mexicans out and denouncing Common Core – coincidentally since President Obama arrived in the White House – we now have a dozen more states held by Republican governors and legislatures that are expected to soon opt out. I am sure you can picture which states on the map in your head.
The anti Common Core movement is led of course by talk radio, Fox News, Evangelical Christianity, the Tea Party, the NRA and the rest of the Republican Base.
As is the case with religious intolerance, school vouchers and slapping women and children around, the RNC sees a winning political issue to make inroads into the African Americans community to compensate for so loudly cheering on white cops who shoot them down and leave them lying in the street.
Common Core is a set of suggested national educational standards created by top educators (smart people) who worked on the problem in a non partisan manner through the National Governor’s Association from 1996 until first implementation by Kentucky which was the first state to adopt it in 2010.
The first statistics arrived in 2013 showing high school graduation rate had increased from 80 percent to 86 percent, test scores went up 2 percentage points in the second year and percentage of students considered to be ready for college or a career increased from 34 percent to 54 percent.
The issue is much like why talk radio and Fox News make billions of dollars in profits. And why so many people in the middle of no-where listen to Michelle Bachmann and Louie Gohmert. Stupid people do not like feeling stupid, or having anyone point out how stupid they are. The money behind the GOP understands that all too well. Small words, trite phrases, simple solutions and fear and anger make it all too easy.
Sure the GOP tries to make their followers dislike Mexicans, African Americans, Indians, foreigners, Democrats, single women et al, but those are not THE ENEMIES. The enemies are community organizers, college professors and scientists.
During what we called THE SIXTIES came the horrifying Cultural Revolution in China. They paraded the parties’ enemies in the back of trucks with dunce hats being carted off to camps. These people in the back of those trucks were community organizers, college professors and scientists.
There is that darkness that crosses all lines through all time…