Newspaper Editorials Against Common Core

Indianapolis Star, Russ Pulliam article in the newspaper, that urges the state to pause on implementation.

Excerpt: The question before the Indiana House and Senate is whether to hit the pause button on controversial Common Core educational standards.The new superintendent of public instruction, Democrat Glenda Ritz, wants to pause. She has been joined by a few conservative Republicans who see Common Core as a nationalization of education standards.

The state Senate is pondering legislation to require hearings in each congressional district to review the standards. Defenders of Common Core think the legislation threatens to interfere with progress in improving student achievement. Yet if Common Core is all that it’s defenders have claimed it to be, public hearings should only help.

What will the standards cost the state over 10 years? Almost nothing, just to give assent to Common Core. But new tests and instructional materials could cost as much as $500 million over a number of years.Could the money be better spent on reading in elementary schools? Is Ritz correct that education reform has placed too much emphasis on testing? Ritz soundly defeated the state’s biggest advocate of Common Core, Tony Bennett. Republican leaders in the General Assembly will ignore that election result at their future political peril.

Another reason to pause: To what extent should reform be left in the hands of education professionals? The standards were approved by the state Board of Education in 2010. Yet the professionals disagree among themselves about everything from Common Core to vouchers.

As a nationalization of educational curriculum, K-12, Common Core is too important to let the experts decide by themselves. Republican state Sens. Scott Schneider and Dennis Kruse have raised important objections. Democratic Sen. Tim Skinner, a retired teacher, has joined them on this legislation.

Another question: Will the standards engage parents in early childhood education? Are they clear and understandable? Or will parents be confused by unfamiliar jargon? That has happened with other educational innovations.

Hit the pause button. Rewrite the standards. See what parents think of this alleged education reform.

The Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel gets it.

An excerpt:

There is a need, of course, for input from all levels of government on maintaining superior public education. The greatest need is for local input, but the pressure from both state and federal governments is for greater control from farther distances. Before we lose local control altogether, we ought to consider just what we will be giving up.

The very premise of this nation is that the more decisions are made closest to the people they affect, the better off we are. The farther away we move from local solutions based on local knowledge, the less real freedom we have.

That no less true just because it’s education we’re talking about. Who should decide what our children learn? A handful of experts who will come up with a one-size-fits-all solution? Or the parents, educators and taxpayers who know the unique needs of their districts and the students in them?

The Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette came out in opposition.  They write:

Both President Obama and Mitt Romney have supported tying federal education dollars to high standards and testing, but pressure from conservatives has prompted the Republican challenger to distance himself from the Common Core plan.

“To financially reward states based on accepting the federal government’s idea of a curriculum is a mistake,” Romney said last week, noting there “may be a time when the federal government has an agenda it wants to promote.”

The same arguments are growing among some Indiana residents, who are questioning the state’s enthusiastic embrace of the standards. Rather than basing participation on the Common Core’s political supporters, Hoosiers should view the new academic requirements in terms of how they will affect Indiana students. By that measure, the Common Core and the national test that will support it are a step backward. (emphasis ours)