When It Comes To Education, I'm For Common Core

Was education better or worse before No Child Left Behind?

If you're asking me about Common Core Education Standards, then you will discover why I am still leaning Jeb Bush. For me, nothing matters more than healthy, educated children who grow up to raise healthy and educated children of their own.

Essentially, Jeb Bush is the father of Common Core education which was initially enacted under his brother's presidency via No Child Left Behind legislation, but it was inspired from Jeb and Florida who believed every state had to be expected to set high standards, not just states that cared more.

At the core, Common Core is valuable and necessary.  I like to consider it the reason that I talk about my 5 kids like Donald Trump talks about his Wharton education.  They're really smart.  No really.  Our science and tech school (DSST) was developed by a visionary group of founders that have integrated Common Core learning standards into the every day curriculum.  The problem with this high achieving model is that the state test becomes a big waste of time and energy for kids who do this form of testing almost daily.

My daughter agonizes over the testing much like I did but for different reasons.  She, and most of her classmates finish the dumbed down testing so early but are forced to sit quietly for the duration of the allotted time for each test, for 3 days.  In troubled schools like the one I graduated at, Common Core standards become a big pain in the neck for kids who've worked a little too late to help their parents with bills because they simply have no other choice. While every school has a few kids of this sort, some schools have an unfair share. If every school truly was expected to integrate Common Core standards into everyday curriculum, educational improvement would be clear and clearly measurable through the testing that schools should be tracking without an additional test that seems to measure the teacher more than the student.

Nonetheless, let's be perfectly clear. Bad teachers need to be weeded out.  I'm not talking about good teachers that need some training.  I'm referring to those over abundance of Teach For America teachers that only get into teaching so that they can get their graduate studies paid for, yet have zero passion for education, kids, maintaining the assigned curriculum, or developing a curriculum of their own that can be easily followed by any substitute in the event of absence.

In our effort to support other children who weren't as fortunate as our kids who had a structure of support that surrounded them educationally,  my wife and I have come to discover that curriculum driven education is still inconsistently utilized even within schools that are performing well because Common Core testing often overwhelms Common Core curriculum.  Poor pay in the industry and  the cloud caused by teacher unions have afforded bad teachers the space to remain bad for way too long given the fact that our children don 't get a do-over with their education .  Whatever they miss becomes remediation or eternal ignorance.

The good of Common Core is often times inappropriately connected to the bad of charter schools . which are occasionally just an effort from some to use tax money to segregate themselves from the commoners.  Common Core and charter school supporters are often the same voices, but their causes differ at the core.

I appreciate the value of Common Core education although I think its over emphasis on STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) learning is at the sacrifice of well rounded children, especially those who aren't inclined towards STEM careers.  Preparing our children for good paying jobs is valuable... unless they are depressed, suicidal and feel too overworked to enjoy their income. Our abundance of stress and depressed kids is often caused by over parenting that blocks a kids growth experiences, but that is another blog for another day.

Quality of life is a balancing act that we must master before imbalance becomes our quality of life.

Common Core doesn't entirely get this concept and isn't focused on generating enough plumbers and electricians for my taste, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good second step from No Child Left Behind which was problematic too but not unfounded in its premise.  Since we now accept that the chain will never be stronger than its weakest link, we had to accept a general dumbing down of education for the sake of moving forward together. The only other alternative is alternative schooling which overly groups troubled students into an environment destined for trouble and doomed relative to achieving state testing standards. Due to funding cuts, tough choices in education would have occurred with the curriculum we have now or the one we develop for tomorrow.

Oddly, some of the biggest opponents of Common Core are teachers of students with learning challenges beyond the norm.  Common Core, in its design, is somewhat of an acceptance that we've failed "the least of these" in education and its time to prioritize for the greater good.  Now that we have anecdotal evidence via Common Core, we can both accelerate and innovate for the former who need more challenges or the latter who need something other than traditional university path learning. Common Core's stringent curriculum and save your job assessments don't necessarily allow for scheduling innovations that might cater to any kid of the margins that simply don't fit the norm.

Though I have listed more objections than protections to Common Core, my objections are actually corrections; the inevitable part of any big change. If the answer to education or health care (or governance) were as easy as we often like to make them, a full proof system for each would already be in use somewhere.

Those who scream against Common Core are mostly screaming against change as though we are really going back to the day of the old lady in the school house with a bunch of kids and her corporal punishment yardstick.  There was an eager appetite for learning in those days that technology and other visual distractions have destroyed forever.

Setting standards and rules via yardstick or otherwise will always disenfranchise someone along the way.  Historically, either the rules get adjusted or the people adjust.  So like Jeb said, change Common Core if you must, so long as you insure high standards everywhere for every kid.