It is time to jettison Common Core and high stakes testing. Common Core and high stakes testing are hurting our children, undermining the teaching profession and destroying our public schools
Representative Gary Glenn sponsored HB 4192, Repeal & Replace Common Core. With 29 co-sponsors, it is stuck in the Michigan Competitiveness committee (chair Representative Lee Chatfield). No other state has successfully jettisoned Common Core. It truly would be a competitive advantage if Michigan did!
Our representatives know Common Core is unpopular. Why are they not acting swiftly? Because two powerful, influential groups are standing in opposition: the education establishment and business leaders.
The education establishment has consistently shown their bias for the newest education fads. These are the same people who like Whole Language rather than phonics. They prefer new methods to multiply and divide rather than the “old” methods we all learned. They threw out cursive writing in favor of printing and typing. They threw out old literature like Tom Sawyer to replace it with politically correct Heather Has Two Mommies.
The education establishment likes Common Core. It uses new (unproven) teaching methods. Computer-based Common Core classes offer new delivery techniques, never mind over-stimulated kids are unable to concentrate. And computer-based testing makes it easier to judge kids and teachers for faster intervention (punishment).
Business leaders like Common Core because children are tracked into a massive data base creating a seamless system to develop human capital for the workforce. Business leaders think this human capital will be ready to do the jobs business needs. Business leaders like high stakes testing because they like the idea of closing schools that do not prepare our children correctly for their workforce: failing children, failing teachers and failing schools are a waste and should be eliminated.
Neither of these groups has the best interest of our children in mind. We do. We must save our children, our teachers and our public schools. We must jettison Common Core and high stakes testing. Tell our elected officials to Pass HB 4192 now.
Melanie Kurdys
Co-founder Stop Common Core in Michigan