Crazy Thinking or Reasonable Concerns? | Stop Common Core in Michigan

(Editors Note: Melanie Kurdys sent an excellent email to lawmakers in advance of the final hearings this week Details of Common Core hearings here. It is reprinted here. )

Crazy Thinking or Reasonable Concerns?

I have noticed recently, people who are pro-common core are suggesting only crazy, right-wing extremists have concerns about common core. Rep. Tim Kelly has invited an anti-common core person to testify Wednesday who the Michigan press has already started discrediting. (Details of Common Core hearing here.)

Although this speaker is very knowledgeable, she is not the person the Stop Common Core group would have suggested for our precious, limited committee time. In fact we recommended two Michigan professors, one to address the math standards and the other to address the legal aspects.

Interestingly, Diane Ravitch noticed this trend as well and wrote a column on it. Here are two quotes from her article.

1) “Lately, I have noticed that defenders of the Common Core are smearing critics as Tea Party fanatics and extremists. That is what Arne Duncan said to the nation’s newspaper editors last month, when he claimed that opponents of the Common Core are members of “fringe groups,” people who don’t care about poor kids, and people who falsely accuse the federal government of having something to do with the Common Core. When interviewed on PBS, New York State Commissioner John King also said that the Tea Party was behind the criticism of the new standards.

They would like the public to believe that there is no responsible, non-political, non-ideological opposition to the Common Core standards.

This is not true, and I wrote this piece to explain why reasonable people have good reason to be concerned about the overhyping of the Common Core.”

And Ms. Ravitch makes this important point as well, to which no one has offered credible response.

2) “How does anyone know that the Common Core standards will prepare everyone for college and careers since they are now being adopted for the very first time? How can anyone predict that they will do what their boosters claim? There is no evidence for any of these claims.”

As you listen to this final hearing testimony, I would appreciate if you keep these points in mind.

Best wishes, Melanie Kurdys

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Please pass this along to your state legislators. They need to know that reasonable people have legitimate concerns about Common Core. If possible, attend the hearings they are open to the public and will allow comments or written testimony. And don’t stop calling and emailing state lawmakers and the Governor. We ARE making an impact!