Louisiana’s governor is spouting off again about the dangers of the Common Core Standards. At a speech before the American Principles Project, he warned of the dangers of the federal government imposing its will upon the states – even though the Common Core originated NOT from the federal government, but from the states themselves. Dave Weigel writes about this speech in Bloomberg Politics.
Obviously there are reasons to be concerned about implementation of standards that just aren’t the way they used to be. It’s irrelevant that the new standards might, indeed, be stronger – but it’s not irrelevant to worry about implementation too soon simply because the tools for assessing the level of knowledge of the common core are difficult to create and are not yet perfected.
But politicians like Bobby Jindal climb on the ignorant band wagon and, in my opinion, spout off about the dangers of the Common Core for reasons that are purely political – not dispassionate rational thought about what might be best for our students. While politicians like Bobby Jindal shout out from their podiums in an effort to gain political acceptance, the efforts toward creating real education reform get lost in the noise.
Conservatives and liberals ought to employ a few “critical thinking skills” when it comes to the Common Core, and base their support or opposition based facts rather than politicians’ personal career agendas.
With the upcoming hoopla around the race for presidential nominations, buckle your seat belt to hear all sorts of non-critical thought and nonsense about the Common Core – pro and con.
That applies not only to Bobby Jindal – but to ALL.
~ CCJ
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