The Common Core Argument

Hello again, everyone! Did you tune in to the Republican debates? I wasn't able to view all of it, but I was able to see the candidates' opinions on one little education program known as Common Core.

Now, what is Common Core? From what I know, Common Core is basically an initiative laying out what kids in the country should know in English and math by their senior year of high school, and tries to develop similar standards in the states so everyone is ready to enter college or the workforce (whichever they choose) at the right time.

However, Common Core only lays out STANDARDS, especially since it's illegal for the federal government to intervene in curriculum in states (1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act). School districts generally adopt the standards and develop lessons around said standards, so it's not like a 10th grader in Kentucky is learning the same thing in their English class as a 10th grader in California, but they will be having lessons based on standards that common core lays out.

Now... what did the Republicans say about Common Core?

Well, both Trump and Rubio pledge to end it... but they don't understand that they can't quite do that, since Common Core wasn't created by the federal government (remember that act I mentioned in the above paragraph?), but actually voluntarily adopted by governors of almost every state in the country (Texas is one of the states that has not, if you were wondering). So, sorry, Mr. Trump and Mr. Rubio, you can't repeal something that's not on a federal level. (Trump doesn't understand Common Core very well, either. He claimed that is was "education through Washington D.C"... but as you can see, that's clearly not the case.)

Mr. Trump has once again proved why he shouldn't be president of the United States

Now, you may be wondering... What do I think of Common Core?

Well, personally, I think it's a good idea. It helps set standards for kids all across the country to be prepared for college, the workforce, et cetera and to remain on the same level education-wise even if different states may be teaching different lessons under those standards. The main problem with it is just people being uneducated on what Common Core actually is and therefore misinterpreting its purpose, as shown by just listening to Mr. Trump tonight (as well as some of CC's pointless steps in math... considering that there are multiple ways to solve them, but that's a problem I have with the standards, not the idea itself).

If only I could actually see Common Core in action in Texas...

Instead, the TEA is trying to "raise the educational standards" of Texas students, and because of the new "standards" the TEA is laying out, I'm not quite fond of it right now, not at all...

...In fact, I think I know what my next blog post will be about.

EDIT (3/12/16): Wanted to show that I think CC is a good IDEA, even though I disagree with some of their standards