News Brief
Conservatives and the Common Core
Wall Street Journal (05/13/13) Stern, Sol; Klein, JoelSol Stern, author of "Breaking Free: Public School Lessons and the Imperative of School Choice," and Joel Klein, CEO of Amplify and former chancellor of the New York City public schools, consider the Commons Core State Standards to be "one of the most promising education initiatives of the past half century" and believe all Americans should support them. They discredit claims from conservatives that states were pressured through the federal Race to the Top program to adopt the standards, insisting that the standards initiative amounts to "constitutional federalism at its best" because there were no punishments or sanctions against the five states that chose not to adopt the standards. "Conservative critics ignore how the Common Core Standards support teaching all students about the nation's rich heritage of constitutional government, which is often overlooked in K-12 schools," they write. "By focusing students on documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Federalist Papers, the Common Core Standards can help all students understand the heart of the American heritage." They believe the standards will increase rigor and bolster academic content. They add, "Since the standards call for a coherent, grade-by-grade curriculum, those states that have signed on to the Common Core are now having a serious discussion about the specific subject matter that must be taught in the classroom. This is a discussion that's been neglected for almost half a century."
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