Common Core Concept: Important to FORGET that...

[Chris_Wendt]

...the Common Core Concept, including the Common Core Curriculum, the Common Core Standards, the Common Core Assessments, the Common Core Database, and the use of the Common Core scores for evaluating teacher professional performance was the brainchild of the NGA, which stands for the National Governors Association. The news media seems to have done a good job forgetting that seminal fact in its reporting of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's headline-grabbing announcement that he (and the rest of the State of New Jersey) will abandon the Common Core.

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The Common Core Concept was conceived in 2007 and the first announcement of the initiative to develop it was made in 2008 by the NGA. Elaboration of the Concept, the Curriculum, the Standards, the Assessments, and the use of CC test scores for teacher evaluation (APPR) was the result of 7-1/2 years' ongoing work between 2008 and the present day. To accurately direct the pointer of history at those most responsible for the trajectory of the Common Core Concept and all of the attendant parts of that concept, let's see who were the governors of New Jersey and New York during this crucial period:

2007 Inception - 2008 Announcement
Jon Corzine (New Jersey)
Eliot Spitzer (New York)

2008-2009 Early elaboration period
Jon Corzine (New Jersey)
David Patterson (New York)

2010-Present: Later elaboration period and implementation period
Chris Christie (New Jersey)
Andrew Cuomo (New York)

If nothing else, the history of the Common Core should underscore two crucial points to be remembered:

1. Elected politicians should be kept out of public education policy altogether.
2. The federal government should get out of state education policy and stay there.

Comments?

Respectfully,

Chris Wendt

[bnjasper]

Chris

Let’s assume all your dates are correct. That would make it 7 or 8 years that this country has been trying to establish an education system that would be an improvement on the old.

Let’s assume we need to have an education system that is an improvement on the old. In fact all the editorial and op ed pieces I have read seem to agree. We need to put more rigor into education.

So what has stopped all these efforts from coming to fruition. Aha…the 700 pound gorilla that stops all initiatives. The Teacher’s Union stands in the way of any and all changes that are deemed positive for the education of the kids.

Thus, if Christie does surrender, it seems to me to be another victory for the union. They will never allow teacher evaluations tied to performance.

The only way to bypass the union is legislation. Ergo you need the pols involved. Oops the teacher’s union elects most of the politicians. Circle Circle Circle.