More concerns than suggested benefits

By Alaina Hinze

The Common Core State Standards dictates what students nationwide learn in any given year. When "state-led" is used to describe the development of these standards, the term refers to Gov. Nixon unilaterally agreeing to the standards (one year before their release), not the people or our legislators.

The June 2010 letter introducing the standards reads: "As new research is conducted and we evaluate the implementation of the common core standards, we plan to revise the standards on a set review cycle." "We" is a reference to organizations that funded the development of the standards and own the copyright, the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Both are advocates for next-generation data collection and are funded by state and federal tax dollars and corporations such as The Gates Foundation, Pearson, McGraw Hill and Apple.

The standards require data from each individual student be collected through classroom computers and transferred to the Smarter Balanced Assessment consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

A 2010 overview of Missouri's Race to the Top application noted the following action by the state:

"Direct the implementation of and manage the Missouri Comprehensive Data System containing P-20 longitudinal data from multiple sources and state agencies for use by all stakeholders for instructional, research and planning purposes."

Missourians have received no estimated cost of implementing or revising the standards as required by the program's owners. How will your school district pay for the increased broadband, computers/software, new learning materials [curriculum] or professional development instruction for teachers on alignment of new curriculum?

Advocates say school districts will have flexibility in curriculum and teaching methods. However, states can add only 15 percent of relevant content to the standards -- approximately 7 minutes per day. In addition, states will not be considered to have adopted the standards if any individual standard is omitted. While teachers and school districts can choose their own curriculum, they will be forced to choose those that align with the standards to maintain competitive test scores and compliance.

Even ACT has aligned college entrance exams with the standards. With every public school in the state [the nation] teaching the same grade level standards, will a child be allowed to progress beyond his peers? What sets one school district or state apart from another? The CCSS removes the incentive for schools to excel beyond those standards. Competition between districts builds better education.

Advocates also say the standards are more rigorous. It is important to point out Dr. Stotsky, the only English Language Arts expert on the validation panel, refused to sign off on the English standards fearing high school students would graduate reading at only a seventh-grade level. Hence the need for the copyright disclaimer: "The Common Core State Standards are provided as-is and with all faults, and NGA Center/CCSSO make no representations or warranties of any kind ..." A limitation on liability statement includes: "Under no circumstances shall NGA Center or CCSSO ... be liable…."

I've never heard a teacher recite a disclaimer. I think if they did, I would run the other direction.

Alaina Hinze is a Jackson R-2 taxpayer, parent and school board member. This guest column represents her views on Common Core but does not necessarily represent the positions of other Jackson School Board members.