Are students being forgotten in the midst of the political battle that is ramping up over Common Core? It sure seems so.
Conservative groups across the country, as well as a few liberal ones, have escalated their campaign to awaken Americans to the supposed dangers of the Common Core. An array of organizations with multimillion dollar budgets and much experience in mobilizing crowds and lobbying lawmakers, including The Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, the Pioneer Institute, Concerned Women for America, and FreedomWorks are making a case against Common Core that centers around convincing Americans that Common Core is yet another attempt by the federal government to institute top-down changes. Some have even called Common Core “ObamaCore”.
The irony, of course, is that while Arne Duncan and President Obama do support Common Core, they had no part in its creation or adoption by most every state.
On the other side of the aisle, a mixture of conservative and liberal lobbying groups are scrambling to respond to the far right wing backlash. For example, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has already put $160 million toward supporting Common Core, has recently added another $10 million more and has pledged another $4 million in coming months for advocacy.
Proponents “were lulled into thinking this was a no-brainer, a done deal … but opponents got themselves organized and funded,” said Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and a supporter of the standards. It is safe to say that those groups which support Common Core have been caught somewhat off guard by such a stentorian reaction from the right.
While so many hundreds of millions are being spent on each side to argue for or against the Common Core, not enough dollars are being spent on training teachers to teach Common Core or to evaluate new curriculum that supposedly aligns with Common Core. It is probably not too late for far right voices to slow down Common Core some or to even force some states to withdraw their participation; however, a majority of states will roll out Common Core next school year. This means that while the dust is still rising now due to the controversy, when the dust settles next year, teachers and students will be left wondering what is next.
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