Common core is by no means happily accepted by all educators. In fact, quite to the contrary, it is a hotly contested issue that has parents and educators up in arms. It seems like a week hardly goes by that we don’t see a news post about how ridiculous common core math is. Instead of simply adding 2 + 2, students seem to be forced to go through a needlessly complex series of steps that appear to introduce them to calculus. When did it become unacceptable for a 5 year old to use his fingers to count? The kid is 5. If he was 15 and using his fingers we might have cause to worry, but 5?
There are some good things about common core, but I’m pretty sure none of those things are actually in practice. Yes, students in Idaho are most likely to experience a different set of options for their future career than students in the Bronx. However, common standards (assuming those standards set a high bar for education) assure that all students across the country will receive a high level of education. The problem with common core is that many of the standards are… substandard (to say the least).
Regardless of the standards, what common core or anyone else says, teachers are the only ones who can say to any degree of surety exactly what will be taught in their classroom. Administrators are too few and too busy running the school to sit in every teacher’s room all day every day to make those kind of assurances. School boards barely set foot inside classrooms because they’re busy running the administrative side of the district. We can blame common core all day long until we run out of breath for the atrocities forced upon our students, but ultimately that responsibility lies with the individual teacher.
Regardless of the standards, what common core or anyone else says, teachers are the only ones who can say to any degree of surety exactly what will be taught in their classroom. Administrators are too few and too busy running the school to sit in every teacher’s room all day every day to make those kind of assurances. School boards barely set foot inside classrooms because they’re busy running the administrative side of the district. We can blame common core all day long until we run out of breath for the atrocities forced upon our students, but ultimately that responsibility lies with the individual teacher.