A Clue to Common Core

Many believe Common Core represents a clandestine attack or perhaps a set-up for a future attack on Home Schooling. To some it's just a power-grab by the Federal Government.

The public school system has failed and while the bloated bureaucracy, the corrupt teachers unions and many other factors certainly play a part, ultimately it is the breakdown of the family that has led to the collapse of the education system.

The schools have to function as 'life-coaches' for many of these kids and parents are no longer disciplining their children and holding them accountable. For some kids, their home life is basically chaotic. The school day is increasingly wasted and yet for many of these kids getting the real work done 'at home' is either impossible or unlikely due to a lack of familial structure.

I hate to sound like James Dobson, but on that point he's correct. It's the family that's key. Where he's wrong is in thinking that legislation can somehow correct the situation. If there's one thing the government cannot fix, it's the family.

The fact that in the past we've have had 'nice' pagan families was a result of Common Grace. Ultimately there's no reason lost people should have nice families. We should actually expect the opposite. Rural values, a society with little leisure time and non-materialism created a different set of values.

I won't deny the influence of Christianity played a part but despite the views of Dobson and others, it cannot be 'just' that. Other societies have gone through these same cycles. Other cultures have created stable, disciplined societies that have notions of work and manners.

The individual states have failed in the public education experiment and the Federal Government is stepping in. Of course with this, there inevitably will be a loss of some local autonomy.

The Federal Government is not looking to micro-manage the school systems, but in their imposition of these new standards and the testing that goes with it, schools will feel hard pressed to focus mainly on the new programme.

While I home school my own children and have little interest in public education I know that in terms of society as a whole there has to be something, some kind of attempt at mandating education. This is especially true in an industrial or technological economy. Uneducated people can work as farm labourers but in our society, an uneducated class means unemployment and there are a host of social problems that accompany that term.

Is this just a big takeover? While I don't doubt there are many in the government with sinister designs I am quite convinced by recent precedent the Christian community will be some of the last to recognize it.

I'm speaking of the cheerleading during the previous administration as it systematically dismantled the Constitution and laid the groundwork for our new Security State. In that case political fidelity willingly turned a blind eye to the biggest power grab in the nation's history.

In the case of Common Core I actually am not terribly worried about the Federal Government utilizing these standards to take on the home schooling community. Home schooling is flourishing and frankly from a budgetary perspective saving the state a lot of money. They know that most homeschooling families are giving their kids a good if not superior education. In addition it would be political suicide to try and take on home schooling. It certainly won't be Obama who is already as weak as Clinton was during the Lewinsky scandal.

Why are they doing this then?

I think if you look at the emphasis in Common Core there are some clues to be found.

The main emphases are on Math and English. When I heard that I sat up and started paying attention. Why?

If you follow the news, for some years there's been a steady host of business leaders from Bill Gates on down pointing out that middle class American kids are coming out of the school system incapable of entering science and technology fields. They lack the basic math skills and by the time they've hit college they're already so far behind that they can't catch up.

These companies are forced to look overseas to bring in the types of skills they require. This is not only bad for American society, it's bad for the entire American economy. We have a growing number of highly skilled workers who are coming here, making money and in some cases leaving and returning to their homes outside the United States. Or in some cases migrating to another part of the Western world. Not all who come to America are impressed with our culture.

What that means is that you have a growing number of Middle Class people whose kids are not as invested in the society. The Lower Classes have already been disengaged and it's reaching a point of social crisis.

Personally I'm not all that concerned. However, you have to look at it from the perspective of people who believe in America, its history and its visions of itself. They're disturbed and at this point they're sort of grasping at straws.

Basic English has become something of a lost art. Basic grammar and writing skills are becoming a rarity. This also troubles business leaders.  

Why these two elements in particular?

Our economy is a technology and service economy. We're no longer agrarian or even very industrial. What little industry we have is mostly high tech. Most of our economy is oriented toward consumerism, financial services and other types of retail-service economy sectors.

These businesses are getting kids out of high school and college that don't know basic math and can't communicate properly. It's really starting to hurt the economy. You can't run a service economy when people can't speak and write and are unfamiliar with the protocols of the language.

It's bigger than just being irritated at the local gas station when the twenty-something kid can't count your change.

The absence of the arts, history, social studies and other topics tells me what Common Core is really all about.

This has been pushed by the business sector and effectively is turning our high schools into Vo-Tech (Vocational-Technical) schools. It's no longer about 'education', it's about basic skills for employment.

In addition, the colleges are complaining. Young adults are arriving at college and they're simply not prepared. Colleges have to spend massive amounts of time doing remedial education. Kids are graduating High School without knowing the parts of speech in some cases. My wife almost passed out when it was revealed to us not long ago that in a college English class the professor was going over nouns and verbs.

Another clue is the fact that the English being studied has nothing to do with literature or composition. Their goals and standards are objective. This is education minus the liberal arts. This isn't even about some kind of 'liberal' agenda. You can't push an educational agenda when your audience doesn't even possess basic skills.

Some of the private universities are still fairly academic and challenging, but many of the schools and in particular the state colleges and universities have really degenerated. Some of these kids that are graduating with 4 year degrees are little more educated than High School students were twenty five years ago. That's a generalization but one I feel pretty comfortable making.

In years past the kids going to college were on an advance placement track and those that weren't quite college ready went to Community Colleges. They used to serve a different purpose. Today they're utilized just as a cost saving measure or to give your kid a place to go the first couple of  years that's a little closer to home. They used to be for kids that were going to college a bit later, or kids that weren't quite ready for the rigours of a four-year school.

I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Common Core go by the wayside but I'm not as alarmed by it as some are.

For those parents that have their kids in public school system, it's long past time to look for an alternative. The schools are no longer about education and haven't been for some time. Their babysitting operations trying to create social conformity and failing on all fronts. If you're just now getting worried with the introduction of Common Core, then I would politely suggest it might be time to revisit the whole issue of education.

I for one am not trying to raise my kids to be 'go-getters' or movers and shakers. All I care about is that my children are Christians. Beyond that, I care not what they do. I just want to encourage them into whatever paths they might be interested in pursuing. Education for us is not something to be frantic about.

That said, we are pretty diligent about it. I'm more concerned that they understand the world and are prepared to enter it then mastering particular academic skills. That said, I live in a state with mandatory testing and my kids do very well.

I guess if I wanted to turn to a more conspiratorial framework I might suggest that the restrictive educational parameters of something like Common Core only further serve the interests of the power elite. A public ignorant of history, sociology, and geography are less likely to be informed about current events or be able to interact with them. They will be pliant and easily manipulated.

Personally I think the sports programmes should be done away with. That alone would save a tremendous amount of money. Instead they're doing away with music and the arts.

Our kids have not grown up glued to the computer. We don't have access to regular television. We don't have a video game system and none of them have phones. Consequently they spend a lot of time playing outside. In fact I think our family is known locally as the house with the kids that are always out riding their bicycles.

Exercise is important, and I know the arguments regarding the 'team' experience and competition and all that. I just don't buy it.

Regardless if I was going to send my kids out to some kind of school and couldn't afford a private school, then I would probably look into a Charter School. We have one near where we live and even though it has won awards, we are not impressed with it. Its education is sub-standard and yet it is exceeding other schools in the area. Things are in a sad state.

If I was a parent that didn't feel comfortable home schooling I think one of the Cyber-School models would be the best option.

While we've never been interested in the homeschooling co-ops (we don't have any in our rural county anyway) or our kids participating part-time in the public system, it would be nice if some of those opportunities were opened up to homeschooling kids. With one vehicle we're pretty limited. But depending on where you live and what your situation is, you don't always need to be terrified of the public school system or having contact with it.