Arnius Duncanus is at it again. Unmoved by pleas that he “first do no harm” when it comes to promising reforms like the Common Core State Standards Initiative, he seems compelled to attach mandates to his forthcoming NCLB waivers that will require adoption of the Common Core standards.
No, his team won’t mention the Common Core, but everybody knows that’s what he’s talking about when he calls for “college and career-ready standards.”
Duncan says that he doesn’t want to be tone-deaf to state officials’ concerns about No Child Left Behind. Fair enough. But why be so tone-deaf to the politics around all of this?
I once heard Arne talking about winning gracefully. That’s what’s called for now. Forty-five states have adopted the Common Core. Most are deeply engaged in developing assessments related to the standards. During the past legislative session, no state backed out. In other words, proponents of the Common Core have won a great victory. The only possible outcome of Secretary Duncan putting more federal pressure on the states to adopt the Common Core is stoke the fires of conservative backlash–and to lose many of the states that have already signed on.
Walk away from this one, Mr. Secretary. Please, those of us who support the Common Core are begging you.
-Mike Petrilli
Golly, Mike. You support giving centralized authority more power to drive education policy, and then you expect the USDE Secretary not to use it. Your naivete is stunning, or perhaps it is simply feigned. Massachusetts had a lot to lose in this whole process–best in the nation (NAEP), in the top 6 countries in math and science (on TIMSS)–but you told us we were paranoid for suggesting that centralizing authority would lead to, uh, centralized authority. So beg the Secretary as much as you want. That’s what courtiers have always done.
Great comment Jim. I don’t support common core OR Arne Duncan. He was the big proponent of the nationalization of standards and the centralization of education. And why haven’t states opted out? Because of the money they received…which won’t cover the total cost of implementation. Many of them used to the money to plug up budget holes. So of course they won’t back out now, they are in too deep.
I would suggest you read about the truth of common core standards on this website: http://www.truthinamericaneducation.com. Not only do we need to rid schools of the disaster of common core, we need to rid ourselves of the double disasters of the DOE and Arne Duncan.
Common Core standards might have been developed as a baseline for States to meet or exceed. For those States with high standards, it does not make sense for them to walk backward. The new generation of standardized tests starting in preschool, which add additional tests to the mix and correlate to these standards is an expensive, unnecessary federal mandate. Then, the data must be collected from preschool to one year beyond high school, requiring great expenditures at all levels, down to the district and schools. With the financial health of the nation at such risk, what can justify additional financial placed on schools already struggling with lean budgets. How these expenditures affect children coming back to school in the next few weeks is unexplained.
Jim Stergios said it all. Nothing to add.
Sorry, Mike.
IMO Duncam’s scheme is an attempt to circumvent Congress and the 10th Amendment as well Article 1 Section one of the Constitution. Additionally, the personal information the Administration intends to collect on individuals is violation of the Fourth Amendment.
The Secretary has no authority to write law, bypass Congress or ignore the Constitution, doing so clearly justifies stlgretchen’s suggestion we get rid of Duncan.
As Sandra in Brevard points out… the Government is a little short of money.. By what logic does Duncan assume Congress is going to inclined to spend money we don’t have on more of Obama’s Grand Agenda/
As for the legality of Duncan’s plan, people smarter than me are questioning it.
Brookings Institute
The NCLB waiver authority does not grant the secretary of education the right to impose any conditions he considers appropriate on states seeking waivers, nor is there any history of such a wholesale executive branch rewrite of federal law through use of the waiver authority. Brookings Institute
http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2011/0808_obama_education_whitehurst
Heritage Foundation
The Constitution designated Congress as the governmental body empowered with law-making: “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress,” says Article I, Section 1. The Obama Administration does damage to that constitutional provision by circumventing the normal law-making process of Congress to push the policy preferences of his Administration on local schools.
http://blog.heritage.org/2011/08/08/waive-state-educational-authority-goodbye/