I am a big government liberal but let’s be honest, Common Core is a nationwide take over of our schools.

Let me start by saying I don’t have a problem with universal standards, I actually think they, with some slight variation from place to place, would be a good thing. My problems with common core are it doesn’t address our real problem, poverty, it doubles down on high stakes testing and it will siphon at the end of the day billions out of the schools and classrooms. But lets be honest they are a federal takeover of our schools and are being pushed by an administration that has gotten it nearly all wrong, high stakes testing, charter schools and Arne Duncan to name a few, on education.  

In 2009 the federal government used Race to the Top to give cash strapped, desperate states, and remember in 2009 nobody but the federal government who can just create money out of thin air had any money, what basically amounted to pennies when considering overall education budgets, to let the wolves (testing companies and charter schools) in the door, to double down on standardized tests, to blame teachers for not being able to completely overcome the dehabilitating effects of poverty and to create higher standards, i.e. Common Core.

Boom, there you have it!! States basically traded their ability to self determine their curriculums for a few pennies (and a No Child Left Behind waiver).

Now I am not saying some states didn’t embrace it, Florida anyone. Any reason they could find to stick it to teachers unions and to siphon money out of classrooms and to the bank accounts of testing companies and charter schools, i.e. their campaign donors, supporters and all to often their relatives, then they were going to jump at.

Extortion, desperation and greed have dictated way to many of our education policies.