by:  Diane Benjamin

I asked Unit 5 how much Common Core was costing them.  Them claim ZERO.  Unit 5 and District 87 were test sites, so maybe they haven’t incurred costs – YET.

Here’s a little history:

The Common Core State Standards, meant to guide K-12 instruction in math and language arts, were written by nonprofit education advocacy groups with input from state associations and funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Obama administration gave states substantial incentives to adopt the standards in 2010. Most quickly did, often with little public debate.  

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/big-business-takes-on-tea-party-over-common-core-104662.html#ixzz2vxrnTELe

The Illinois legislature never voted to accept Common Core.  The Education Department wanted Race to the Top money – so they took it and were then required to adopt the standards.

People opposed to Common Core have many reasons.  The teaching of math looks ridiculous as simple problems are turned into long projects.  The answer is correct as long as the student shows how they got it – not if its right.  The students are subjected to constant testing and it has to be done on computers.  Who is paying for all the new computers?  The students are tracked and data is accumulated on each one.  The data often crosses a line between what the school needs and the child’s home life.  Some states are dropping Common Core, many teachers have come out against it.  One-size fits all education is not the answer to falling test scores.

Google Common Core.  Go to http://stopcommoncoreillinois.org/ for even more information.

The State of Illinois keeps cutting school funding, Common Core is raising costs.  Training of teachers and textbooks all cost money.  Even if the schools won’t admit it, their cost are increasing because they are required to comply with this untested and unproven experiment on our kids.  Parents should be asking questions instead of just handing a LOT more money to schools.

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