Political Outcast

“Common Core”: The ObamaCare of Education

May 29, 2013

It sends shivers down the spines of freedom loving individuals. It is the Obamacare of education with its national standards and testing and its one-size-fits-all government model.

While the implementation of the Common Core curriculum is new, the passion for and the idea of national education has been burning in the hearts of progressives for more than a century.

Many people blame George W. Bush for Common Core. After all Common Core is just the natural extension of Bush’s “No Child Left Behind,” resulting in the progression to Obama’s “Race to the Top.”

“Race to the Top” was simply a bribe offered to cash poor states during the recession to entice them to accept the Common Core curriculum. Just imagine the federal government saying to the states: “You may have this pile of money to help your state through these tough times.” “Great,” reply the states. “What do we have to do?” “Oh, not much,” say the feds. “Just accept these national education standards and teach exactly what we dictate with no possibility of change or adjustment to the curriculum. That’s all.”

“Oh, is that all? We’ll take the cash and worry about the ramifications later,” say the states.

As I stated, Common Core is just the natural progression of an ever-intrusive federal government that has been advancing the idea of a national school system devoid of local control.

Each progressive administration, dating as far back as reconstruction, has moved the ball forward. Whether a little or a lot, the ball moved forward.

Before Bush’s “No Child Left Behind,” there was Bill Clinton, who in 1994 secured passage of the “Improving American Schools Act” and the “Goals 2000 Educate America Act.” Notice all the lovely flowery names for these laws? They picked these names so that no politician can vote against them. It’s quite dishonest.

Prior to Clinton there was kinder, gentler George H.W. Bush and his Charlottesville Education Summit in 1989. What came out of the summit were eight, typically liberal, pie-in-the-sky, feel-good, unachievable talking points dressed up as goals. Among these were gems such as “All children will start school ready to learn.” “Every adult American will be literate.” “The high school graduation rate will be at least 90%”. (Atlanta Public Schools had just over 51 percent of students graduate. The high school graduation rate in some Georgia school districts is under 50 percent: Randolph County (49.3 percent); Talbot County (45.5 percent); and Twiggs County (45.3 percent).) I won’t even waste my time commenting for I’m sure you’ve drawn the same conclusion. Absurd!

As one would expect of Ronald Reagan, although he supported education, he felt it better left to the states. But even in the Reagan Administration the “Improving America’s Schools Act” was passed in 1983.

Jimmy Carter, being the leftist he was and still is, did not feel the same about local control. We all know to thank Yimmy[1] for his signature on October 17, 1979 — the creation of the national Department of Education. Ugh!

Before Carter there was Nixon. His 1970 “Special Message to Congress on Education Reform” simply threw money at the supposed problem. He did, however, discover a new human right. It was the Right to Read. The constitutional framers must’ve forgotten that amendment when crafting the Bill of Rights...

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