Wall Street Dictates Common Core State Education Standards

Positioning Wall Street's Common Core State Standards Initiative

"When it comes to K through 12 education, we see a $500 billion sector in the US alone that is waiting desperately to be transformed by big breakthroughs that extend the reach of great teaching,"  Rupert Murdoch November 2010

Common Core State Standards Rule

Without any ado, Mr. Murdoch and his brethren, the American Legislative Executive Council, have captured the prize. It's called the Common Core State Standards curriculum. This lightening bolt educational enterprise is under review in North Carolina and other states.

As of 2013 most (forty-five) state K-12 education policies re English language arts/mathematics texts, testing, and student data retrieval are under the corporate-designed Common Core regimen. The National Governors Association and the Council for Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) facilitated the marketing of the Common Core educational product for its behind-the-scene beneficiaries. A list of business entities partnering with CCSSO can be found on the Council's website.

June Atkinson, Superintendent of Public Instruction, is North Carolina's Chief State School Officer and an advocate of the Common Core agenda.

The rationale for choosing Common Core (NC 2010) over the standard course of study (2004) is illustrated on the state's Department of Education website. After analyzing the comparative examples, it is debatable whether Common Core is an improvement over the standard course of study.

Questions as to whether the novel Common Core instructional technique will satisfactorily serve students and the state were posed by Lt. Gov. Dan Forest in July 2013. The areas of concern presented to June Atkinson are: the standards, cost and implementation. A copy of Mr. Forest's questionnaire letter may be viewed here.

Common Core State Standards sponsors posit that their technology-based education plan is superior to other concepts and critical to the country's future.  Americans and world citizens have
been educated absent computers and Common Core so that CCSSO hypothesis can be put aside.

Computers, like books, are only instructional tools. Those who trust corporate claims re education reform should perhaps reflect on Mr. Murdoch's comments.

America's public educational system is dysfunctional because state governments and their corporate enablers regard educators and their pupils as costly burdens. State legislators have violated the No Child Left Behind Act with impunity while enacting measures toward privatizing education. Should these Wall Street schemes prevail, students will be deprived of President Bush's promise.

Contrary to Mr. Murdoch and the American Legislative Executive Council's point of view, public education is not a salable commodity.