Georgians will vote in their political party primaries on May 20 and one of the races that merits far more attention than it is receiving is that of state school superintendent. It is an open seat, and both parties are vying to nominate their strongest candidate in order to win in the November general election.
Several issues dominate this race, but the focus of this article is where Republican superintendent candidates stand regarding the new Common Core standards. A future column will deal with the Democrat candidates.
Popular educator and author Steven Covey wisely counsels: “Seek first to understand.” So let’s begin by understanding two points:
* Common Core is a set of kindergarten through 12th grade standards in English and math—not developed by individual states but originally by a bipartisan clique of governors and private interest groups in Washington, D.C.
* In Georgia, Common Core is being implemented by outgoing Superintendent John Barge through an Obama administration Race to the Top grant. In exchange for surrendering state control over English and math, Georgia received $100 million a year for four years for implementation.
Bear in mind this was done without the consent of Georgia’s taxpayers and their elected lawmakers and certainly not with the consent of parent and teachers. Common Core is also not a traditional political left-right issue. It may surprise you to know that there may be as many Common Core opponents on the “liberal” side of the spectrum as well on the political Right.
As for the nine Republican superintendent candidates, their answers to a Common Core question by the Fulton County GOP (and available for viewing on www.fulton.gop.org) are instructive. Five are opposed, two are in favor, one wants to “review” it and another essentially likes it. Consider:
* Allen Fort– Generally favors
* Ashley Bell– No
* Fitz Johnson—Wants to “review” it
* Kira Willis—Yes
* Mary Kay Bacallao—No
* Mike Buck— Yes
* Nancy Jester—No
* Richard Woods—No
* Sharyll Dawes– No
This writer, by the way, in interviewing dozens of teachers, is told a common theme: The state’s previous standards were more rigorous. In fact, the only mathematician on the Common Core Validation Committee said it is “almost a joke” to think students educated under Common Core would be prepared for math at a university. Education expert Dr. Sandra Stotsky, who developed Massachusetts’ highly-praised standards, estimates that by the eighth grade U.S. math students will be two years behind their counterparts in high-achieving countries. She also says that the English standards implemented in her state under Common Core, which before were strong on literature, are now badly weakened.
You can believe in standards and testing, Stotsky says, but still oppose Common Core. “We are a very naïve people,” she has told Breitbart News. “Everyone was willing to believe that the Common Core standards are ‘rigorous,’ ‘competitive,’ ‘internationally benchmarked’ and ‘research-based.’ They are not.”
Stotsky and other critics are calling for a congressional hearing to investigate what she terms “dumbed down” math and English standards adopted in Georgia and other states. (Incidentally, all of Georgia’s Republican U.S. Senate candidates oppose Common Core, and next year’s GOP-dominated state legislature will re-address Common Core as more lawmakers understand the pros and cons.)
In the meantime Georgia’s new superintendent, taking office in January, will have to work with the state School Board which is currently reviewing the appropriateness of Common Core. Therefore, the new superintendent will obviously enjoy a powerful bully pulpit on this and other education issues. In this context, voters in both superintendent primaries must decide if they want Georgians setting k-12 standards (and ultimately curriculum) or outsiders.
Follow Phil on Twitter
Tweet
