State Board of Education President: Everyone is on board for Common Core Standards

Everyone is on board for Common Core Standards.

That is what you might believe if you were to believe the news release issued this morning by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Opposition to Common Core has been broad-based and was presented at Senate committee hearings this week.

That is not the message Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro is selling in the news release, which is printed below, though her name is not mentioned:

More than one hundred educators and business leaders from around the state gathered in the Senate Lounge at the Capitol on Wednesday to show their support for the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in schools. The Senate Education Committee held the hearing to discuss bills that would prevent implementation of CCSS. The vast majority of Missouri schools have already developed or revised curriculum, selected and adopted new instructional materials and have started using the standards.

“These are the clearest, most concise goals that I’ve seen. My kids are now able to read complex texts, think critically about the content and make arguments based on the author’s viewpoint, not their own opinion,” said Cathy Cartier, a 10th grade English language arts teacher in the Affton school district and the 2012-13 Missouri Teacher of the Year. “The standards do not tell me how to get the kids to reach the standards. I determine curriculum. ”

The witnesses testified that the Common Core standards are more rigorous than existing educational goals in Missouri. "I believe strongly in the importance of increased standards for our children over a sustained period of time," said State Board of Education President Peter Herschend. "Since the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993, each time we have revised standards, we have increased expectations of what students should know and be able to do.”

The overall message from witnesses at the hearing was to stay the course on Common Core.

Two Senate bills, SB 514 and SB 798, would bar the State Board of Education, the Department or school districts from implementing the Common Core standards and would make void any current implementation.

From that news release, you would never guess that Common Core is one of the most controversial issues to ever face Missouri education or that its opponents include people on both ends of the political spectrum and everywhere in between.

Another thing should not be forgotten. It was our tax money that paid for preparing this patently false news release and most likely paid for the people who are so stridently in favor of Common Core.