I'll be honest...I'm sick of hearing about it.
The majority of people I hear talking about it can't even tell me what it is. I know you've heard of it. You're probably adamantly for it or feverishly against it, and odds are you aren't sure why.
Common Core.
The easy anti-Common Core answer is, "I'm against Common Core because the Constitution says that the States, and not the Federal government, shall control education."
The fact is, the Constitution actually says nothing about public education. Not a word. The Constitution merely defines and limits the power of government, a fact commonly misunderstood.
"Comprehending why education appears nowhere in the Constitution is a key to understanding why the American experiment in self-government is at once so brilliant and so fragile."
On September 17, almost 226 years ago, 39 brilliant men stood in a sweltering room about the size of a garage and crafted a constitution to establish a strong central government empowered to do certain jobs that the states could not manage effectively on their own. These duties included making sure to provide a common defense, and to ensure liberty.
The framers of the Constitution also understood that there were many jobs the federal government should not do. Education was foremost among them.
Education is necessarily a state concern. The majority of states include education among several rights guaranteed in their constitutions. Even if the subjects of education are identical everywhere—five plus five equals 10 in Portland, Oregon, just as it does in Fort Payne, Alabama—the needs and culture of each community are often quite different. We elect school boards because we believe local oversight is better than giving control to a government agency that paints the country with a broad stroke. And parents know what their children need better than officials in distant capitols, right?
But, do parents make the right decisions? I know my mother forced me to wear penny-loafers and a long sleeve button down (tucked in), with navy blue shorts on the first day of school in 5th grade...so it's difficult for me to believe that parents always know best.
"Even if we accept the need for state academic standards, that doesn’t preclude the need for local accountability."
I can't give you the answer to the Common Core debate, because I'll admit that I don't fully understand the Common Core debate. Luckily, I have two elected officials whose districts' include DeKalb County that will debate both sides of this issue.
Stay tuned...
-The Heartland Institute
