The Detroit News: Common Core an “Invitation to Mediocrity”

It seems that editorial boards in states where there is an active piece of legislation targeting the Common Core are realizing the problems behind the Common Core.  Add The Detroit News to that list.  Michigan State Representative Tom McMillian (R-Rochester Hills) introduced HB 4276 to the Michigan House of Representatives which would prohibit the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Michigan.

The editorial board of The Detroit News realized the Common Core has supplanted superior standards enacted just a few years ago.  They write:

Seven years ago, before Common Core came along, Michigan worked hard to revamp its curriculum. The Michigan Merit Curriculum is now one of the toughest in the country, and the state also has raised its expectations on standardized tests. Like last session, some GOP in the Legislature are trying to weaken the Merit Curriculum standards — such as the two-credit foreign language requirement. That’s a mistake.

Michigan is right to have improved its offerings to students. But this new layer is unnecessary.

Plus, the push toward making what’s taught — and how it’s taught — in many classrooms the same is unsettling. If public schools across the country are mirrors of each other, that’s an invitation to mediocrity.

Martin Ackley, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Education, says now that Michigan has agreed to the standards, it would be difficult to back out. The state would likely lose its flexibility waiver from government. And most schools have put Common Core in place.

Those are real concerns. But states are best suited to make adjustments and improvements to curriculum. A national system is too unwieldy and gives parents and school boards less say over students’ education.

Photo Credit: “Michigan Capitol” DanMacMan via Flickr (CC-By-NC-ND 3.0)