The Lie That "Many Educators Support The Common Core Standards"

Newsday has an article reporting parents protested the CCSS outside of State Senator John "I Love The Common Core Because Michelle Rhee Loves The Common Core!" Flanagan's office yesterday.

Flanagan makes pains in the article to say that he supports the CCSS, just thinks the implementation of the standards has been weak (a point which I posted about last week), then says this:

Flanagan (R-East Northport) said later Friday that he supports the tougher standards, which are backed by many educators.

"The basic thing is that every major educational organization -- teachers, superintendents, school administrators, school business administrators, the PTA . . . They all support Common Core standards," Flanagan said. "The frustration has been over the implementation, which has been suspect and flawed in many different ways."

Newsday reports the same lie later in the article (emphasis mine):

The controversy over the Common Core standards comes amid outrage from many parents and educators statewide. The tougher standards, adopted by the Board of Regents in 2010, were created with the aim of helping students better compete with their counterparts in other countries. They have been adopted by 44 other states and the District of Columbia.

In New York, which is among a handful of states in the forefront of Common Core implementation, the reforms have brought ire from school administrators and teachers, in addition to parents.

Many educators support the higher standards, but say changes in curricula and testing have been far too hasty and made more difficult because the state Education Department did not provide all curriculum guides needed to teach the more challenging concepts and course material.

A commenter calls out both Flanagan and Newsday on the "Many Educators Support The Standards" jive:

The article says "many educators support the higher standards". That statement is flawed as stated. It is stated as fact and there a two flaws with it. First, there is no evidence that "many" educators support it. There are a handful that might but they are overwhelmingly central office administrators and not classroom teachers. Second, they are not "higher" standards. They are more onerous, not more rigorous. To hold all students to the same standards based solely on their chronological age is not educationally sound. This whole movement is a scam backed by those looking to make a buck under the guise of helping children. I for one, do not believe the Common Core Standards descended from the throne above to bring educational salvation to our children. The laws of math, science and literacy have not changed. Our Long Island schools are the best in the nation and there is plenty of evidence to back that up, though it is hardly ever reported. Just another example of Reagan's famous quote of the nine most feared words in the english language, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help"

Now I know that both the Gates Foundation and the unions have financed "polls" which purport to show overwhelming support for the CCSS from teachers.

I can tell you that in my school building, there are very few still on board with the CCSS reforms.

In the ELA department, there is not one teacher who supports the CCSS.

Not one - and I work in a very large school with a lot of teachers.

I can tell you that when the standards were first announced years ago, there was support and excitement from quite a few ELA teachers over the standards (not from me, but that's because I'm a cynical old man who looks skeptically on all reforms that emanate from the Gates Foundation, Pearson, the Obama administration, et al.)

But all of those teachers who once spoke excitedly about Common Core have either turned against CCSS with a vengeance or quit teaching totally.

I know this is anecdotal evidence and I in no way will extrapolate the lack of support for CCSS in my school to educators across the state of New York or the nation as a whole.

But I will say this - we need a poll done by some outfit that is not being paid by the pro-CCSS groups to ask teachers around the state of New York about CCSS.

That means a poll not conducted by the Gates Foundation or the NEA or AFT leaderships (which are on the Gates Foundation payroll and thus are being paid to shill for the CCSS.)

I would bet you two artifacts from my Danielson framework that poll does not find "many educators support the higher standards."

Not in NY State anymore - not after the CCSS tests, not after the SED modules, not after APPR, not after Danielson and all the other reforms that have been shoved through all at once and overwhelmed students, parents and teachers.

The politicians and the press continue to preach the Gospel of the Common Core even as the public begins to largely turn against the Core.

Poll after poll shows the public as a whole mixed on the Core, but those polls are asking everybody about the Core and many people do not have personal experience with it yet.

But those who do have personal knowledge and experience with the CCSS - students, parents, and teachers - are turning in large numbers against the Common Core and the rest of the testing/data/accountability reforms that have gone with the new standards.

You can see it in schools like mine and in the CCSS forum townhalls NYSED Commissioner King tried to cancel and in the protests parents are holding outside the offices of politicians.

Frankly this is all crystallized in the movement of some states to change the name of Common Core to something else in order to fool an increasingly anti-Common Core public that Common Core State (sic) Standards are no longer the standards of their particular state.

Support for CCSS was never more than a few miles wide and an inch or two deep (other than from the people making money off it.)

As more and more people become familiar with the Core, more and more people are coming to oppose the standards - and I believe this includes teachers too.

Now we just need an honest and fair poll to ask teachers around the state about CCSS and see if I'm right.