School Districts were meant to be Independent

Independence In education

    I avoid engaging in debates on Common core based on "which curriculum is better or more effective".  The basis for my opposition is that the founders of Oklahoma set up a constitution which empowers independent school districts to oversee public instruction.

This is not what a school board looks like

   It is a perversion of our government, for interstate compacts, federal laws, or even state laws; to take over the role of educating.

   Oklahoma, like most other states, saw education as too vulnerable to corruption, if political factions sought to successfully co-opt education for their political ends.

Just as we deny the mayors, county commissioners, or city councils any operational role in public schools, we also need to deny the governor or legislature any operational role.

   We need to resist the effort to switch the argument to one of content. The real issue is control. Once we lose control, the content will naturally disintegrate.  20 years ago, state legislators took the heady attitude that local schools are inept and needed mandates.

Now we see that state mandates often result in no better outcomes.

   I want to see a future where local education professionals are given the power to produce results in their classrooms and apply techniques which work in their communities.
It's not a conspiracy Theory

Q: Some of the Senators want to know specifically what is wrong with the standards because they believe everything else is "conspiracy"

A: The model set forth in the Oklahoma Constitution is a legislator's mandate. Other than funding, the legislatures need to quit meddling.

   That's not "conspiracy stuff", it's as simple as reading the darn document and following it.  The Oklahoma legislature is currently passing a simple reform which says "We were wrong to mandate the outcome of a 3rd grader's course, if they have a reading disability." Rep. Katie Huffman Henke is carrying that bill and it deserves to be signed into law.

There are dozens of other state mandates which also need to be returned back to school districts.  We need to reset the "vision" for what education is supposed to be structured like.

   But many Republican politicians are racing headlong into this national initiative, while democrats are finding a powerful issue for  the upcoming midterm and state elections. It is local teachers unions, PTA groups, and concerned parents who are set to make Common Core as big of an issue as ObamaCare is expected to be.