After attending a PTO meeting at our parish school last month where the adoption and implementation of the Common Core was discussed, I left with way more concerns than I arrived with.
The presenters showed a video (www.commoncoreworks.org) to explain "why" they're adopting the Common Core. They need uniform measuring sticks so that everyone can succeed in preparing for college or the work force, according to the video. So I asked if there was an issue in the past with subpar performance? No, I was assured, out students always out perform their public school peers when they get to middle or high school.
I also asked, what makes the parish school different than the public school if you're going to adopt the same standards? "Character development. We can tell the students, 'no, that's wrong.' They can't do that in the public school."
Administrators talked about how they are already meeting and surpassing the Common Core standards at the school, yet teachers talked about being intimidated by the standards and having to re-teach subjects and helping students through these "very hard" assignments. There was no "dumbing-down" of what had been taught in the past, that's for sure...
Repeatedly we were told students need to taught the skills necessary to prepare them to succeed in life. Sometimes "success" was replaced with "go to college or get a good job." A repeated example used was that of the ability to count to 100...so that students could learn to manage money and balance a budget. But even that can be done in a Catholic way, we were informed - by using the animals that Noah led on to the Ark to count to 100. "They can't do that in the public school."
One parent raised the issue of a letter written by Professor Gerard Bradley at Notre Dame's School of Law and signed by over 100 Catholic professors and sent to each bishop in the Country, asking them to reconsider adoption of the Common Core in their diocesan schools. Neither the teachers nor the administrators had read it, but the teacher giving the presentation had a response to it, nonetheless.
I wasn't given an opportunity to follow up my questions or questions from other concerned parents, though I raised my hand to ask others. Eye contact was made by the speaker who then would continue talking in circles. I was being bullied by a 7 grade social studies teacher; she had the floor and wasn't going to relinquish it. Other parents raised questions and objections and were treated the same way - give a manilla answer and then talk in circles until we could move on to something else that she could talk about - like how the Common Core had been in use for over 5 years in another state where she used to teach; how Common Core is necessary so that students transferring in and out of school know what to expect and teachers know where those students should be on the "stairway" of learning - she used to have 60 students a year transfer in or out; counting to 100, managing a budget, higher standards so more students can succeed...repeat. The bully pulpit was being used to talk us into resignation.
I decided my questions were maybe too broad to ask in this format - what is the purpose of a Catholic Education? How does the Common Core further that?
So, for your consideration, I decided to write to following letter to the school principal and parish priest:
