EDITOR: Sen. Julie Lassa is correct in stating Common Core State Standards were created by national committees that included representation from Wisconsin. But a review of the people listed on those committees, 135 in total, shows only one from Wisconsin. Moreover, that man, like the standards’ lead authors, has never been a K-12 teacher.
Lassa also states that she has yet to hear a reason the standards are deficient. But a study from the left-leaning Brookings Institution states unambiguously that they will have “little to no impact on student learning.”
Education reformers should have looked at different state standards as a solution, not a problem. Instead, by unifying standards across state lines, states lose the chance to experiment and potentially innovate. Given the lack of learning benefits the standards will produce, that is a significant privilege to give up.
Wisconsin would be better off scrapping Common Core and replacing it with standards modeled on top state standards that incorporate true international competitiveness.
[First published in the Stevens Point Journal.]
Taylor Smith was a policy analyst for The Heartland Institute specializing in energy, climate, and environmental regulation. He is coauthor with James M.
