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Elected official opts his children out of Common Core

A prominent local elected official has very publicly refused to allow his children to be taught the Common Core curriculum.

Robert Astorino, the county executive of New York State’s Westchester County, based his decision on a number of objections.  In a widely distributed statement, he noted:

“Our kids deserve better than Common Core, an experiment conceived in secrecy with no public hearings or testing. There are no consequences for opting out. The scores will not affect student records. We support higher standards for our kids, but that’s not Common Core, despite what we’ve often been told.

“The standards are of ‘poor quality.’  Those aren’t my words; those are the words of the Math and English Language Arts content experts on the validation committee. But their concerns were expunged from the final record.

Also ignored are experts’ concerns that:

The standards are developmentally inappropriate in the early grades

  • No K-12 teachers were involved in writing the standards
  • High-stakes testing as the sole assessment for both student and teacher performance is both unfair and wrong.”

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Previously, A New York Analysis of Policy & Government review report noted:

Concerns over inadequate educational accomplishments led to the bipartisan creation of the Common Core educational program. But the fears of parents and others that Common Core serves as an excuse for Washington to politicize the American public school system have been heightened by recent disclosures that related textual material introduced partisan statements into English lessons.

Further objections have been raised about what some believe are bizarre common core assignments, including one report from Arkansas that sixth-graders were tasked to revise the Bill of Rights by removing two Amendments and adding two new ones. Education Secretary Arne Duncan added fuel to the fire when he described those expressing their dismay as “White suburban mothers.”

A joint study  by the Pioneer Institute, the American Principles Project, the Pacific Research Institute, and Civitas warns:

“By signing on to national standards and the assessments that will accompany them, participating states have ceded their autonomy to design and oversee the implementation of their own standards and tests. The implications of ceding this autonomy are varied. Not only do some states risk sacrificing high quality standards for national standards that may be less rigorous, all states are sacrificing their ability to inform what students learn. Moreover, the act of adopting national standards has and will continue to disrupt legal and other processes upon which states rely to ensure the adequate and equitable delivery of educational materials and resources. Finally and, perhaps, most distressing, the predicted cost to states of implementing the Common Core is in the billions of dollars, a number that only stands to grow if implementation ramps up.”

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Failure’s Not an Obstacle to Media Support

There are times when the defects in national politics can be seen most clearly on the state level.

That is certainly the case in a strange gubernatorial race in New York State, one of the most solidly Democrat venues in the nation.

The incumbent is former U.S. HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who had previously served as the state’s attorney general. Cuomo came to office as the Empire State’s reputation was increasingly seen as being one of official corruption combined with an underachieving economy. Large portions of the state were literally being depopulated, as residents left for other venues promising greater opportunity.

Taking office with a considerable reserve of public goodwill and high expectations, Cuomo disappointed on several levels.

He appointed two groups to investigate whether hydrofracking the state’s massive energy reserves was environmentally sound.  Both found that the practice was indeed safe, and hopes ran high that the state would have an economic boom that would reverse its suffering economy.  For reasons yet unexplained, Mr. Cuomo failed to act on the findings of his own panels, and New York continues its financial doldrums.
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Cuomo also appointed a commission to investigate the state legislatures’ rampant corruption.  Again, expectations ran high.  However, the commission was disbanded before it could complete its work, and now the federal district attorney, Preet Bhara, is investigating whether the governor’s office interfered with the investigation.

Given these very significant disappointments, including the very real possibility that Mr. Cuomo could face indictment, it would be reasonable to assume that his re-election bid, currently underway, would be difficult. Yet despite his significant failures, he holds a commanding lead in the polls over Republican opponent Rob Astornio, an accomplished county executive.

However, the state’s news outlets continue their unsavory tradition of basically ignoring Republican challengers, virtually coronating Democrats, who almost always get re-elected. Similarly, the national media heavily favors incumbents, particularly Democrats, despite their records.

The media plays a vital role in America’s governing process.  It’s lack of objectivity is a major drawback to the integrity of its elections.