Discussion of Common Core: Change, Communication Breakdown, and Gandhi

In July, I was on a local radio show, KVNU's "For the People," discussing Common Core. I loved the discussion! Sadly, I think that podcast is no longer available online. Perhaps sadder than that is the very few points we were able to discuss in our hour of time on air. So I've used my blog to review the broadcast if you missed it, and then to flesh out what I could have said if time allowed. If you'd like to leave a questions or point of discussion in the comments, feel free to do so!

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First, a quote I hope informs the tone of my discussion here. It has certainly informed the tone of my inquiries.

"We must love them both, those with whom we agree and those with whom we disagree. For both have labored in search of truth, and both have helped us in the finding of it."
Thomas Aquinas

Question #1: Where does the school board draw the line (and how close are we to it?) between selling the decision to adopt Common Core and representing the wishes of those who elected them? (Part of my question was noting the many concerns the public has raised concerning Common Core. For me, I don't know that any one of the concerns is a deal breaker, but concerns have been raised over the Math standards, over the English standards, over privacy issues, and over a federally run education system. Additionally, the Utah Republican party adopted a resolution against Common Core. I wondered if there was a critical mass of issues or voices of concerned citizens that could be reached that would change the course.)

Before I get to the answer, I wanted to describe Tami Pyfer. She is the State School Board member over Cache Valley, and I got to meet her in person for the radio program. I'll get in a brief description of the answers I took away from the program in another post (in case you don't want to listen), but Tami has also been kind enough to respond via email to MORE questions about Common Core the host of the program forwarded her.

Tami is passionate about her work for the State School Board, and excited about Common Core. Perhaps I felt it was best to begin with the quote above because I truly believe Tami has been diligent in her search for the "truth" about how to improve education from her perspective, and while we may not see eye to eye in the solutions Common Core offers, I believe she is wholeheartedly pursuing the course of action she feels meets the needs of students in Utah as she understands them. So to her answer:

Answer: From Tami's perspective (and I assume the entire board feels this way) there is no turning back on the core any time before it's fully implemented. She described her resolve this way: "For the School Board to make any such decision without taking the time to evaluate the implementation of the standards would be irresponsible. To ... reject what I believe to be something that would improve the education of our students, in order to protect my political career or re-election, well, that would be irresponsible, too, and would demonstrate a lack of integrity on my part. "

Tami is concerned that those who oppose Common Core are not in possession of the facts. It's probably why she has been so patient communicating with me. She wants the public to be in possession of " the best or most comprehensive information on any given topic," believing when we are, that "much of the public disagreement on various issues could be resolved."

This works well for me, as I'm not trying to understand Common Core from the perspective of those who oppose it. If I should need to understand it from that perspective, I don't think I'd be talking to a State School Board member. I'm trying first, to see the value in Common Core as they see it, and secondly to see if I agree there is evidence Common Core will deliver the benefits it is supposed to.

My take away: there is no point trying to convince the school board to un-adopt Common Core. They are convinced the benefits outweigh the concerns (partly because they feel most of the concerns over CC are uninformed or invalid), and in performing their elected responsibilities, they must stay the course of what they determined would be best for education in Utah. 

This leaves members of the public like me in an awkward position. I do wish to argue there is NO evidence Common core will deliver the benefits it is supposed to. But to what end? If I were a state school board member, my response to all my arguments against Common Core, no matter how valid or informed they may seem, would simply become, "Well, WE were in possession of the best facts and comprehensive information when we decided to adopt it, so you can challenge this all you'd like. We made the call, and we will all see after it's full implementation who is right and who is wrong."

I think, in essence, that IS what those who voted to adopted Common Core ARE saying. Interestingly, this communication breakdown is part of the issue I take with Common Core. What do parents do when their voices on the matter public education and specifically of the education of their children aren't being heard? What do you do when you see no hope to reform a system so that it meets your own needs? You exit the system. (A great reason to homeschool: you don't have to wait around for change. As Gandhi put it, you BECOME the change you wish to see in the world.)

After explaining the futility of questioning Common Core, let me take a moment to reassure you, I will anyway! :) 

PS: (One interesting discussion might be: How DO our elected representatives view their roles, when there is a conflict between what they view is the right course of action and what those who elected them view as the right course of action. If you start that discussion anywhere, invite me! I'd love to hear from those who have given this more thought than I have!)