CCSS - Common Core State Standards. That sentence itself already proposes a lie. Common Core standards are not at the state level, it is a government invasion into the education system that is federally controlled. These new standards were created by the United States Department of Education to help all students benefit academically. They use high order thinking skills and critical analysis, standards that are aligned with college readiness and to help students prepare to go into the global economy. The ability to research and cite sources is an important aspect of CCSS.
When the government first introduced these standards and the new education system, all the states in America were offered grants to implement these standards in their states. Who doesn't love money? I mean all the states went after the bait, each and every one of them implemented these standards, and in returned, received the grant money. Nobody knows what each state did with their grant money, but now we see a grand example of bribery. If the federal government had not introduced grant money as part of deal when implementing the new education standards, many of the states would have passed on the deal. But that's not even the best part. After using the standards, many states, mostly the conservative states, realized what Common Core was all about. Common Core isn't based on individual success, it was based wholly on group success. But wait, there's more! The tests that were administered at the end of the year was so irrelevant, but complex at the same time. The tests went from ABCD options on paper to paragraph text on the computer, which would supposedly allow the schools and parents to get results back. This I know because I live in California and I recently took the test last spring.
Common Core doesn't teach high order thinking skills, they just pulled that out of the sky to make it sound appealing, it teaches that there can be more than one right answer, that individualism is a thing of the past, and allows students who fail academically to achieve success easily and strip achievement of those who work hard in school. I don't know about you, but if I had kids who went to school and were being taught these things, I think I would move to a different country! The education system is corrupted and as a student myself, I am fed up with the know it alls who think they can fix dumb kids with a snap of their finger.
First of all, whoever said that there can be more than one right answer in math is completely stupid, in math, you can only get one right answer. Unless we start have sixth graders begin doing theoretical math, they will still be getting one answer. Liberals hate to talk about the truth, but the truth is, when a student tells you that 2+2=5, you can't say, "That's correct! Now explain to me how you got that answer and you get 100%!"
Secondly, when you strip young Americans of individualism, you have no right to call that America. America was based on individualism. When you evaluate students based on their ability to work in a group, you are not fully evaluating the student him/herself because they received a score based on the results of group. The tests that were administered last spring were very time consuming compared to the original tests known as the California Standardized Tests (CST), cut into classroom time that I won't get back. Because of this test, I wasn't able to finish my History unit on the Civil War! What kind of education system is that! The tests were also completely irrelevant to what I was learning in the classroom. Question after question was only measuring my ability to use 'common sense' and form answers based on research and previous knowledge. Basically, if I passed the test, I hadn't really passed the standards in which the classroom has been teaching me all year. Whereas, the CST tested me on my ability to retain the knowledge I was taught throughout the year.
I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable, I try not to boast, I get straight A's in school, I win various academic achievements throughout the school year, and I rarely miss school. You could say I'm a well-rounded student, but after the introduction of Common Core, I have been stripped of these achievements. Common Core State Standards are so easy to understand, but that was the point. They are easy and simple to understand to benefit the students who don't work hard in school so that they might succeed. In return, America can then start bragging again by how smart their students are and how they dominate once again. But that's just not true. It's not fair to the kids who work hard and school and are determined to succeed, while these other students are only at school because they have to be. I'm sorry that those students don't work hard, but you can't fix them by changing the standards. Sooner or later, other countries around the world are going analyze the new standards we implemented and come to realize that they are completely stupid, borderline communism, and laugh at us as we try to brag that our students are so smart.
More than anything, the young students need to speak out against these new standards. I'm not saying that the parents and teachers shouldn't, but the students will have a better effect because they are being taught these standards. Personally, I am a student and I want others to join me in speaking out against Common Core. It is a path that leads to a dumber America, and the last thing we need is more dumb people in Congress. I'm not saying these people are bad people, they just don't know what they are doing. They are slowly choking liberty out of the country, Common Core being one of the steps to get there. I call out to you today to speak out against Common Core in you schools, towns, cities, states, opt-out of testing, don't let the government fool you. Don't just take it from me, take it from other students, ask them for their opinions. Thank you again for reading, it's my pleasure to represent conservatism to the best of my ability, but not to undermine other people just because they view the world different than I do. "Respect is the utmost highest virtue one can display."
-ConservativeClay
15-Year Old High School Freshman
