Summary 8

Lindsey Knight

Honors Government

Mr. Comer

12/9/14

Summary #8: Common Core Has No Better Alternative

The education of America is a matter that is of utmost importance for the future of this nation.  Therefore, countless measures have been thought out to solve the problem of America’s falling intellectual ranking.  William Bennett, an Op-Ed writer for CNN, believes that the Common Core standards for public education are the necessary option.  He begins by stating that one of the reasons that many educators have lost hope in Common Core is because they have “lost its perspective of purpose” (Bennett).  Common Core has helped create a unified curriculum across the U.S. where “an "A" in math in New Jersey should be equivalent to an "A" in math in Louisiana, or in California, and so on” (ibid.).  However, pessimists are looking more at what the program doesn’t offer, such as creative classes or higher standards.  Bennett argues that the problem of low test scores and embarrassing SAT averages should be tackled first before anything else.  He believes that educators need to raise the minimum standard so that students across the nation will benefit more through school.  If there were no common course of education, nobody truly knows how adept the public schooling is at educating students.  For example, many states lower their testing standards to make their students seem smarter.  William Bennett implores his readers to realize that “some of the criticisms leveled against Common Core stem from mistakes made in local implementations -- not from a uniform federal mandate” (Bennett).  Therefore, if the Common Core is able to continue, then accomplishing this issue will only be relevant on the local sphere.  Specific schools, districts, and teachers need to be improved, not the federal mandate.  Bennett realizes that if the Common Core is able to continue then the education of America will improve for good.

http://www.cnn.com//2014/12/02/opinion/bennett-common-core/index.html