What To Do About Common Core

Member Group : From the Kitchen Table

A Pennsylvania mother attended her child’s Back to School Night this month. The parents were told that there will be a new grading system because of Common Core, and that there was nothing that they could do about it because the state had spoken.

In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth. There is a great deal that parents can do about it.

First, we can, and should, pray about the situation every single day. Especially when we consider how hard the government works to keep prayer out of the picture. It isn’t just that prayer works, which it does. It’s that every prayer reminds all of us that the government is not the highest authority. America was founded on that fundamental truth and every time we pray we reconnect to our roots as a nation under God.

Second, we can remove our children from any school, public or private, that is implementing Common Core. Our children are not the state’s human capital – they are the precious…

and priceless creations of a God Who loves them. And educating them is our job as parents. We hire the schools to assist us with that responsibility, but we have every right to fire them when they don’t do the job correctly. We would not continue to employ a plumber who could not fix a leak, and we have no obligation whatsoever to continue to employ a school who can not teach our kids to read and write and count to our satisfaction. We, and our children, are the customers of the school, and we have an absolute right to refuse to employ someone whose service is unsatisfactory.

Third, we can assist other parents to make the same choice. Perhaps we are grandparents who can help with tuition for our grandkids at a non-Common Core school. Perhaps we are retired teachers who can help with tutoring or take some of the load for parents who are trying to homeschool but are uncertain of their ability or available time. Perhaps we can look into financially assisting non Common Core schools so they can expand their services. Perhaps we are already donors to a system or school that is implementing Common Core, and we can speak to those in authority to explain to them what is wrong and how we will need to see changes before we can continue our financial support.

Fourth, we can make Common Core a voting issue. We can ask every candidate in every election where he or she stands on the issue, and if the answer is not a clear negative with action steps attached, we can withhold support. We can contact the county and state headquarters of our political party and let them know that we will not be supporting anyone who is not working actively to remove Common Core from our schools. And we can actively work for those candidates who have pledged to stop Common Core with both finances and volunteer time.

Fifth, we can spread the word. We can use Stop Common Core bumper stickers and signs. We can host a Common Core coffee clatch in our homes to share information with our friends and neighbors. We can put together a Common Core seminar in our community, with a speaker who can explain and answer questions. The more people with information, the more likely we are to succeed.

Government officials too often tell citizens that the government has spoken and there is nothing that the people can do but comply. But here in America, that statement has not proven to be true. In fact, there was once a gentleman who bet an empire on the idea that we Americans would just bow down to an almighty state. His name was King George III.

Perhaps our school officials should check their history before repeating the King’s bet.