Nearly everyone wants to improve the nation’s public schools, but it’s hard to find broad agreement about how best to do it.
The most current example of this may be the debate over Common Core State Standards. The intention was to create clear, high expectations for the knowledge students must learn to ensure they are college or career ready.
But a growing number are questioning whether the new standards will achieve that goal.
It’s a debate unfolding across the country, and a new chapter could be written in South Carolina when lawmakers return to Columbia in January. Here is a primer:
What are the Common Core State Standards?
The Common Core State Standards are a new set of standards that define what students must learn in grades K-12 in English language arts and math.
For example, one of the first-grade English language arts standards calls for students to be able to identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.
Schools still have the ability to decide the method and curriculum they would use to teach that standard.
Why are they controversial?
The standards have been criticized for both what they represent as well as what they contain.
From a philosophical standpoint, many Republicans are concerned that the standards will infringe on states’ rights. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., has said, “We need to move past the notion that the federal government knows best when it comes to the unique needs of our students and communities.”
Others are opposed to the content of the standards for a range of reasons. Some have argued that the new standards aren’t rigorous or developmentally appropriate, and that they try to instill federally determined attitudes and mindsets about political and religious beliefs.
Some have said that the new standards put too much emphasis on informational text and neglect classic literature. Still others have said they eliminate the study of cursive writing, thus failing to give students the skills needed to read, among other things, historical documents such as the U.S. Constitution.