An editorial from The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — It’s hard to argue with the need for higher standards in our public schools.
American students have dropped in international academic rankings 20th in reading and 30th in math, according to the Program for International Student Assessment. Students graduate from high school with good grades but then have to take remedial courses to begin their college studies.
And anecdotally, most of us know young people who finish school without solid reading, writing and math skills.
But it is apparently becoming increasing easy to argue with the proposed method for increasing those standards Common Core.
The new standards for English and math in public schools were developed by the National Governors Association and state school officials and released in 2010. At the time 45 states including West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio adopted plans to implement some version of standards, but soon support began to erode.
Some disagree with the idea of national standards, some with the specific standards themselves and some with the implementation. Some states have even changed the name of their program to distance themselves from the controversy (West Virginia’s is called Next Generation Content Standards). But objections continue to grow…