Huffington Magazine Issue 86 | Page 53

ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES THE CORE memorize multiplication tables. (In the end, the Core says they must know both.) Throughout the writing process, they solicited feedback from teachers. At one point, the math standards writers met with a group of teachers from across the country to discuss a draft. “When we entered the room, we noticed the entire walk was covered with strips of paper,” Linn wrote in a chapter of a recently HUFFINGTON 02.02.14 published book about the Common Core. “The teachers had literally cut up all the standards and reordered them where they thought they made sense.” Content experts also looked at each draft, and the writing teams used their comments to revise the standards further. State officials and national organizations affiliated with the effort also had input, while outside experts conducted their own reviews. The writers incorporated all these opinions, at the same time striving to prevent the Common Last April, Rand Paul (pictured) was among a group of eight right-wing U.S. senators who wrote a public letter lashing out against the Common Core.