AP PHOTO/OTTO KITSINGER
THE
CORE
government’s role in education
are further politicizing the standards’ adoption. Critics argue the
federal government is reaching
too far into schools and setting
kids up for failure. Some worry
that by concentrating more effort on purely academic — as opposed to vocational — pursuits,
the standards won’t serve the
thousands of students who drop
out of high school each year. Oth-
HUFFINGTON
02.02.14
ers have voiced concerns that
the Core will continue to burden
poorer students, who can’t afford
luxuries like extra study guides
and tutors to help them absorb
its tougher teachings. And Sandra
Stotsky, a University of Arkansas
professor emerita who served on
the Core’s validation committee,
has raised concerns that the Core
simply aims too low.
The fight against the Core is
spreading. In November, an upstate New York mother organized
a Common Core protest day, ask-
Earlier this
year, Idaho’s
Republican
Governor
Butch Otter
(pictured)
pledged to
press on with
implementing
the Core,
despite the
negative
response
from his base.