Three years ago, several states Departments of Education began adopting an ambitious set of learning goals known as Common Core. Promulgated by a bipartisan group of governors and educators led by Georgia Republican Sonny Perdue, Common Core spells out the math and language skills K-12 students need to succeed in college and the globally competitive workplace that awaits them after graduation. 45 states have now signed on and to our credit; Governor Deal has adopted Common Core as well.
The Common Core’s language arts standards, for example, assert that, by the end of eighth grade, students should be able to write an essay that includes “a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.”The math standards suggest that students preparing to enter fifth grade should know how to use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division “to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time, liquid volumes, masses of objects and money.”Now who can argue against that?