Pullman: Common Core's Bait-and-Switch

"Common Core supporters know many voters and politicians dislike federal meddling with education," writes Joy Pullman of School Reform News.

That's why they insist Common Core is “state-led” and “voluntary” even though the evidence shows these descriptions are deceptions. The Obama administration already has proved this by, at the repeated request of those who created Common Core, requiring states to adopt it in exchange for a chance at federal grants and to receive much-desired No Child Left Behind waivers. But these public relations pushes also disprove the “state-led” and “voluntary” promise, for how “voluntary” is a public policy instituted under the influence of federally funded advertising and with little open debate?

In short, federal funds are being used to convince the people the government forced to provide those funds that unelected bureaucrats and private nonprofit employees did the right thing with their money before the people got wind of the scheme.

Isn’t that a little backwards? A self-governing republic means lawmakers carry out the will of the people after judicious reflection and under the rule of law, instead of retroactively attempting to convince citizens we should want what unelected bureaucrats already did without the public’s knowledge or consent.

Common Core has leaders, all right, but they don’t govern by consent.

 For more discussion on the K-12 Common Core scheme, watch the discussion, Stopping Common Core National Standards and Testing, with researchers Joy Pullman and Lindsey Burke.