Common Core started out a noble plan.  It was even able to convince our President that it was a good idea.  So cleverly was it crafted, that The News Journal editorial board still hasn’t yet woken up.

But the implementation proved to be too difficult for American Business.  They could meet the ideals and miss their profit goals, or they could meet their profit targets and skimp on the ideals, and so they opted for the latter… The maker of our tests (AIR) dumbed down the educational standards, choosing to not pursue the new proven way of learning, but to  take the questions off of the “No Child Left Behind” tests and recycling them as Common Core….

The exact problems we had with testing under the” No Child Left Behind Act”, are with us today, and perhaps worse.

This knowledge has recently been leaked and  come to light, and now America Business is doubling down and marketing their “push back”.. Instead of saying ” no it is not true that we are dumbing down our educational values,”  they are instead saying this:  “who needs those old fashioned educational values, anyways?”….

Delaware  contracted  to, and in 25 payments last year, spent $8,500,679 dollars to AIR, American Institutes of Research, to develop the test and curriculum for our children…

One hears from the mouth of Governor Markell himself that we must have the best educated workforce possible to compete in a global economy….. yet we are dumbing them down.

Here is what the company we contracted to make our tests, is saying about American education….

“we believe that strong two-year college leaders, working with state and local businesses and with state policymakers, can and will become more central players in the economic development of the nation.”

The distinct inference is: no longer will an Ivy league education suffice:  our leaders will now come from two year community colleges….

Remember this is from AIR, American Institutes of Research, the group making the tests and curriculum for our state of Delaware.

If you didn’t already guess, here is the problem.

If you don’t teach to the levels of a four year college degree or university, and only teach to the achievement of a two year level or associates degree, who is going to fill up our 4 year colleges and universities?

The report goes on to show their data. Their synopsis being that if a student goes to a community college in a state where wages are high, he gains more than the national average wage over his lifetime.  If he goes to a school in an area where wages are low, he earns less than the national average wage over his lifetime…   (Duh. At least that part of the report makes sense.)

This despite the problem that of those seeking an two year associates degree,  only 25% ever meet their two year goal within a framework of 6 years….

For this… we are scrapping the educational standards and programs already in place which have indeed kept our four year colleges full over all these years…..

When one replaces higher standards with lower standards, one is dumbing down education….   When the group stressing that policy is the actual maker of your state’s curriculum and creator of its tests to which all will be taught,  one should expect that state’s student’s will be dumber than if no changes had ever occurred at all…..

And it now appears……  the News Journal is more interested in promoting the careers of  their friends, the local politicians, than in telling you this truth….   Common Core dumbs down your kids.

Go figure.