Diane Aoki, Creativity Activism
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10/23/2014 0 Comments

Dissonance About the Common Core Debate

Picture
To the American Principles Project
Against the Common Core
You had me at
Stop the National Common Core Power Grab:
Reclaim Local Control of Education.
Your you tube had great visuals
A lovely soundtrack 
Acoustic guitar in the background.
I mean it. 
I like it.
I'm with you.
Against narrowing the curriculum,
National testing,
Unfunded mandates leading to rising costs for local budgets,
Data tracking. 
Outrageous! 
But then,
You try to recruit me
By appealing to a common world view,
and apparently,
We part company here. 

You say things
that rub me the wrong way,
that disturb me,
that depart from research and
enter into viewpoint,
and I feel
Dissonance.
How can this happen
when we were getting along so well?
You think that liberal political activism is behind this.
I think corporate intrusion into politics is.
You think a "managed economy" is the worst thing,
I think rampant plutocracy is.
You think totally free enterprise is the goal,
I think it is the cause of what it is we are both rallying against.
I bristle when you insult my liberal heroes.
You would probably bristle if I spoke ill of yours. 
Come on.
Can we agree to disagree on the root cause 
And come back to working on what we agree on? 
Is what we agree on
more important than
what we disagree about? 

Here's my list - 
I'm for:
Safe, well-maintained schools
Happy, thriving kids
Learning, thinking, communicating.
Professional teachers, trusted to do their jobs,
Supportive administrators and staff,
Welcoming places for parents and families to be involved 
in the school community
in meaningful ways. 
And against:
Developmentally inappropriate standards
That crush the spirits of the students
and teachers.
That are tied to school
and teacher evaluation.
That are immutable.
Not open for public debate.

Is this enough common ground
For us to stand on? 
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