Former Tennessee Congressman Explains 'Why Voters Love
Common Core'
by Dr. Susan Berry 29 Nov 2014, 6:27 AM PDT
Writing at the Daily Beast,
former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (TN-D),
has decided that “voters love Common Core” simply because the standards “work.”
Ford’s
interpretation of
the midterm election results is that voters sent a message not to abandon the
Common Core
standards.
Using the now all too familiar talking points of elitist
proponents of the controversial Common Core standards, the former congressman
writes the debate over the nationalized education initiative has simply been
fueled by opponents who “spent this past election season distorting and
misrepresenting the progress going on in the classroom.”
Those who oppose the Common Core, however, should not be
concerned about Ford’s criticism because he does feel sorry for them and
believes some of them are “genuinely confused about Common Core’s development
and purpose…”
“Fortunately, on November 4 a majority of parents decided
it’s hard to deny success in the classroom,” he says, nevertheless.
Ford’s penchant for analysis of academic standards is
unknown, but he was described in 2010 at the
Beast as someone
from “a dynastic political family tree in Tennessee (with the requisite
bad apples),” who
“left the state and embarked on a new seven-figure job working for Merrill
Lynch.”
Like Gates-funded Fordham Institute president Michael
Petrilli, Ford has bought into the fairy tale that opposition to the Common
Core by parents and citizens in general amounts to little more than a tiff.
As Breitbart News
reported several
weeks ago, Petrilli
predicted after the
election that though the Common Core had suffered a few bruises, the majority
of states will move ahead with what he terms are “higher standards,” though no
independent group has determined they are, in fact, “higher.”
Petrilli is also looking forward to the bench of 2016
establishment Republicans like Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, and John Kasich, whom he cites
as strong supporters of the Common Core.
Ford appears to be on board with Petrilli, and also Rick
Hess and Mike McShane of American Enterprise Institute, who
declared recently
that Common Core was “invisible” during the midterm elections.
Writing additionally that 12 incumbent governors who
publicly support Common Core easily won reelection, and that in only four
states were the standards really an issue at all, Ford also says, “in the 44
states where Common Core is used, only 6 governors and 4 superintendents said
they wanted to change course on Common Core.”
Surely, these Common Core supporters protest too much, with
so much ink wasted and time spent on statistics over such an insignificant
electoral issue.
In his own home state of Tennessee—before he decided he
wanted to
run for the U.S. Senate from
New York—Ford writes that Common Core is a success because
“college-readiness rates among high school students saw the biggest improvement
this year since the state began testing.”
Interestingly, as Fox News
reported, Tennessee
appears poised to repeal the nationalized standards, with two Republican state
senators, Mike Bell and Dolores Gresham, having introduced legislation two
weeks ago to do just that. The measure comes on the heels of Gov. Bill Haslam
(R) calling for a public review of the Common Core.
In fact, during the summer meetings of the
National
Governors Association (NGA), one
of the
owners of the copyright
to the Common Core standards, told the
Wall Street Journal that the
controversial reform had become a “political minefield” and “radioactive,”
certainly not the kind of language used to describe a mere blip of an electoral
issue.
“Like many other states, this is a key issue this year in
Tennessee,” said Bell, chairman of the government operations committee. “I
believe we need control over our own state standards."
Parents, teachers, and citizens against the new standards,
of course, will be watching to ensure the standards ultimately chosen for the
Volunteer State are not simply a “rebrand” of the Common Core.
The problem with Ford’s analysis, however, is that the
Common Core standards have never been proven to be valid measures of “college
readiness.” As Breitbart News
reported in April,
Ze’ev Wurman, a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution and former senior
policy adviser with the U.S. Department of Education, demonstrated that claims
that the Common Core is internationally competitive and reflective of
college-readiness are actually not valid.
Wurman, the author of “
Common Core’s Validation: A
Weak Foundation for a Crooked House,” published by the
Massachusetts-based Pioneer Institute, described two studies conducted by
Validation Committee members, who signed off on the Common Core standards in
2010, and then later attempted to find
post facto evidence to justify
their decisions. In both studies, the research was poorly executed and failed
to provide evidence of the claims of Common Core supporters.
In addition to polls demonstrating
plummeting support
for the standards, the
spike in homeschooling
as a result of the Common Core presence in traditional school environments is
yet another sign of the reform’s imminent demise.
As The Heartland Institute’s Joy Pullmann
told Breitbart News
recently, “To pretend Common Core is a non-issue ignores the Common Core
supporters who are bailing on its federal tests like rats from a sinking ship.”
Daily
Beast
Note: Henry A. Kissinger is a member of the Bohemian Club, an overseer at the International
Rescue Committee, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank),
and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Harold E. Ford Jr. is an overseer at the
International
Rescue Committee, was a former member of the
U.S. House of Representatives, and a 2008
Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the International Rescue
Committee, the Aspen Institute (think tank), the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and the Robin Hood Foundation.
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Condoleezza Rice is an overseer at the
International
Rescue Committee, a trustee at the
Aspen Institute (think tank), and
a 2008
Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Frederic V. Malek
is a trustee at the
Aspen Institute (think tank), the founder &
board member for the
American Action
Network, and a member of the
Alfalfa
Club.
Jeb
Bush is an advisory committee member for the
Hispanic Leadership Network, a supporter for the
Common Core educational standards, a
member of the
Alfalfa Club, and
George H.W. Bush’s son.
George
H.W. Bush is
Jeb Bush’s father,
a member of the
Bohemian Club, a
member of the
Alfalfa Club, and
Christopher Buckley was his speechwriter.
Christopher
Buckley is a member of the Bohemian Club, was George H.W. Bush’s
speechwriter, and a blogger for the Daily Beast.
Scott McClellan
was a blogger for the Daily Beast, and his brother is Mark B.
McClellan.
Mark B.
McClellan is Scott McClellan’s brother, and was a senior fellow at
the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Richard C.
Blum is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank),
and married to Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Dianne
Feinstein is married to Richard C. Blum, a U.S. Senate
senator, and a member of the Alfalfa Club.
Jeb Bush is a
member of the Alfalfa Club, an advisory committee member for the Hispanic
Leadership Network, a supporter for the Common Core educational
standards, and George H.W. Bush’s son.
George H.W.
Bush is Jeb Bush’s father, a member of the Bohemian Club, a
member of the Alfalfa Club, and Christopher Buckley was his speechwriter.
Henry A. Kissinger is a member of the Bohemian Club, an overseer at the International
Rescue Committee, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank),
a supporter for Christopher J. Christie’s
2012 presidential bid, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Harold E. Ford Jr. is an overseer at the
International
Rescue Committee, was a former member of the
U.S. House of Representatives, and a 2008
Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Clifford
S. Asness is a director at the International Rescue Committee, and
was a leadership council member for the Robin Hood Foundation.
Mary
Pat Christie is the chair for the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund,
and married to Christopher J Christie.
Christopher
J. Christie is married to Mary Pat Christie, the New Jersey state
government governor, and Henry A. Kissinger & David H. Koch
supported his 2012 presidential bid.
David
H. Koch was a
supporter for Christopher
J. Christie’s 2012 presidential bid, and a trustee at the
Aspen Institute (think tank).
Frederic V. Malek
is a trustee at the
Aspen Institute (think tank), the founder &
board member for the
American Action
Network, and a member of the
Alfalfa
Club.
Jeb
Bush is an advisory committee member for the
Hispanic Leadership Network, a supporter for the
Common Core educational standards, a
member of the
Alfalfa Club, and
George H.W. Bush’s son.
George
H.W. Bush is
Jeb Bush’s father,
a member of the
Bohemian Club, a
member of the
Alfalfa Club, and
Christopher Buckley was his speechwriter.
Christopher
Buckley is a member of the Bohemian Club, was George H.W. Bush’s
speechwriter, and a blogger for the Daily Beast.
