CONTACT:
Owen Kilmer | 708.560.3388 | Owen@dfer.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DFER-IL’s Common Core Pop Quiz
Today, Democrats for Education Reform Illnois is releasing a pop quiz. Can you match the quote from a prominent Common Core critic to the speaker?
For months, Tea Party leaders have been criticizing the Common Core curriculum as a federal takeover of education, with some states even opting-out of its adoption. The Common Core State Standards were established to make sure that American children have the necessary skills and learning to compete against their peers around the world.
[Note: extra credit for identifying the only Democrat in the group]
Speakers:
A. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
B. Governor Mike Pence (R-Indiana)
C. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida)
D. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky)
E. Governor Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin)
F. Governor Bobby Jindal (R-Louisiana)
G. Glenn Beck (Conservative Radio Host)
H. Karen Lewis (President of the Chicago Teachers Union)
Quotes:
_____ 1. “There’s got to be a way for us to put our fingerprints on it. The standards we have in the state should be driven by people…”
_____ 2. “Instead of teaching kids about our Constitution and our heritage, Common Core will teach students to be ‘global citizens.’ It gets worse. Common Core also mandates that school districts track everything about our nation’s children and report it back to the federal government.”
_____ 3. “I don’t think the federal government has any role dictating the content of curricula. I think education is a state issue and a local issue, and ideally at the local level, because that way parents can have direct input and control of what’s being taught to their kids.”
______ 4. “I’m from the school that believes education is a matter best left for local control. The notion of Washington determining curricula is something most states are simply not interested in. It’s a non-starter…”
______ 5. “Besides being dumber, our kids are going to be indoctrinated with extreme leftist ideology.”
______ 6. “To those who would have preferred that we deferred more to out of state experts from Washington, D.C., to the East Coast to the West Coast, I ask, isn’t that the kind of elitist thinking that got us Common Core in the first place?”
______ 7. “I agree with educators and parents from across the country, the Common Core mandate represents an overreach of federal power into personal privacy as well as into state educational autonomy.”
______ 8. “This effort to coerce states into adhering to national curriculum standards is not the best way to help our children attain the best education. Empowering parents, local communities and the individual states is the best approach.”
Answer key:
1: E
2: D
3: A
4: F
5: G
6: B
7: H
8. C
“I’m disappointed that Karen Lewis would take sides with the Tea Party, and not President Obama, by attempting to throw out consistent education standards that will ensure our kids have the skills to pursue higher education and be successful in the 21st century economy,” said Rebeca Nieves-Huffman, State Director of Democrats for Education Reform – Illinois. “As a mother of two, I’m appalled that the CTU would let political gamesmanship with City Hall trump the need for a more rigorous curriculum in every classroom. Our kids deserve better.”
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