Comments on: Letter to Utah State Board, Part 1

By: Oak Norton

Oak Norton — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:32:00 +0000

Now that’s an interesting question… Utah tried to opt out of NCLB several years ago and the feds blackmailed us saying, “that’s fine, but with the loss of federal funding on education, we’re also going to cut federal funding to you in other areas. Good luck with that.”

I would probably take NCLB since Common Core is the endgame for local control of education. That’s not to say I’m satisfied with that answer, because maybe someone out there can think of a way out of both and that’s the end I’m working toward.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 06:34:00 +0000

Oak, which do you prefer? The Common Core or No Child Left Behind. Utah will not be able to opt out of both.

By: Oak Norton

Oak Norton — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 05:20:00 +0000

Wow, we have almost complete agreement TheKingsCourt. :) NCLB waivers are being granted for states, contingent upon adopting Common Core standards… The feds are corralling the states into national standards.

As for Common Core being better than our Utah standards, watch for the next couple installments. This is highly debatable.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 05:17:00 +0000

I don’t think the real issue is what is contained in the Common Core because it is certainly more rigorous than the current Utah Math Core. Utah education standards are lax across the board compared to many other states, so in that regard the Common Core is a good thing.

The real issue is the fear of a federal takeover of public education via the Common Core, yet even that is illogical, because the federal government has already taken over public education via NCLB. Rejecting the Common Core doesn’t get the Federal Government out of public education in Utah, it only endorses NCLB and the current level involvement of the federal government in Utah schools. The only way to get the federal government out of public education is to get rid of the Department of Education or to outright reject all federal dollars coming to Utah. The federal government has always blackmailed the states. During the 80′s, they were blackmailing states to pass seat belt laws and speed limit laws or face losing highway funding.

The state also needs to get out of education. I don’t like Sen. Santorum that much, but he did say one thing that resonated with me and that was for both the Federal and State Governments to quit micromanaging education and allow local school districts to control their own schools. Currently, the Utah Legislature is making a bigger mess of education. They can’t even let one law work for a year before they change it again. That is a sign of a lack of vision for education at the state level.