No, Politico, Common Core Hasn’t “Won the War”

In a recent article, Politico’s Kimberly Hefling asserted that “Common Core has won.” She claims that Common Core enjoys widespread support, and interviews select groups of parents and teachers in an attempt to prove that teachers and students have “given up” on the battle against this legislative behemoth.

But this article overlooks some crucial numbers. It ignores the fact that the movement against Common Core is one of the fastest-growing grassroots efforts in the United States, with almost a quarter million students opting out in the state of California alone, and another quarter million students expected to stage protests in New York. Similar outrage is shared nationwide, as state after state discovers the damage that these standards have caused.

While Ms. Hefling may have interviewed some pockets of support to back her thesis, her research has somehow missed the millions of Common Core opponents. She must not have talked to the same students that Stephen Colbert mentioned in his hilarious ambush on the absurdity of the standards—or the tens of thousands of parents around the country like this one, whose frustration with the standards finally turned into cynicism.

The article barely even mentions the “droves” of parents who are opting their frustrated kids out of the tests. It doesn’t address the fact that homeschooling is expected to skyrocket with the new surge of students fleeing the public schools. And while some families are contemplating moving out of their home state just to get away from the Common Core, Politico fails to mention the impact that Common Core is having on the average, middle-class family.

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