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A Few Brief Common Core Thoughts

I am most sensitive that some of the recommendations in the liberal arts, if you will, go against the moral law. I am not overly upset by the mathematics, which is trying to teach inductive and deductive reasoning, among other things. We are obsessed with "practicality" and utility, and that is pathetic, on either side of the political spectrum. True knowledge is a good in itself, and should be sought. If a thing is also materially beneficial, so much the better. Yet our society has too many people who don't know what they don't know, and aren't too interested in finding out.

Let the teachers teach. And if there is some moral or religious objection to something in the curriculum, let parents and teachers modify the curriculum as they see fit, together. We're not saying that word enough. Or we say it, and we don't mean it. We mean "together" as "the people who already think like I do."

Anyway, I think I understand the purpose of Common Core is to give students a baseline knowledge in the various subjects, no matter where they are. Surely we recognize that much of our inability to improve student performance relative to others is the highly variable quality of the learning experience itself, largely because of socioeconomic factors. Anything that can be done to positively address that problem should be encouraged.

We cannot abandon the public school system, as Christians. Every child has a right to knowledge, and we all have a stake in that process, even if we ourselves are not served by the public schools.

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