It is likely that when speaking with anyone involved in our public education system, that they will have a strong opinion on common core. Common core was adopted in this state in 2010; teachers, parents and students have been struggling with it since.
During the interim, I have the time to do a lot more in the district. This gives me the opportunity to visit schools (such as Gray’s Creek, Wayne C. Collier, Max Abbott, Northview Baptist and so on) and speak with teachers, students and administrators. One of the constant topics in these discussions was common core. Many teachers testified to the fact that the common core has forced them into creating lessons that are at their best confusing. Essentially common core standards have grown to become loathed by both those on the left and on the right and even more so by those with first hand experiences in dealing with this material.
That is why over the past interim, a legislative committee was formed to try to address how we can fix these issues. Committee members heard from school administrators, teachers, parents, students, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. The end goal from this feedback was to tweak and create rigourous, coherent and age appropriate math and English standards for North Carolina. With this goal in mind, a bill was filed that will create a 17 member commission made up of parents, teachers, experts, and researchers tasked with creating the standards mentioned above. It is clear through testimonies from those with hands on experience that reform is needed in our classrooms and this is the right step in enacting those changes.