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COMMON CORE: OBAMACARE FOR EDUCATION
Making every kid a left-wing zealot.
By Jeffrey Lord – 5.15.14SmallerLargerPrint Article
Common Core. Rutgers and Condi Rice. Brandeis and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Smith College and Christine LaGarde. Glenn Beck, Jeb Bush, and Chris Christie.
Amid all the swirling controversies over campus commencement speakers, seemingly in a separate corner of the political universe another controversy swirls over Common Core. In fact? They are the same controversy. Not to mention the battle for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. You could, in fact, call Common Core Obamacare for Education.
Let’s start with an appearance on the O’Reilly show the other night by Glenn Beck. Holding up an exercise on “Possessive Nouns†Beck read the problems a third grade grammar school student had to solve as a homework assignment. The exercise involved making “each sentence less wordy by replacing words with a possessive noun phrase.â€
Possessive nouns. Simple and uncontroversial enough, yes? Here are the six sentences, the “wordy†sentence first and the grammatically correct version second, exactly as sequentially presented by Common Core.
1. The job of a president is not easy.
A president’s job is not easy.
2. The people of a nation do not always agree.
A nation’s people do not always agree.
3. The choices of the president affect everyone.
The president’s choices affect everyone.
4. He makes sure the laws of the country are fair.
He makes sure the country’s laws are fair.
5. The commands of government officials must be obeyed by all.
Government officials’ commands must be obeyed by all.
6. The wants of an individual are less important than the well-being of the nation.
An individual’s wants are less important than the nation’s well-being.
So in the course of a simple exercise in grammar, third grade kids are being told, to quote again, that “Government official’s commands must be obeyed by all†and that “An individual’s wants are less important than the nation’s well-being.†As Beck then noted, Common Core “is about taking our kids and molding them into good little citizens, however the state wants those good little citizens.â€
Another example of how this works is found in this Common Core story over at the Daily Caller. The headline:
Common Core MATH lesson plans attack Reagan, list Lincoln’s religion as ‘liberal’
The DC story says in part:
The InfoPlease biography of Reagan recommended by Common Core to — say again, math students — begins:
In other words, Reagan was elected because America suddenly wanted to go backwards to a “distant, simpler era†and to get elected the most famously conservative politician of the day began “espousing moderate policies†because, don’t you know, the country can’t elect a conservative unless they moderate themselves. Having, as they say, been there and done that in the Reagan White House, I have no recollection of the President looking sternly over his reading glasses and saying that “we’re going to take America back to a distant, simpler era, just like I promised in the campaign.â€
Contrast this with the same site’s bio of Barack Obama.
The bio goes on to refer to “the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison.â€
While Reagan’s economic policies are presented as a failure, with, as the DC notes, Reagan’s “roaring economy and the huge plunge in both inflation and unemployment that ensued†rating “nary a mention†there is nothing similar in the Obama bio, which blandly notes that “the recovery from the 2008 recession had stalled with job growth continuing to come up short…†No word on this being the worst recovery of modern times is to be found, the 92 million Americans not working, the surge in Americans now dependent on food stamps and so on.
Making every kid a left-wing zealot.
By Jeffrey Lord – 5.15.14SmallerLargerPrint Article
Common Core. Rutgers and Condi Rice. Brandeis and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Smith College and Christine LaGarde. Glenn Beck, Jeb Bush, and Chris Christie.
Amid all the swirling controversies over campus commencement speakers, seemingly in a separate corner of the political universe another controversy swirls over Common Core. In fact? They are the same controversy. Not to mention the battle for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. You could, in fact, call Common Core Obamacare for Education.
Let’s start with an appearance on the O’Reilly show the other night by Glenn Beck. Holding up an exercise on “Possessive Nouns†Beck read the problems a third grade grammar school student had to solve as a homework assignment. The exercise involved making “each sentence less wordy by replacing words with a possessive noun phrase.â€
Possessive nouns. Simple and uncontroversial enough, yes? Here are the six sentences, the “wordy†sentence first and the grammatically correct version second, exactly as sequentially presented by Common Core.
1. The job of a president is not easy.
A president’s job is not easy.
2. The people of a nation do not always agree.
A nation’s people do not always agree.
3. The choices of the president affect everyone.
The president’s choices affect everyone.
4. He makes sure the laws of the country are fair.
He makes sure the country’s laws are fair.
5. The commands of government officials must be obeyed by all.
Government officials’ commands must be obeyed by all.
6. The wants of an individual are less important than the well-being of the nation.
An individual’s wants are less important than the nation’s well-being.
So in the course of a simple exercise in grammar, third grade kids are being told, to quote again, that “Government official’s commands must be obeyed by all†and that “An individual’s wants are less important than the nation’s well-being.†As Beck then noted, Common Core “is about taking our kids and molding them into good little citizens, however the state wants those good little citizens.â€
Another example of how this works is found in this Common Core story over at the Daily Caller. The headline:
Common Core MATH lesson plans attack Reagan, list Lincoln’s religion as ‘liberal’
The DC story says in part:
Math teachers using this lesson are supposed to begin by engaging their math students “in a discussion about the Presidents of the United States†including party affiliation.
The lesson plan then offers three websites for obtaining information about American presidents. The “recommended†site is a page entitled “Presidents†at the website Infoplease.com.
The page links to a biography of each president and provides some key facts about each president including their home states, their ages at inauguration and their religions.
Abraham Lincoln’s religion is listed as “Liberal.†(Infoplease.com changed this statement after The Daily Caller exposed the webpage.)
Any math student who surfs over to the Infoplease.com biography of Ronald Reagan is in for a treat. The page duly explains that Reagan’s “‘supply side’ economic program†of “tax cuts and sharp reductions in government spending†led to “the worst recession in 40 years†and a “constantly growing budget deficit.†The roaring economy and the huge plunge in both inflation and unemployment that ensued rate nary a mention.
The lesson plan then offers three websites for obtaining information about American presidents. The “recommended†site is a page entitled “Presidents†at the website Infoplease.com.
The page links to a biography of each president and provides some key facts about each president including their home states, their ages at inauguration and their religions.
Abraham Lincoln’s religion is listed as “Liberal.†(Infoplease.com changed this statement after The Daily Caller exposed the webpage.)
Any math student who surfs over to the Infoplease.com biography of Ronald Reagan is in for a treat. The page duly explains that Reagan’s “‘supply side’ economic program†of “tax cuts and sharp reductions in government spending†led to “the worst recession in 40 years†and a “constantly growing budget deficit.†The roaring economy and the huge plunge in both inflation and unemployment that ensued rate nary a mention.
Ronald Wilson Reagan rode to the presidency in 1980 on a tide of resurgent right-wing sentiment among an electorate longing for a distant, simpler era…. In the 1980 election battle against Jimmy Carter, Reagan broadened his appeal by espousing moderate policies, gaining much of his support from disaffected Democrats and blue-collar workers.
Contrast this with the same site’s bio of Barack Obama.
After a historic and bruising 22-month long campaign, Sen. Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Nov. 4, 2008. He prevailed over Sen. John McCain in what was probably the most pivotal US election since World War II….
While Reagan’s economic policies are presented as a failure, with, as the DC notes, Reagan’s “roaring economy and the huge plunge in both inflation and unemployment that ensued†rating “nary a mention†there is nothing similar in the Obama bio, which blandly notes that “the recovery from the 2008 recession had stalled with job growth continuing to come up short…†No word on this being the worst recovery of modern times is to be found, the 92 million Americans not working, the surge in Americans now dependent on food stamps and so on.
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