Common Core: Truths, Falsehoods, and Why They are Good for our Children... How They Really Began (Part 1)

In order to fully understand how and why Common Core (CC) came about and concerns regarding CC, it is important to understand its origins and the history of federal involvement in public education.  A quick disclaimer/spoiler, CC is NOT a federal program or initiative.

The prefix to this story is that while we like to think of education as being reserved to the state and local governments (local control), the truth is that the federal government has always been involved.  In fact, the idea of public education began at the national level in 1785 under the Land Ordinance Act and was reaffirmed in 1787 with the Northwest Ordinance Act.  These laws essentially established the requirement for a system of public education for territories being admitted to the newly formed United States of America.  Here are some other significant events in our history that illustrates the involvement of the federal government in public education.

• 1841/1848 – The federal government begins to designate land to be used for public education and provides surplus money to the states in support of public education.
• 1862 – The First Morrill Act provides land for the development of a system of land grant colleges in the U.S.
• 1867 – The original U.S. Office of Education was established (later to become a cabinet level department in 1979).
• 1917 – The Smith Hughes Act, at the urging of business leaders in the U.S., promotes the development of vocational schools.
• 1941 – The Lanham Act provides federal dollars to local communities who are impacted by the presence of military bases (federal Impact Aide).
• 1944 – The G.I. Bill provided federal assistance for returning war veterans for college/educational assistance.
• 1946 – The George-Barden Act established funding for agricultural, industrial, and home economics training for high school students.
• 1958 – The National Defense Act, in response to Sputnik, provided federal funds for science, math, and foreign language education.
• In the 1960s and 70s the government established the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to assist in educating disadvantaged children; Title IX to prohibit discrimination based on gender; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to prohibit discrimination based on disability.
• 1983 – In response to business leaders in the U.S., A Nation At Risk was published calling for increases in student achievement across the country.
• In the 1980s, 90s, and 2000s, more calls for school improvement from business leaders led to initiatives from the federal level including America 2000, No Child Left Behind, and Blueprint to Reform. 

As you can plainly see, the federal government has been actively involved in public education for well over 200 years.  In an interesting turn of events though, the initiation and development of the CC curriculum had nothing to do with the federal government.  In fact, this is a bi-partisan, state led initiative which has its roots dating back to 1996.  At that time, a group of governors and national business leaders formed “Achieve,” a bi-partisan, non-profit education reform organization.  This group laid the foundation for what would become the CC Standards.

Between 1996 and 2008, numerous independent, national reports came out expressing concerns with student achievement, college readiness, and global comparisons of elementary and secondary students’ international assessment results.  Business leaders continued to lament the fact that students were not being prepared for the work force needed for America to compete in the global economy.  To this end, in 2008, the National Governors’ Association and Council of Chief State School Officers launched the current CC State Standards initiative.

The actual development of the Standards began in 2009 and involved numerous experts and educators from across the country.  Before the final version was adopted in 2010, the opportunity for public review and comment was available in all states considering adoption, including Kansas.  At the time that final adoption of these Standards was completed, the federal government began the “Race to The Top” grant initiative, which did require adoption of the Standards.  However many states, including Kansas, adopted the Standards even though they did not qualify for Race to the Top funding.  I assume that it is because of this grant requirement that people think the federal government was involved in the development of the CC Standards.