08-05-2016, 11:21 AM
To me, the bigger issues than whether curriculum is determined at the state or federal level are funding and parental involvement/expectations. Those are the areas where education is really in trouble when it comes to determining if education is good or bad. Funding via property taxes, and the societal switch from siding with the school and teachers to blaming them is the true root of where education stands today.
I think schools could be fine if either the state or federal governments determined curriculum. Truthfully, the idea behind common core is sound...that schools should be teaching the same things at the same grade levels, etc. Its the implementation of it that has been bad. For example, in Ohio, some districts teach biology in the 9th grade, others in the 10th grade. That causes problems when families move between districts. What happens to the kid who took Bio in 9th grade, then the family moves to a new district and they are expected to take bio in the 10th grade again? Or the kid who was in a district who would have gotten bio in the tenth grade, then after 9th grade moves to a district where it is taught in 9th grade and now has missed Bio or has to take a class with freshmen when they are sophomores? So there is something to be said for all districts being on the same page with curriculum.
I think schools could be fine if either the state or federal governments determined curriculum. Truthfully, the idea behind common core is sound...that schools should be teaching the same things at the same grade levels, etc. Its the implementation of it that has been bad. For example, in Ohio, some districts teach biology in the 9th grade, others in the 10th grade. That causes problems when families move between districts. What happens to the kid who took Bio in 9th grade, then the family moves to a new district and they are expected to take bio in the 10th grade again? Or the kid who was in a district who would have gotten bio in the tenth grade, then after 9th grade moves to a district where it is taught in 9th grade and now has missed Bio or has to take a class with freshmen when they are sophomores? So there is something to be said for all districts being on the same page with curriculum.
