If you're wondering what's up with CC, this is a good introduction on American Thinker:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/12/common_core_standards_throwi...

The main thing to note about Common Core is that it is HUGE. Writing an article about it is like trying to do a short piece on Roman History.  

They wrote "Standards," pages of them, for each subject in each grade. An endless river of jargon. I think they wanted to make it IMPOSSIBLE  for ordinary Americans to know what this thing is.

The whole point of a Standard is to create a sort of public intellectual property, something that parents can easily understand and discuss with each other. Here is an example of a sensible standard: students hoping to play football should be able to do 10 push-ups. (Never mind the exact number.)

The point is that every parent, and every kid, knows exactly what it means and whether Joe or James can do it.

 You will never find that situation in the Common Core Standards. There are so many of them; and they are so vaporish and subjective. Here's a hypothetical standard: "Students can use and manipulate building blocks, showing an awareness of their architectural potential." You see, that's not like a push-up. You may think your kid is doing this but another kid isn't. Who knows for sure?

 Consider the immediate ramifications. All teachers will have to go back to school to learn how to teach that standard. All textbooks will have to be replaced. All tests will have to be replaced ("aligned"). And at the end of all that, a trillion dollars later, we still won't know whether an individual kid is "showing an awareness" or whether he can "manipulate."

 My sense is that Common Core is going to be like swimming in a swamp. You won't be able to keep track of all the nasty surprises. Nobody mentioned the rotting logs. Nobody mentioned the snakes. Nobody mentioned the frogs that will attack you. Nobody mentioned the birds that will swoop down out of the trees and peck your eyes. Nobody mentioned that you should've gotten tetanus shots. Now it's too late. You're already terminal and you don't even know it.

 I think Common Core is exactly like ObamaCare. Devised for the wrong reasons (power and money), foisted on us by tricks, because that's the only way they could have gotten it through.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/12/common_core_standards_throwi...