War at the Core

COEUR d'ALENE - With just six weeks to go until school starts with the new Idaho Core Standards in place, opponents and supporters of the education reform initiative are marshaling forces and speaking out.

The facts coming from each side couldn't be more different, and it has created some unexpected alliances.

The formation of a new coalition, Idahoans for Excellence in Education, was announced Tuesday. Its stated purpose is to "support the successful implementation of the Idaho Core Standards," and it includes groups representing businesses, parents, teachers, and children's advocates, along with the state board of education and the Idaho Education Association.

Coalition members join Idaho Superintendent Tom Luna in advocating for the standards. It places him side-by-side in the trenches with the teachers union, Luna's bitter rivals in last year's failed "Students Come First" education reforms.

Melissa McGrath, Luna's spokeswoman at the state department of education, said they are pleased with the broad support.

"While it will be challenging to implement these new, higher academic standards, Idaho's teachers recognize that these standards are critical to prepare students for postsecondary and the workforce," McGrath said. "We are always willing to work with anyone who puts the best interests of children first."

The Idaho Core Standards are the Gem State's version of the Common Core standards, an effort to elevate and align education benchmarks across the states. Supporters say it will add academic rigor and improve the state's dismal college completion rate, and create a stronger workforce.

Detractors claim educators were not involved in the development of the standards, that the creation of the standards was motivated by private, corporate interests and driven by a federal government that wants to create a national curriculum and a national database of citizens' personal information.

Opponents also claim the standards represent a loss of local control of curriculum. They dismiss the backers' claim that the Common Core effort is "state-led," rather than led by the federal government.

Lisa May, a parent of children in the Coeur d'Alene School District, said she was frustrated Monday, when she heard the information offered at an informational meeting presented at a church in Coeur d'Alene by foes of the Common Core effort.

"I'm asking the school district and the board members here to clarify any inaccuracies we've heard," May said, during the meeting that was attended by several school board members.

Sharon Hanek, one of the speakers at the presentation, offered May her card. She asked May to call her so she could direct May to the "source documents" proving her claims.

Hanek, a longtime education activist in Washington, was a candidate for state treasurer last November. She has been speaking out against the Common Core in her state and in Idaho, primarily to Tea Party and Republican groups.

The Common Core standards don't reach high enough, Hanek told the group Monday. She said the standards strive for "upper mediocrity." The developers of the standards didn't look for guidance to the states that the Thomas Fordham Institute, a nonprofit conservative education policy think tank, gave the highest rankings when it comes to the quality of their standards, Hanek said.

"They created a whole other set of standards," she said.

She also said that the Common Core standards are a "step up" for Idaho, which is one area both sides agree on.

The Fordham Institute gives the Idaho Core Standards a B+ in English language arts. Prior to the adoption of those standards, Idaho's English standards received a C from the group. The math standards were given a B prior to the Common Core, and an A- for the new Idaho Core Standards.

The Common Core does not include science or history standards at this time.

Hanek urged parents to be on the lookout for evidence of "fuzzy math" or "fuzzy English," for history books with "a lot of Islamic content," and content about global citizenship or American patriotism.

She said the Common Core standards place the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Human Rights, beside each other, assigning each the same level of importance.

Tom Hearn, chair of the Coeur d'Alene School District Board of Trustees, told The Press Tuesday that he attended the presentation Monday because he likes to hear all sides of an issue.

"As I expected, in my judgment, it was heavily biased against the Common Core, but I want to, as a board member, be open to all patrons in the community. That doesn't mean I agree with them," Hearn said. "What I heard a lot of, was people who are anti-government who don't trust that the information they've been given is accurate."

Hearn said he was surprised because politicians who support the standards - Luna, Otter and Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene - "are hardly liberals," and the Common Core opponents appear to be largely conservatives.

He said he has researched the issue for several months, and attended several workshops and forums about the Common Core, and hasn't seen anything that concerns him, especially since education professionals think the standards are an improvement.

"The board retains control over the curriculum," Hearn said.