LETTER: In a word, wrong

In an April 5 letter to the editor, Ronald Deady began by describing a phone call he participated in with Governor Otter that noted both the governor’s and Mr. Deady’s support for the Common Core standards adopted by most states. He then states, “Teachers and their unions have done everything possible to strike down Common Core because it would hold them accountable.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The following quote is from a March 11, 2010, NEA press release statement by National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel: “NEA is pleased to support this draft of the Common Core State Standards. It reflects efforts to make substantial revisions to improve the previous draft and demonstrates the responsiveness of the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) staff to input from stakeholders. Two NEA members serve on project committees and an advisory group of NEA teachers has provided input on several occasions. The attentiveness of CCSSI leaders to the ideas of teachers provides real classroom grounding for the learning progressions and ideas in the standards…”

This hardly sounds like the actions of an organization trying to “strike down” these standards.

I will leave comment about Mr. Deady’s other opinions for another time. There is much to be said about politicians and their treatment of our public school system. In this day and age when alternate facts are the rage, let’s remember that debate is healthy but stick to the facts.

PHILIP HARDING

Hayden