On a recent Saturday morning, I rose early to get to the local farmer’s market before it swelled with the masses. It was a picturesque day, and as I drove past the bay, I took in the early morning light reflecting off the glistening turquoise water. One of the main reasons I go to this market is because I am new to life in a subtropical city, and I enjoy every nuance of the exotic environment. And at this market, there is a store that sells very unique equatorial flowers.
I purchased my organic vegetables, paid too much for frozen shrimp, and even got a couple of empanadas before making my way to the flower stand. As I approached, I squealed with delight at the buckets of Birds of Paradise, Ostrich Plume, and the most amazing Heliconia. I didn’t know what Heliconia were before I moved to my Floridian paradise, but there they were, the most unusual and breathtaking flower I have ever seen, and all for my taking.
I quickly set my packages down and began to make two bunches of flowers (Why buy one when you can fill your home with two?). I handed them to the owner and he said, “These are as strange as the Common Core.”
I have to admit, I was perplexed by what he said; it was so out of context. Why would he say that? I asked him if he had ever read the Common Core. He said, “No, but college students could not do them.” My first thought was that a lot of people were coming out against the Common Core. And I wondered if the naysayers had actually read the Standards or if they relied upon information from other people to tell them what they should think, as the flower shop owner had done.
I could have just paid for my flowers and left, but frankly, I was tired of hearing unsolicited perspectives on the Standards from people who had never even read them. I explained to the flower shop owner that the Standards are challenging and far-reaching. I asked him, why would we would want to establish low expectations for our children? I further stated that the Standards identify requirements such as, “Students will know the main idea of text,” and “Students will know how to apply mathematics in real world context.” Then I asked him if he objected to those ideas. He didn’t respond and kept his back to me while he packaged up my treasure.
The next time I went to the market, I planned on bringing the flower shop owner a set of English language arts and mathematics Standards. I was even considering knocking his socks off and bringing along the Next-Generation Science Standards. If he actually read them, he could see for himself that the Standards are a common sense guide of content that represents the minimum requirements that our students should know and be able to do after a 13-year education.
However, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I am not sure why he chose to make such a nonsensical statement about something that he never read. But I made my point, and I didn’t want to brow beat him; I just wanted him to be better informed.
We should all read the Standards and make up our own minds. Are they “strange” or just common sense in a 21st century world? You can find the Standards and read them for yourself at www.corestandards.org.
Victoria Pagonis
Founder and President
Standards Solution
Standards Solution
