The inaugural event of “Civil Conversations Fayette” kicked off Jan. 30 with a presentation by University of Wisconsin professor Duke Pesta providing his take on the Common Core standards now implemented in Georgia schools.
The conversation was civil, though only one side of the Common Core issue was represented. That said, Fayette County Commissioner Steve Brown sat at the table with Pesta to pose questions. The two were joined later in the conversation by state Sen. Josh McKoon (Rep.-Columbus) who was also opposed to the academic initiative. Brown said he was unable to secure a pro-Common Core speaker for the event.
For their part, the majority, if not all, of the 70 in attendance appeared to be opposed to the Common Core standards.
Common Core standards for math and English/Language Arts have been implemented in Georgia’s public schools. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) initiative was adopted by the Georgia State Board of Education in 2010, with classroom implementation occurring during the 2013 school year.
According to the Ga. Dept. of Education (DOE), Common Core was devised in cooperation with the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers and is being implemented in nearly all U.S. states.
But Common Core also has detractors who question both its origin and its intent and maintain that federal intervention is behind the initiative. Pesta is clearly one of those.
Beyond the statements coming from DOE, Pesta maintained that the genesis of Common Core came from the likes of Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation.
“Gates has spent $6 billion to date,” said Pesta. “What gives him the qualifications?”
Pesta has taken his thoughts on Common Core to a variety of audiences and, at the Jan. 30 meeting, offered a wealth of data supporting his position in opposing the standards.
“Common Core is a big federal takeover, as significant (in education) as Obamacare is in medicine,” Pesta said. “It’s way bigger than Republicans or Democrats.”
During his remarks, Pesta said the biggest problem with Common Core, from a political perspective, is with Republicans, adding that Democrats generally want it.
“Republican governors tend to back Common Core more than Democrats,” he said, also throwing a jab a potential Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush. ”Republican governors defend it because the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports it. At lest the Democrats are honest, they like federal government control. With the Republicans, they don’t want to cut off their revenue trail.”
Along that line, Pesta referenced the federal No Child Left Behind initiative during the George W. Bush administration.
“Common Core is No Child Left Behind on steroids,” Pesta said. “Once implemented, it leads to a loss of state and local control. In the end, it’s social engineering. It’s socialism.”
Pesta said there is nothing wrong with having academic standards, but the more local autonomy the better. Hammering home the idea of the importance of local control, Pesta said, “The state monopoly on education is not working, with or without common Core.”
At its core, said Pesta, is the overall goal of having the federal government call the shots in education.
“It was meant to cede control to Washington, not to better educate your kids,” he said. “Once the government takes (something) over, you never get it back. The feds give you dollars to get you in, but the dollars won’t keep coming. And what will they do if a state pulls out? The feds say, though illegally, you have to go back to No Child Left Behind.”
McKoon entered the conversation after Pesta had made a number of remarks. Asked by Brown what could be done with shifting education standards, McKoon said, “Educators are frustrated with the shifting standards. And it’s something we’ll have to look at again. I think more change is probably necessary to follow some other states and leave Common Core.”
McKoon continued, saying Georgia can make a change.
“We’re not really bound going forward. I don’t think (Common Core) is legally enforceable,” said McKoon, referencing a bill that came before the General Assembly last year. “A number of us are committed to exiting Common Core, though at the end of the process we weren’t able to get it through.
The Jan. 30 meeting at the headquarters of the Fayette County Republican Party was sponsored by the Fayette County Kiwanis Club and was intended as a public forum event.
