Going above and beyond what's necessary
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said the repeal of Common Core State Standards was “bad for kids, bad for the country and terrible for education” and implied that Oklahomans wanted to lower education standards for our students. This is not the case. Gov. Mary Fallin, legislators and education leaders should be commended for their dedication to education.
Oklahoma will set standards higher than Common Core. Educators will continue to get students ready for college and careers. In a study by the Fordham Institute, the Oklahoma Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS) received a grade of B-plus in reading and B-plus in math, while Common Core received a grade B-plus in reading and A-minus in math. This shows there is room for improvement in both programs.
Oklahoma is headed in the right direction to improve the quality of education for students. This is not politics; this is taking charge of solving the problems in education at the state and local levels versus counting on Washington, D.C., to do better.
Oklahoma isn’t against high standards. In fact, the “Oklahoma Standard” has come to mean going above and beyond what’s merely necessary. The same will be true with our education programs. We must remember that education takes place in local classrooms and is the result of dedicated teachers and involved parents, not Washington bureaucrats and nationalized standards.
Jan Barrick, Oklahoma City
http://newsok.com/going-above-and-beyond-whats-necessary/article/4946608