Common Core, part 6

Many teachers are concerned about the Common Core State Standards. Compounding their anxieties, Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, has noted that the CCSS establishes national standards for the country, as though they had never existed before.

However, we have had national standards for a long time. Since World War 2, textbook publishers have competed with each other for the school textbook market. As a result, many texts from different publishers were barely distinguishable from one another. That is still the case – ask any teacher who has reviewed textbooks to find the best fit for he...