Control of Home/Private School Curriculum
Florida Governor Scott said on 12/12/12 that he believes that students attending private schools using tax-credit scholarships should meet the same standards as students in traditional public schools and, "Ultimately, everybody is going to Common Core." Florida Commissioner of Education Tony Bennett has echoed similar sentiments. Sadly school choice laws that require voucher recipients or the entire private school that teaches voucher recipients to take the state tests in most cases will be imposing the Common Core standards on the private schools.
Since David Coleman, one of the chief authors of the Common Core Standards in English is now president of the College Board, one of two major college entrance exams, and says he plans to align the SAT with the Common Core, private and homeschooled students will have to be concerned about how Common Core affects them. The College Board also administers the Advanced Placement (AP) and alternate high school graduation test used by many home schooled students, the GED, are also administered by the College Board. In addition, the ACT, which is the other major college entrance exam is also being aligned to the Common Core Standards.
The Home School Legal Defense Association is concerned that these "voluntary" state standards are "too close to a national curriculum."
The reasons that homeschool parents should be concerned are well summed up in this quote from the article What Homeschool Parents Need to Know About the Common Core:
Since David Coleman, one of the chief authors of the Common Core Standards in English is now president of the College Board, one of two major college entrance exams, and says he plans to align the SAT with the Common Core, private and homeschooled students will have to be concerned about how Common Core affects them. The College Board also administers the Advanced Placement (AP) and alternate high school graduation test used by many home schooled students, the GED, are also administered by the College Board. In addition, the ACT, which is the other major college entrance exam is also being aligned to the Common Core Standards.
The Home School Legal Defense Association is concerned that these "voluntary" state standards are "too close to a national curriculum."
The reasons that homeschool parents should be concerned are well summed up in this quote from the article What Homeschool Parents Need to Know About the Common Core:
We don't oppose the development of the skills described in the Common Core Standards. They're common sense. Parents and traditional textbooks and Christian curricula and worldview education have always identified them and exceeded them.
What we oppose is top-down federal control and the imposition of a national curriculum and national standards. And we most deeply oppose the central government's presumption in thinking that it can or should take over responsibility for shaping our children's character and attitudes. Such a move is not merely impractical or unwise; it is tyranny. I care too much for my children and grandchildren to let it happen without a fight.
What we oppose is top-down federal control and the imposition of a national curriculum and national standards. And we most deeply oppose the central government's presumption in thinking that it can or should take over responsibility for shaping our children's character and attitudes. Such a move is not merely impractical or unwise; it is tyranny. I care too much for my children and grandchildren to let it happen without a fight.
| Additional Resources | |
|---|---|
| Will the Common Core impact homeschools and private schools? - Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) | |
| Common Core: A Threat to Homeschoolers? Do we have cause to be concerned about the latest efforts in education reform? - Joy Pullman |
