What are people saying about common standards?
Elected Officials
“Common education standards and assessments aligned to those standards are in the best interest of both Georgia and the nation. They will allow for an authentic, credible scoreboard that tells us how we are doing compared to students in other states.”
– Governor Sonny Perdue (GA)
“As former governors, we believe a state-led approach to reform will yield a higher quality of education across the nation. Establishing a core set of academic standards will invite competition and innovation for achieving—and exceeding—them.”
James B. Hunt, Jr., Former Governor of North Carolina and Jeb Bush, Former Governor of Florida
“The work being done by the states on standards has spearheaded significant discussion about the next generation of state systems of assessment. In my travels across Wyoming, I hear over and over that the static model used by many states under No Child Left Behind needs to be changed to allow for growth models in all the states. I am particularly pleased that the new assessments proposed for reauthorization will be better aligned to allow for better measurements of student growth from year to year.”
– U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY)
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Education Leaders
“What I have said repeatedly is that our children today aren't competing within a district or within a state for jobs; they are competing with children in India and China. I think our children are as smart, talented, and committed as children anywhere. But our children have been at a competitive disadvantage, and that's very troubling to me. I want to level the playing field. If our standards can tell us whether our children can compete with anybody in the world, then we could feel very good about where our country is going. If we level the playing field, our students will do just fine, they'll do us proud.”
– U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
"The Common Core State Standards define what students need to know; they do not define how teachers should teach, or how students should learn. That is up to each state. And they are built on what we have learned from high-performing international competitors as well as the best practices in leading states."
“By adopting such the common core standards, California can choose to look to the future and build upon what is the best of our own current – and considerable—standards with the best of what other states and high-performing countries offer their students. To provide our students with less only shortchanges their future and that of our state and nation. I commend all who worked on the initiative, and I urge California to adopt this new foundation for student learning.”
– Jack O’Connell, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction
“I’d say this is one of the most important events of the last several years in American education. Now we have the possibility that for the first time, states could come together around new standards and high school graduation requirements that are ambitious and coherent. This is a big deal.”
– Chester E. Finn, Jr., President, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
“These standards represent the best effort so far to transform today’s patchwork quilt of 50 sets of state standards into one set of strong, consistent expectations for what all students should know and learn.”
– Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers
“By emphasizing the critical fact that language mastery also requires knowledge of history, art, music, and science, and moreover that these subjects should be included in the class time devoted to literacy, these standards go beyond the narrow literary emphasis of even the best of the existing state standards.”
– E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Founder, Core Knowledge Foundation
“We believe that this initiative is a critical first step in our nation’s effort to provide every student with a comprehensive, content-rich and complete education. These standards have the potential to support teachers in achieving NEA’s purpose of preparing students to 'thrive in a democratic society and a diverse, changing world as knowledgeable, creative and engaged citizens and lifelong learners.’”
– Lily Eskelsen, Vice President, National Education Association
To read more statements of support, visit http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/statements-of-support
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Business Leaders
“State Farm is pleased to support the Common Core State Standards Initiative. State by State adoption of these standards is an important step towards maintaining our country’s competitive edge. With a skilled and prepared workforce, the business community will be better prepared to face the challenges of the international marketplace.”
– Edward B. Rust Jr., Chairman and CEO, State Farm® Insurance Companies
“The Massachusetts business community supports Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) standards because we have seen that our children - although they score high in national standardized tests - too often arrive in colleges and workplaces unprepared for success. One third of students at our public colleges need remedial instruction before they are ready for coursework that earns credits. Three-quarters of students entering most community colleges don’t graduate within three years. Half of Massachusetts high school students score below proficiency level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress test.”
“As a former CEO of a Fortune 500 company, I know that common education standards are essential for producing the educated work force America needs to remain globally competitive. Good standards alone are not enough, but without them decisions about such things as curricula, instructional materials and tests are haphazard. It is no wonder that educational quality varies so widely among states.”
– Craig Barrett, Cochair, Achieve
"With the states' release today of a set of clear and consistent academic standards, our nation is one step closer to supporting effective teaching in every classroom, charting a path to college and careers for all students, and developing the tools to help all children stay motivated and engaged in their own education. The more states that adopt these college and career based standards, the closer we will be to sharing innovation across state borders and becoming more competitive as a country."
– Bill Gates, Cochair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
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The Media
“Did you know that one of the reasons that the Common Core Standards Initiative was started was because of military families? Kids of military families often have to move around a great deal to follow their parent’s changing orders. These kids were having a terrible time because, for example, in New York, they would be teaching one thing in fourth grade and they would move to Florida where the curriculum was totally different. These kids were missing key concepts and curriculum or repeating unnecessarily as a result…Now families that move a lot will not have to worry about their children being too far behind or missing important things. A great way to support our military families – Common Core Standards.”
-Liza Holland, Lexington Examiner (KY)
“As the world shrinks, few things have become more important than a flexible, portable education. Elementary school students in California may find themselves one day working in Rhode Island or Russia—and they'll need to start learning the skills that will take them anywhere right now. That's the thinking behind the Common Core Standards for English and math, which were released in draft form last week.”
– Editorial, San Francisco Chronicle
“The countries that have left the United States behind in math and science education have one thing in common: They offer the same high education standards—often the same curriculum—from one end of the nation to the other. The United States relies on a generally mediocre patchwork of standards that vary, not just from state to state, but often from district to district. A child’s education depends primarily on ZIP code. That could eventually change if the states adopt the new rigorous standards proposed last week by the National Governors Association and a group representing state school superintendents.”
“In truth, far too many American high school graduates are not well-prepared for those next steps. They have a piece of paper stamped "Graduate,'' but not the knowledge and skills to go with it, in part because education standards vary widely from state to state. That's one of several reasons why it makes sense to establish national standards.”
– Editorial, Minnesota Star-Tribune
“Considering that earlier efforts to establish national standards were doomed by resistance from the states, many doubted the states' ability to come up with something truly meaningful. That, however, is exactly what's been accomplished with the first public draft of grade-by-grade common standards: They are detailed and they aim high. It's important that any changes strengthen, not weaken, the final product.”
"One of the problems with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which requires improved school performance, is that it left it up to individual states to adopt their own standards for what students are expected to learn. That resulted in significant variation among the states. The proposed national “common core” standards aim to set student expectations for success without prescribing specific curricula, leaving those decisions up to individual states and school districts."
– Editorial, Wyoming Star-Tribune
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