The following comes from a Nov. 18 email to Cal Catholic by Camille Giglio of California Life Advocates.
In my previous report on Common Core Educational Standards I included a section on an interview conducted during the Friday morning, 11:00 a.m., Bishop’s Hour Program on Immaculate Heart Radio, 1620 AM dial out of Sacramento, in which Rick Maya superintendent of the Sacramento Catholic Diocese was interviewed. The subject was the Acceptance by all California Diocesan school districts (10) of the Common Core State (education) Standards which, Mr Maya assured us, was in no way similar to the secular Common Core but would be “infused” with Catholic Principles. Common Core is, he acknowledged, the roadmap to a common core of standards, but the Catholic curriculum would be the route taken to attain that common core.
Apparently the Bishop’s Hour program received numerous unhappy responses to this announcement because last Friday, Nov 15, The assistant diocesan superintendent, Laurie Powers, was interviewed to reassure listeners that the education of their children was not a “political endeavour.”
Further, she emphatically stated that there was no government funding behind the acceptance of the Common Core Standards.
She did seem a little confused about one thing. She used the phrase “the whole person” as being the target for a Catholic education, yet did not seem to realize that that is also the mantra of the public education. She also seemed not to appreciate how impersonal and unfeeling it appears to use “person” rather than “child.” One wonders if she realized that the phrase the whole person/child indicates that the educational system is, just like the presuming to take over the total development of every aspect of an individual’s life, physical health, mental health, nutrition, social skills, workforce training and preparation?
In referring to reading literacy for the third grade she declared that there would be an emphasis on “informational reading” as well as the classics. Informational reading, as in the public schools, is utilitarian in nature. Children will read personal biographies and histories not for their literary skills, historic or creative sense but for the development of specific objectives pertaining to the training. For instance, if they were in a math class, they might read a book about a mathematician. If they were in a history class they might just be reading a book about Harvey Milk and his contribution to local history.
In the previous article I referred to above, a fourth grade public school class was reading the biography of Coretta Scott King. The class was being encouraged to draw from her life’s story certain values.
What modern day stories will the Catholic school kids read to obtain certain values? Will they read about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Thomas Sowell, George Washington Carver, St. Martin de Porres as examples of equitable justice or compassion?
The most unsettling statement Powers made was that in 1997 Catholic educators took a look at Catholic education, at least in California, and decided to develop curriculum based on the California state (public) school standards….
About 22 minutes into the interview Powers stated that it is the goal of a Catholic education as reflected in the statements of the National Catholic Education Association, to create the lawyers, doctors, politicians, teachers of twenty years from now.
The question is: Will these future entrants into the professional world have any soul left?
For more information, read the following:
Catholic scholars blast Common Core
In an unusual statement, 132 Catholic scholars wrote a statement highly critical of the Common Core, which they sent to every bishop in the nation. They urged the bishops not to adopt Common Core in Catholic schools and to withdraw it where it had been adopted. They conclude that the Common Core standards are designed as standardized workforce training, doing nothing to shape and inspire the hearts and minds of children.
The Gates Foundation has heavily subsidized Common Core, which allows, in essence, federal control of education (a power reserved to the states). Virtually all government schools want money, so governors and education departments have willingly trod down the beaten path to accepting government funds with a catch – they must accept Common Core.
Little know is the fact that the Gates Foundation has also invested in Catholic education’s transfer into Common Core. Last week, the Cardinal Newman Society found that the National Catholic Education Association took over $100k from the Gates Foundation, but little known are the millions of dollars that the Jesuit-originated, Cristo Rey Network has taken. (Go to the Gates Foundation site and type in Cristo Rey and look through the two pages worth of grants that have been made.)
It only seems logical to surmise that this has been a slow, but deliberate attempt to scuttle Catholic education.
Laurie Powers emphatically stated that there was no government funding behind the acceptance of the Common Core Standards. I wonder why she did not apparently continue her sentence with, ….but the Gates Foundation did!
A majority of the Bishops were for centralized national control of healthcare. In fact, the only thing they now seem to oppose about it is the HHS mandate. Now they jump on board with the promise of Utopia with a centralized national control of our children’s education. I can only come to the conclusion that just as the Bishops seem to like most aspects of the “Unaffordable Obama-don’t-care Careless Act”, they will probably find very little to dislike about Common Core.
What a terrible coincidence. Just as many are adopting the Cristianos’s cry of “Viva Cristo Rey” in our fight against growing government controls, the Devil inspires his new aids the Gates cretin to start through their Jesuit friends an organization called “Cristo Rey” to implement more government (Satanic) control of our lives!
Be on the alert for Catholic sounding groups that are anything but Catholic!
May God have mercy on an amoral America!
Viva Cristo Rey!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher, Founding Director
Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.
It also looks like the Gates Foundation has given money for years to the International Baccalaureate Program, as well as the millions to the Cristo Rey Network.
This Common Core curriculum has been clouded in mystery to me. Of course, when liberals introduce any new policy into our lives, this initial mystery, along with an unquestioning and approving main stream liberal media, is essential for these policies to gain a foothold. After reading the letter Catholic scholars sent to the Bishops, I now declare the mystery over! There are many pertinent points they made, but the one that sent chills down my spine was the following:
“Promoters of Common Core say that it is designed to make America’s children “college and career ready.” We instead judge Common Core to be a recipe for standardized workforce preparation.” (they give examples to prove this assertion)
No longer will our children be educated to develop their God given talents to prepare them for a vocation. God has no rights. Individuals have no rights. The State’s right’s reign. The State will be in need of STANDARDIZED WORKERS in order to control the populous.
We in Catholic education do not need to buy into any secular project like Common Core. It is prudent to pay close attention to what the public schools are doing, and if we see something that fits, we should not be shy to consider it. But we already have the best of Christian and Classical ideas at our beck and call. The “publics” can offer perhaps useful ideas on methods and the teaching of the natural sciences. Let’s listen, but go our own way, by which I mean His Way, Truth and Light.
Anthony Esolen at crisismagazine.com/2013/common-cores-substandard-writing-standards – a kid from the generation that can’t piece one paragraph together with another contradicts himself about simple historical facts.
Charles, thank you for the link to the informative Esolen article. Esolen’s article, along with the “Catholic scholars blast Common Core” article, would be helpful information to clear up the confusion I know many parents of school age children now have.
CORRECTION — The article which Charles posted was written by Emmett McGroarty and Jane Robbins. In it, they quote Anthony Esolen.
Emmett McGroarty and Jane Robbins wrote the following:
“The Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative has created a PowerPoint presentation (which can be found on the National Catholic Education Association website) that attempts to answer this question. The presentation claims that adoption of the CCSI will only mean grafting Catholic values onto a shared and presumably more rigorous set of benchmarks. But it is simply not possible to reconcile true Catholic education with the Common Core. A grafted branch cannot survive without a sound root, and the Common Core root is withered at best.”
All you need to know about Common Core is who is pushing it: liberals and progressives. ‘Nuff said.
Common Core does in fact do a lot to shape and inspire the hearts and minds of these innocent children but in a way that does not lead them to God but leads them to the Government for all of the answers. Thus leading them away from God, the 10 commandments, their parents, right from wrong, a non-promiscuous life, etc. They are stealing their hearts, minds and souls.
Time for a few facts about Teaching…
Probably the biggest problem with Teachers / Teaching today – is lack of experience. Not In the Classroom, but Out of it.
Too many Teachers go to college, get a credential and never actually leave the classroom – and thus their understanding of the way the real world works often has serious gaps. It is not a lack of good intention, but rather of complete formation of the person – and those who live only within the cloister of school often lack such.
Common Core is ostensibly an attempt to make things more relevant, and I agree with some of the Purpose (if not the actual program, which like much else is subverted to the ObamACorn Partisan Pogrom) of making school more relevant.
I graduated from the CAlifornia Maritime Academy (aka Turnbuckle Tech) – and was ready to work as a ships officer as soon as licensed – largely because of a combination of intensely practical training along with academics.
Of course the demand for highly trained professional marine navigators has lessened somewhat – now that GPS can get you in to trouble much easier. Indeed, recent reports about airline crashes show too much reliance on reading data screens – and not enough on actually looking out the window on occasion.
Any Dissenters?
It is a disgrace that Catholic schools abandon their patrimony – that of liberal education in the Western world – for the authority of governmental boards. That good Catholic resources for classroom use have been lacking for decades is an indication of how long-standing this problem has been.
Efforts, including those of Catholic Textbook Project, are being made to correct this. Meanwhile, that this interviewee felt compelled to provide assurances to the Catholic nature of her curriculum is – even while she betrayed incomprehension of the problem – good news.
So what IS Common Core?
COMMON — Belonging equally to all. –Pertaining to the whole community; public. –Widespread; prevalent; general. –Usual; ordinary. –without special characteristics; average; standard.
CORE — The innermost or most important part of anything; heart.
Yes, Tracy, the words “common” and “core” do need closer scrutiny for their essential meaning. This, I’m afraid is what is lacking in the National Catholic Education Association’ decision to implement this program.
Common can mean an attribute similar to all species within a category or it can mean base, dumbed down, demeaned, removed from a higher plateau.
Ms powers of the Sacramento diocese declared that in 1997 they decided to accept the State schools standards without realizing that they were themselves already common, dumbed down, lowest common denominator.
The catholic high schools pride themselves on teaching critical analysis to their students, but failed to subject the standards to that rigorous analysis.
Does anyone who is really Catholic any longer even consider “the National Catholic Education Association” to be Catholic?
Haven’t they almost been lock step with their secular counterparts?
May God have mercy on an amoral America!
Viva Cristo Rey!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher, Founding Director
Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.
Hopefully Common Core falls of its own weight in public education– just like Obamacare in the private medical sector– because the joint statements of California Catholic superintendents in support of this turkey will carry more weight with the bishops than a long list of college professors on an open letter. That’s the nature of the Church in this state: your opinion doesn’t count because it was not invented here (the chancery). The list of profs could be all Nobel laureates and still our bishops wouldn’t care because the supes will convince the bishops that the scholars are just nasty conservative Catholics. Hopefully if Common Core turns into a mess at the state level and the public schools jettison it, the California parochial school system will quietly forget it.
The Jesuits and the NCEA were involved in Common Core (though I like Obama Core or Rotten Core better) for some time: “According to Dr. Lorraine Ozar (Loyola Chicago) in a July 2012 presentation, “Catholic schools need to pay attention to the fact that the common core standards are here and it is important to get on board”. And Sr. Dale McDonald (NCEA) said in an April 2012 video, “even though these are called ‘secular’ standards, there are ways in which we can make them personal to the Catholic School”.” So much for impartiality.
In SoCal, at least, the Jesuits have been active at LMU with the “Common Core Math and Science Teaching System (CMAST) for at least a few years. (Guess where many teachers and especially principals have gone to?)
There is also a definite problem with staffing a Catholic school. New teachers are generally afraid of their own shadows for a while, especially given some of the megalomaniacs who run things. When they start to blossom into really good teachers, they leave for better pay, hours and bosses. The more experienced, put up with a lot, but even they run into bosses who shouldn’t be and sometimes they leave. (One teacher had raised scores of classes two grade levels in Math and Science, non-Common Core, but was told to do things differently.)
There is concern that schools will lose what little Catholicity there is now. The Western Catholic Educational Association is responsible for this in California (there are other associations in other parts of the country). Not happy with your Catholic school’s current religion program? They have an office in Fullerton. BTW, wonder why they have had nothing to say about Common Core?
Well, the test results are out today. You can see them on the major news blogs. When it comes to math, reading and science, the United States high school kids rank 37th out of 67. The rest of the world is learning more than our kids and eating our lunch in the jobs market. The common core may not ask enough of our students.
U.S. teens ranked 37th out of 67……this is proof positive that we need to go back to Classical Education. I graduated from a CA public high school, when CA was ranked #1 in the world! Latin was one of the core languages that you had to take to graduate. You could graduate from high school and actually get a job! You were well prepared for life. Common core will put the nail in the coffin for our educational system (sic). ON the news this morning everyone says it’s because teachers are underpaid……remember you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear no matter how much money you throw at it. Wake up America.
Sandra D. I completely agree with you! My grandfather had a sixth grade education, which was the standard in his day. He became a very successful business man and was elected as county commissioner for many years. Granted, if he had wanted to be a physician he would have needed more education. But can you imagine very many sixth graders today who would be prepared to start and run a business? A home-schooled child certainly, but a public school educated child? I think not. It seems that our new form of education is designed to extend out childhood into the mid 20’s. I agree with you we need to wake up!
Bob One, since when has centralized governmental control of anything worked out for the betterment of the American people? I am convinced that words say what they mean. We therefore need to raise at least one eye brow to the name of this new standardized curriculum, COMMON CORE! Why did they not name it rather something like “Remarkable Core” or “Extraordinary Core”? Yes, in my mind the choice of the word “common” says it all!
Tracy, how many conspiracy theories do you believe in? The state has always picked the text books, set the standards, and run the public schools. Common, in this sense, simply means that all the states and all school districts in the country will be trying to achieve the same minimum education for the students. It is only a minimum set of standards, not anything more.
Bob One do ever tire of being wrong all the time, the state did not ALWAYS pick text book and set standards, this use to be done at the local district level…
Bob One, If I didn’t find your question have come from a place of ignorance, I would probably be insulted. Common Core is being imposed on us by the Federal Government! Like it or not! Catholic Schools, which sprang up as an alternative to the Protestant dominated public school system, are now using the public school system as their model! The State (i.e. Federal Government) has NOT ALWAYS picked the text books, set the standards, and run the public schools. Educational in the USA has historically been set by the local school districts and individual States. In 1990 the Federal government provided about 50% of the revenue to run public schools. Individual school districts had the right to pick the text books and curriculum they wanted to use. People are upset by “Common Core” because this is the first time in American history when every student in America will be required to follow a one size fits all education.
I still think my earlier question demands some thought. Why are they calling it Common Core and not “Extraordinary Core” or “Exceptional Core” if what they truly desire is to elevate the education of our children?
The Common Core standards do not recommend or prescribe textbooks or curricula.
“STATE” means government! The state is the federal government. The state is the local state government. The state is the county government. The state is the local school board. As early as the start of our country, some “state” agency has determined what was taught in the schools. By the way, get the facts straight. Common Core was designed, at the request of governors, by state education departments, relying on best-practices in this country and the international community to meet the education levels of the rest or the world. Did you see the test results yesterday from international testing? In this case COMMON means the same. All school districts will have a common set of goals. That is all it means. It doesn’t mean that President Obama is trying to warp your kids. He isn’t involved except to give support to the program. Why don’t you want our children to get as good an education as the kids in Vietnam and twenty five other countries?
“In this case common means the same”. Why do you think that having education the SAME for everyone is a good idea? The Catholic Bishops of the past rejected this “sameness” in education for a reason! Haven’t you considered that there are parents of all persuasions today who reject having the “sameness” in education for their children? Obama promised us that if he were elected president that he was going to “FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORM AMERICA”! His supporters cheered for His agenda! (Oops, I should have typed the second “His” with a little “h”. Obama is the one who seems to have a Messiah complex) The main stream media talking heads cheered for his agenda! Teachers cheered for his agenda and gleefully suggested to their students that FINALLY America was going to be a great place to live! The STATE is NOT a Parent. (Oops, sorry another mistake. The STATE takes care of many people today! IT further tells it’s obedient children to hand the candy bar, they bought with money earned for mowing the lawn, over to their lazy crying brother!)
Bob One, Obama wants to completely destroy what is left of parental rights!
Let me ask you Bob One, you honestly believe anything this government (federal) does will actually help students? Since the establishment of the Dept Of Education in 1970’s Education has gotten progressively worse, and only liberals believe more government is the answer… If Obama can get the power to warp children’s minds he will go for it.
Because they want to teach their kid that God created the world in 6 days, that there is no evidence behind evolution, that climate change is a hoax, and that economics is a pseudo science that can be replaced with laissez faire trickle down market systems based on a gold standard. If there is a national set of standards, then individual school districts (and homeschoolers) have a much harder time getting these things in the curriculum.
“Why don’t you want our children to get as good an education as the kids in Vietnam and twenty five other countries?”
It is wrong to lie or mislead others Bob One. Common Core is the heretic’s version of Common Ground. A seamless garment teaching method of dumbing down society.
St. Augustine said, “Before the devil can destroy you, he must first deceive you.”
It’s math and language arts.
“It’s math and language arts.” = Precisely, my dear Watson!
YFC, Climate change ie “global warming” is a hoax perpetrated by the political Left in order to control the citizens of the this country and to separate them from the hard earned money to fund their prized causes. Liberals like you have dumbed down our children with your near total control of education system. The children have great “self-esteem” but no self control and couldn’t do basic geometry if their lives depended on it. I guess this just adds to the reason I detest the Left.
Does anyone want anything recommended by Obama. I sure don’t
Here is a six grade assignment from Common Core in a Catholic school:
It was an argumentative writing assignment of a hypothetical scenario of 8 people on a space ship, and one has to be eliminated in order for the others to survive. The class was divided into groups of 8, and each child assumed the role of one of those people on board (captain, engineer, doctor, pregnant woman, 17-year-old student, scientist, nurse, and reporter). Each student had to write a persuasive argument to convince the others why he or she should live and not be eliminated. Then the group voted on whom to eliminate (which individual dies).
Initially they wanted to eliminate the “pregnant woman”, but she argued well her position and so the group voted to eliminate the student, because the student was deemed a burden, and did not contribute much to the survival of the others.
Does that not sound like something from the Nazi era? Shame on those so-called Catholics who would allow such diabolical teaching in our Catholic schools!
Dear Fight the good fight,
Thank you for exposing an example of the Common Core “*language art*” of diabolical disorientation. Keep up the Good Fight!
Once again, St. Augustine said, “Before the devil can destroy you, he must first deceive you.”
Please tell us what school this occurred in so that we can contact the diocesan officials and the principal.
This is in the Los Angeles diocese and I have written a letter to Archbishop Jose Gomez about it. I have not heard from him yet. I hope there are many people who would also write to him and ask him to REMOVE the Common Core agenda from Los Angeles Catholic Schools.
If you can tell me the school and the way you learned of the incident, it would help me address the matter with him as well.