Common Core: National Take-Over of K – 12 Curricula

“The Common Core gang in 1996 gathered a cozy group of rich big businessmen, six governors, and a few other politicians and founded an organization called Achieve Inc. Working backward from the 12th grade down to kindergarten, this eventually morphed into the Common Core State Standards.”
– “National Takeover of School Curriculum,” by Phyllis Schlafly, February 26, 2014

Common Core is a set of K – 12 English language arts (ELA) and math standards, primarily developed by trade groups and private interests in Washington, D.C.; funded by the Gates Foundation; copyrighted in 2010 by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers, as sole owners and developers.

Achieve Inc., mentioned in Mr. Pattison’s quote above, began implementing Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in 13 states, without calling it a national effort, since a nationally mandated curriculum is unconstitutional. Instead, Achieve approached each state department of education and by 2009, 35 states had aligned their curriculum with Common Core. By 2011, 45 states had adopted the sight-unseen pig-in-a-poke that had never been field tested.

Whether with amazing naiveté or complicity in the plan, Georgia agreed to implement CCSS to qualify for a $400 million Race to the Top education reform grant received in August 2010, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to improve schools.

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