Tuesday, July 16, 2013

The Pillars of Progressivism and Common Core

When the Progressive Movement started to manifest in this country in the early nineteen teens, I am sure there was a plan... a well-organized plan. In order for progressives to succeed, they need to have a few key areas under their control. People need to be dumbed down. The federal powers need to be expanded. Religion and morality need to be marginalized. And property rights need to be eroded.

I am not an historian. And I am not a keeper of all of the facts and trends of history. However, I am an American, wife, mother, and small-government libertarian who has been increasingly discouraged by the bloat of government. The progressive movement seemed to start with incremental political change. And that change has been creeping for more than my 48-year lifetime. 

As our society has been transformed into an entitlement society with an erosion of fathers, we are too tired and busy trying to make it to the end of every month to care about the larger picture. With moms at work instead of at home, no one is guarding the educational changes at the school. There was a purpose to all of the fencepost gossip among the moms on the block. They kept track. They rallied around. And they talked about the implementation of some new-fangled-thing at the school, and often turned it around. But when feminism lied to us and told women that we could have it all, we believed it. We can't have it all. And our children pay the price.

Common Core has been working its tentacles into our schools for four years. Who was paying attention? Educational publishing companies have been balking and squawking since 2008. But we had a recession/almost depression to worry about. People lost homes. Jobs evaporated. And what better way to distract the moms of America than to force them into flight or flight mode over basic living. New ideas come and go, but the Founding Fathers wanted our educational system to operate at the local level with parents and communities making crucial decisions. National curriculum is the antithesis of that principle. 

1 comment:

gin said...

Brilliant and timely!