Common Core needs a czar, argues John Wilson, former head of the National Education Association, in Education Week. Wilson backs the standards but blames bureaucrats for botching implementation.
Bureaucrats want to “standardize everything about the education process from lesson plans to testing,” writes Wilson.
To deal with the chaos, we desperately need a single authority to oversee the implementation, call out bad practices, and recommend policy changes to the politicians. We need a Common Core Czar.
. . . the czar should be able to offer a new vision of American education that is rooted in shared standards, an understanding of local and state authority over curriculum, and empowerment of teachers to select lesson plans that assure all their students learn.
. . . Testing for accountability should be limited to a scientific sampling. High-stakes tests have poisoned the system and need to be eliminated.
If standardization is the problem, how can a czar be the solution?
