Thanks to the amazing reporting skills of News 9, the Common Core controversy is in the news again. This time around, it has to do with signatures collected for an online (keyword: online) petition drive in support of the educational standards.
Via News 9:
More controversy for Common Core. Common Core is a set of rigorous educational standards the Oklahoma legislature adopted in 2010 and is now considering repealing.
Now, some names on a petition, from a group hoping to keep Common Core, were faked. The group, Stand for Children Oklahoma, presented a petition to legislators in early March with 7,000 signatures, but many people whose names are on the list said they didn't sign it.
Whoa! Really?!? You're telling me some of the names collected in an online petition may be fake? Get out! Before you know it, they're going to tell us that Biggus Diccus from Rome isn't a real person.
Cue the angry anti-Common Core parent whose name just happened to be on the petition:
Sherri Crawford is one of those. She's adamantly against Common Core.
"My second grader comes home frustrated with math, because they want him to do five different methods and he gets it one way."
So, imagine her surprise when her name showed up on a petition supporting it.
When asked if she signed it, she responded, "No, absolutely not."
Sherri found out her name was on the petition after a group of moms, who oppose common core, got a hold of it and started checking the names. They said they found not only several obviously fake names, like Barrack Obama, but more than a thousand they have personally verified didn't sign it.
"Several of the people I have talked to personally have said I have never seen that email, nor am I on that e-mail list, I have no idea how they got my name," said Kelli Dodd.
Yeah, I wonder how "they" got your name. Here are three likely scenarios:
Scenario A: Stand for Children Oklahoma added the names of 1,000 "adamant" Common Core opponents to the petition, because, uhm, they lack intelligence. Seriously, if they're going to add fake names, why would they chose people who lobby against common core. Also, why would they only add 1,000 more signatures. Like that really matters. Go big to go home.
Scenario B: Opponents of Common Core went online and sabotaged the online petition knowing they could dupe Channel 9 into producing a ridiculous story about it, thus giving their cause more publicity and attention. That kind of makes sense, huh? Seeing how passionate and somewhat nutty the opponents of Common Core seem to be, I wouldn't put that past them.
Scenario C: It's was placed on the petition by the rising and falling water levels at Lake Arcadia. This is the one I'm leaning towards. Of course, that's only because one of big Common Core opponents in the state is Angela Little. She just happens to be one of the girls pictured in the infamous Amy McRee photo that was taken at Lake Arcadia. Coincidence? I think not?
Here she is:
Yeah, it was definitely the lake... or the mysterious man in the back of the photo.
For what it's worth, I really don't have strong opinion either for or against Common Core. They can implement all that standards they want, but until they improve parental involvement and pay teachers more, I don't see a lot changing. That's why I spend my time focusing on more important issues like updating our liquor laws and legalizing marijuana.
That being said, I'd lean towards keeping Common Core standards because:
A) It's received broad bipartisan throughout the country and in Oklahoma. If you need proof of the bipartisan support, take a look at this silly anti-Common Core poster someone sent to me on Twitter. It has support from both Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce Republicans (a.k.a. the ones you can respect) and Oklahoma Democrats. When they can agree something, it's probably a good thing.
B) The only people who seem to be against Common Core are tea party whackos, religious zealots and helicopter parents who make their own soap. If these people are all against Common Core it has to be good, right? They'll hate anything the government's involved in. They hate Common Core so much that Clark Jolley, one of the authors of 2010 legislation that implemented the standards in Oklahoma, had to come out in favor of repealing Common Core just to have a chance at winning the 5th Congressional District. Hell, Obama could try to make Steak and Blowjob Day a national holiday and they'd fight against it.
