Poll of the uninformed

Published in the San Francisco Chronicle, April 28, 2014

"Most in state approve of policy shifts in education," April 24:

Yes, 69 percent of Californians polled said they liked the Common Core standards after hearing a brief statement about them. The statement said only that they "are designed to ensure that students graduating from high school have the knowledge and skills they need to enter college programs or the workforce." I'm surprised anybody would object.

Not mentioned is the fact that the standards call for a uniform but untested curriculum and an astonishing amount of testing. Not mentioned is the fact that the Common Core does not address the largest factor influencing school performance: poverty. When researchers control for the effect of poverty, American students score at the top of the world on international tests.

Eighty percent of those interviewed said they knew either a little or nothing at all about the Common Core. The description they heard, devoid of meaningful detail, made them even less informed.

Stephen Krashen, Los Angeles