Common Core Conversations in Aberdeen, Rapid City, and Tri-Valley This Week

For those of you concerned that the Common Core standards are being implemented in our schools secretly, without opportunities for public input, there are at least three public events this week at which administrators and state officials will come tell why Common Core is just wonderful, followed by someone who will at least whisper to fellow audience members Common Core is really a Marxist globalist plot enforced by blue-helmeted U.N. goons.

First, the Aberdeen Catholic Schools will host a discussion of the implications of Common Core for Catholic Schools. Starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, November 6, the program will feature director of Sioux Falls Diocese Catholic schools Katie Mellor and Roncalli Elementary principal and teacher Mark Stone. You will likely hear Mellor repeat points that she has compiled in this online Common Core Q&A, in which she says Catholic school parents have nothing to worry about:

The truth is that this “sweeping change” looks a lot like the traditional approach found in most Catholic schools ["Response to Common Core," Cathoic Diocese of Sioux Falls, downloaded 2013.11.04].

Tea Party translation: If you think Common Core is bad, then the Catholic schools offer no refuge.

Also on Wednesday night, South Dakota Secretary of Education Melody Schopp will take the stage on the other side of the state, at the old high school at 601 Columbus Street, Rapid City, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Watch out, Dr. Schopp: Tonchi Weaver and those Rapid City Tea Partiers are more likely to stick to their guns than the wishy-washy East River Birchers.

Then Dr. Schopp will truck back across the state to Tri-Valley School to attend a high-noon discussion about Common Core on Thursday, November 7 with superintendents, school board members, and legislators. This meeting comes after parents extended a Tri-Valley school board meeting with Common Core commentary. The School Administrators of South Dakota are hosting this meeting. Senator Deb Peters (R-9/Hartford) is encouraging her Legislative colleagues to attend; you'll have to call Tri-Valley superintendent Mike Lodmel to see if the public can spend their lunch break in this dreary conversation.

It's pretty clear Common Core is no secret plot. Interested citizens have plenty of opportunity to learn about it. The question is, if folks really are burned up about this latest retread of education reform churn, what specifically do they want to do differently?