The America Enterprise Institute released an analysis of media coverage of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
Article highlights:
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- In the early years of Common Core, it received little media attention:
Not only were the standards not mentioned even though tens of millions of students were going to be affected by them, but also the coverage in no way anticipated any of the controversy that is inevitable with changes to teacher and school evaluation policy.
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- As Common Core media coverage has increased, so has controversy surrounding the standards.
…Common Core supporters were making an effort to stay below the radar in the early years of the standards’ adoption. After convincing the necessary policy elites, they did not make the case for the standards in the outlets that the average American reads, nor did they anticipate and head off possible criticisms. This might have been the correct strategy in the short term to get the standards adopted, but that stealth fueled backlash and ultimately teed up criticism of the standards. The wise course in the short term may very well have undermined the effort in the long term.
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The analysis of Common Core coverage illustrates the important role of the media in educating the public about issues that affect them.[/list
…our democratic process, for good or ill, relies on information….Whatever side of [that] debate one comes down on, it is clear that people should know what they are talking about.
What’s more, helping people make informed decisions makes policies more durable. When real majorities supporting policies emerge, policies endure.
When their support is a mile wide and an inch deep, even small amounts of discord can sink them.
As with so many of these power-grab programs, the more we know, the less we like them. No wonder they insist we “pass the bill,” any bill, before we are able to find what’s in it. The same holds with Common Core.
The good news is this, though: by speaking up, we are able to effect change. When the media doesn’t do its job, it’s up to US to get the truth out, and that’s exactly what’s happening. Increasing numbers of people speaking up brings about increased coverage, which brings about increasing resistance to this juggernaut of an invasion of our kids’ education.
Read AEI’s comprehensive description of CC itself as well as the analysis here. Their comparison of media treatments of CC to vouchers is telling, and they draw this conclusion which is admirable in its circumspection: “The media appears to be more apt to find controversy with conservative education reforms than progressive ones.”
As we say, more colloquially: “Ya think?”