Daily Beast Slams Criticism of Common Core as 'Incredibly Stupid'

April 21st, 2014 1:12 PM

Does anyone sense a desperation among the left over the future of Common Core?

Yesterday, NewsBusters' Clay Waters, published a story about the New York Times claiming that only "Angry" Anti-Obama Right Mad at Common Core Standards and today the Daily Beast also chimes in with a similar story except they are a bit more "balanced" by including teacher's unions in its attack although most of its fury is focused on their "usual suspects" on the right. The one big thing missing in the Daily Beast article written by Charles Upton Sahm, The Incredibly Stupid War on the Common Core, are any of the many specific examples put forth by the critics. Both the New York Times and The Daily Beast dare not do that because it is those examples that point out the absolute absurdity of Common Core teaching methods especially in the field of mathematics. One such criticism was brilliantly illustrated by Karen Lamoreaux, an Arkansas mother, as you can see in this viral video (and after the jump) while addressing her state board of education.

 

As Lamoreaux pointed out in the video, a simple division problem solved in only two steps would be marked wrong because it was converted by Common Core methodology into a complicated process where students are "expected to draw 18 circles with 90 hash marks solving this problem in exactly 108 steps." The criticism of this program was continued by Lamoreaux on a Facebook page ironically dedicated to supporting Common Core, Arkansans For Common Core, where her many criticisms on that page goes unanswered.

The closest that Charles Upton Sahm gets to specifics in his Daily Beast slam is this:

The math standards are designed to get students to focus on topics in a sequential manner that builds a deeper understanding over time.

Really? Okay, Mr. Sahm. Then try solving this Common Core problem in a sequential manner that will build a deeper understanding over time:

 

 

If Sahm is already reaching for the aspirin as he tries to solve this, let me help by solving another bit of math using Common Core type thinking... Take a couple of hundred thousand applications. Then skip-count by seven, add a whole bunch of zeros, or multiply it upteen times or both, and voila, we have 8 million ObamaCare enrollees!!!