Ned McMillan: Minnesota math

As residents of North Carolina, what is our top priority? All of our children. One way we demonstrate that priority is to educate all of our children effectively. And what organization is responsible for that? Our State Board of Education, not our General Assembly.

As I read your Dec. 31 news article “Common Core review co-chairwoman dissents,” the word “ironic” kept surfacing.

Tammy Covill, the co-chairwoman of the commission created by the legislature to rewrite Common Core standards, is upset the commission did not do it her way.

Irony No. 1: The legislature has no right to dictate standards. Second, the members are not qualified directly or indirectly through a commission to write standards.

One ironic proof of such incompetency is the recommendation of the math working group to replace Common Core K-8 math standards with Minnesota’s math standards. According to Covill, “the Minnesota math standards have a proven track record of success.” What? Based on 2015 NAEP (the nation’s assessment of student achievement) report, Minnesota’s fourth-grade math results for black students are below North Carolina’s. Even more ironic is that Minnesota’s fourth-grade math achievement gap is 30 points, seventh worse of the 44 states measured. Proven track record of success?

This story was originally published January 16, 2016 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Ned McMillan: Minnesota math."