You’re sitting in Math class, when your teacher hands you a list of the new Common Core Standards. Students are constantly told of the positive benefits of this system, and how it will  “better prepare students for adulthood”.  However, many people are not aware of the numerous negative effects of Common Core on our nation’s education system.

What most people don’t understand about Common Core is that it is unfair for disadvantaged schools and struggling students.  The Common Core standards were created in a set of ideal conditions: financially stable schools, above-average students, and willing teachers. What Common Core fails to mention is that low-income schools might not be able to afford the new supplies and textbooks that apply to the new “standards”. Unfortunately, this financial burden will leave them even further behind than the more privileged schools, widening the educational gap between wealthy and struggling schools.

Also, what about those who are behind the national learning curve? Students who speak other languages, have disabilities, or need extra help are forced to adapt to standards that provide no specialized curriculum for their needs.  If Common Core really wants to foster important educational and life skills, they should create more options for students who require educational assistance.

Supporters of Common Core claim that the CCS are necessary to allow the US to compete scholastically with other countries, but fail to recognize that many countries are successful without it. For example, Canada does not have Common Core Standards, but Canadian students are ranked number one in reading, math, and science out of all English-speaking countries. Also, Common Core does not aim to improve all states’ education systems: they aim to find middle-ground between our high and low-ranking states. This is unfair for states like California and Massachusetts, who are already ranked very high. This means, those states’ curriculum will actually be taken a step down.

Also, what about the teachers? Common Core forces teachers to completely change their curriculum, without providing any structure as to what new material they need to teach. This will be especially problematic in states like California, who already have their own set of clear state standards. This leaves teachers with the difficult task of re-doing their lesson plans for the entire year.  This is greatly inconvenient for busy teachers, who now have  to spend extra time  restructuring all yearly lessons, activities, and teaching methods, without a guarantee that these new “methods” will even work.

While Common Core certainly has some positive aspects,  forcing this policy upon all students and teachers will only be a burden. Common Core is a government-funded change, which means that states who don’t adopt CCS, don’t get any money from the government.

Imposing Common Core standards provides many unfair disadvantages that will only hamper students’ educational potential.