In an article from Crisis Magazine titled “How Common Core Literary Standards Undermine Education,” Michael Ortiz eloquently explains what is at the heart of our objections to standards based education, especially at the early learning stages:

The human individual” wrote philosopher Roger Scruton “is the single most important obstacle that all bureaucratic systems must overcome, and which all ideologies must destroy.” For the things of the spirit, the unfolding of a single soul, defies measurability.

Hence the pre-school years, as well as the primary grades, especially for boys, are absolutely vital. Enclose then in a fantasy world of no effort and constant ego-fulfillment, and curriculum standards, however well-researched, will not easily bring them into the joy of discovering being, the bedrock of truth, and the goal of all education. The temptation to escape to the effortless will be nearly overwhelming.

All the time we forget, amid our technical prowess, that the core elements of learning are essentially unseen to the eye, and certainly not fully accessible to reason: the soul of the child, his or her intellect, will, and heart. Our educational reformers tend to see everything except that which truly matters.

At the heart of this battle is a pround philosophical disagreement on the purpose of education and dignity of the individual person. It is much more than Common Core, by whatever name it is called, it is the moderate education system, that needs to be uprooted.

From:  http://www.crisismagazine.com/2014/how-common-core-literary-standards-undermine-education