Letter: Common Core hurting kids, country

Over the past several years, state capitols and local school districts have become battlegrounds as parents and teachers have joined in a massive rebellion against the imposition of Common Core. Dubbed "Obama Core" by critics, the Common Core scheme to enlist state governments in enforcing national education standards and curriculum has been lavishly funded with over $2 billion in grants from Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates.

The thinking behind the Common Core framework is in direct opposition to the founding philosophy of this nation. Our founders staked everything on the principle of self-government. They sought to ensure that states would be able to protect their citizens against the age-old tendency that power has to increase and centralize. But they did not envision a time when the states would be so eager for money from the federal government that state leaders would not even consider the constitutional rights of the people.

In a development with massive implications for the Obama administration, a Missouri judge ruled Feb. 24 that the federal funding testing regime was unconstitutional.

Considering that children represent the future of America, any American who hopes to preserve the legacy of freedom for future generations must know what is going on in the schools. And if freedom and critical thinking are to survive into the future, Americans must ensure that the establishment does not succeed in producing a generation of dumbed-down "Common Core" kids.

Jim Vosler

Hilton Head Island

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Letter: Common Core hurting kids, country."