Doing Something! Taking practical Action Against Common Core, Pt. One
by Kevin Ritter
Clash Daily Guest Contributor
Few Americans would argue today that our society is disordered.
This shows up in the standard “Right Track/Wrong Track” polling done across the country where over 60% of average Americans routinely suggest our country is headed in the wrong direction.
Understand there are millions of Americans……I would even argue a majority of Americans …….that are desperate to put the country back on track.…….But they don’t know how to bring about that change.
Feeling frustrated and helpless, good Americans have sought to address the most egregious examples of disorder in our country.
During the height of the Tea Party Movement in 2010 there were literally millions of Americans marching, protesting, speaking, learning, and praying for a renewal in our country.
In retrospect, I think we [the Tea Party Movement] could have done a better job picking our target(s).
— We didn’t need to go to Washington when there was so much wrong in our own backyard.
Through experience we have learned that if our goal is to bring order to chaos then we must start small……we must start locally…….we must beautify our corner of the earth before we can put the whole country back on track.
The book of Luke tells us clearly, “Whoever can be trusted with very little, can be trusted with much……”
So, with a renewed focus on starting small, a group of local leaders in our Ohio community got together in 2013 to think about how we could affect change in our community.
At our first meeting there were just 5-6 of us.
None of our meetings was larger than 9 members.
Early on we decided to call ourselves the LAFAYETTE SOCIETY……in honor of one of our local heroes.
We opened and closed our meetings with prayer and during our two-hour long meetings we discussed a range of topics.
In the end, we settled on two areas where we believed we could affect change. Those areas were EDUCATION and the FAMILY.
As God would have it, the birth of the LAFAYETTE SOCIETY was well timed in that it coincided with the introduction into our local schools of the new Common Core Curriculum.
I spoke about Common Core at this conference last year and I assure you that 12 months has not made it any more palatable.
In fact, as Common Core has been implemented in area schools this school year we have begun to hear the cries of parents and teachers alike who strongly disapprove of the changes made in both MATH and LANGUAGE ARTS or English.
I don’t think it would be an overstatement to say the implementation of Common Core has brought added chaos to an already “chaotic” local school system.
Frustrated by this heavy-handed change in education, a group of local parents came together ….and we decided to open our own school.
Making that decision was easy……Deciding exactly what kind of school we would open was a bit harder.
After a couple months of rigorous study in educational philosophy…..we chose the method of instruction used to educate the great minds of the American founding period, men like Jefferson, Franklin, and Madison.
We decided to use the method that formed the great thinkers of the western tradition like Plato, Dante, and Shakespeare.
We decided to adopt what is known as a CLASSICAL CURRICULUM.
Unbeknownst to our little group, God was already familiar with the classical curriculum.
— In fact, he was planting this same seed in hundreds of locations across America.
— Unbeknownst to us, we were joining an already flourishing rebirth of classical education.
— After a little research, we learned that so-called “classical schools” are popping up all across the country as parents seek to take back their rightful place in the education of their children.
Many of you are, no doubt, wondering what is classical education? Let me give you a very brief description and then I will finish by telling you where our project is headed … (Continued Next Week)
Image: Courtesy of: http://viewpointsofasagittarian.blogspot.com/2013/08/common-core-crush-missouri-education.html
Kevin Ritter is a small business owner in southeast Ohio. He holds an MA in Political Science from Central Michigan University (1990) and has completed coursework, language requirements, and comprehensive exams for a PhD. in Modern European History at Western Michigan University.
