Embattled Common Core?

It's been an interesting couple of weeks for the Common Core standards.

• The Republican National Committee, meeting in Los Angeles, voted to oppose the Common Core standards. You can read the entire resolution here. While it--not surprisingly for a partisan organization--spends some time attacking both Secretary Duncan and President Obama, it also get the rushed timelines and the outside funding bits right.
• This lead to Secretary Duncan urging business leaders to defend the Common Core. There's some concern that the RNC position will make sticking to the CCSS difficult for Republican governors up for re-election. 
• Then, earlier this week, Indiana's legislature reached a deal which "pauses" implementation of the Common Core. 

Now, while there's been a real attempt to paint this as a far right conspiracy-fearing position (thank you, Secretary Duncan), Valarie Strauss points out that opposition to the Common Core is coming from both the right and the left. There are even some parallel arguments: that this weakens educational standards, that states were effectively forced into it, and that its creation didn't include those closest to the classroom. Paul Horton posts an excellent takedown of Duncan's position today. 

Meanwhile, as we heard again last night, Massachusetts rolls forward with implementation.