Brewer, Huppenthal, money, training and the Common Core Standards

by David Safier

I guess Brewer is an expert on the issues of education and fun, though she's never taught and I've never seen the faintest glimmer of joy on her face. She's sure our budget-starved teachers think implementing the new Common Core Standards without any money to pay for textbooks, training or extra computers and bandwidth (needed to fulfill the mandate to give standardized tests online) will be fun, fun, fun.

“Arizona Common Core Standards not only improve what students learn, but how they learn, bringing teachers back to the fun and rewarding aspects of the profession they love,” Gov. Jan Brewer said.

I'm sure teachers all across Arizona are comforted.

Huppenthal, who recently compared budget-starved schools with his experience as a kid "where the food ran out on Sunday and shopping day was Wednesday" — it was a favorable comparison, like it's a good thing — said he's sure we can put the Common Core Standards in place without extra funds — a condition he euphemistically refers to as "the current resource restraint."

“Can we roll out the common core within the current resource restraint? Absolutely we can,” Huppenthal said. “Would we like to have more resources? Oh, you better believe it. But we’re prepared to operate under multiple environments and get the mission accomplished.”

Maybe there's someone out there who's happy knowing our children's educations and future are in the hands of the likes of Brewer and Huppenthal. Not me.

Have I mentioned recently, we have to support Prop. 204 so we can preserve the minimal education funding we have from further legislative cuts and add $500-$600 per student on top of our lowest-in-the-nation base? If I haven't, consider it mentioned.