New Hampshire public schools have been dumbed down for over a decade now. Even before the Common Core/Next Generation Science Standards, the State was using poorly crafted and dumbed-down academic standards for our public schools.
Who is to blame?
Before Common Core, New Hampshire’s academic standards were considered poor quality when compared to states like Massachusetts. Anyone who researches education policy understood which states had high-quality academic standards and which ones did not. During that time, some Governors and their Commissioners worked to improve their academic standards. Not in New Hampshire. During Governor Lynch’s term and Governor Hassan’s term, they didn’t lift a finger to improve the academic standards for children in our public schools. That legacy continued under Governor Sununu. He will leave office failing to improve the academic standards in our public schools.
Governor Sununu even took his kids out of the public schools to avoid this catastrophe. Most people who understand how poorly crafted the standards are, will either get their kids private tutoring or remove them from the public school.
Teachers across the state have no real choice when it comes to what they will teach in a classroom. Many schools have hired Curriculum Coordinators to try to align the curriculum to the dumbed-down Common Core/Next Gen. Standards. Teachers can embellish it a bit, but they are stuck using poorly crafted curricula. Unfortunately, we don’t hear much from the Unions either on this important subject. Everyone just accepts the dumbing down, and does nothing to help the kids in our public schools.
The radical political indoctrination coming from some teachers? Yes, they own that, but we can’t ignore all of the other players in this game!
So who’s really to blame?
We have a Governor who could have easily led New Hampshire to better academic standards. Governor DeSantis worked to improve their academic standards. We have a Commissioner of Education who could have prioritized academic excellence in our schools.
Superintendents will follow what you serve them. In this case, the state standardized test is Common Core aligned. In this era of teaching to the test, that means aligning to Common Core!
We have a Governor, Commissioner, and Superintendents who decided it’s not worth it to help public school students in New Hampshire. We have many school board members who go along with this. Teachers have no choice but to use the dumbed-down curriculum that aligns with the standards.
So who’s really to blame?
Democrats and Republicans on the state level have let our public schools and students down. School officials have let our students down. If you are pointing fingers at teachers, you need to understand who sets the agenda in their classrooms and start pointing your finger at them. This is one of the biggest education failures of the Sununu/Edelblut team.
