I’ve heard many times from many people that, “Heck, we’ll just wait it out,” is the Common Core strategy they plan on incorporating.

Please, save the hate mail. I am not calling anyone out by name. I just want to explore this notion a little bit, see where it comes from, see why people are going to embrace it, and see whether or not it actually makes sense, is fair, or resembles anything whatsoever that we would hope for in American education.

1) Where’s a “Wait it Out” mentality come from? (he said ending a sentence with a preposition as he addressed scores of English teachers)

The wait it out mentality comes from an easy place to locate. The education “reformers” change so much stuff so often that anyone who has been around the block at all for long enough in our schools has seen so many “great new things” come and go they figure Common Core will just come and go like the rest of ‘em. Instead of changing to something that is “just gonna end up changing again, anyway,” they “wait it out”.

Past is prologue, right?

2) Are there literally teachers who plan on just “Waiting it Out” when it comes to Common Core?

If you are paying attention to any of the conversations going on – online, in schools, at parties where teachers are gathering in the kitchen to talk shop – you will certainly see that, “Yo, I’m just gonna wait it out” is very much a plan some educators expect to take. Clearly, there’s a chunk of folks who very much believe that if they keep their head down, let the collateral damage fly where it inevitably will, it will not be too long before Common Core crashes to the earth as a result of its own unsustainable weight.

And the folks who played the “Yo, I’m just gonna wait it out” card are gonna smile like the cat who ate the canary. They will hold the “I told you so” card and betchya dimes to doughnuts, if the opportunity ever affords itself to them, they plan on playing it.

3) Does taking a “Wait it Out” approach to Common Core make sense?

Matter of perspective. But that question bleeds into the next one.

4) Is taking a “Wait it Out” approach to Common Core fair?

I am going to answer that with my parent hat on and being that I have a daughter who will be entering kindergarten in the fall, I think it is a good set of googles through which to view this issue.

Would it be fair to my daughter as a student in the classroom if her teacher(s) decided to not make the necessary changes that Common Core is asking her teachers to make? On purpose. Because they are not fans of Common Core or think it’s just gonna pass like yet another leaf in the educational wind. The only justification I could see for this would be if her teachers deeply believed that they’d actually be doing harm, transgressing the educator’s Hippocratic oath, if you will, should they bow to embracing the Common Core standards. Otherwise, their refusal is a much more like a form of sabotage which will hurt the school and hurt the dynamics of the staff on campus. And when those things happen, that’s bad for my daughter’s education. It saps energy, morale, and resources.

Now philosophically, I know there are people who believe that deep, deep down, Common Core is the enemy to be halted at the gates. Those people have my permission as a parent to not embrace Common Core because they are, in my estimation, answering to a higher call. Much like a soldier who is expected to follow orders unless they are issued an order by a superior officer which their own inner compass tells them is amoral or illegal, any teacher who feels in this manner about Common Core is somebody I am convinced my daughter is going to learn from in a meaningful manner, albeit a whole different lesson than most probably was intended by the folks who have brought us CC. We need counterinsurgency forces if we have gone so far off the rails that counterinsurgency is needed so yes, this is still America. Defend principles and God’s speed to you. If you are right, we will all thank you and owe you a grand apology and if you are wrong then that will have been a good thing for America because if Common Core is a bust, that will have been a bad thing for America considering that 46 states are currently signed on to roll it out in 2014.

Of course, the teacher that thinks they “know better” than the Common Core is where it gets real sticky. Because on one hand, perhaps they might? And on the other hand, Common Core is fashioned to be implemented on a teamwork basis (see the architecture of the Anchor Standards for further proof) and when a team has a hot-shot superstar who thinks they know better than everyone else – and therefore refuses to buy into the requisite “team” concept – the superstar might prosper but the team itself quite often does not.

And what is best for my daughter?

Of course, at this point I might be accused of being some sort of Orwellian nightmare come to life via blog posts (Squealer comes to mind… not sure who Napoleon is though) but since I am not running for office, I am not affiliated in any manner with the CCSSO, SBAC or PARCC, and I have not relinquished my ability to stick in mindless fart jokes simply because I can – see, I just did it – I actually might be speaking for the “real” bosses of education.

That would be the parents.

Any “wait it out-ers” who care to weigh in, by all means, have at it. If you want to fight Common Core, I say go pick up a musket. If not, jump on the team. Perhaps you are undecided still and are simply waiting before you make a decision. To that I say, waiting to decide and planning to “wait it out” are two very different things?

So the past few days have seen a heck of a lot of fireworks in the discussions about Common Core. And to think some people have been shy about expressing their real feelings is to not have read or followed along.

The gloves are off! And I for one think this is very important to encourage and embrace right now. Especially since I am afraid that “those who are playing it safe by not weighing in” are – or certainly could very well be – empowering the very elements they’d rather not see come to light by means of their lack of “using their voice” at this juncture to debate this stuff in a public arena.

It’s no secret that the higher one climbs in education, the more it is one’s interest to play it safe and not say what you are really feeling. Why? Because the higher you ascend up the totem pole, the more you have to risk by someone not liking, not appreciating, not wanting to hear that you disagree with their take on things.

Ultimately, this sets up conflict, confrontation and show downs which can cost people their status, positions, and favor with the “in” crowd. Even their livelihood.

I’d suggest there’s even a cancer to be acknowledged in this quietness, in the lurker who feels strongly about many of these issues being discussed but dares not speak up because it might come back to haunt them one day in their professional future.

This is why I have so much respect for the folks who are “calling it like they see it”. I might not agree with everyone (clearly, I do not) but I do feel at this point it is critical to acknowledge how deeply I respect their willingness to openly – even nakedly – participate in this Common Core dialogue.

Let’s make no bones about it… CC is coming. It has been adopted by more than 90% of the United States. And being that it it is still not scheduled to hit until 2014 and we haven’t even really seen the assessments that SBAC and PARCC will cook up – assessments that are sure to reach deep into the many nooks and crannies of all our nation’s classrooms – these conversations could very well determine the shape of our collective future.

Some people have literally called out their own bosses in the past few days. They’ve actually shared how foolish their superiors initial approach to embracing CC is proving to be. In a more fascistic world, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see someone terminating these brave people for insubordination. (Perhaps, the protections provided by unions do have a place after all?).

Some people have called out the top educational leaders behind CC. By name. My feeling is that all of this is a VERY GOOD thing.

If CC can’t stand up to our scrutiny, it does not deserve to carry the day. The entire Common Core should be assaulted with our best shot. It needs a stress test, its feet held to the fire. What is the problem with having a public inventory taken of the various merits and shortcomings of Common Core?

Of course, for the people with political considerations, the problematic nature of this is evident indeed. But Common Core is not about me, it’s not about you and it’s not about which  butt-kisser knows how to keep their head down, go with the flow and remain a YES man (or woman) on their school site, in their district, or at the county, state or federal offices in order to protect their status.

Let’s put this bad boy in the water, submerge it and see if she really is waterproof where America’s kids need her to be. Water will find the creases but only if we allow this to happen.

Now, maybe I have been flippant when I should have been more attentive? Or maybe I have come across as all-knowing when I should have been more willing to admit I put my pants on one leg at a time like everyone else and am swimming in waters a bit over my head? No doubt, that in my zest to keep up with the flurry of CC commentary the past few days, I’ve made errors.

But please people… let’s not stop participating in this conversation. Perhaps this kind of dialogue is happening in print in other areas of the educational universe, but nowhere (that I have seen, at least) is the discussion about CC so diverse, deep, fluid and challenging.

So real.

If CC has merit, it deserves the right to stand up for itself and prove this to all of us. And if it has gaps, flaws or shortcomings, those factors are the MOST critical to expose right now. (Of course, if corruption has played a role in the forming of the CC, we need to root it out. NOW! Really, why wouldn’t we?)

I learned an exceptionally valuable lesson when I got to visit the Apple campus in Cuppertino and go behind the scenes with the lead designers of the iPhone. They showed me this nut-so washing machine that could simulate heat in the Sahara as well as polar temps that would only be found in the Arctic. The thing would spin, bash, hammer and genuinely abuse iPhones with the sole goal of seeing what the shortcomings were BEFORE they went out to market with it.

The adoption of CC is so immense we need to do this. It is not in our best interests to play it safe, right now.

Be heard. It’s time for the gloves to come off! We’ve been presented with Common Core, now let’s see what it’s really got to offer.

It’s been a while since I done did write me a blog post but I swear I have a good reason.

Common Core. I’ve been diving in like a tourist at the Great Barrier Reef with a tank full of oxygen and a new pair of fins.

Wow, is there a lot to digest.

To begin with, I want to officially go on record stating that I am a BIG FAN of Common Core. My reasons will come – probably via a conversation that will take place through blog posts over the course of the next few, well… years, if ya really want to know – but let’s get it out there right now.

If Common Core had a Facebook page, I’d hit the “like” button. (Note: It appears Common Core does have a few FB pages… but none of them appear to be “official sites”.)

Now, do I have issues with CC? Yep, sure do. However, would it ever be possible for such an undertaking as this to become manifest if the designers of CC had to wait until everyone and their uncle was onboard? Of course not.

So big picture: me likey-likey.

Entire undertaking: legit quibbles. (Okay, these “concerns” might be more than mere “quibbles” but considering the size, scope, depth and ambition of CC, quibbles is a word that is somewhat apropos. I mean, IMHO, they certainly are not “deal breakers”.)

Clearly, lots and lots and LOTS of “stuff” is going to come up as most of America embraces CC. There will be battles, sniping, political maneuverings, under-handed back-stabbings and in-your-face confrontations.

And that’s just me arguing with myself about some of this stuff. I can only imagine how this is going to play out at the local, district, state and federal level bythe time 2014 rolls around.

However, I am taking a stand and officially willing to eat crow served on rye if CC turns out to be an implosion of NCLB proportions.

But I do not think it will. I think CC offers some really great opportunities.

That’s my take and I am sticking to it. As for reasons why… stay tuned.