As Butte public schools roll out the red carpet for the state-driven Common Core education standards, the expected backlash is seemingly tame.
But still, opponents are grumbling.
Curriculum Director Jim O’Neill is anxious to explain Common Core to skeptics, hoping to set straight the concerns.
“One misconception people have is the fact that the standards take away local control, which is far from the truth,’’ he said.
Forty other states have adopted a version of Common Core, much to the chagrin of conservative, often home-schooled families who want to do their own thing.
Opponents like Lynn Tarrant, of Butte, argue that Common Core consists of one-size-fits-all lessons instead of bending to the unique learning style of individual children.
Tarrant has home-schooled her children for the past 25 years.
“It doesn’t make sense from a teaching standpoint,” she said. “The writers of the standards did not include input from experienced classroom teachers, so it doesn’t teach in a way that is best suited to kids of various ages.”
Montana educators helped review the standards, comparing them to previous standards, according to the Montana Office of Public Instruction.
While O’Neill emphasizes that Common Core relies on local control, Tarrant disagrees.