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Cape students could be more competitive

June 6, 2013

The article, "Common Core Under Fire," brought up more questions than answers as to why there was opposition to this educational initiative that has provided $2 million funding to Cape Henlopen. So I looked at their website to get some answers, www.corestandards.org/resources/frequently-asked-questions. Another answer that came up as I searched to the question of, "Why there is opposition?" is that the Tea Partiers are against it.

My experience with a school system was years ago in Baltimore County. I took my son out in his sixth grade year and home schooled. In that year, he leaped ahead more than three years in math and five years in English while I used work books at no higher than the first half of seventh grade. It was then that I realized that the county board of education standards were lagging so far behind and explained further why the local community colleges were forced to hold remedial classes for such a large number of new high school graduate enrollees.

Another experience I had with my children early on was that students transferring in from other districts kept holding back those who had already learned some basics. I wound up getting a work book to help my son start reading in his second semester because the teacher hadn't gotten to the point he was at the beginning of the year.

I really hope that parents in the Cape Henlopen District look at the website and ask questions. Foundational skills based on a common standard voluntarily set by states could make many students far more competitive and likely to succeed in higher education and career endeavors.

Patricia M. Williams
Lewes

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