Politco: PUBLIC SOURING ON COMMON CORE …at least as a brand

POLITICO Morning Education - POLITICO.com http://politi.co/1xm12WO

19 Aug 2014  ::  PUBLIC SOURING ON COMMON CORE: A new poll by Education Next finds support for the Common Core has dropped sharply, from 65 percent last year to 53 percent this year. The poll found an even steeper tumble among teachers: A year ago, 76 percent backed the standards; now, just 46 percent do. Outright opposition among public school teachers has more than tripled, from 12 percent to 40 percent. The poll also finds, however, that the public likes the idea of shared standards — so long as the question doesn’t mention the phrase “Common Core.” Even Republicans, who express the most antipathy to the Common Core brand, overwhelmingly like the concept. The poll: http://bit.ly/1mdAfVY.

— Education Next also found skepticism about teacher quality: The average adult believes nearly one in four teachers deserves a ‘D’ or an ‘F.’ Even public school teachers see plenty of bad apples in their midst: They would give, on average, 13 percent of their peers poor grades. The poll also found that 41 percent of adults believe teacher unions have a negative effect on the local schools, while 34 percent say they have a positive effect. Those numbers have not changed from the last poll, despite an increasingly public campaign to undercut unions.