Last Wednesday, nine Republican senators joined the outcry against Common Core by introducing a Senate resolution that states federal grants should not be tied to whether a state adopts what critics have described as de facto national standards. Following a speech at a National Governors Association gathering on Sunday, TheBlaze’s White House correpondant Fred Lucas asked U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan about the resolution and the assertion that Common Core is a precursor for a nationalized curriculum.
“I’m not familiar with that, but that’s simply not true,” Duncan told TheBlaze. “We’ve always supported high standards. That’s the key thing… almost 20 states dummied down standards on No Child Left Behind to make politicians look good. It’s one of the most silly things to happen to education. What you see here is governors showing tremendous leadership to their approach in raising standards.”
“You see again across the country 38 percent of kids… going to universities taking remedial classes,” he continued. “That’s not a good thing. The vast majority of states… are doing a good job of raising standards.”
Glenn has been talking about the dangers of Common Core for nearly a year, and on radio this morning, Glenn, Pat, and Stu reacted to Duncan’s comments and TheBlaze report.
“TheBlaze had the opportunity to speak to Arne Duncan… Did you guys read the story,” Glenn asked. “I don't even begin to understand it.”
“Yeah, I don't either… He's a liar,” Pat said. “It's like here's what he said, so it's over. That's the impression I got from the article anyway, because… [Duncan] denies that this is a national agenda…. He's lying, and we just kind of take it at fast value.”
While Glenn and Pat were unhappy with TheBlaze’s report of the story, Stu pointed out that Fred Lucas’ job, as a journalist, was to get Duncan on the record. He is not supposed to add his opinion or make assumptions.
“But this story is, to me, more about getting him on record on something,” Stu explained. “I mean this is from Fred Lucas. He's not putting opinion in this… He's getting the quotes from the source, and it's more on us to take apart how much he's lying.
“Yes, you're right,” Glenn conceded. “You know what I hate? I hate running an honest news organization. Because, you’re right, Stu, Fred is a news guy. He is not an opinion guy. So there shouldn’t be opinion there. Fred, thank you for doing your job.”
Read the entire report from TheBlaze HERE.
Front page image courtesy of the AP