One thousand Catholic parents have signed a petition asking Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki to remove the Common Core learning standards from the Catholic schools under his supervision.
Members of “Milwaukee Catholic Parents Against Common Core” say the nationalized math and English learning standards are experimental and poorly researched, based on “secular” values, and could undermine the independence of the private religious schools.
“Many Catholic parents share the sentiments of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that the Common Core was developed for a ‘public school audience’ and is ‘of its nature incomplete as it pertains to Catholic schools,’” the parents write in a press release.
The parents are also miffed that Archbishop Listecki adopted the standards without first getting their input. Catholic schools in the Milwaukee archdiocese began using the one-size-fits-all standards – which dictate the concepts that must be taught at each grade level – last fall.
“The other four dioceses in the state have decided to not adopt the Common Core standards,” the parents note in their press release.
One of the petitioners, Abby Figi, is so troubled by Listecki’s decision that she’s pulling her three children out of Catholic school and will begin home-schooling them, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Considering that Listecki has publicly defended the Common Core standards as merely a “reference point” for the estimated 132 K-12 schools under his stewardship, it will probably take a mass student exodus to get him to change his mind.
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