A universal set of educational standards that challenges students to become better critical thinkers sounds great, right? As a college instructor I would frankly welcome just about anything that would help my students come into college as life-long critical thinkers-note that I said “just about anything”. The one thing I cannot, and will not, welcome is what is being called the Common Core standards. It sounds great when you look at their website, it is filled with top-notch marketing copy that would make most parents grin from ear to ear (and keep in mind I say this as a marketing professional). Here is some of that copy:

“The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.”

That sounds amazing, right? Standards that will help parents understand what their kids are studying in order to help them-anyone remember the “new math” our parents struggled with? Who doesn’t want their children to be better prepared and positioned to gain employment after college? The problem with common core, as with so many other things, lies beneath all that shiny, slick marketing copy and brand messaging.

Recently, The Blaze has broken stories that involve assignments taken from Common Core curricula across the country. In Albany, NY, students were actually asked to write a persuasive essay that would convince the reader that “Jews are evil” and “using solid rationale from government propaganda, convince me of your loyalty to the Third Reich!”. Let me pause for a moment, ask you to re-read that last sentence and let it sink in.

If that isn’t shocking enough for you-wait there’s more! There is another brilliant (and I use that term sarcastically) idea floating around out there in the educational stratosphere called CSCOPE. Some examples of assignments in this “instructional system” that is supposed to allow teachers across state lines line up their instructional standards by year has an assignment which asks students to design a flag for a “new socialist nation” and there is a history lesson which likens the Boston Tea Party-widely viewed as a bold movement of American patriots toward freedom-to an act of terrorism. These were both found by an independent watchdog group from Texas called the CSCOPE Review .

As an instructor, these types of assignments are distressing enough, but as a parent they are downright chilling. If you think, as I did (for about five minutes) that your child is safe if they attend private or parochial schools-not so fast. There is something called the Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative which is creeping through our nation as we speak, trying to ensure that the Common Core standards are adopted by all Catholic schools in our nation. Frighteningly enough they want to target the K-8 kids first.

I urge you, do not rest on this-call your school’s principal first thing in the morning and schedule a meeting to find out where YOUR child’s school stands on these standards. Talk to other parents, or contact groups like Americans for Prosperity (AFP) in your area and ask if they have groups opposing this in your district, city or state.

No to sound too alarmist, but remember the Hitler youth. Indoctrination of children is the one of the steps in the takeover of free nations. And if you think “That can’t happen here”, remember there are many German’s who thought the same thing-until it was too late.