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Thursday, November 13, 2014

On Searching for One Correct Answer, Common-Core Style: Election Day 2014



Two Tuesdays back, we went off to vote.  Much has changed in voter technology over the last decade.  We no longer have the booth with levers and curtains.  I suppose the technology represents an upgrade, but I can't be sure.

We were given large ballots.  Now, instead of flicking levers, we must bubble in answers--like on any old standardized test.  We chose our answers at tables, providing only a minimal degree of privacy.  If anyone cared to employ espionage to determine my picks, it wouldn't have been difficult.  In fact, my seven-year old enjoyed a high degree of success; let us call that degree post graduate.  

We carried the ballot, cleverly concealed within a folder, to the scan machine.  I felt like a teacher getting ready to grade a class.   The scan machine as well offered only a minimal degree of security.  My scan was readily vaporized.  I saw others shamefully spit back at the would-be voters.

Voting has become testing.  You might say there are no correct answers, but not all agree.  After visiting with Daddy, my seven-year old returned to my side, ready to engage in de facto cheating.  She dropped a none-to-subtle hint.  Pointing at one of my bubbles, she said, "Mom, I think you have the wrong answer for that one."  She has effectively learned that in the world of high-stakes, Common-Core bubbling, there can be only one correct answer.  In the same vein, the Common Core has been bubbled in for us all and citizens cannot exercise their right to an eraser.  

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