Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) supports Common Core. I don’t for reasons I’ve explained on numerous occasions in the past, but most recently here. Reasonable people can disagree, so I am not particularly perturbed by DFER’s position. It’s fine.
What’s not fine is how DFER Indiana director, Larry Grau, tries to support Common Core in a blog post that was mass e-mailed today. It’s provocatively titled, “Are you going to hate yourself in the morning?” He answers saying that if you “have spent the night canoodling with far-right opponents of the Common Core State Standards… we can almost guarantee the answer will be yes.”
His argument, such as it is, in support of Common Core standards is that a number of Common Core opponents are the kinds of people you wouldn’t want to wake up next to: “Before you decide to get into bed with extremist right-wing critics of the Common Core, we highly recommend that you get to know them better.” He then goes on to profile State Senator Scott Schneider and Eagle Forum founder, Phyllis Schlafly, to show that they oppose abortion and other policies that DFER folks might like. In sum, Larry Grau’s case for Common Core is that its opponents are people with whom you may strongly disagree on other matters.
By Grau’s brilliant reasoning, of course, you should also oppose charter schools, which DFER strongly supports. As it turns out, Sen Scott Schneider was given the Charter School Warrior of the Year Award in 2012 by School Choice Indiana. So if you should recoil at the thought of agreeing with Sen. Schneider, you should also oppose DFER on charters.
Unfortunately, this type of non-substantive, ad hominem argument is becoming the norm in education policy discourse. Even people with whom I generally agree, like DFER, think this is how you are supposed to make arguments in education policy. It’s disgusting.
Well, if Grau wants to go down this path of ad hominem in defense of Common Core, he might consider how it could be used against Common Core. After all, I’m hard pressed to think of a single pro-Common Core organization that has not received money from the Gates Foundation. And at least if folks get in bed with Sen. Schneider to oppose Common Core they are doing it for love, not money. So when Grau or other Common Core supporters wake up in the morning to find Gates money on the nightstand, they can at least take comfort in the thought that they are carrying on the traditions of a venerable profession — some say the oldest profession.
Jay P. Greene's Blog 
Jeb Bush has a scandalous pro-life record. Identifying all the other Republican CCSS supporters who are pro-life is left to the reader as an exercise.
I read the title of your post and thought, “Hey, I know Larry Grau.” Then I read the rest and thought, “Not like that.”
I’m not so sure I want to know Larry Grau now… *shudder*
Loved your response.
Grau wasn’t finished.
This just in: http://www.dfer.org/blog/2013/04/whos_been_court.php
[…] Jay P. Greene had a brilliant response to Grau’s article. He furthers Grau’s canoodling reference in If I Woke Up With Larry Grau, I’d Really Hate Myself: […]