The Cult of Common Core: Obama's Final Solution for Your Child's Mind and Our Country's Exceptionalism

by Brad McQueen

A former Common Core insider and current public school teacher, Brad McQueen, delivers a compelling firsthand account of coming face to face with the inner workings of the Common Core. When he discovers what it has in store for our children's minds and our country's exceptionalism, he decides to work towards the destruction of the Common Core beast. Written in a concise, easy-to-read style, The Cult of Common Core will inform you, alarm you, but it will also arm you with the necessary facts to intelligently and forcefully fight for your children and your country before school boards or arrogant politicians who voted it into your life. Using humor, and plain, mostly acronym-free language, Brad takes you with him to Chicago as he works with the Common Core high command. Brad takes you through a history of the Common Core and identifies all the key players, as well as warns you of the Common Core's true intentions for your child and our education delivery system. Brad takes down each of the Common Core's talking points one by one. Common Core is more "rigorous"....no. Common Core has overwhelming support of teachers?.....no. Common Core was a "state-led" initiative?....no. The federal government has no role in Common Core?....hell no. Brad also details the intimidation from his State Department of Education as his anti-Common Core message became public. Just as we are moving from theory to implementation with Obamacare and discovering its true goals with healthcare, so too shall America begin discovering Common Core's goals for education. Don't be on the sidelines in the fight for your children's minds and our country's exceptionalism! This is the anti-Common Core movement's "little red book" to fight the Common Core's "big red agenda".

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

108 pages, Paperback

First published March 24, 2014

Reviews

[Jeff Whittum]

I read this book as an introduction to the mess that is "Common Core." It seems as though opposition to the continued implementation of the standards (and relatedly the testing) is a bipartisan fight. It's hard to ignore when everyone's saying the same thing. Brad McQueen's voice is just one of the many.

So I've gotten my introduction and this book was worth the time, though the multiple grammatical errors made it more difficult to enjoy. But I suppose I didn't read this to enjoy it, but to be informed. And it has done just that.

[Don]

I've rarely read a book that I feel necessitates a warning label. The poor writing, absence of research, and conspiracy theory nonsense are exactly what you'd expect from a book with this title.

[Mari Anne]

While doing my due diligence on the Common Core education school we will soon be thrust into, I came across this book. I read it all in one sitting and it confirmed some criticisms I had heard from teachers and other sources and added a whole new set of concerns to the pot (I.e. "NSA type student data mining"). Fascinating, horrifying and a must read for anyone looking for information on how to argue against this education machine that wants to use our children as guinea pigs.

[Kyle Kiel]

Wet your whistle on this exposé

I had only heard snippets as to why Common Core isn't what it's professed to be. In a very short and fast read, Mr. McQueen shares experiential information about what is clearly bad news for families and children's education in America. A word of warning. Reading this book could lead to home schooling your kids.

[Maren bosley]

Although the writing isn't superb, the message is vital! Everyone should read this book and find out what/who is really behind the common core. The federal government is out of control and this book will give you all the specific information as to what common core is really all about.

[Robert]

An interesting view from an insider

[William Lawrence]

Saddened to see how the system has eaten up some select teachers. McQueen is a victim of a cookie-cutter micro-managed system that has little to do with common core. It also has little to do with Democrats and "progressives" as McQueen believes, since I've seen just as bad conditions in red states where teachers are seemingly punished by Republican politicians in control of the state; McQueen actually lives and teaches in one. It seems common core has become a great scapegoat for so many other problems that many teachers, this one included, are not consciously aware of. The author has a terrible understanding of the origins of common core and falsely credits President Obama. In fact, the one person who might be credited with the original concept for common core isn't even mentioned in the book once. In this author's mind, common core is a wild conspiracy plot hatched by Obama and Bill Gates. It doesn't help that this 5th grade teacher refers to protesting parents as "bad-asses" and refers to Gates as a "pimp daddy." Not someone I want teaching my child. I've seen plenty of evidence that good teachers can implement common core effectively, but it's the state and district-mandated implementations that tear the common core philosophy apart and turns it into just another form of micro-management. The implementation point is the only thing that saved this book from being a one star.