Bill Gates criticized Common Core opponents Wednesday, saying their attacks aren’t factual.
“It’s unfortunate that many of the attacks against the Common Core have not really focused on what the Common Core is,” Gates said. “And in fact, to some degree, have drowned out the facts. We do need to have a system that defines excellence, and that system needs to be very thoughtfully designed. … Standards are both about being well designed and setting a very high standard.”
Some of the most familiar critiques of Common Core revolve around its math standards. Controversies over religious content, particularly Islam, are less common but still occur. For example, under the Tennessee version of the standards, students have been required to memorize the five pillars of Islam and write “Allah is the only God.”
The national standards don’t say anything about Islam or the Quran, but they do contain specific math strategies that differ from most traditional methods.
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Gates has been a strong supporter of Common Core since 2008. Since then, his foundation has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on growing political support and funding development for the standards.
Gates was speaking at the U.S. Education Learning Forum, hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It was his first education speech in almost eight years.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
