We only get one shot at educating a child. This fall, Florida Standards, their curriculum and high-stakes testing are being fully implemented, being pilot-tested on the fly. They are 99 percent Common Core.

Private corporations wrote standards and tests with little teacher and public input.  They are not accountable to voters and taxpayers. They are eager to sell to thousands of districts. They hold the copyrights. States and Districts cannot make changes, only additions.

Supporters say that Florida always had standards. Yes, we do need standards, but the  reason for these standards is stimulus money.

Supporters say that national standards are good for students moving to different districts. A worthy goal, but it doesn’t change the fact that the standards are experimental.

In 2010, more than a year before mandated by law, our School Board adopted a new testing system. It’s High-stakes testing, and it ties teacher pay to student test scores. This testing was never intended to be purely “diagnostic.” Naturally, teachers will “teach to the test.”  This is training, not educating. We do need testing, but High-stakes testing increases drop-out rates.

Districts around the country are voicing concerns about the quality, cost and even the constitutionality of Common Core. But Sarasota should ask a more basic question about the nature of education itself.

The mission statement of Common Core is “College and Career Ready to Compete Successfully in the Global Economy.”  The question is: should the goal of education be preparation for a “global economy?”

In America, the ability to support oneself with meaningful work is fundamental, yet it is only one part of becoming a whole person. Crowding out subject matter that truly belongs in education to produce a good worker will not fully develop the individuality of a free person.

Education should not just be about getting into the right line of work or the right college.  It should be about giving individuals the tools to chart their own futures. We should study the stars, plant cells, great works of literature, history, music and art because they tell us who we are, why we are here and our relationship to the world.

Education is not like not programming machines; education is for real hearts and real minds. Ultimately, it should allow children to prosper into well-rounded human beings who can think for themselves. When education focuses on the individuality of each student, no child is common.

Helen Wolff is a candidate for Sarasota County School Board District 4