I heard an interesting thing last week that I didn't get a chance to write about, but I think it's important. There is a new set of education standards that are being adopted across the country. These standards are what public school teachers use to determine what students at every grade level need to be taught and need to learn. There have always been state standards around (which have always been problematic and difficult for teachers to implement). But, there are some new things with the common core--notably the tracking system that is tied to it and education funding/teacher evaluations that are being tied to their implementation. Here's the definition of what the common core is from their website ( http://www.corestandards.org/ ): The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be...