Julie McDonald’s The Right View is a poor addition to The Forecaster’s Opinion pages. Her latest column, about Common Core State Standards, is so empty that I don’t know what her view is, beyond opposition to CCSS. I enjoy reading reasoned arguments from all viewpoints, but this article just makes unsupported assertions, which is not the same as making an argument. Much of the column merely quotes another opponent’s assessment of CCSS. McDonald’s rant would not persuade an opponent and it should embarrass a supporter. The gratuitous swipe at Planned Parenthood is cheap and lazy. McDonald mistakes stridency for substance with such phrases as “food pellet treat,” “smoke and mirrors,” and “point to the shiny object.”

She mentions the stress that standards put on young children, so great it would fill an entire newspaper. Well, she has newspaper space, how about citing some evidence? And who are the children who had previously been “excelling”? Again, no argument, just empty words. Her sloppiness is epitomized in the last sentence: “… the current destructive nature of the CCSS is yet to be realized.” If it hasn’t been realized, then it hasn’t come to pass and no harm has been done. The word she wants is “recognized.” If she doesn’t take her words seriously, why should anybody else?

Laura Williams
Falmouth

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