As has revealed, there鈥檚 a lot of heated rhetoric on offer in the discussion about the standards, as there is about many public policy issues. An illustrative example of the extent to which debate about the standards has become part of the country鈥檚 broader political debate is how remarks by , have been interpreted, and spread, and then spread again around the Internet.
Last year, at an event hosted by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, Pook, a teacher at the private Derryfield School in Manchester, N.H., discussed English/language arts standards. Here is what he said (Pook鈥檚 remarks begin at about the 30-second mark):
In case the video doesn鈥檛 work for you, here鈥檚 the key portion of what Pook said: 鈥淭he reason why I helped write the standards and the reason why I am here today is that, as a white male in society, I鈥檓 given a lot of privilege that I didn鈥檛 earn. I think it鈥檚 really important that all kids get an equal opportunity to learn how to read. And I think I had decided advantages as a result of who I was.鈥�
After the first sentence, there were several negative exclamations from the audience.
Pook went on to stress the importance of creating equal educational opportunities for all students, and that he was reminded of this idea when he visited Roberto Clemente Community Academy High School in Chicago, an International Baccalaureate school .
Life Cycle of a Common-Core Headline
The video was posted on YouTube on May 22, 2014 by Campus Reform, an organization that says it exposes 鈥渂ias and abuse鈥� in U.S. higher education, and at colleges and universities. As of March 20, it had been viewed roughly 278,000 times on YouTube.
The same day the video was posted, Fox News picked up the video and an accompanying blurb by Caleb Bonham of Campus Reform. For a headline, (Campus Reform used a similar title for the YouTube video it posted.) , the website run by Glenn Beck (an outspoken common-core opponent), also picked up the story, as did , the , and the ; all of them reference in some fashion the claim that Pook said he wrote the standards to 鈥渆nd white privilege.鈥�
The storyline about Pook鈥檚 supposed reason for helping to write the common core didn鈥檛 fade away after a few days, however.
A post last January about the matter had been shared on social media about 38,000 times, according to the website. And the story has enjoyed a resurgence since the start of March at right-leaning news sites such as the , , , and . (Wizbang鈥檚 headline goes so far as to say that Pook wrote the standards to 鈥渁ttack white people.鈥�)
鈥楥ertainly Frustating to Him鈥�
I called up the Derryfield School to talk to Pook about how his remarks have become fodder for the conservative news media. He wasn鈥檛 in the day I called, but Susan Grodman, the director of enrollment at the school who also handles media relations, said she would refer my call to him and also agreed to speak with me. Not surprisingly, Grodman said Pook was unhappy about the reaction in some quarters to what he said.
鈥淚t was certainly frustrating to him that his remarks were taken out of context,鈥� Grodman told me. 鈥淭he core of his comments were, we are trying to make education accessible and good for everybody.鈥�
Stressing that Pook wasn鈥檛 speaking on behalf of Derryfield when he made his remarks about common core, Grodman said she doesn鈥檛 believe that Pook has spoken publicly about the common core since the video was publicized. When I spoke to her in mid-March, Grodman added that she had noticed a resurgence of media about the video in recent days.
Context and Content
So what鈥檚 important to note in this situation?
鈥� The phrase 鈥渨hite privilege鈥� itself is at least as old as a 1986 paper at the Centers for Women at Wellesley College.
鈥� The 鈥渃ontext鈥� Grodman pointed out was Pook鈥檚 argument that the standards will increase educational equity in the U.S. People on both sides of the common-core discussion, including supporters at the and critics at the , have debated whether or not the standards will help accomplish this goal, and the extent to which this is a worthy goal.
鈥� Sandra Stotsky, another critic of the common core who developed Massachusetts鈥� previous English/language arts standards, has written a column (also posted at CNS News) arguing (not whites) will 鈥渇inally begin to tease out the racist assumptions underlying Common Core鈥檚 standards and tests鈥� when they see how the tests are scored.
鈥� Perhaps most importantly, do not address white privilege. None of the articles I referenced point to any common-core standard that matches the claim about Pook鈥檚 intent.