The problem with common core and our education model is that we are actually taking kids backwards. And not for the reasons often cited by conservatives.

Do I think Common Core will turn students into lefist robots? Will common core dumb-down America’s youth?

The truth is, Common Core is just part of the problem harming the ability of our young people to get a quality education. It’s all in our approach to education, and the fact that our curriculum and the format of our schools are outdated – based on a model created by industrialists who wanted factory workers.

The data shows that improving education is not really about increasing education funding, because we spend more than any other country in the world on education. It’s not about increasing teacher training or hiring better teachers, because studies show students retain the same level of information regardless how well the teacher engages students.

No, to really understand what we are up against we need to look at the students and find out why they are disengaged and bored. If we did that, we would realize that its because we have a curriculum that has no application to their modern lives. To make matters worse, our solutions are more standardized systems and tests, longer class hours and school days. We want to produce a generation of leaders, artists, inventors and technologists who will carry the nation into a new golden age. And to accomplish this, we are going to lock all these wonderful minds in almost windowless, cinder-block rooms all day long and make them read Beowulf? Does that make sense?

The schools we have today do not help students become divergent thinkers, comprehend data and analytics, learn logic and technology, or even write and communicate well. Over 80% of high school teachers think their students are ready for college work. Only 25% of college professors agree. And business leaders find graduates are not prepared to work or be productive contributors. We are hurting kids, especially minorities, by giving them the wrong education and then forcing them to borrow obscene amounts of money to get the basics.