Building the Machine Documentary Releases New Footage: Parents Weigh In; It Ain't Pretty.

A must-view documentary on the creation and critique of the Common Core State Standards has updated its footage with testimonials from worried parents. A few weeks ago, I posted a link to the original film, Building the Machine, along with links to a TED talk from Joshua Katz and to the documentary The Inconvenient Truth About Waiting For Superman. (View that post *here*). But, the parent conversations are new and troubling.

A note: Some will worry about the funders for "Building the Machine," which is apparently a shill group for private education/home schooling. While I'm a strong advocate of public schools, I have no qualms with private education or home schooling strong enough to keep me from sharing the film and its updates.

Click *here* to see the newly-released footage and access the original film as well. The original film is especially helpful because it features two prominent professors who were part of the CCSS committees on English Language Arts and Math standards, respectively, but who would not approve the final versions once they saw how ceremonial their roles were and how little the CCSS leaders respected their recommendations. Neither Sandra Stotsky (ELA) nor James Milgram (Math) were listened to when they stated their concerns with the standards. That fact needs constant attention, and Building the Machine features both professors prominently.

While some may feel the new parents-centered footage is melodramatic and might even seem under-informed, when paired with commentary from Stotsky and Milgram, the overall product is one of import to many stakeholders in American education and to all who stand to oppose current economics-based and corporately-tied education reform.