Common Core

Common core was adopted in 2010, and was created without the input of educators. It is sweeping the nation, almost as if it were a zombie apocalypse, with many states agreeing to enforce this new method of teaching in their schools. According to The Common Core State Standards, common core is suppose to "clearly demonstrate what students are expected to learn at each grade level…" with " …the best elements of standards-related work in all states and other countries to date."

However, in some states common core showed no sign of improvement in test scores what so ever. In fact the scores of students decreased. The statistics in the US News shows the second round of test based on Common Core teachings. In New York thirty-one percent of students gained the title of proficient in English language arts. Before Common core was set in motion, there was a three percentage point difference between whites and Hispanic eight graders on the English proportions of the tests. When Common Core was introduced to students the gap grew to be twenty two points. Why should Common Core continue if the test scores of students do not improve, but decrease dramatically?

Its not just New York which has faced problems of decreasing test scores after they instituted Common Core. Each time a state has given its students one of the two Common Core tests, students' scores were below their average.  The Common Core standard is not fair because it requires critical thinking and mastery of topics. You cannot expect an English learner to analyze a passage with depth and understanding like a native speaker.

This picture above shows the traditional mathematical way of solving a problem, and below shows the Common Core way.

When Common Core first began forty-five states and the District of Columbia agreed to test this new method of learning which the government provided money for. However, according to CNN, 10 states have already dropped Common Core, with more states likely to follow in their example.

Capital Punishment

I never agreed with the death penalty. I have always seen it as a cruel and inhumane process of bloodshed, creating an everlasting cycle of murder, especially after I have done research on this particular topic.

It absolutely horrified me when I read a CNN article online. The article states that the most executions in 2012 were done in China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United States of America. This makes America the only nation out of the top five counties with the most executions to be in the developed world. The article also stated that since capital punishment was reinstated by the United States Supreme Court in 1976, 1,386 people have been executed and as of January 2014 there are 3,070 people in prison waiting to be executed. However, out of these 3,070 people four percent of them are innocent according to The Guardian.

Another continuous problem with capital punishment in the United States of America is racism. An article by the New York Times found that black defendants were 1.7 times more likely to be executed than a white person and murderers of white people were 4.3 times more likely to be executed. Statistics show whites make up 56 percent of the executions, blacks make up 34 percent of the executions, Hispanics make up eight percent and other ethnicities make up two percent of people executed in the United States.

However, the methods of execution is the most evident and major problem with the death penalty. There are many ways of executing a death row inmate, lethal injects are used the most- in 87 percent of executions, electrocution is used in 11 percent of executions, gas chamber in 1 percent, hanging in 0.5 percent, and a firing squad in 0.5 percent of executions. From these five different methods of execution, a lot can go wrong. 

According to The New Yorker, in July of this year a man named Joseph Wood was administered a lethal injection that was supposed to kill him. However, shortly after he was given the drugs, witnesses heard Wood grasp for air and he continued to gasp for air for two hours until he died.

The death penalty violated the eighth amendment of Wood and many other inmates who had problems with their execution. It puts the lives of innocent  people at risk and is affected by racism. Capital punishment is supposed to bring justice; not bring a "cruel and unusual punishment".