The POLITICO headline, "Big Business Takes on Tea Party over Common Core," elevates political conflict over the subtantive nature of the debate, but such is the nature of the journalistic beast, and well, the political beast. The reporting is solid.

A coalition including the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will launch a national advertising blitz Sunday targeted at Republicans skeptical about the standards. Spots promoting the Common Core will air on Fox News and other conservative outlets. ...

“It’s a critical time,” said Dane Linn, vice president of the Business Roundtable and one of the architects of the Common Core. “State leaders, and the general public, need to understand why employers care about the Common Core.”

The Business Roundtable, he said, is urging members to work their connections with “governors, committee chairs, House speakers, presidents of Senates” to stop any bills that could undercut the standards.

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Los Angeles Times, editorial, "In defense of Common Core: What matters most is whether the new curriculum standards are an improvement. They are":

What gets lost amid the political and administrative squabbling is the issue that ought to matter most: whether the Common Core standards are a solid improvement on what most states, including California, had before. And with a few caveats, they are. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics praises them for following a more logical track in building math skills. The standards are also more closely aligned with how the top-scoring nations in international tests teach math. Educators are pleased that students will do more writing under the standards; colleges have long complained about the poor writing skills of incoming students.

Oklahoma News, "OKC teacher: Why I like Common Core," op-ed by Jonetta S. Jonte:

As a high school English teacher who integrated Common Core State Standards into the classroom several years ago, I’ve seen firsthand how students have benefited from this type of learning.

With Common Core, we’re asking students to be creators and thinkers. Students are looking at all kinds of texts at a deeper, more insightful level, with more creativity. Although students still have to memorize and learn the basics, we’re letting them take the material and build their own knowledge through assignments that are a long way from the “skill and drill” of the past. It’s made a world of difference in what they’re doing.

Along the way, teachers have had to learn about the Common Core standards and how working toward the standard challenges our students. The transition hasn’t always been easy: We’ve had to learn what works and what doesn’t; students have had to shift how they learn after years of doing it differently.

And, from Heather Sparks, a former Oklahoma Teacher of the Year:

Teacher of the Year Heather Sparks from Expect More OK! on Vimeo.