Maura Healey

Pearson exec slams opponents of Common Core as supporters head to court to prevent Mass. vote

Pearson exec slams opponents of Common Core as supporters head to court to prevent Mass. vote

NBP Staff

A video in which a former textbook publishing executive defends the controversial federal Common Core educational standards and says that its creators aim to marginalize teachings of America's founding principles became public last week, just days before Common Core supporters filed suit in Massachusetts court to stop voters here from deciding whether the state should jettison the standards.

The video, produced by Project Veritas, the self-described guerrilla journalism organization that specializes in producing undercover videos, features former Pearson Education marketing executive Kim Koerber saying, "Dead white guys did not create this country," and ripping into conservatives who want schools to teach the U.S. constitution.  "You should know a little bit about it," Koerber says, But "you shouldn't have to memorize the thing."

Common Core profiteers depicted in 4th Veritas video
Common Core

Common Core profiteers depicted in 4th Veritas video

Evan Lips

Publishers profiting from the Common Core educational standards once again became the target of undercover video outfit Project Veritas as it released a fourth clip on the subject earlier this week, this time showing a textbook industry executive in California commenting on how success in his business is dictated by politics.

"I'm going to share this but it never came from me," Gilbert Garcia, the chief executive of Lifelong Learning, tells a Project Veritas journalist, apparently posing as an industry lobbyist, in the organization's fourth video about Common Core and the publishing industry. "The reality was that the evaluations that were done on all of the supposed competitors, Pearson was not a clear winner, yet Pearson got the contract."

Read More