Utah Media Outlet’s Superficial “In Depth” Report on Common Core

This morning, KSL alerted the public to an “indepth” segment they would be airing about Common Core in Utah:

Our 6:15 indepth: an investigation into the Utah Core Standards finds they are sound, legal and rigorous. #uted #utpol #CommonCore

— KSL NewsRadio (@kslnewsradio) May 26, 2015

The two minute segment (the length of which immediately suggests it’s not “in depth”) contains no analysis from KSL reporters or hosts. Rather, it features a series of audio clips from Rich Kendall, co-chair of a panel created by the Governor to review—and critics say, rubber stamp—the core standards he strongly supports. Kendall is heard discussing the results of an analysis done on the standards, including their quality and legality.

Here’s the audio:

You might believe that an in depth look into the issue would address criticisms, at least in an attempt to rebut them. However, this repurposed press release did not so much as mention any of the criticisms or concerns.

Let’s take just one of them to show how KSL’s “indepth” was anything but. In the review mentioned above, the Attorney General’s office attempted to address an allegation made in our lawsuit (which is pending a hearing in a few months)—namely, that the State Board of Education had not consulted with various constituencies around the state as they were statutorily required to do. Here is the relevant portion of the report:

Note the second paragraph: the Attorney General is arguing that the binding language “was not in effect” when the Board adopted Common Core standards, and that the language was added by the legislature in 2014. This is not correct.

The 2014 legislation to which they refer is House Bill 342 by Representative Dana Layton, which left untouched the existing language regarding consultation with the public prior to implementing new standards. For example, here’s a bill clear back from 2005 showing that even then, the consultation language was already in place.

The fact that such a glaring inaccuracy is being offered by the Attorney General’s office as fact—and regurgitated by a lazy media outlet as part of “in depth” coverage—leads any rational person to suspect the veracity and sincerity of other pro-Common Core talking points and “reports” served up to the public.