If we want children to grow into informed, engaged citizens, they need opportunities to learn about themselves and others. These standards are thoughtful, commonsense, and developmentally appropriate. Teachers need training and time to create safe classrooms within which all children can thrive; these standards create the conditions to prioritize that training and time. As a parent and a teacher educator, I fully support these standards.

I would urge the anonymous critics to read the document carefully and indicate which standards, in particular, are problematic (and why) rather than name-calling and dismissing them out-of-hand. In increasingly diverse schools and workplaces with increasingly complex job descriptions, these standards are precisely the skills required of citizens and workers.