This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

As a person who tutored quite a few high school kids in algebra over the years, I was happy to help when my daughter said her child was having problems in math. I thought, "No problem."

I looked at the first question, and it was not math. It was not even sensible. I asked my daughter about it, and she replied it was Common Core. I had heard here and there a few snippets about Common Core, but this was my first direct exposure to it.

The question required a three-sentence explanation for a simple subtraction problem, not the subtraction itself. "My daughter can do the actual math just fine," my daughter told me. "It's writing the explanations that drive her nuts. We have five families in the area that can't figure out what they want for an answer to this question."

Common Core, in my opinion, is the most ridiculous thing ever invented — by some person insulated from the real world. Common Core is not a system of story problems. I am a supporter of story problems. It is a system of time-wasting.

I can think of no program that will cause our children to fall behind other countries in math proficiency faster than Common Core.

Gordon Johnston

West Valley City