The results of a UConn poll on Common Core tell a very different story, if you look at the numbers in context. Is it a poll on Americans’ views of Common Core or on the effectiveness of the anti-Common Core propaganda machine? I’d say the latter.

There are some interesting data points in this poll that got lost in the shuffle. For example, three out of four respondents (74 percent) think the idea of having one set of national education standards is a good idea.

So, the vast majority of people believe that common educational standards are important, but they don’t like the set of common standards currently being implemented? Well, gee whiz, that’s a bit of a pickle, isn’t it?

Add to the mix a well-funded barrage of attack ads, press conferences, op-eds, “news” articles and more, all intended to sway public opinion against the Common Core.

Considering the points mentioned above, is the conclusion that the “UConn Poll finds Americans are skeptical of Common Core Standards” as CTNewsJunkie.com wrote?

That’s not the conclusion at which I would arrive.

Fighting the Common Core has become an election cycle issue for both Republicans and so-called “progressives,” (though it should be noted that, according to the poll, 54 percent of Democrats see the Common Core as good policy).

In Connecticut, a fierce gubernatorial battle has turned the Common Core into a football. Republicans forced a hearing on the subject, while “progressives” like Jon Pelto and Sarah Darer Littman used anti-Common Core rhetoric to boost Pelto’s own Capitol Building dreams.

All while union-funded polls repeatedly show educators in favor of the Common Core.

The conclusion is clear: This UConn poll is a testament to how well the Common Core detractors have manipulated the truth, turning the popular idea of a clear set of education standards into a political weapon.

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