Frustrated parent with engineering degree lashes out at Common Core

© f_a_r_e_w_e_l_l/Flickr

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the Common Core Standards, and one parent's rant quickly made the Internet rounds after he expressed frustration over his child's math assignments.

Earlier this year, Jeff Severt's son was given a math problem to solve using a number line and strategies, which is the new Common Core approach used in schools, KSDK reports. The assignment instructs kids to help a boy named Jack subtract 316 from 427.

The answer of 111 can be found in seconds using the old fashioned math, but the new way was difficult for the father to figure out.

According to The Blaze, Severt wrote a sarcastic response on the math problem.

"I have a bachelor of science degree in electronics engineering which included extensive study in differential equations and other higher math applications," he wrote. "Even I cannot explain the Common Core mathematics approach, nor get the answer correct. In the real world, simplification is valued over complication," he added, signing the letter as a "frustrated parent."

© via IJ Review

Some parents and teachers are divided on the initiative, with one commenter writing on KSDK's Facebook page: "I can't help my third and fifth graders with their homework because they have to follow ten extra steps to come up with an answer that I was taught how to do in two steps."

One teacher wrote: "[I] think it is very good for students."

As the notes, the image above says everything about what Common Core's legacy has proven to be. Why fix something that isn't broken?