Common Core?

Is it a good idea for states to be adopting the Common Core State Standards?

The standards were coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). (Common Core) They are suppose to create common standards in English, Language Arts and Mathematics for all students between kindergarten and grade 12 that will ensure that they graduate with the necessary basic skills that ensure the ability to succeed in entry-level college courses and workforce training programs. The CCSS suggest that these standards will represent students of all needs and abilities. If all 50 states were to accept these standards, not matter where you live, teachers and parents will be sure to know what to expect out of the school and that the students will have specific benchmarks to be met each year.
The map below shows a visual of the states who have already adopted the CCSS (in green), those who have approved them but have not formally adopted them (blue), and those who have supposedly adopted them but have not released any formal statement (yellow).

Like any proposed program or bill, there are doubts about how the CCSS will actually improve the achievement level of students. According to examiner.com, home school parents are concerned about the limited amount of local community interaction that is included in the standards. Other parents are concerned about the realistic ability of students with special needs or learning disabilities to meet the standards. Other school states believe the standards to be too low in comparison to their current standards. The standards can be found on the Common Core site. On the ASCD InService site, various people commented their opinion on the standards and one comment against the CCSS really stuck out to me. The author suggested that national standards are not the solution and that more effort should be focused on the way teachers are teaching. The author says, "If 75%-80% of the success of students coming from the competence of their teachers, why are we spending so much time on that which is minimally influential?"

I understand what the author is saying and of course I agree that the success of students definitely comes from their teachers. However, teachers teach to specific standards, which right now differ from state to state. If a family moves to a different state, the children may be faced with much higher or much lower standards than they had in their previous school. So in my opinion, yes, there should be national standards; however, I think the standards should be high enough that the students are being challenged and not just skimming by.

What do you think?