Common Core: Father’s Check Mocks Math — And The Job Of Doug Herrmann’s Wife?

By mocking the math problems of Common Core, a father’s check has become wildly popular all over the Internet. But the story comes with a funny twist of its own. Ohio dad Doug Herrmann has begun explaining the story behind the story, and how he came to create the famous Common Core math check photo on Facebook, and it turns out his wife, Marlo, has a job related to implementing Common Core curriculum.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, after a report came out that black teachers were quitting their jobs at a higher rate than white teachers, some experts claimed it was because of the “standardized curriculum that’s scripted and sometimes micromanaged,” which “drives teachers nuts.”

Parents have also been driven nuts by the new methodology required by Common Core math. According to the Deseret News, the Common Core statistics indicate that “one in three parents admit their kids’ homework confuses them, and nearly half of U.S. parents oppose Common Core.”

“Parents are frustrated, and aside from opting their kids out of the Common Core tests, there’s little they can do,” the report related. “Common Core is — at least for now — the law of the land, and parents are stuck trying to make sense of senseless worksheets that leave them feeling frustrated and helpless.”

Doug Herrmann took the combined frustrations of these parents and symbolized them with his joke on Common Core. The father’s check uses the long form Common Core representation to purposefully make the check seem confusing, and Doug says he created the photo “to prove the point on how difficult Common Core math is and how it’s nearly impossible to use it in daily living practices.”

“I think it’s officially gone viral,” Herrmann wrote on his Facebook page last week. “4,000 shares and an article in the independent journal. Too funny! BTW, I didn’t actually send the check in. It was just a slam on common core.”

Many reports seemed to think that Doug actually sent the Common Core math check to Melridge Elementary school. According to Cleveland.com, “District Treasurer Michael Rock said the school and district never received the check.” In addition, Doug also confirmed that he ripped up the check shortly after taking the photo.

But the juicy part is that Doug Herrmann’s wife is a secretary for the director of curriculum and instruction in the Riverside District, where Melridge Elementary is located. It turns out the job of Doug’s wife involves working for the person directly in charge of implementing the Common Core standards and teaching style.

What do you think about the father’s Common Core check joke?

[Photo via Doug Herrmann]