Your opinion on common core

[dead0man]

I guess I've never really cared enough to know what the big deal is about it...so, what are the arguments?  The only things I do know is that kids do standardized testing way more than they (we) used to, and that apparently a lot of teachers spend a lot of time preparing students for these tests.  It seems to me neither of those is a good thing, but I"m willing to be...ahem....schooled on the subject.