Common Core is about states adopting standards for Math and English that are aligned with 21st century needs - an internet driven economy with readily available computers.
Doesn't fully fit here, but I wrote this yesterday elsewhere, and it does fit my view on what Math needs should be for all centuries:
I acknowledge that an understanding of algebra and even higher level math is an increasingly needed skill for some people to compete for jobs, but mathematics has an importance in daily lives. Taking innumeracy as seriously as seriously as illiteracy is what matters to me.
Many (but not all) logical fallacies, generalizations and stereotypes are a result of innumeracy, and mastering algebra isn't going to change that. Mastering probability and statistics, likely wouldn't eliminate those things, but should reduce them considerably.
"It is fashionable for people to decry the appalling illiteracy of this generation, particularly its supposed inability to write grammatical English. But what of the appalling INNUMERACY of most people, old and young, when it comes to making sense of the numbers that, in point of fact, and whether they like it or not, run their lives?" Douglas Hofstadter
http://www.innumeracy.com/Most mathematicians and logicians agree with me that an understanding of numbers is far more important than being able to calculate algebraic equations. Of course, an understanding of algebra is needed to grasp calculus where the solutions to so many math (and physics) problems are greatly simplified.
When it comes to mathematics curricula, by far the most hailed in the world is the Finnish Math Model:
One of the goals for grades 3-5 students is this:
*know how to clarify the number of different events and alternatives and to judge which as an impossible or certain event.
http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/politeia/mathematics/finland.pdf
