Poll: How Do You Feel About New Common Core Non-Fiction Reading Requirements?

A guide issued by NYS Education Commissioner Dr. John B. King over the weekend informed New York City public school parents and students about new changes to reading and math requirements included in the .

Already, a shift mandating 50% informational text in grades K-5 and 70% thereafter has drawn the ire of parents in opposition to Common Core.

"It seems arbitrary and wrong-headed and, if enforced, may kill ," wrote Leonie Haimsmen on the nycpublicschoolparents.blog. "My 8th grade son reads as many as 20 or more novels a year as part of his assigned reading for school, along with other 'texts.' In fact he reads many thousands of pages a year. Should he be forced to read thousands of pages of non-fiction to match this? Or should he instead be discouraged from reading novels, so that his 'informational text' quota can be more easily reached?"

In contrast, Robert Pondiscio of Core Knowledge has called the Common Core standards "common sense."

"Putting history and science at the center of ELA instruction doesn’t exclude literature," Pondiscio blogged on the Core Knowledge website. "It repudiates the imperialism of trivial fiction that has debased ELA and deprived students of the knowledge they need to understand serious fiction—and just about everything else."

How do you feel about the new non-fiction reading requirement? Weigh in by voting in the poll below and share your comments below.