In this opinion piece, Michael Toscano writes that his criticism of the Common Core State Standards ultimately has very little to do with their innate quality, but rather that their relation to other social spheres is disordered. He refers to the full reordering of American education away from families and local communities--which he states are absolutely essential to educational success--toward some abstract list of standards copyrighted in Washington, D.C. He concludes the piece by saying that a blaze, after all, can either warm the house or burn it down, depending on whether the fire's in the hearth or under the stairs.