In their article, "The Common Core is a Change for the Better," Gardner and Powell (2013) make an argument in support of implementing the Common Core to improve teaching and student learning. They opine the Common Core will enable students to become more college and career ready and state the Common Core standards will provide consistency in every child's educational journey (Gardner & Powell, 2013). The authors suggest Common Core will enhance critical thinking skills as students take responsibility of their learning (Gardner & Powell, 2013). The authors contend that the Common Core standards provide a road map for what students should be able to do and will increase curricular rigor throughout schools (Gardner & Powell, 2013). The authors' assertions represent some of the more well-advertised claims made by proponents of the Common Core. In this article, Adam Wolfe provides commentary to critique Gardner and Powell's article. Wolfe uses examples from the classical and current literature on the topic of curriculum standards as the basis for the critique. Overall, Wolfe contends that Gardner and Powell's (2013) argument contains much rhetoric and both the internal and external aspects of their claims lack sufficient empirical evidence and support.