Is this what we all need? Do parents care about the learning standards? Do students. I'd wager no, they don't. They care about pleasing you, the teacher, or they care about getting through the work as quickly as possible so they can move on to something else. At least that's how things stand now. Relatively few students have serious passion for the subject they're sitting in, at least not until they're choosing electives that match their interest areas.
I think a lot of these controversies would blow away if we got rid of state standards. Getting rid of them and their standardized tests would free educators to teach children with their curricular knowledge rather than teach standards to children. "Today, class, we're going to focus on the standard of identifying main idea with supporting details." Yawn. Those words don't even mean anything to most primary and elementary school students. But they'd love to learn about squids, I bet, and in doing so you can talk about the book's message without worrying about some admin wondering which standard you're tagging.
School's obsession with standards and teachers teaching standards to children (rather than teaching children with a well-grounded understanding of pedagogy, SOR, etc.), has resulted in destroying kids' innate curiosity, turned school into a game, and forces professional development to focus on standards rather than children, their growth and development, the challenges of teaching children, the science of learning and the art of educating humans, and so much more.
What would happen to me tomorrow when I walk into my second grade classroom and was told that New York State suspended all their learning standards? Nothing. Literally, nothing. I'd teach kids how to understand the books they read or listen to. I'd continue to teach the kids how to read in small groups using SOR, I'd continue to teach the kids how to write, do math, etc. Would I suddenly start doing something like teach double digit division? No, that'd be stupid, since our class has even begun adding with regrouping.
If I were an admin interviewing a new teacher candidate, I wouldn't ask them anything about learning standards. Instead, I'd want to know if they understand the concept of teaching. I'd ask, "How do you teach a child how to understand and do double-digit addition?" If they cant' articulate it, they cant teach it. Likewise, I'd ask, "How do you teach a child to read?" That'd be my question. If I didn't hear an answer that showed an understanding of SOR or good pedagogical practice, I'm passing on that teacher every time. Who cares if they know a standard?
