WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan expressed regret for the “clumsy phrasing” he used during a recent discussion about why some parents are turning against Common Core.

In his original remarks, Duncan said “some of the pushback is coming from, sort of, white suburban moms who – all of a sudden – their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were, and that’s pretty scary.”

Duncan’s “white suburban moms” comment appeared to refer to the controversy that’s brewing in New York, where parents are upset that their children were given – and bombed out on – state standardized tests last spring that were aligned with the new Common Core standards, even though students were primarily being taught under the old ones.

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Duncan was apparently referring to that situation on Friday when he made his infamous “white suburban moms” comment.

In a new ED.gov blog, Duncan explains that his “aim was to say that we need to communicate better to all groups – especially those that haven’t been well reached in this conversation (about Common Core).”

“I want to encourage a difficult conversation and challenge the underlying assumption that when we talk about the need to improve our nation’s schools, we are talking only about poor minority students in inner cities,” he adds.

It’s unlikely Duncan’s not-quite-an-apology will stem the tide of criticism – from the political left and right –he received in the wake of his original comments.

The strongest criticism came from U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican, who blasted Duncan’s comments as a “dismissive slur” and called for his firing.

“It’s typical of the Obama administration’s disrespectful treatment of women who express differing opinions. (Duncan) even called moms and dads with families ‘fringe groups,’” Stockman said in a press release. “If there is a ‘War on Women’ the Obama administration just launched a tactical strike.”

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Even American Federation of Teachers President Rhonda “Randi” Weingarten said Duncan’s comments reveal he “really doesn’t get it,” presumably a reference as to the real reason many people have misgivings about the national Common Core standards, which are being implemented in roughly 45 states.

What Duncan and the other purveyors of Common Core refuse to acknowledge is that a growing number of Americans – of both genders and all races – are seeing through their phony claims that the nationalized learning standards initiative is “state led” and that it represents a more “rigorous” approach to education.

These parents are hearing and reading about a group of highly respected scholars who have concluded that Common Core’s math standards will have the cumulative effect of leaving American students two years behind their international peers.

Concerned parents are even hearing some Common Core supporters acknowledge that the new standards’ goal of saving Algebra until a student’s first year of high school will make it extremely difficult for him or her to pursue and obtain a college degree in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.

They’re also paying attention to a group of English education experts who have labeled Common Core’s language arts requirements as mush and deemed them completely unsuitable for creating a generation of thinkers.

Duncan says he’s in favor of having a “difficult discussion” about Common Core, yet he’s never satisfactorily addressed any of those concerns. Duncan’s much more comfortable mocking and marginalizing Common Core critics than in debating them – as his “white suburban moms” crack demonstrates.