Common Core State Standards- help or hurt?

     So I've been following a lot of the blogs and discussions on ASCD, Curriculum Matters and Education next on how various people see the Common Core. Many seem to think it will force a national curriculum. And I just finished reading this article: http://educationnext.org/despite-common-core-states-still-lack-common-standards/ and it's most recent response about what proficiency means in various states. It all has been truly wondering if this another idea with good intentions, but with negative outcomes! The standards- no matter what group of them of which we speak- are always contentious. We saw the same situation in Maine in 1997 when the original MLR's hit schools. The movement for Mass Customized Learning schools in our state is a push to beat the bandwagon to the standardized punch.  Having spent much time with the CCSS since their early drafts, I find that it will drive some good changes in our educational curriculum, like teaching students to be more critical readers and writers in all content areas, or like asking students to explain their thinking (metacognitive processes) or describe how they accomplished a goal and determine if it was a productive process for them. Some areas of curriculum, like the aesthetic value of reading may very well be lost, which will unfortunately not create the outcomes we desire from these standards. These external drives, in my opinion, are given far too much power over the true expertise of a professional teacher, but then, would we know where to go if we didn't have these guides to direct us? How many of us would be able to go out into the work force, ask employers what they see our students in need of for skills and then backward plan that work from grade 12 to K? And since that seems impossible, how else would I know as a new teacher in any grade what I was supposed to teach my students? I have some ideas on that, but I wonder, what do you think?