Doug Herrmann has a message for Melridge Elementary schools: You figure it out.

Herrman recently posted a photo on Facebook of a check he wrote to the school in Painesville, Ohio, in which the dollar amount of the check was expressed as a nonsensical string of Xs and Os.

The school uses the Common Core, Herrmann says, the standardized (and often criticized) curriculum designed to level the playing field in American education.

Though Herrmann admits he never sent the check in, he does joke that the school should be perfectly capable of deciphering the correct amount, given its use of the Common Core.

Common Core questions have become an easy target for internet ridicule over the last several years. With their unclear phrasing and roundabout methods of solving problems, the Common Core has many parents crying out for a return to simpler times.

It's not enough to learn basic subtraction, kids are told. They must learn it in a complicated and unnecessary way, to prove they've achieved mastery.

Take this disgruntled parent's reply:

Facebook

The Common Core has good intentions. It's supposed to help rehabilitate the United States' ailing math and science scores in comparison to the rest of the world.

That goal may have been misguided ever since it launched in 2009. According to one line of thinking, education shouldn't be about test scores and world rankings. It should be about breeding creative thinking and exploring kids' passions.

At least in the meantime, we have funny Facebook posts to help us keep our sanity.