As a result of his review of 52 sets of K-12 mathematics standards--for the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the Common Core State Standards Initiative--the author finds that the majority of U.S. states fail to focus on the mathematics that elementary school children need to learn to be successful in college math. Arithmetic is the needed foundation--and that foundation is taught in elementary school. The Common Core State Standards in mathematics do a better job than most state standards because they emphasize the importance of arithmetic.