Val, kudos to you for going right to the source! The response you received was interesting, though, because here's an article I read a while back about another author of CC math, who is also the father of elementary students. Based on the answer you received, I'm assuming it's not the same person, because the guy in this article tutors his kids because of poor CC math implementation.

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/12/29/371918272/the-man-behind-common-core-math