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June 14, |
1.Obama Takes Over
Public Schools, Cradle Through WorkforceBy Laurie Rogers (June 13,
2013)The writing is on the
wall with a recent announcement by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Why would
he not be a reformer? How could he not be?Duncan and the president announced on June 7, 2013, that
they want to “redesign”
all high schools in the country.On what authority will they do that? (They don’t have that authority, but
that has not stopped them so far. They’ll just claim it’s state-led and
voluntary until suddenly, it’s no longer state-driven or voluntary.)Second, who will pay for this? (Taxpayers will, whether we like it or not.)
Third, when you read Duncan’s press release, please take special note of the
language:** “Student-centered” learning
** “Project- or-problem-based” learning
** “Real-world experiences and real-world challenges”
** “Evidence-based professional development”
** “Redesigned high schools will move away from the traditional notion of seat
time”
http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/fact-sheet-redesigning-americas-high-schoolsThe entire Common Core debacle has been very cleverly done. The
feds have managed to convince people in the country that this is all being done
by others and that nothing in particular is being mandated and that the
Standards are the key. But make no mistake about it — for Singapore Math
to come out with a discovery series that they say is based on the Common Core —
clearly everyone in publishing knows the real deal of the Common Core.
Eventually, this will be, as some of us always worried, federally mandated fuzzy
math, across the nation, from P-20 (cradle through career). This entire country
will sink into mathematical dust. For generations. Once it’s across the country,
with Saxon Math and other excellent programs banned from all public
schools, and eventually from ALL schools — who will save us then?It isn’t just mathematics. This is a complete
mandated federal educational
program, cradle through workforce, in all subjects, all grades, all schools,
daycares, preschool, K-12, college, with personal child and parent data being
collected and stored and shipped around government agencies and certain
corporations — without your knowledge and consent.Of course it’s Big Brother. Obviously.
It’s educational tyranny.With Obama came Duncan, and with Duncan is coming mandated constructivism and
pretty much the elimination of any notion of privacy. They decided there should
be no FERPA getting in their way, and voila. No FERPA. These people have learned
nothing. Either that, or they actually do want to dumb down all of our children
and kill off this great country. Choose your poison. People can say, “No, it
can’t be.” But here it is.With all of this, and with the recent revelations about the DOJ and the IRS and
the EPA and Benghazi … well, I sure wish Americans could have a do-over on
last November. There are some bad, bad things going on in Washington, DC.=================
2.Common
Core “Forward”From Donna Garner posted on 2.16.09:
[The arrows mean lead to.]
National standards → national assessments → national
curriculum → national teacher evaluations with teachers salaries tied to
students test scores → teachers teaching to the test each and every day →
national indoctrination of our public school children →
national database of
students and teachers============
3.Common
Core in New Hampshire Schools: A Missed Opportunity to Improve the Quality of
EducationBy Ann
Marie Banfield (June 6, 2013)Excerpts from this
article:Today I was invited to join a
friend on her visit to a local New Hampshire elementary school. She wanted to
look at the textbooks that will be used in order to align curriculum to the new
Common Core Standards in English and Mathematics.As
we began looking at the new Math and English series, he [the principal]
showed us the Everyday Math program and the McGraw-Hill English writing series.
He mentioned that although Everyday Math has been used for several years, it was
recently updated to align with Common Core.I
was looking for more important information. For instance: are schools forced to use the Common Core aligned assessment? His
answer was YES. He said that the Common Core aligned -Smarter Balanced
Assessment was mandated by the State of New Hampshire.Several months ago, Commissioner Barry from the New Hampshire Department
of Education told a room full of legislators that the adoption of Common Core
Standards by local schools was
voluntary.Now one would think that if the
Common Core aligned assessment was being mandated by the State of New Hampshire,
Commissioner Barry would be honest and explain that while the adoption of the standards may
be voluntary, the schools are essentially forced into aligning their curriculum
with the Common Core standards. So the term voluntary doesn’t really mean it’s
voluntary at all.If the schools are forced to use
a Common Core aligned test and their curriculum is NOT properly aligned with
the Common Core standards the fear is that the students will not score well on
the standardized test. What we are setting up here is a de-facto national
curriculum that school districts will not be able to avoid.New Hampshire recently applied
for a waiver from No Child Left Behind. In that waiver application, the NH
Department of Education had to
agree to hold schools accountable if their students did not perform well on the
Common Core aligned test.
Currently there is pending legislation (SB48) that
redefines schools that are low performing and calls them: Priority” or “Focus
schools.Within this legislation, the
district must come up with a plan to remediate the situation. If that plan is
not sufficient, ultimately the New Hampshire Department of Education steps in to
help remediate the school.How will the DOE help remediate the
school? One can safely assume it will be through a plan that suggests aligning
their curriculum to the Common Core standards. How else do you improve on a
Common Core aligned test? Remember, this is all supposed to be
voluntary.There are other ways the Common Core
Initiative is getting schools and states to comply. Tying a teachers evaluation
to the standardized test is a way to get teachers to comply and teach to the
Common Core aligned standardized test.If schools refuse to adopt Common
Core Standards, they lose Federal funding through the federal Lunch and Title
funding. This funding is used to help the children most in need.My friend was wise enough to ask how the Feds
could use money as a punishment, especially since that money is targeted towards
the most vulnerable children in our public schools. Remember, this is supposed to be
voluntary.As we were nearing the end of
our meeting, I flipped through the new Common Core aligned textbooks that were
just purchased. One of the complaints with the Common Core English standards
is the reduction in fictional or classical literature in favor of informational
texts and manuals.I noticed in the new Common Core
aligned English textbook
from McGraw-Hill, there were stories that incorporated informational
reading however there were some fictional stories too. As I was flipping through this book, I noticed the lack of grammar
instruction. I
also looked for examples of political bias and activism as critics have
identified in other textbooks. Sure enough, we found some.I was able to snap a picture of one
example. There was a reference to a known political activist who has been
described as a Marxist: Cesar Chavez.My friend caught a story about a boy
who wanted to change a law on bicycle helmets and how to go about organizing the
community to become politically active. I wasnt able to get a picture of that example
but within these English textbooks, there was an attempt
to sow the seeds of political activism in children.Introducing a political activist and political
activism outside the context of a political classroom adds a propaganda element
to what is supposed to be an academic class in English and writing.It is not a matter of whether one agrees with
the philosophy of Chavez or whether a helmet law is a good idea, it affirms the
criticism that public schools are using children for political purposes. When
children are used for political purposes there is a direct cost to students in
our public schools. That cost is: LITERACY.The Nashua Telegraph reported 65% of college freshman need remedial classes.
Remedial classes tend to focus on k-8 instruction. This means a majority of New
Hampshire students graduating from high school are not receiving the academic
foundation they need.Does Common Core fix this problem or ignore
it? According to what I saw both in math and English, the problem of illiteracy
will not be fixed.We are essentially asking schools to follow
another reform effort, buy new materials, pay for professional development but
continue to ignore the biggest problems.The two academic content experts
that sat on the Common Core Validation Committee (Prof. Sandra Stotsky, English
and Prof. James Milgram, Mathematics) refused to sign off on the Common Core
standards. Parents should take time to research these experts and read why they
do not believe these standards should be adopted. They identify the numerous
flaws and now we can see that the textbooks and programs reflect those flaws.English/Language Arts is a core
subject that should be free of political bias. Math education should require
mastery of basic math facts and if that program is failing students, parents
should not have to turn to tutoring services to fill in those gaps.Political education should be introduced at an
age appropriate grade level and all views, opinions and facts should be
presented.Common Core has been criticized
fairly when it comes to the poor quality of the standards and how these
standards will be used to push a political agenda in the classroom. Its now up
to the parents to demand better for their children instead of finding out that
their children were educated to become political activists at the expense of
literacy.=============
4. Alice Linahans Women on the Wall Radio Show Common Core Standards
Mary Bowen, a Texas
public school teacher, reveals the type of indoctrination found in the Common
Core Standards Initiative that the American Library Association is directly
forcing upon our public school children:Podcast link (3.23
minutes) :
https://soundcloud.com/alice-linahan/women-on-the-wall-radio-show=============
Donna Garner