State Sen. Tom Dempsey

I learned over the weekend that SB 210 is dead in the Missouri Senate due to a threat of a filibuster.  I was told that it had nothing to do with those pushing the bill, the Common Core State Standards or a love of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  It was political payback.

The sponsor of the bill, State Senator John Lamping (R-Clayton), apparently filibustered an earlier senate bill that the Senate leadership wanted.

I have very little tolerance for stuff like this.  Has anyone in Jefferson City heard of the Golden Rule?  Gentleman it’s “do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.”  Not, “do unto others what they have done to you.”  I don’t know what bill was filibustered earlier – perhaps it was a bad bill.  I have a hard time believing, however, that those responsible for sinking this bill share our concern about the Common Core and yet would do this.

This is childish behavior which unfortunately goes on far, far too much in state capitol buildings across the country.

So who is the poster child for this decision?  State Senator Tom Dempsey (R-St. Peters) who is the President Pro Tem of the Missouri Senate was complicit.  I’d encourage our readers in the Show Me State to contact him at Tom.Dempsey@senate.mo.gov or (573) 751-1141 and ask if his political payback was worth Missouri’s kids being subjected to the Common Core.

The post Political Payback Sinks Missouri’s Common Core Pause Bill appeared first on Truth in American Education.

Department of Education spokesman Tim Eller said the governor made that decision to push off the implementation date beyond July 1 after consulting with lawmakers.

Last week, it became clear in House and Senate education committees‘ meetings that not all lawmakers were on board with the move to these grade-level learning expectations that would have brought Pennsylvania public school instruction more in unison with the standards that 44 other states and the District of Columbia were in the process of implementing.

Pennsylvania still needs to repeal the Common Core State Standards and it doesn’t look like this pause will be very long.

Eller said the governor directed the department to make “minor modifications to the regulations” governing the standards and Keystone Exams.

“Governor Corbett remains committed to ensuring that all Pennsylvania public school students – regardless of zip code – have access to a quality education,” Eller said in an e-mail.

“Academic standards and state assessments are an important component of the state’s effort to ensure that our students are prepared to pursue post-secondary degrees or careers after graduation.”

Eller said the governor asked the State Board to make the changes in an expedited manner so they can be submitted to the legislative education committees and Independent Regulatory Review Commission for final approval.

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SECTION 9.2.(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 115C-174.11(c), the State Board of Education shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee prior to the purchase and implementation of a new assessment instrument to assess student achievement on the Common Core State Standards, including the Common Core Smarter Balance Consortium Assessments. The State Board shall not purchase such an assessment instrument without the enactment of legislation by the General Assembly authorizing the purchase. (P. 66)

HT: Stop Common Core NC

Photo Credit: Jimmy Emerson via Flickr (CC-By-NC-ND 2.0)

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The August 31st date, the letter says, corresponds with a notice clause that they have in their contract with school districts.

“I’m pleased that the CSCOPE Board has made the decision to get out of the lesson plan business. This is a positive development for students, parents, teachers, and for the Regional Service Centers,” said Senator Patrick. “I want to thank the members of the Senate Education Committee for their months of work on this issue. I also want to thank Attorney General Abbott and his staff in providing valuable assistance in our review of CSCOPE.”

“Once the TESCCC officially approves this measure Friday I will notify the SBOE that they do not need to review the 1600 CSCOPE lesson plans.  The CSCOPE era is over. However, what the last several months has proven is that the state will have to create a plan to monitor all on line material in the future so that our schools and classroom remain completely transparent to parents and the legislature knows what is being taught in our classrooms across Texas,” Senator Patrick added.

The official vote will take place at a previously scheduled board meeting on May 24th.

HT: Adam Cahman

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Here is a copy of the resolution written by Christel Swasey and Cherilyn Eagar.

The post Utah Republicans Pass Anti-Common Core Resolution appeared first on Truth in American Education.

This is still a victory.  Governor Nathan Deal had sent representatives to lobby the resolutions committee to reject the resolution, but they still lost by a wide margin.  It demonstrates the growing opposition that the Common Core has within the Republican Party there.

Here is the language of the resolution:

RESOLUTION OPPOSING “NATIONALIZED” COMMON CORE STANDARDS

WHEREAS, the control of education is left to the States and the people and is not an enumerated power of Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution; and

WHEREAS, in 2010 Georgia Executive Branch officials committed this state to adopting common standards with a consortium of states through the Race to the Top grant created by the federal Executive Branch; and

WHEREAS, this participation required Georgia to adopt common standards in K-12 English language arts and mathematics (now known as the Common Core State Standards Initiative) and to commit to implementing the aligned assessments developed by a consortium of states with federal money, all without the consent of the people exercised through their Legislative Branch despite the fact that the people fund K-12 education with over $13 billion in state and local taxes each year; and

WHEREAS, the Common Core standards have been evaluated by educational experts and were determined to be no better than Georgia’s previous performance standards and according to key members of the Validation Committee, the standards were even inferior; and

WHEREAS, adoption of Common Core obliterates Georgia’s constitutional autonomy over the educational standards for Georgia’s children in English language arts and mathematics because 100 percent of the Common Core standards must be delivered through Georgia’s curriculum, yet the standards belong to unaccountable private interests in Washington, D.C. which have copyright authority and do not allow any standards to be deleted or changed, but only allow Georgia to add 15 percent to those standards; and

WHEREAS, this push to nationalize standards will inevitably lead to more centralization of education in violation of federalism and local control and violates the spirit, if not the letter, of three federal laws; and

WHEREAS, both the Common Core standards and the PARCC tests will create new tax burdens to pay for enormous unfunded mandates on our state and our local school districts; and

WHEREAS, the Race to the Top grant conditions require the collection and sharing of massive amounts of student-level data through the PARCC agreement which violates student privacy;

THEREFORE, the Georgia Republican Party delegates to the 2013 Convention resolve that state leaders should:

• Withdraw Georgia from the Common Core State Standards Initiative;
• Withdraw Georgia from the PARCC consortium and its planned assessments for Georgia’s students, and any other testing aligned with the Common Core standards;
• Prohibit all state officials from entering into any agreements that cede any measure of control over Georgia education to entities outside the state and ensure that all content standards as well as curriculum decisions supporting those standards are adopted through a transparent statewide and/or local process fully accountable to the citizens in every school district of Georgia; and
• Prohibit the collection, tracking, and sharing of personally identifiable student and teacher data except with schools or educational agencies within the state.

Be it further resolved that we appreciate Governor Nathan Deal’s principled Executive Order issued on May 15^th which strongly recognized the need to honor the constitutional sovereignty of the people of Georgia over education and the urgent need to protect student privacy.

The post Georgia GOP Resolutions Committee Passes Anti-Common Core Resolution appeared first on Truth in American Education.

Via The Wichita Eagle:

The implementation of new education standards could come to a screeching halt under a proposal floated by Republican lawmakers Thursday.

Republican budget negotiators said they’ll consider a move to block any money that would be spent to implement Common Core standards for reading and math or Next Generation Science Standards in Kansas’ public schools.

The idea to derail those standards, approved in Kansas in 2010, emerged early during this year’s legislative session. But it failed to gain traction.

Attaching it to the state’s budget could, however, give it new life.

Kansans who oppose the Common Core need to contact their legislators this weekend.  This move may occur Monday when the Legislature goes back to Topeka to wrap up their session.  They are already under a lot of pressure from the Kansas Department of Education and the Kansas Association of School Boards.

When you call let them know that you support the defunding of the Common Core and that you expect them to vote to restore your voice in education policy.  Here are three primary talking points that I’d encourage you to use.

1. This is data-less reform – there is simply no evidence that centralized standards raise student achievement.
2. Our elected representatives were circumvented in the process of implementation giving you no voice.  Education policy is too important to be decided this way.  It ignores the separation of powers.
3. Federal involvement is illegal (not to mention, unconstitutional)– assessments are aligned to standards, assessments drives curriculum, Feds paying for assessment development and have created a review panel to look at content, not just implementation.
4. These standards have content issues.  Kansas can do better (and had better).
5. Cost – Kansans simply can’t afford this.  Assessments currently cost $10/student per test.  With Smarter Balanced Assessments that cost could at best double, but more than likely will cost up to $55/per student per test – quite a jump!  That isn’t even considering the cost of school districts making sure they meet the technology requirements.
6. Data mining… The Kansas State Board of Education promised that no student-level data would be given out, but they have a signed agreement with Smarter Balanced Assessments who does have a memorandum of understand with the U.S. Department of Education saying they will provide student-level data.  We are just supposed to trust them?

Here is a list of House Members with contact info:

Here is a list of Senate members with contact info:

Photo credit: Stuart Seeger via Flickr (CC By 2.0)

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Shannon announced Thursday that with just two weeks left in the legislative session he is unveiling a measure to repeal a 2010 law that requires common core to be implemented by Oklahoma school districts…. 

Shannon calls the standards a “federal intrusion into our education system.”

The bill would have to pass the House and the Senate, where President Pro Tem Brian Bingman said he and other GOP leaders support the common core standards.

State Senator Bingman will need to explain their support and will we hear the same canned talking points?  The bill that Shannon is rolling out is House Bill 1719.

Photo credit: Kool Cats Photography via Flickr (CC-By-2.0)

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On Tuesday, May 14^th, 2013, seventeen Kansans spoke out against the Common Core at the Kansas State Board of Education meeting that was held in Topeka, KS. It was covered by WIBW TV, the Lawrence Journal-World and The Wichita Eagle.

During the “citizens open forum” of the board’s meeting, which usually only lasts about 30 minutes, the state board listened for over an hour and a half as speaker after speaker from many parts of the state spoke out against the new Common Core standards for reading and math.

Unfortunately the board didn’t seem to listen. Instead the Commissioner of Education handed out a “fact” sheet to those in attendance which is full of misinformation and inaccurate claims.

Myth: “The Common Core Standards initiative was led by states through the National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.”

Fact: No, “states” did not lead this effort. The National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers are non-governmental trade organizations. Parents, teachers and state legislators were cut out. Some governors were involved, but the Gates Foundation has paid $150 million for these groups and select non-profits to develop and promote the Common Core. Kansas Legislators were deliberately circumvented. This short video makes it clear.

Myth: “The federal government was not involved in the standards development and has not mandated adoption of the standards.”

Fact: Kansas applied for a Race to the Top grant. Unless Kansas adopted the Common Core State Standards they didn’t have a prayer in being chosen. The U.S Department of Education directed the competition judges to award a state “high” points “if the consortium includes a majority of the States in the country,” but “medium or low” points if the consortium includes one-half the states or fewer. The Department admitted that the “goal of common K-12 standards is to replace the existing patchwork of State standards” and that its view was “that the larger the number of States within a consortium, the greater the benefits and potential impact.” The only set of standards that fit their requirements was the Common Core State Standards.

Also Kansas was awarded a No Child Left Behind waiver. Since 7 of the 10 State Board members voted to adopt the CCS to apply for a RTTT grant in 2010—without knowing the cost or how Kansas students would be tested—that part of the waiver was OKed by Washington in 2012. So, while it isn’t a clear mandate, the Feds used a carrot and stick approach with bribes and coercion to “incentivize” the Kansas State Board of Education to adopt the only standards which the US Department of Education bureaucrats would accept.

Myth: “A diverse team of teachers, parents, administrators, researchers and content experts developed the Common Core to be academically rigorous, attainable for students and practical for teachers and districts.”

Fact: A list of authors is not on the Common Core State Standards Initiative website. Achieve, INC. does not have a list. National Governor’s Association has a list here. There are no classroom teachers or K-12 administrators on this list. However, from this list there are five people who were on the development teams that are connected to a local school district. Only three were classroom teachers at the time. The top math and English specialists on the validation teams refused to sign off on the CCS as an improvement over current state education standards.

Myth: “Standards are not curriculum. Standards identify where a student should be academically at a point in time. Curriculum is how students get there and is determined by local school districts.”

Fact: Ordinarily that would be true. The only problem with that assertion is the standardized testing that is aligned with the Common Core State Standards which will (and as NCLB has shown) driven curriculum plus classroom teaching and textbook selection.

Myth: “The Common Core Standards are bench marked to international standards to ensure our students are competitive at home and around the world.”

Fact: That’s a claim we hear a lot, but whose standards are the Common Core State Standards bench marked to? Which countries? Are their students as productive and creative as Kansans?

Myth: “States that adopted the Common Core Standards were able to add unique, state specific content to the standards.”

Fact: If the KSDE staff are excited that they can add 15% of their own standards—that is pretty sad. 100% of the standards are controlled by national groups. The 15% added by Kansas will not be on the national assessments and therefore will not be taught to most Kansas students.

Myth: “At least one state that received a RTTT grant did not adopt the Common Core Standards.”

Fact: Who? Here are the RTTT recipients: Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. The only states that have not adopted the Common Core State Standards in full are: Alaska, Minnesota (ELA standards only), Nebraska, Texas and Virginia. They are not on the list of Race to the Top winners.

They also make claims about Kansas involvement in giving feedback. Who was involved? Let’s see a list. How much feedback was given? Did it actually change anything?

Parents and legislators were still left out of the loop. The KSDE “fact” sheet also makes some false claims regarding individual student and teacher data collection.

While Kansas didn’t win a RTTT grant, it was awarded over $9 million dollars under the Stimulus funds for the purpose of building a Statewide Longitudinal Data System. Some of the outcomes identified are:

• Expand the ability of the state longitudinal data system to link across the P-20 education pipeline and across state agencies.
• Ensure that data can be accessed, analyzed and used; and communicate data to all stakeholders to promote continuous improvement.
• Build the capacity of educators to use the system to develop expertise in effective practices; to use academic and behavioral data to inform instructional decisions; and to evaluate the effect of their decisions on student learning; and build the capacity of other stakeholder to use longitudinal data for effective decision making.

Kansas received 6 million dollars beyond that with two other grants that deal with education data as well.

Kansas then signed a MOU with Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, which has also signed a MOU with the U.S. Department of Education to “develop a strategy to make student-level data that results from the assessment system available on an ongoing basis for research, including for prospective linking, validity, and program improvement studies, subject to applicable privacy laws.”

On Jan. 3, 2012 regulatory changes went into effect that gutted the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA); now governments can share highly personal data with any entity, public or private, as long as they describe the sharing as necessary to an audit or evaluation of an educational program.

So the Kansas State Department of Education claims that they don’t transfer teacher and student specific data now, but will that be the case later on? It remains to be seen. Frankly it is hard to believe an organization that promotes misinformation and assertions which are simply not true. That doesn’t help build a foundation of trust.

CONCLUSION:

The one-size-fits-all, Common Core Standards are not how teachers teach or students learn. Students are not robots. They do not all learn at the same rate or the same way. So, professional teachers adjust their instruction to each classroom and individual students. But the Common Core Standards force every teacher to be on the same grade-level standard during the same week—regardless of how fast or slow each class of students are learning. This means that the best students are held back while the slower students never catch up and are left behind.

The Kansas Legislature needs to defund the Common Core Standards implementation and associated national assessments this Session. Otherwise, more damage will be done and local districts will be forced to spend millions of dollars to prepare for the national assessments of this untested, unfunded takeover of every public, private, parochial and home school in the state.

Shane Vander Hart is an advocate with Truth in American Education. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Caffeinated Thoughts, a popular Christian conservative blog in Iowa. He is also the President of 4:15 Communications, a social media & communications consulting/management firm, along with serving as the communications director for American Principles Project’s Preserve Innocence Initiative. Prior to this Shane spent 20 years in youth ministry serving in church, parachurch, and school settings. He has taught Jr. High History along with being the Dean of Students for Christian school in Indiana. Shane and his wife home school their three teenage children and have done so since the beginning. He has recently been recognized by Campaigns & Elections Magazine as one of the top political influencers in Iowa. Shane and his family reside near Des Moines, IA. You can connect with Shane on Facebook, follow him on Twitter or connect with him on Google +.

Dr. Walt Chappell is the President of Educational Management Consultants in Wichita, KS. He was formerly a member of the Kansas State Board of Education. Dr. Chappell taught science in Kansas schools plus public administration, medical education and faculty development in three universities and two community colleges.

The post Kansas State Board of Education’s “Fact” Sheet Void of Facts appeared first on Truth in American Education.

This executive order does relatively nothing.  Sixty days of public comment is good, but still having the State Board of Education decide these things is not whether it is public or not.  He says they won’t share certain data, but they have a signed memorandum of understanding saying they will. 

State Senator William Ligon (R-Brunswick) who authored Georgia’s anti-Common Core bill (that was killed behind the scenes thanks in large part, I am told, by Governor Deal) responded to Governor Deal’s executive order:

I am pleased by Governor Nathan Deal’s decision to sign an Executive Order that recognizes the serious issues surrounding Georgia’s Common Core Performance Standards. While this is a step in the right direction and we appreciate the Governor’s efforts, this does not ultimately move Georgia out of the Common Core Program. The Executive Order issued today does however make a good faith effort towards preventing the disclosure of our student’s private information.

Governor Nathan Deal inherited the federal Race to the Top Mandates from the previous administration, and although I’m sure Governor Sonny Purdue had the best intentions at heart, Common Core continues to erode student’s education, removes control of educational standards from state and local authorities and causes significant privacy concerns.

Our students deserve better. If Georgia continues to participate in Common Core, it must accept 100 percent of the standards word-for-word and we would only be allowed to adopt 15 percent our own standards – this is only after the 100 percent Common Core requirement is fulfilled. Even with the issuing of this Executive Order, educational standards will still be set and controlled by private interests outside of the state.

Now it’s up to the Georgia Legislature to pick-up where the Governor left off. The Georgia State Legislature represents the will of the people and they are asking us to pass legislation to withdraw Georgia from the Common Core, the national assessments, and the intrusive tracking of student data.

Georgia must reassert its constitutional autonomy over education, and I intend to work tirelessly with my colleagues in the General Assembly to move our state towards a more transparent, democratic process of developing statewide curriculum standards.

Based on his recent comments I don’t have confidence that Governor Deal really wants to have a conversation about the Common Core.  He merely wants to save political face.  I’m thankful that State Senator Ligon wants to continue to fight for its repeal, and I hope Georgians will join him.

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