Parental rights to raise children to respect the parent’s traditions and values have been under attack from many fronts including the U.S. Department of Education. The implementation of Common Core Standards undermines parental rights to make educational decisions for their children. Now is the time for parents to protest this intrusion by opting their child out of Common Core for the 2014-2015 school year.
Race to the Top was a three-year program which expires in 2014 making NOW the ideal time for parents to opt-out. Districts need time to open discussions with parents about alternatives to Common Core and to implement those alternatives before the start of the 2014-2015 school year.
Congress did NOT pass legislation requiring Common Core standards to be implemented nor did Congress require that standards, curriculum, and tests be aligned. If parents allow the U.S. Department of Education to force policy upon the public as if that policy were law, the parents will be surrendering more than parental involvement to the federal government. How soon will it be before all parental rights are ceded to the federal government?
Nowhere in the Race to the Top guidelines is there any requirement for repayment of dollars obtained to implement Common Core. Therefore, if parents find Common Core to be unacceptable, they can change standards and districts will NOT have to return any RttT dollars.
Our government has falsely represented Common Core Standards as “internationally benchmarked” with proven success. Both statements are false and the government has no proof that either statement can be verified. When a company makes promises about a product and those promises cannot be delivered, the customer has a right to return the product and demand that his money be returned. The most effective way for citizens to receive the equivalent from the federal government is to demand that the federal government stop taxing states for educational dollars, to reject every federal educational policy the government tries to impose upon the state, and to recognize that this taxing authority is unconstitutional and should be returned to the states.
Examine the method of implementation used in your state. For example, Wisconsin did NOT commit itself explicitly to maintain any policies under RttT, including Common Core. This is an excellent source of leverage that parents may use.
If the U.S. Department of Education tries to become punitive, most likely Title I money would be threatened. Doing so would give parents a political goldmine. Title I dollars are intended for the neediest students. Imagine the outrage when the DoED takes money from those who need it the most simply because parents want to be involved in educational decisions affecting their children. Parents would be protecting their children from a vengeful, tyrannical federal government.
Here is a sample form that you can use, parents may and paste the form to use in their districts.
Deb McCormick says
In NC, if we opt our kids from the 3rd grade EOG, they are retained based on the decision (law) from the state. That is why NC families are wary to do this, even though we want to. Our state is using our kids as a shield to get what they want.
karen schroeder says
Advocates for Academic Freedom will help Deb McCormick and other citizens who would like parental rights legislation passed in their state. We also help turn states into local control states.
Deb McCormick says
Thank you Karen.
Stanley Smithers says
So let them retain all those kids who opt out. It will through a monkey wrench into every single elementary school in the state, thus incurring parental wrath! They will then have their pants sued off, and they won’t stand a chance of being reelected. Then they will drop the stupid requirement.
FedupinAL says
Deb, just because that’s the policy doesn’t mean they have the guts to enforce it. I’d tell them they’d better make sure their ducks are in a row first–that every single child in NC who has ever passed a grade did so based on firm academic standing and not because they just didn’t want to hold them back. I’ve seen plentry of kids who have been passed on to higher grades just to pass the buck–kids who are in high school and can’t read!
Lori says
I was told that if i opted my daughter out of the common core that she will not be able to go to school in 2014-2015. I was told that she will have to be transferred to a private school. Can I fight this?
Shane Vander Hart says
It would be difficult to opt-out of the standards themselves. So yes you would probably have to do private school or homeschool to avoid them. Now opting out of assessments, that’s a different matter. You should be able to opt-out of assessments.