Their
OpEd reveals a naiveté about the meaning of the current presidential administration’s
description of Common Core as a revolution to help in the battle
for social justice, as well as the role of special interests which want to
exploit our children to make billions of dollars. The education of our children should not be
controlled by the Far Left which sees classrooms
as
laboratories for indoctrination at taxpayer expense, or by special interests
which see students as a source for profit.
Common
Core is just the latest but well-disguised ploy to federalize education and
take our Tenth Amendment rights. By
chaining our children to Common Core, the state board of education has
fundamentally changed our education system without the knowledge or consent of
legislators, parents,
and
taxpayers. The following is a rebuttal
to the OpEd by Board Members Hunter and Tracey.
The
Common Core State Standards Initiative does not strengthen but dumbs down
education standards
Math: Common Core math standards do not meet the
recommended content targets of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel, of
leading states, or international competitors.
As a result, students are not prepared for four-year colleges but for
two-year nonselective community colleges.
Dr. James Milgram of Sanford University, a mathematician, warns us that graduating
students will be two years behind other countries in math skills.
English
Language Arts: Education experts warn
that reading levels for seniors will be reduced to what is currently 7th
grade. Authors of “Why
the Common Core is Bad for America” write: The Common Core college readiness’
ELA standards can best be described as skill sets, not fully developed
standards. As such, they cannot point to
readiness for a high school diploma or four-year college coursework. The ELA
Common Core
Standards
will impair the preparation of students for competing in a global economy.”
Alabama
does not control its standards or its curriculum
Alabama
Standards: Hunter and Roberts want us to
believe that “Alabama Standards” are different from Common
Core standards. They are, in fact, one and
the same. Common Core is a
one-size-fits-all for all states, all schools, and all students. Alabama must adopt 100% of Common Core
standards,
cannot change or delete anything, and may allow only a small amount of
additional content, which won’t be covered on national
tests. All one has to do to understand
how specific Alabama Standards” consist of a mere 2.5% in
English Language Arts and 14% in Math, and all the rest is
Common
Core, is to link to Alabama standards at
https://docs.alsde.edu/documents/54/1%202010%20Alabama%20English%20Language%20Arts%20Course%20of%20Study.pdf and 2010 Alabama Mathematics
Course of
Study.pdf.
Alabama
Curriculum: Alabama’s
curriculum is controlled by Common Core standards. This is abundantly clear when you read the
legal documents and implementation plan.
Curricula, assessments, everything, must be aligned to Common Core.
Common
Core does not offer more rigor” Education experts have
dispelled the notion that Common Core has more rigor. Some of us joke that Common Core is rigor
mortis. It stifles
innovation,
creativity, and flexibility.
The
federal government requires the state to collect non-academic information on
students and to track them from preschool to retirement
The
federal government by law is not allowed to maintain a national database on
students, so the U.S. Department of Education requires states to collect information
to be used by federal agencies and private organizations. Recently, Ms. Hunter
stated that the Federal Privacy and Family Protection
Act
prevents highly personal information from being collected and shared. Apparently
she’s
unaware that President Obama expanded the interpretation of this law, effective
January 3, 2012, and weakened student protections. The bill to repeal Common Core restores
privacy protection for Alabama students.
The
Common Core Initiative was not state-led
Common
Core standards were developed by special interest groups and led by vendors who
stand to make substantial profits off our children. The bulk of the work was done by Achieve,
Inc., a D.C.-based nonprofit, associated with
the
Far Left education reformers such as Bill Ayers, Marc Tucker and Linda Darling-Hammond,
who have advocated for federalized education for decades. These efforts have
been repeatedly and resoundingly rejected by the public and Congress.
This
time is different because the creators of Common Core found a cover to
end-run Congress and develop standards outside the public meetings act. This
cover was the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief
State School Officers (CSSO), two trade associations, which have no
legislative
authority to act on behalf of states.
Massive funding came from private interests such as the Gates
Foundation. Bill Gates expects to spend about
$380 million to get states to adopt Common Core. He will make billions off this
investment.
Special
interests, in concert with the Obama Administration, rushed states to adopt
Common Core before the public could catch on, rise, and resist. Informed
elected officials should not be complicit in these lawless actions that invade
student privacy, take away parental control and states rights, and will cost
Alabama taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Only Gov. Bentley, Stephanie Bell and Betty
Peters voted to withdraw from Common Core. Now it’s up to
the Alabama legislature to protect our children’s privacy
and preserve our education freedom under the Tenth Amendment.
According
to a 2002 Alabama Supreme Court decision, “The Alabama Constitution
vests the duty to provide for public education squarely upon the shoulders of
the Legislature.” (Ex-parte James, 836
S. 3d. 813 at 85). The Alabama Legislature has repeatedly instructed the state
board of education in matters dealing with standards and curricula. Legislators are now our last line of defense,
and it is their duty to protect our children and their future, as well as
Alabama values and states rights. They
have an opportunity to prove that checks and balances work in Alabama, though
not in Washington, D.C. The Legislature
must repeal Common Core this year. Next year
will be too late! A Republican
super-majority should assure a rapid repeal.
Source:
Alabamians United for Excellence in Education, COMMON CORE: A Cookie-Cutter, One-Size-Fits All Education
Standards by Sharon Sewell Director, Alabamians United for Excellence in
Education (http://www.auee.org <http://www.auee.org/>
)
Comments:
Common Core is the next Trojan Horse gift from the U.S.
Department of Education with more local cost and less bribe money. If we support GA SB 167 we can do better
ourselves.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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