Save All Schools from Common Core

Support GA SB 167  Feb 28

Georgia Senate Bill 167 is a bill that needs a "rally at the State Capitol."  If you are familiar with Race to the Top and the Common Core Standards for K-12, then you know the potential impact on Christian schools and home schools. SB 167 will void the adoption of this curricula, and prohibit state education agencies from entering into any commitments relating to the federal Race to the Top program.

The full Senate Education and Youth Committee will consider the bill on Thursday, Feb. 28 in the afternoon (1:00 or 2:00 p.m.). It is not necessary to have people to speak at the  Committee meeting, but it is important to show a large group of supporters. There may be a Press Conference in the morning where it would be good to have a crowd of supporters, too.

There are Talking Points to help you understand this issue. I included links below for further information, including the impact on private and home schools. This website has much information: stopcommoncore.com . Also attached is a list of the Senators on the Committee that is meeting on Thursday. If your school, or school families, are in any of their districts, please contact them. Of course, feel free to contact any and all of them.

Here are the links:

Affect of Common Core on Private school/home school

Legislator wants state to back out of Common Core curriculum (newspaper article about SB 167)

Common Core K-12 hits home (affect on home school)

MEMBERS of SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Sen. Lindsey Tippins   Chairman   404-657-0406   lindsey.tippins@senate.ga.gov 

John Wilkinson   404-463-5257   john.wilkinson@senate.ga.gov 

Freddie Powell Sims  404-463-5259 freddie.sims@senate.ga.gov 

Dean Burke   404-656-0040   Dean.Burke@senate.ga.gov 

Vincent Fort   404-656-5091   vincent.fort@senate.ga.gov 

Chuck Hufstetler   404-656-0034     chuck.hufstetler@senate.ga.gov 

Donzella James   404-463-1379   donzella.james@senate.ga.gov 

Fran Millar   404-463-2260   Donna.Nealey@senate.ga.gov 

Butch Miller  404-656-6578  Caroline.Howard@senate.ga.gov 

Jesse Stone   404-463-1314   jesse.stone@senate.ga.gov 

Horacena Tate   404-463-8053   horacena.tate@senate.ga.gov 

General Talking Points

Common Core Standards Talking Points

• We reject nationalized standards and centralized educational control across the nation.

• We will not surrender our constitutional right to control Georgia's educational standards and curriculum to Washington, D.C. bureaucrats and corporations masquerading as non-profits.

• We demand world-class, state-directed standards through a transparent, democratic process. We do not have to settle for a "one-size fits all" Common Core developed behind closed doors.

• Collection of personal data on our students from pre-school, through college, and into the workforce for government planning and research is an invasion of our privacy and our constitutional rights.

• The computer-generated testing of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) will become a straightjacket for classroom instruction. Even students in charter schools will have to take the PARCC tests. This means that charter schools, like traditional schools, will have to teach the CCSS-aligned curriculum.

• We require legislative accountability and up-front cost analysis of all federal grant programs which push unfunded mandates down to state and local systems.   

Objections Based on Constitutional/Federalist/Legal Considerations

• The U.S. Department of Education coerced states into adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) by tying their adoption to a chance to compete for Race to the Top grants.

• As explained by Robert Eitel and Kent Talbert, former deputy general counsel and general counsel, respectively, of USED, the point of standards is to drive curriculum; therefore, through CCSS, the federal government is violating these three statutes: the General Education Provisions Act, the Department of Education Organization Act, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. These statutes prohibit the U.S. Department of Education (USED) from directing, supervising, or controlling school curriculum.

• Because PARCC admits that it is using some of this federal funding to develop "curriculum frameworks," USED support of PARCC also violates the three federal statutes.

• In some smaller Georgia school districts, lack of funds for purchasing new textbooks means that teachers are directly teaching the CCSS - as one South Georgia superintendent said, "The standards are the curriculum."   

Objections Based on Loss of State Control Over Standards

• Georgia and other states were required to adopt CCSS word for word - they may not change or delete anything, and may add only a small amount of content (which will not be included on the PARCC assessments and therefore probably will not be taught in the classroom).

• There is no defined system for governance of CCSS in the future - CCSS is owned and copyrighted by NGA and CCSSO, so those trade associations can determine how much - or how little - input states will have into future revisions. How can parents, teachers, citizens, or even legislators have input into this undemocratic, unaccountable process ?  

Objections Based on Cost

• No cost study was done before Georgia adopted CCSS.

• Georgia's Race to the Top grant totaled $400 million over four years - much less than the cost of CCSS implementation and testing. Unfunded mandates and long-term maintenance will cost Georgia taxpayers far more than the grant money received. Georgia's taxpayers already pay  $13 billion in state and local taxes for K-12 education every year.  A mere $400 million federal grant, over four-years, should not usurp state and local control.

Source: Georgia Home Education Association Ken Patterson