Local legislators
are voting for weaker student tests by Mary Kay Bacallao
If you think Fayette County students should graduate with
the ability to read, write, and do math, then you will want to know that Representatives
Matt Ramsey (R–Peachtree City) and John Yates (R–Griffin) both voted to
completely eliminate the High School Graduation Test when they voted for House
Bill 91.
In HB 91, there are four possible ways schools are held
accountable. Schools are able to pick one of the following: SAT or ACT
performance, End of Course or End of Grade Assessments, Advanced Placement or
International Baccalaureate participation and performance, or high school
graduation rates.
If you have been fighting against the Common Core
corporate/federal takeover of local schools, this is all part of that larger
battle. The High School Graduation Test is the only non-Common Core affiliated
measure that we have left.
If we eliminate that test, there will be no way of
knowing if our students will graduate with basic reading, writing, science,
social studies and math abilities.
How do these accountability measures relate to Common
Core implementation?
The Advanced Placement program is owned and controlled by
the College Board, a private company. They have re-written the U.S. History
course to reflect anti-American propaganda. Nothing we do or say here in
Georgia is going to change that.
What about the International Baccalaureate Program (IB)?
They are part of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organization. Fees for IB are paid to UNESCO. These courses have the same
anti-American style curriculum found in the re-written AP framework. Nothing
that we do or say here in Georgia will change that. Why didn’t we eliminate
number 4 as a measure of accountability?
The End of Grade and End of Course assessments are owned
and controlled by the organizations that copyrighted Common Core. With this new
system, we cannot be assured that students will graduate with basic skills in
reading, writing, or math because there will be different pathways for college
or career and different assessments at the end of each course. Georgia citizens
and local school representatives will have no say in what is assessed.
What about the SAT or the ACT? David Coleman, the man who
brought us Common Core, is now leading the College Board, the owners of the AP
program and the SAT testing program. He has announced that he will be aligning
the SAT with the Common Core.
What about high school graduation rates? When the high
school graduation test is eliminated, high school graduation rates will
increase. Why? The test to ensure that high school graduates can read and write
will be eliminated. It will be easier to track lower level learners into workforce
tracks.
When you look at what the Georgia Senate passed in SB 2,
there won’t even be a need for academics beyond 10th grade for certain
students. When you put HB 91 and SB 2 together, you have the bigger picture.
The separate writing assessments are also eliminated.
There will not be “writing assessments.” Writing will be assessed, but in the
new Georgia Milestones test, it will be part of other assessments. A separate
score for writing will not be available because it will be considered part of all
other subjects including English/Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social
Studies.
In HB 91, there is also a change to nationally
norm-referenced instruments. The Georgia Milestones test that was purchased
from McGraw-Hill, the private company that owns the copyright on the Common
Core standards, has a nationally norm referenced component. This component
would also satisfy the state requirement for homeschool students to take a
nationally norm referenced test. The GMAS is a Common Core aligned test.
According to HB 91, special education students will not
be able to have an alternate assessment. They will have to take the
grade-level-based GMAS test. The education team will not be able to choose
appropriate assessments. They may select accommodations. Many students with
disabilities will have the test read to them by the computer as an
accommodation. If this is the case, the teachers will not have to teach these
students how to read.
The bill also removes the provision for waivers that
would allow local boards of education to administer higher level tests.
The removal of the high school graduation test is
retroactive. This will permit former students to graduate and attend college
without the need for a GED or a passing score on the Georgia High School Graduation
test.
HB 91 mirrors what is happening at the federal level with
the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Assessments
and placements are made in grades 3, 5, and 8. These will determine if a
student is tracked into an academic track or a workforce track. They are not
offered at the high school level, because once a student reaches high school,
the decisions will already be made.
HB 91 promotes and strengthens Common Core in Georgia. It
removes the only non-Common Core test we have left, the High School Graduation
Test. It supports private organizations such as the anti-American AP and IB
programs. It requires Common Core based End of Course tests. It allows students
to graduate from high school and be eligible for college without passing the
High School Graduation Test or the GED. If HB 91 passes in the Georgia Senate,
ALL the accountability measures will be based on Common Core.
When we look at the federal reauthorization of ESEA, we
can see that Georgia’s own Johnny Isakson was one of the sponsors of the first
version, S. 1101 put out in 2013. Notice the use of the word OR in college OR
career.
The 2015 version ties Common Core implementation to Title
1 funding, so it must be stopped. We will update you with more information on additional
bills.
For now, contact your state senators and representatives.
Ask that they vote against HB 91 when it is brought up in the state Senate and
against SB 2 when it comes up in the state House. Contact your U.S.
representatives and senators, and ask them to vote against the reauthorization
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
[Mary Kay Bacallao was a member of the Fayette County
Board of Education and was a Republican candidate for state school
superintendent.]
http://thecitizen.com/articles/02-24-2015/local-legislators-are-voting-weaker-student-tests
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