Common Core ACTION ITEMS: Please do this TODAY and ask 2 others to do the same!! Yesterday the Ohio House Rules and Reference Committee voted to move HB 597 (Common Core Repeal) out of Committee. This was done largely because of pressure from average, everyday people like you. This is an amazing FIRST STEP. Here is what we need to do now: 1. Call or e mail Speaker Batchelder at: (614) 466-8140 [email protected] Here is a sample e mail: Speaker Batchelder, Thank you for your support of the repeal and replacement of Common Core. Your leadership on this effort has shown us that you understand the importance of education and stand with parents and kids in Ohio. I am contacting you to ask you move Sub House Bill 597 to a vote on the floor of the Ohio House It is important that the Common Core repeal effort moves forward. Thank you for your support. Respectfully, YOUR NAME CITY 2. Contact State Representatives. You can get e mail addresses here: ohiohouse.gov/ A sample e mail is below: State Representative, I am contacting you to ask for your support of Sub. House Bill 597, the repeal and replacement of Common Core in Ohio. The vote of the bill out of the Rules and Reference Committee is very encouraging. Common Core is a very important issue to me and my family. The following are reasons why I think you should support House Bill 597 and its replacement of Common Core with the Massachusetts standards first, then the writing of our own Ohio Standards. We have a better alternative to Common Core with the 2009 Massachusetts standards. The Massachusetts standards are a beautiful product, tested and proven successful. Some people have asked, if they are so great why did Massachusetts get rid of them. The reason was money and access. In 2009, when Common Core was in the initial stages of adoption, the Governor of Massachusetts was Deval Patrick a close personal friend to President Obama. The state was promised millions of dollars in Race to the Top money for moving to the Common Core Standards. The state did not ditch the standards because of their quality, they changed because of money. The Massachusetts standards are still one of the best standards in the world. Ohio could become the education leader in the nation. Common Core are not higher quality standards for English Language Arts. Ohio could do better. Here are five examples from the English Language Arts Common Core standards that make them questionable. (1) Common Core’s ELA standards are NOT rigorous or internationally benchmarked and will not make our students competitive. (2) There is NO research to support Common Core’s stress on writing instead of reading. (3) Writing standards are developmentally inappropriate; little kids have no concept of validation or evidence. (4) There is NO research to support Common Core’s stress on informational reading instead of literary study in the English class. (5) There is NO research to support the value of “cold” reading of historical documents, a bizarre pedagogy promoted by the chief architect of Common Core’s ELA standards. Common Core is not internationally benchmarked, not rigorous and not research based. There has been a lot of talk about Common Core helping us to move ahead in the world on tests. The only problem is the standards have not been internationally benchmarked to any country in the world. Dr. James Milgram, Stanford Professor and only mathematician on the Common Core Validating Committee said, “While the difference between these standards and those of the top states at the end of eighth grade is perhaps somewhat more than one year, the difference is more like two years when compared to the expectations of the high-achieving countries — particularly most of the nations of East Asia.” Dr. Milgram refused to sign off on the Common Core Standards on the validation committee due to their lack of quality. It takes away from local and Ohio control. If I had a problem with the Ohio Standards I knew who to call. I would call my State Senator. I would call you. I knew that there were elected representatives looking out for me and my kid’s education. Now with Common Core who do I call with a question…. If I have an issue, do I have to go to the other 46 states that have signed on and ask them to change it. How will that be possible? Ohio will have no voice. We have given away the right to make Ohio an education leader in the nation. These are three very big reasons why I think Ohio can do better than Common Core. I hope we will get your support in the repeal effort for Common Core with Sub House Bill 597. I look forward to your vote. Respectfully, Concerned Citizen… Great Town, Ohio…. The Ohio House of Representatives ohiohouse.gov
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 14:40:20 +0000