Grassroots Groups Disagree With How Alabama Policy Institute Characterizes Their Concerns About Common Core August 19, 2013 Tuscaloosa, AL: The Alabama Policy Institute has broadly distributed a white paper that it purports to represent concerns regarding Common Core. Upon receipt of this document, grassroots groups quickly pointed out what they say are significant omissions. Elois Zeanah, President of the Alabama Federation of Republican Women, listed 18 points that she said are important to opponents to Common Core but were omitted in the API report. These include: The extent of the federal involvement in Common Core, How Common Core is unconstitutional and violates three federal laws, How Common Core was written by non-educators in secret and rushed to implementation before public was aware and could react favorably or unfavorably, How Common Core is not research-based nor internationally benchmarked, How English and Math members of the Common Core Validation Committee refused to sign off on Common Core because of deficiencies in standards, That English and Math experts warn that Common Core will put American students two years behind students in high-standard countries and increase college remedial rates, How the federal government lured states to expand its data tracking systems to include highly personal and non-academic information on students to get millions of dollars in “stimulus funds”, how these databases can be shared with federal agencies, private entities and even sold to vendors without the knowledge or permission of parents, and how information cannot be purged on students but will follow them through college and careers, How Common Core usurps parental control and states rights to decide what our children learn in classrooms, That Common Core is copyright by two lobbying groups in Washington, D.C., That teachers are trained to undergo a “mind shift” to become facilitators instead of teachers, and that teachers will be rewarded/punished on how well they teach to the test, The teaching of classical literature will be reduced substantially yet its value in enabling critical thinking is well established, That Common Core changes the focus of traditional education from teaching students how to be future citizen-leaders and productive citizens of a self-governing Republic, to training students for a planned economy, That the Alabama Constitution puts the burden of public education on the shoulders of the Legislature, which is tasked with oversight of the department of education, and to protect the Tenth Amendment, How Alabama’s Plan 2020 uses race-based standards to implement Common Core, How 500 Early Childhood Education Specialists objected to the standards because they are developmentally inappropriate, That approximately $60 million has been siphoned from Alabama’s most successful Reading and Math Initiatives (which had made Alabama #1 in reading gains in the nation for 4th through 8th grades, and #2 in math gains in the nation) to pay to implement Common Core, which is untested and experimental, That the majority of the Alabama State Board of Education adopted Common Core without a cost-impact analysis, in a time of severe budget crisis, That the fallout from Common Core in Alabama to date includes the State Superintendent’s proposal to create an Office of Non-Public Schools to oversee home and church schools and to impose onerous fees and regulations. Zeanah said the comments by API are being critiqued item-by-item in a separate report and will be available shortly. “Importantly,” she stated, “the API report does acknowledges that the Legislature may ‘direct the State Board of Education to repeal Common Core standards and set new [and superior] education standards in their place.’” THIS STATEMENT IS SIGNED BY: Sharon Sewell, Director, Alabamians United for Excellence in Education intrepidlyjoyful@hotmail; 334-324-0035 Eunie Smith, President, Eagle Forum of Alabama [email protected]; 205/879-7096 Elois Zeanah, President, Alabama Federation of Republican Women eloisz@hotmail; 205/247-5389 Becky Gerritson, President, Wetumpka Tea Party becky@wetumpkateaparty; A(334) 452-0453 Bash Agricola, President, Montgomery Tea Party [email protected]; 334/220-9901 Marcia Chambliss, Alabama State Coordinator, Smart Girl Politics marcia@sgpaction; 334/562-3999 Julie Sanders, The Citizens’ Voice 334-271-0331
Posted on: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 18:11:57 +0000
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