common core controversy...two assignments...excerpt: “It’s fascinating to me that some of the pushback is coming from, sort of, white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were, and that’s pretty scary,” Duncan [Arne Duncan is Secretary of Education] told a gathering of school superintendents Friday, according to The Washington Post. “You’ve bet your house and where you live and everything on, ‘My child’s going to be prepared.’ That can be a punch in the gut.” first example: In September, angry parent Brittney Badeaux, of Vermilion Parish, La., alerted FOX News about a Common Core-approved homework assignment her fourth-grader brought home. The assignment taught her 9-year-old the words “Po Pimp” and “mobstaz” while providing the youngster a bit of hip hop history. The offending assignment read: “Carl Terrell Mitchell, better known by his stage name Twista, was born in 1972. Nineteen years later Mitchell’s first album, ‘Runnin’ Off at da Mouth,’ debuted. In 1997, after appearing on Do or Die’s hit ‘Po Pimp,’ Twista was signed to Atlantic Records. Under that label he released ‘Adrenaline Rush’ and formed the group Speedknot Mobstaz in 1998. His 2004 album Kamikaze went to number-one on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart.” “I try to instill values in my son,” Badeaux told FOX’s Todd Starnes. “My goal is for him ultimately to become a great man, a family man, a well-rounded man. And now my son wants to know what a pimp is.” second example: Digital Journal reported on another questionable Common Core assignment being used in an Arkansas school district. A sixth-grader in the State’s Bryant School District took home a homework assignment that instructed her to imagine she was part of a special committee put together by the government to update the “outdated” Bill of Rights. Students are then instructed to “prioritize, prune and add amendments” to come up with a Revised Bill of Rights. The assignment required students to select two Amendments to throw out, add two new ones and put together persuasive speeches to market the idea. The child’s parent Lela Spears told Digital Journal that her daughter had no previous government or civics classes prior to being instructed to reform the Bill of Rights. “After she brought it home and explained her assignment to me, it made me question exactly what she was being taught. Where I can see a class using critical thinking skills to modernize the words, as to help them better understand the Amendments, giving an assignment to remove two then add two with little explanation as to why is upsetting,” Spears told Digital Journal in an interview. “When I asked my child what the assignment was to teach her she had no idea. Only that she was TOLD to do it. She didn’t even understand what the Amendments meant. How can she make an informed decision when she doesn’t understand what she is ‘throwing out?’ That was new to me. I also did not like the fact her teacher used, ‘you have been selected to help a special committee’ bullshit.”
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 20:00:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015