The Parent Up-Rising Has Begun!!! Below is an excellent letter- maybe the best to date for total understanding of Common Core and its effects- from a Huntsville father who has three children in the Huntsville City Schools. This was printed on Al on Feb. 7th. ARE YOU LISTENING ALABAMA REPUBLICANS?? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Time to push back against the Common Core Standards By Ben Gibbons By AL AL on February 07, 2014 at 2:33 PM, updated February 07, 2014 at 2:45 PM Perhaps no issue has garnered more attention or been the source of more misinformation than Alabamas College and Career Readiness Standards. So says William J. Canary of the Business Council of Alabama in a recent Huntsville Times op-ed piece. Its hard to argue with that. Take this whopper, for instance: [The standards] were developed by Alabamians for Alabamians using a comprehensive and transparent process. That statement, naturally, is from the same column, and you would be hard pressed to find a true word anywhere in it. As even the AL State Board of Education would acknowledge, 95 percent of Alabamas [College and Career Readiness] standards are a verbatim regurgitation of the national Common Core standards. And the transparent process Canary describes involved the State School Board approving said standards without meaningful public input. Bricks are more transparent. But if taking such liberties with the truth is what is required to sell the citizenry on Common Core, proponents are fine with that. Empty talking points are useful, too. The public is repeatedly assured that the new standards are higher, tougher, and more rigorous, even though such terms are of dubious descriptive value in this context. In fact, there is very little about Common Core that stands up under scrutiny. Common Cores lead architect has publicly admitted that his team was not qualified for the job, and it shows. The standards for early childhood grades, for instance, are wildly at odds with what educators and child psychologists know is developmentally appropriate for young children, setting the stage for undue stress and suppressed creativity. In math, rather than teaching students to competently and confidently solve arithmetic problems using the classic algorithms, Common Core mandates an avant-garde approach in which children are taught a confusing amalgam of solution strategies, most of which are utterly worthless in the real world. As a result, your grandmother will likely be faster and more competent at simple arithmetic than your kids. Curriculum experts have complained that in high school literature, the reading of complete works is de-emphasized in favor of a hodgepodge of excerpts and commentaries. These rigorous new standards could produce high school graduates who are utterly incapable of having an intelligent discussion about even one classic book. Todays voluntary Common Core standards will, if not rejected by the states, morph into tomorrows mandatory federal standards. Common Core proponents tend to respond dismissively to such complaints, arguing that people should go read the standards and find where these kinds of approaches are explicitly mandated. But good luck to most lay readers who attempt this task. Teasing out all the real-world implications of the standards from the tedious education jargon can be challenging even for professional educators. The serious problems identified with Common Core are too numerous to list here, but they are legion. Dr. Sandra Stotsky, the only curriculum development specialist on the Common Core validation committee - a fact which by itself is telling - was so distressed by what she saw that she refused to sign-off on the standards and resigned her position. Since then, she has tirelessly fought to raise public awareness regarding Common Cores shortcomings. The reductive view of education that Common Core represents is the culmination of a standards-driven reform fad which posits that almost anything worth learning can be measured on standardized tests. Schools, according to this model, can be managed like little factories, using quality-control measures to pump out mass-produced scholars like so many widgets. In the case of Common Core, this flawed approach is made more difficult by the fact that the standards embrace so many of the dumbed-down educational philosophies that have so harmed American schools in the first place. Even if one accepts the dubious proposition that the Common Core standards are good, there is little reason to believe students will benefit from them. A comprehensive 2012 study by the Brookings Institution found that the quality of standards has no impact on educational outcomes. Those arguing that Common Core will somehow dramatically improve Alabama schools are selling snake oil. As awareness and understanding of Common Core increases, opposition among parents and teachers is swelling. Alabama is just one of a growing number of states -twenty-one at last count - where there are serious ongoing efforts to roll back Common Core. As even National Public Radio recently reported, this nationwide push is coming from conservatives and liberals alike, in both red and blue states. In the end, the Common Core debate is really about who controls our schools. Proponents have denied any federal involvement in the standards, but that claim is difficult to square with the Department of Educations strong encouragement of their creation, arm-twisting of the states to adopt them, and funding the development of the forthcoming Core-aligned standardized tests. It wasnt for nothing that President Obama last year thanked the Business Roundtable because the group worked with us on issues like creating a common core. Todays voluntary Common Core standards will, if not rejected by the states, morph into tomorrows mandatory federal standards. Those who assure us that Alabama would never tolerate such a usurpation of our state sovereignty are whistling past the proverbial graveyard. When Washington eventually links receipt of federal education dollars to acceptance of a national core curriculum, we will have no choice but to acquiesce. The time to push back is now. Ben Gibbons is a Huntsville resident and father of three children in Huntsville City Schools. *************************** Parents/Grandparents! The Common Core Reading List is far too long to post on our website. I can, however, send one by email if you request it. The list is on a .pdf file and is 183 pages long. This is best read on your computer. Please send an email to [email protected] with Common Core Exemplars in the SUBJECT LINE of your email. Contact YOUR Washington, D.C. elected officials Governor Bentley, your Alabama Senator and ALHouse Representative openstates.org/al/ I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. ~~Edward Everett Hale *************************************************** Join with CSC in the Fight to Save Our Republic! Common Sense Campaign Tea Party has only your donations to pay our expenses each month. 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Posted on: Sat, 08 Feb 2014 18:07:44 +0000
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