All posts by Oak Norton

Concerns

“If they write what they think…they will fail the test”

3 Comments

Someone forwarded me this stunning story about an Arizona teacher who “participated” in the creation of Common Core tests.

http://www.theblaze.com/blog/2014/05/22/a-scathing-interview-with-a-5th-grade-teacher-who-was-in-the-room-when-common-core-was-being-created/

Here’s a snippet:

“A year ago (3/2013), the AZ Dept of Ed asked me to go to Chicago for a week to work on evaluating the writing/reading rubrics for the Common Core/PARCC test. I didn’t have an opinion on Common Core either way. I was curious and I wanted to see what the standards would look like in test form and how that might inform my classroom teaching, so I went. Most teachers were waiting for the Common Core test to come out for the same reason.

Teachers in AZ have a great deal of input into the state test. Teachers create the test and we had the ability to change or tweak test questions if we detected a bias or if we thought the questions or reading passages weren’t truly assessing our students’ learning.

Working on the CCore test was a very different experience and had 50 more shades of bureaucracy. My Common Core handlers weren’t interested in my questions about where the standards came from, who wrote them, who wrote the test questions, etc. If they did attempt an answer they usually parroted the phrase “Teachers were involved.” Something didn’t feel right.

My turning point came when in answer to questions I had about a student writing sample, my Common Core handler blurted out, “We don’t ever care what the kids’ opinions are. If they write what they think or put forth their opinion then they will fail the test.”

I have always taught my students to think for themselves. They are to study multiple views on a given topic, then take their own position and support it with evidence. “That is the old way of writing,” my Common Core handler sighed. “We want students to repeat the opinions of the ‘experts’ that we expose them to on the test. This is the ‘new’ way of writing with the Common Core.”

I discovered later that this was not just some irritated, rogue Common Core handler, rather this was a philosophy I heard repeated again and again. I pointed out that this was not the way that teachers teach in the classroom. She retorted that, “We expect that when the test comes out the teachers in the classroom will imitate the skills emphasized on the test (teach to the test) and employ this new way of writing and thinking.” This was a complete kick in the stomach moment for me.

After that I started to do research on the Common Core and read everything I could get my hands on for the year or so. The more I read the more disgusted I became about the Common Core and the governors who brought it into our lives.

I went back to Chicago again in November 2013 to review reading/writing questions for the Common Core/PARCC test. Again, I wanted to see the test questions and I also wanted to experience the Common Core with all the new knowledge I’d gained. After a week of work I was convinced of the correctness of my feelings and my research about the Common Core. During this visit I worked with Pearson and ETS on the questions they created for the test. Again we were just window dressing so that they could check the box that “teachers were involved.”

Concerns

Letter to State Board Members on New Math Standards

5 Comments

To write the state board, send an email to: board@schools.utah.gov

Dear State School Board members,

I have reviewed the presentation the USOE has prepared for the math committee members on Thursday night (http://schools.utah.gov/board/Meetings/Agenda/docs/Tab11.aspx). I have a conflict and cannot come to make a public comment so I am emailing you my comments.

I see you are also discussing the search for a new state superintendent. I have honestly appreciated Superintendent Menlove’s outreach, particularly these last few months. He truly made an effort to be a good listener to concerns and also helped resolve them, particularly as families around the state had difficulty opting their children out of SAGE tests. That said, I believe it is time to hire from outside the education circles of Utah. There are people within the power structure that must be fired. It is very difficult for friends to fire friends. Political games are played to ensure their jobs. Hiring from out of state would allow someone to come in and clean house and give the USOE the course correction they need. Someone experienced with a top notch education system elsewhere would be an ideal candidate.

It is obvious from the USOE presentation to you just how biased they are toward maintaining CCSS in Utah. During the last legislative session they succeeded in getting a $2 million fiscal note attached to Rep. Layton’s bill to replace Common Core, so I am happy to see they have dramatically lowered that figure for your presentation. Replacing standards is not nearly as expensive as they want to make it look. In fact, I know they were telling people that adopting Common Core was free, while doing anything else was expensive. Common Core was not free, it was quite expensive, but since Bill Gates funded its multi-million dollar creation and we only had to spend some millions of dollars in Utah to implement it, I guess we can play the game that it was free.

There happen to be free or extremely low cost solutions that are far superior to Common Core.

In math, we could adopt California, Indiana, or Massachusetts’ pre-Common Core math standards which Fordham identified as clearly superior to CCSS. The wonderful thing here is solid textbooks were completely aligned for CA due to its population size, and assessments would most likely be available with a 100% match to those standards.

In English, we have the Massachusetts revision to their excellent ELA standards, which never got implemented due to MA adopting CCSS. We also have another set of “English Success Standards” written by teachers which is free and could be adopted for free. We also have a standing offer from Dr. Sandra Stotsky, one of the MA authors, to come to Utah for the cost of lodging and incidentals, and work with Utah teachers to create our own top of the nation ELA standards.

I was heavily involved in getting Utah the 2007 standards. In 2009, before the 2007 standards had even been fully implemented in the state, the USOE signed onto an agreement to develop CC. This caused a number of districts to slow or stop their roll out of the 2007 standards because they knew something else was coming. By 2010, CCSS was released and adopted so many districts never even fully rolled out the 2007 standards because of the speed with which they were replaced. For the USOE to say that only 44% of students on the 2007 standards would achieve the 66% college goal of the governor is a wild falsehood and a scare tactic. They have no idea. For them to say CCSS will achieve this goal is also a wild stab in the dark since these standards are an experiment that just begun. Fordham actually said our 2007 standards were clearer and stronger than CCSS. Further, the 2007 standards would have been even stronger if the USOE had not wholesale rejected the recommendations of Dr. Wu, the external reviewer from Berkeley, for those standards. Their disgust at having to replace our D rated prior standards showed through the process and we wound up with A- rated standards instead of what would have probably been A rated standards. What we had was superior to Common Core and what we would have gotten would have put us in line with states like CA, IN, and MA.

Further, it is a bald faced lie that CCSS were internationally benchmarked. That has been completely disproven. They are not “world class” standards. The only professional mathematician on the Common Core validation committee, who also writes standards and reviews international standards, refused to sign off on CCSS precisely for this reason that CCSS leaves us 2 years behind international competitors. CCSS is already damaging our children by pushing them too hard in early grades and too slow in upper, particularly due to the awful implementation of the integrated method by the USOE in order that they could push their constructivist agenda into schools with the awful MVP program. Our 2007 standards were supposed to have been internationally benchmarked against Singapore and Japan. Nicole Paulson at the USOE told the committee this would take place, but to my knowledge she never did it.

Utah must have a complete break from anything tied to the federal government. CCSS, regardless of who you think actually created it, has clearly been hijacked by the federal government in an effort to consolidate the powers of education and control the system. The best decision, I believe, is to grant control of standards to the LEAs and shatter the ability for the feds or even the state to affect truly local control. Lets set up the laboratories within the state. There are no parents in this state who are going to want less than a wonderful education experience for their children. We always talk about increasing parental involvement. This would maximize it from the standards perspective. If you’re not willing to do this, then I would strongly recommend adopting the excellent standards of California for which there are textbooks and a large test bank that could be accessed.

The USOE slide of supporters contains a practical who’s who of constructivist, Investigations math loving people, as well as others who are financially benefiting from the USOE. Of course they are going to support them in CCSS!

I wish there was time and space to comment on many other slides in their presentation, but it’s obvious they are biased on their perspective, and it’s obvious that there is a strong growing concern about the direction they are taking Utah. Nothing impacts someone like having their child who once loved math now hate it. It only hits home when it affects you, as several legislators have now had happen to them.

Please get Utah off anything close to CCSS and its one-size-fits-all “solution.” LEA’s controlling their own standards can innovate and do things they otherwise couldn’t do.

Sincerely,

Oak Norton

Concerns

AP History Gutted by College Board

11 Comments

David Coleman, architect of Common Core and president of the College Board which oversees AP tests, SAT, ACT, and CLEP tests, has produced a new AP U.S. History framework that guts the Founding Father’s role in our country. George Washington gets one mention. Benjamin Franklin and James Madison, NONE. Declaration of Independence, one mention in a clause of one sentence. Instead of a 5-page outline for teachers about the topics the test will cover, it’s now a 98-page document that dictates how teachers should teach.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/05/28/The-College-Boards-Attack-on-American-History

“At a conference recently held in Atlanta, Lawrence Charap, head of the College Board’s History and Social Sciences Content Development Group, told high school teachers that the new AP U.S. History course and exam will eliminate the unnecessary memorization of irrelevant facts and replace actual knowledge with ‘historical thinking skills.’”

Everything done under Common Core is done under the banner of improving thinking skills. Every day we see more of this garbage coming out. I think it’s time Utah moved for greater separation from not only Common Core, but perhaps the College Board as well.

Utah already has a concurrent enrollment system where students can get credit in high school through their classes. This needs to be greatly expanded in order to preserve some state control over the content of coursework. It’s completely apparent that David Coleman and the College Board (and his creation Common Core) are not interested in teaching truth, but pushing an agenda. Please write your state school board member and legislators and ask them to read this article, and consider what Utah can do to step away from AP History in favor of a rich history curriculum founded in truth and providing college credit to high schoolers. Utah needs its own solution to this problem.

 

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Addendum:

Here is further analysis of the new AP History curriculum by the Heritage Foundation, pointing out how “unbalanced and biased” it is, unit by unit.

http://heartland.org/policy-documents/analysis-college-board-ap-us-history-framework

Concerns

Student experiences extreme psychological SAGE testing

29 Comments

Don’t miss this interview with a 13-year old in Southern Utah who took the SAGE test and experienced extreme psychological testing conditions.  It’s not known how widespread these test conditions were for Utah students, but this is nothing more than a very disturbing experiment on our children. To opt your children out of SAGE tests, click here for an opt-out form.

[The video has been removed from the source]

 

Concerns

Are there really Common Core librarian standards?

8 Comments

Yup. Because if there’s one thing you want is a set of standards for librarians in how they deal with patrons! :) Sent in today by alert citizens, check this out.

Tiffany Hall at the USOE sent out this letter:

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Dear parents:

School librarians are an important part of a school community. They are licensed teachers who work with students to promote research and inquiry skills, media literacy, and reading engagement. Over the years, their responsibilities have evolved as resources and techniques have changed. These changes are reflected in the 2014 revision of the Utah Standards for Library Media.

Over the last year, these Standards have been revised by a committee of library media experts from Utah schools, communities, and universities. On Friday, May 9, the Utah State School Board reviewed and discussed the Utah Standards for Library Media (grades 6-12). They voted to allow the Standards to move forward to public comment. On Monday, May 19, the Standards were posted on the USOE website for all interested members of the public to comment after reading them.

Review, insight, and comments from all stakeholders in Utah—teacher librarians, teachers, administrators, and parents—are a critical part of this public comment session! Please read them and submit your feedback before August 17, 2014.

After the public comment session, all comments will be reviewed and incorporated as appropriate into the Standards. The final document will be presented to the Board for their review.

Click here to go to the revised Standards and the link to the public comment form.

Thank you!

Tiffany Hall

K-12 Literacy Coordinator/Library Media

Utah State Office of Education

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The parent who sent me this commented with this:

Please take a quick look at the new, USOE-approved Utah Standards for Library Media, and then comment on the USOE Web site before Aug 17, 2014. Here is one of the standards you might find interesting:

1.2.4. Maintain a critical stance by questioning the validity and accuracy of all information. [emphasis added]

To me, this exemplifies how Progressive education teaches children to doubt the existence of truth (moral relativism), while Classical education teaches children to confidently and logically pursue truth.

Always be polite when you leave comments. :)

Another parent pointed out that Gate’s funded Achieve published their CC implementation guide for librarians in Oct. 2013 and now we see Utah creating Common Core librarian standards. Utah certainly doesn’t act like its in the driver’s seat with anything related to Common Core. If “they” build it, Utah will follow. http://www.achieve.org/files/CCSSLibrariansBrief-FINAL.pdf

Now let me take this path on moral relativism on questioning the validity of ALL information. This is what educators call “critical thinking skills” and national educators define it as critically thinking about everything you’ve been taught…at home.

“…educators must resist the quest for certainty. If there were certainty there would be no scientific advancement. So it is with morals and patriotism.”
– John Goodlad / Education for Everyone: Agenda for Education in a Democracy, Woods Learning Center, pg. 6

“[schools] should liberate students from the ways of thinking imposed by religions and other traditions of thought.”
-John Goodlad, “Education and Community,” in Democracy, Education, and the Schools, Roger Stone, pg. 92.

“…a student attains ‘higher order thinking’ when he no longer believes in right or wrong. A large part of what we call good teaching is a teacher´s ability to obtain affective objectives by challenging the student’s fixed beliefs. …a large part of what we call teaching is that the teacher should be able to use education to reorganize a child’s thoughts, attitudes, and feelings.”
-Benjamin Bloom, psychologist and educational theorist, “Major Categories in the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives,” pg. 185

“Education should aim at destroying free will so that after pupils are thus schooled they will be incapable throughout the rest of their lives of thinking or acting otherwise than as their school masters would have wished …”
-Bertrand Russell, quoting Gottlieb Fichte the head of psychology that influenced Hegel and others.

Have they been successful in the public education system? Absolutely.

Research shows that 70% of children stop attending their church within 2 years of graduating from high school.

The Pew Institute also shows Millennials as turning away from their family’s faith.

We are in a culture war. Common Core is just a powerful piece on the chess board, but it’s not about Common Core. We have to go back to the root of the evil tree to see the anti-God, socialistic thinking that went into this plan to capture children. John Dewey is one of the heads of the hydra who is admired by educators. He said this:

“I believe that the school is primarily a social institution. Education being a social process, the school is simply that form of community life in which all those agencies are concentrated that will be most effective in bringing the child to share in the inherited resources of the race, and to use his own powers for social ends. I believe that education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living.”
-John Dewey, My Pedagogic Creed, January 1897

Common Core isn’t the ultimate problem. It’s the system’s design that is at the root of the problem. If you want to take down the system, you have to understand true principles of education. I strongly encourage you to go to www.agencybasededucation.org, read the 5 principles and mission statement on the home page, get on the mailing list, and like the organization on Facebook. Each year there is a conference held in November. This year, one of the speakers will be Neil Flinders, author of “Teach the Children: an Agency Approach to Education.” Neil inspired me to form this organization and you won’t want to miss this event as he is an authority in this very area and will be presenting on educational philosophy.

Concerns

Is Khan Academy spying on people?

20 Comments

Carie Valentine posted this to Facebook yesterday and I thought this needed to go out quickly to find out if others can replicate this experience.

“Please read this! My head is spinning. Most of the online resources we use are not only mining data they are going much deeper. I just found out that Khan Academy has been accessing the camera on our lap top to data mine. We covered the camera in the middle of a lesson and the computer said, “service error”. We aren’t using that anymore and we covered the camera with a sticky note. This is why the entirety of education reform is so bad and far reaching. I have known Khan was aligned with Common Core but naively thought we could use it here and there for other things besides math and English.”

Here’s an article Carie linked to on Khan’s data collection policies, and a bunch of other education related companies who have centered their business models on data collection.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/data-mining-your-children-106676_Page2.html

Consider the popular nonprofit tutorial service Khan Academy. It’s free. But users do pay a price: In effect, they trade their data for the tutoring.

“Data is the real asset,” founder Sal Khan told an academic conference last fall.

The site tracks the academic progress of students 13 and older as they work through online lessons in math, science and other subjects. It also logs their location when they sign in and monitors their Web browsing habits. And it reserves the right to seek out personal details about users from other sources, as well, potentially building rich profiles of their interests and connections.

After POLITICO inquired about Khan Academy’s privacy policy, which gave it the right to draw on students’ personal information to send them customized advertising, the policy was completely rewritten. The new text, posted online late last week, emphasizes Khan Academy’s commitment to protecting privacy and deletes the line about targeted advertising.

But the revised policy makes clear that Khan Academy still allows third parties, such as YouTube and Google, to place the tiny text files known as “cookies” on students’ computers to collect and store information about their Web usage. Khan Academy also states that it may share personal information with app developers and other external partners, with students’ consent.

A spokeswoman for the site said Khan Academy’s main goal in collecting data is to “help students learn effectively and efficiently.”

The article also quotes Microsoft chief technology officer Cameron Evans as saying, “Children’s personal information ‘is splintering across the Internet. Anonymity is going to be more valuable than gold in the near future.’”

Well said Cameron. Your company is leading the effort to extinguish that anonymity.

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Related articles

Are Common Core Standards Actually Data Tags? www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-greene/common-core-standards_b_5346907.html

Who Puts the Scary in Pearson? Meet Knewton. http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2014/03/who-puts-scary-in-pearson-meet-knewton.html

The New Intelligence (big article on Knewton’s implementation at Arizona State University) http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/25/arizona-st-and-knewtons-grand-experiment-adaptive-learning#sthash.JPJ0qMp6.dpbs

Reference

Organize Yourselves

5 Comments

I got an email yesterday from Jenny Baker in Southern Utah where she has organized a parent rights committee. She agreed to let me publish her email to me to help inspire other groups to form in various school districts around the state. If you want to form a group, you can also advertise for support in our Facebook group to find people in your area. Organizing by school district is a great idea, or even your county. Jenny’s group is off to a great start and we wish them much success in accomplishing their goals.

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These are the notes of the May 13th Washington County for Parental Rights committee meeting

 

12 members attended the school board meeting today:

Amy Drawe did a great job in her 3 minute talking time.  She asked 1-how many times they will do the sage tests next year, 2- if teachers have been asked to not talk about CommonCore.  3- where we can find out where the school board candidates stand on CC. 4- she asked for a raise of hands who does/ does not support it.

The school board claimed to have no control over CC.  Superintendent Burgeson recited the talking points that we have heard before.  They basically ignores all of her questions.  BUT….we did meet a few new members that we are now working with!

 

The 7:00 meeting went as follows:

These goals were accepted by the body

 

1- 25% opt out rate in all schools by the first day of the 2014-2015 school year.

2-work with school boards throughout summer to get opt out policies in place before the school year begins.

3- only anti-CC candidates winning in this upcoming election.

4- Have all elected officials (from Washington County) against CC before legislative sessions start next January.

5- create a teachers advocacy group.

6- Teach parents that they are great parents with great kids no matter what the testing says. (Especially for younger moms and Hispanic communities)

7- Get homeschool groups to help other moms know how to homeschool and organize homeschool groups.
(It was decided that our talking points need to be about strengthening parents, asking questions to get them to ask questions (eg. How did your child feel about the sage tests?  Did you know that teachers and parents will not see the tests?  How are students and teachers supposed to improve if they can’t see the tests? Why do we need the tests then?).  OUR JOB IS TO EMPOWER PARENTS AND LET THEM KNOW THAT THEIR CHILD’S EDUCATION IS THEIR RESPONSIBILITY!

 

The following committees were discussed and chairmen were appointed.

(Minutes in parentheses)

 

Proposed committees:

1-Publicity Committee- (Kristine Wagner will talk with Kate and Bryan to fill this opening)

a-social media updates

b- write op ed pieces for news media

c- make media connections

d- organize a committee

 

2- School boards and administrators Committee-(will Amy Drawe, Tanya Sutterfield and or Amy Chase chair this,  any other volunteers?)

a- representing group at school board meetings.

(Currently, Durfey Supports CC, Seegmiller has concerns, Hesson supports, Christiansen opposes, Holloway supports—we need to educate them!)

b- instructing others on how to talk with administrators & school board

c- fact check and rebuttal of material sent from the school

d- organize a committee. (Get a question and answer meeting arranged for new candidates)
3- Constitutional Committee-(Kristine Wagner-chairman,  can Brent Hall help?)

a- contact delegates and candidates and report on how they stand (Kristine will make a plan for us to help  anti-CC delegates win the primaries  on June 24)

b- instruct others on contacting public representatives

c- educate politicians

d- organize a political committee
4- Home school/private schools Committee-(Ann & Eric Grob, Karen Stead and Marta Harr to chair.   They will get home school info on our blog.)

a- educate those outside of system to see the problems and work with us.

b- help board see their needs.

c- organize a home school committee
5- Teachers Committee- (Michelle Boulter, Teresa Lindquist, Kristine Wagner will ask Nancy ? To chair)

a- find out how we can help teachers. Be their advocate. (Work w/lawyer?)*

b- develop ways to keep them from being fired for speaking out.

c- educate teachers on Common Core

d- organize a teachers committee
6- Education Committee- (Michelle Boulter and Teresa Lindquist to chair).

a- arrange classes and guest speakers (once a month- in different areas of the community). (They will start a blog)

b- gather talking points and other educational material and distribute.

c- keep board up to date on all new information (laws, bills, etc.)

d- organize an education committee
7- Community Committee-(Jenny Baker, Donna Williams to chair)

a- work with civic groups(eg. Wash Co republican women lunch this week) to raise awareness

b- seek out other groups to combine efforts

c- work with other groups in Utah.

d- organize a committee
Proposed area representatives.  (Let me know if changes need to be made)

Santa Clara/Ivins- Tanya Sutterfield

Hurricane/LaVerkin-  Amy Drawe

Washington Fields- Kristine Wagner

Washington- Jared and Teresa Lindquist

Bloomington- Marta Harr

St. George proper/Green Valley- Jenny Baker

Hispanic Community- (Holly Wilkinson will ask her friend)

Little Valley- Michelle Boulter

 

Next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 29 at 7:00 PM at Jenny Baker’s home 1039 S. 1080 W. St. George (on Indian Hills Drive). All who wish to help this cause are invited.

*for those who could not attend:  feel free to sign up for a committee.  And come to the next meeting!!  Bring a friend!

Here are a few resources the board asked for:

Utahnsagainstcommoncore.com

Books:  “The story killers” by Terrance O. Moore. “Conform” by Glenn Beck

Thank you for all of your hard work!  I am so excited about the plans that have been made and for the overwhelming support for our cause!

Call if you have questions!

Jenny Baker

435-229-9720

Sevenvoices@live.com

Essay Contest

The Core of Rottenness by Sarah Anderson

Leave a comment

Another in our essay contest series, this one contributed by Sarah Anderson.

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What is common core? It is the standard core of knowledge that most educators and government officials believe every child should know in preparation for college. I understand why they would think students in high schools would need something like this, what I don’t understand is why they feel the need to shove it down the throats of children in elementary schools. The children in America are taking more and more tests about science and math while doing less art projects and learning about fun subjects that teaches them learning can be fun. I think that they should do away with common core as it is now and return the core curriculum back to how they were before they started experimenting with the math classes, letting the elected state officials decide what our children should learn. The education in America is messed up; the whole idea of America is the land of the free where different people are free to do things in their own unique way. So the question is, why do they think they should teach all the children the same things and the same pace? Every citizen in America is unique, that includes the children and teens. We all deserve to take things at our own pace and if we need to be in an easier math class they should have one available for people to take.  We all learn in different ways and I would go as far to say that expecting millions of individuals to think and learn the same way was completely unconstitutional and inhumane. In the common core system they have developed different ways to test the special needs children, but every child is special, not just the ones with the learning disabilities. In a perfect world each and every child would have their own curriculum dedicated to teaching them in the way they learn best. That may be completely unrealistic, but schools should at least try to offer as many classes as they can, where the teachers teach the students at different paces instead of fewer classes that everyone has to take. I’m not saying that having core classes are bad, there are things that every child should know, I’m just saying that they should offer lots of different classes so students aren’t forced into classes where they fail just because they don’t learn the way that teacher teaches. If the government is going to spend a ton of money we don’t have on our education they should use it to offer more classes and hire more teachers to teach different and unique subjects.

When Utah first adopted the common core, the government distracted everyone from all the power they were taking away from the states by putting a competition in our faces where the states could win prize money. If everyone hadn’t been distracted I don’t think they would have agreed to let people on the other side of the country make the decisions for their children’s education. The government is taking more and more power away from the people and the sad thing is lots of people don’t even know its happening. When Utah joined the common core program we were assured that our state could get out of it if the majority of the state wanted to, but it’s not that simple we would also have to get written permission from the board of education and all of the other states in the program. There were also a few implied threats that any money we had earned in the competitions would have to be paid back to the country. The government is trying to convince everyone that it is such a good program and all of the children will be much better because of it, so why does it seem like they had to bribe the different states to join? Furthermore why does it sound like they’ll make our lives extremely difficult if we ever try to leave? The government is trying to control the states of this nation and all of the people and children who live in them. When the government was set up it was specifically designed to be a servant of the people. The people all voted and decided what laws they all had to live by, and there was a checks and balances system set up to make sure that the members in the government didn’t get greedy and try to take complete control of the government. This nation was meant to be a Republic, but every day when the government takes away another one of our freedoms to make us all “safer” we seem to be moving closer and closer to a communist government. Common core is an example of this; the government is taking away the states’ rights to decide what our children learn and telling us they know what’s best for our children. How can some old fat people who live over two thousand miles away, know better than the elected officials who live in our state? Our rights are being taken away from us, but people don’t realize it because they are wrapped up in the lies the government is feeding us about knowing what is best for our children.

The Common Core should be taken out of our schools and our education should go back to being decided by the elected officials in each state that were doing a fine job before it came along. The USA is about people uniqueness, and our children learning to be common are the complete opposite of that. It’s against everything we stand for as citizens of the USA, our children should learn to embrace their uniqueness and being told they have to learn like everyone else at such a young age drills the idea that being different is bad. If the children of our nation are forced to learn in such a strict environment with no room for creativity they’ll never reach their full potential.

-Sarah Anderson

Reference

Letter to a State Senator explaining Common Core’s Scope

9 Comments

In a recent email exchange with a senator, I responded to a couple questions which I thought I’d post here for others to read as well. He stated he was in agreement that we need to get rid of Common Core, but asked about solutions. This was my letter to him.

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I’m providing you some links which I truly hope you will read and grasp a sense of the scope of the problem we are facing. The education establishment really has their heads in the sand and refuses to make the obvious connections. They don’t mind federal control as long as they get that money. We have to get off federal money.

On your item 2, Common Core isn’t a curriculum. It’s an agenda. I don’t think many people fully grasp this. If you were going to test a theory by changing something in a system, you would, under scientific principles, change one variable and hold the rest constant so you could measure the change. That’s the intelligent thing to do. If you were to change everything in a system including the way you measure performance, it would be meaningless. Under Common Core, they changed the standards, the curriculum, and they’ve also completely changed the testing both within schools (SAGE) and for college prep, David Coleman the president of the College Board and architect of Common Core has now changed the ACT, SAT, AP, and GED tests to align with Common Core. There is no possible way to measure the positives, or the negatives of what Common Core is inflicting on our children. It’s a giant psychological experiment that was never piloted anywhere. Common Core covers standards, assessments, database tracking of children from preschool into the workforce, highly effective teacher “redistribution” to “low performing” schools, privacy loosening, teacher punishing, etc… The list goes on.

I strongly encourage you to read these articles so you understand the scope of what we’re dealing with.

https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/just-minimum-standards-or-a-national-coffle/ (especially watch the video clip of Bill Gates, the funder of Common Core. You may not know that Microsoft signed an agreement with UNESCO in 2004 to create a global education system. 10 years later Gates has spent $300 million on Common Core and much more globally to create this system.)

https://whatiscommoncore.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/7-links-to-evidence-of-federal-control-of-common-core/

You ask about curriculum… Common Core was designed and collaborated on by the big players like Pearson, McGraw-Hill, etc… Common Core was rushed to the states before curriculum could be developed by other providers and as a result, everyone had to scramble and buy what a handful of major companies were ready for. They are being enriched with billions of dollars. Total boondoggle.

You bring up the notion that our students were mediocre and this is a lie that the state office tells in order to fit their circumstances. One minute it’s “we’re the lowest funded state but look at the awesome results we get,” and the next it’s, “our standards were so bad before Common Core that we just had to do something.” The people that play this game are liars.

In 2006 I succeeded with others in getting the legislature to pressure the USOE and state sup to redo our math standards. They fought this even though our math standards were D rated. In 2007, the new standards were given an A- and implemented in 2008-09 school year. They were a huge improvement. Keep in mind the USOE fought the change and gave multiple reasons why we shouldn’t change. In 2010, just 2 years into the new standards, Common Core comes out and they jump on board before the new standards had even been released. Why? They had a chance to get some Race to the Top money. To apply, they simply had to adopt the standards before they’d been piloted anywhere. So they did…2 days after the final draft of the standards came out. Pure idiocy. The math standards only go completely through algebra 2 because the people who made the standards testified they weren’t to prepare students for selective colleges, but non-selective (ie. 2 year and lower tier 4 year colleges). Common Core standards are truly minimal standards, but now they’ve tied high stakes tests to them so teachers are scrambling to ONLY teach what’s going to be on the test. Our children will NEVER excel under Common Core. Math implementation is a disaster because they’re using constructivist approaches to math which pretty much confuses both the student and the teacher (and the parents who try to help them). Further, because Utah adopted math in the integrated fashion instead of discrete years of math, we’ve now pushed algebra 1 completion to 9th grade for most students where it was in 8th grade under our 2007 standards. How is that an improvement? Now most kids can’t get to calculus unless they entered the honors track in 7th grade. In English, they’ve reduced literature to 50% of the reading assignments and the other 50% is informational texts like EPA reports (one example they cite). I could go on and on here but let me get to the solution. Here are two posts that outline the highest quality ELA standards available, and on math, we can either return to our 2007 standards or adopt someone else’s that is clearly superior to Common Core, such as CA’s which was great, and since the state was so big, textbook publishers actually wrote curriculum specifically for the state, so we could acquire some really good textbooks written specifically for the standards.

https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/free-english-success-standards-for-utah/

https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/a-common-core-replacement-plan/

I realize I’m giving you a good bit of homework here and I truly hope you will read it. If there’s one more thing I would like you to know about which I think would have more effect on education in Utah than many things, please watch the 6 minute video I made here:

http://www.agencybasededucation.org/ending-compulsory-education/

Reference

Partisan School Board Election Arguments

2 Comments

In an effort to assist people in their arguments in favor of partisan school board elections for Utah boards, this page contains a list of resources which will help explain what this is and why it is necessary.

Partisan school board elections means the political parties vet their own candidates to find the best qualified individual for an office, using the excellent Utah caucus system where local neighborhoods elect delegates to represent them and ask tough questions to find out the positions of the candidates. Those party candidates then go on the ballot as the best candidate a party has to offer up against competing party candidates. The immediate primary benefit is to eliminate special interest money because instead of a well-funded candidate marketing to the masses through signs and media messages, delegates attend multiple meetings where they can ask probing questions about a candidates’ background, vision, experience, reasons for running, etc… Some candidates who aren’t well known can rise to the top here because money is not nearly as big a factor as in a primary or general election. Delegates make an informed decision and commit themselves to hours of research work whereas even the voting public typically doesn’t even know who their school board member is.

The reason this resolution came up is because it is difficult to overcome the power of the single education party which runs their candidates under the radar by endorsing through their network individuals for office, whereas there is no competing party to challenge them. The education establishment welcomes federal control of education as you’ll see in primary source documents below. They have embraced Common Core and shut out all candidates from serving on the state school board who oppose Common Core. The only organizations large enough to challenge the status quo are the political parties. Some fear that that means someone will walk into a booth and blindly check the box for all [insert your political party] and not consider others running for that position. This will certainly happen, but at least they will know that the candidates should have a philosophical alignment with them and not see a couple names presented that they have no clue who those people are and what they stand for and then randomly vote in an effort to “do their civic duty.”

Here are resources which I encourage you to read and share with others.

 

Why is the system broken? How are state board members elected?

State board members aren’t really elected. They are selected by a committee of the Governor’s appointees and they reduce the field down to 3 candidates by asking for responses on 5-6 questions and then a 10 minute interview. Then the Governor reviews those 3 candidates and crosses off the name of one more individual, and the 2 remaining candidates go on the ballot. Contrast this to the hours of vetting that happens with our caucus/delegate system which allows candidates to explain their views and principles in depth to locally elected representatives, and make the case as to why they are the best candidate.

https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/the-desperate-utah-state-school-board/

http://libertasutah.org/op-eds/state-school-board-needs-election-not-selection/

 

Does the education establishment have power to influence elections? Yes

http://www.utahsrepublic.org/more-reasons-for-partisan-school-board-elections/ (Nicole Toomey Davis’ story of how she made it onto the ballot unsupported by any political party, while her opponent had tremendous support from the education establishment “party”. Nicole was defeated.)

 

Were people eliminated from the state board race due to opposing Common Core? Yes

http://libertasutah.org/interview/state-school-board-candidate-stopped-in-her-tracks/ (This is Kim Kehrer’s story. The candidate “selection” committee asked candidates for their views on Common Core. Kim was eliminated after expressing concerns based on her own research. The entire state school board is pro-Common Core and vetted to ensure that view. The governor is going to head the NGA (National Governor’s Association) next year and the NGA and CCSSO (Council of Chief State School Officers) created Common Core so he certainly doesn’t want to be the state that rocks the boat on Common Core at this point.

 

Does the Utah education establishment welcome federal control? Yes

Utah submitted a signed Memorandum of Understanding was in 2009 by then Governor Huntsman and State Superintendent Patti Harrington, to begin the process of participating in Common Core and contains an entire paragraph they had to acknowledge titled “Federal Role” in education. This is completely unconstitutional but they signed this document in violation of their oaths of office to uphold the U.S. and Utah Constitutions. Read the document here:

https://utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/utahs-memorandum-of-misunderstanding/

 

Why partisan school board elections at the district level?

Because Utah’s school districts are so massive, the public cannot know the details about who is running. There is tremendous apathy about these incredibly important elections. Partisan elections let hundreds of delegates get involved and vet these candidates. Utah is called the best managed state because we let delegates vet most candidates. We should use the same process and get the best managed education system as well. This post contains over a dozen reasons for partisan elections and also shows the tremendous confusion non-partisan candidates can cause the voting public through their campaigning efforts.

http://www.utahsrepublic.org/the-need-for-partisan-school-board-elections-in-utah/

 

I heard that the legislature rejected Rep. Brian Greene’s Partisan school board election bill. Why?

The education establishment rallied their forces and sent a letter to all their members asking them to oppose this bill which would disrupt the status quo (which involves their welcoming of federal control (see above)). This post contains the letter from Utah School Boards Association Associate Directory Patti Harrington which went out statewide to influence this vote. The second link contains a letter from two senior officials at the Utah State Office of Education (Diana Suddreth and Syd Dickson) sent out statewide decrying this bill that said, “This bill essentially gives more power to parents over curriculum standards, would prohibit us from adopting any national standards.” Who wants local control again?

https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/blatant-political-indoctrination-in-4th-grade-utah-classroom/

https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/usoe-wants-national-standards-limits-to-parental-powers/

 

Why did you run a resolution for partisan school board elections? What did it say?

Because delegates don’t get donations and political support from special interest groups like the state education establishment. They are truly grassroots and deserved a chance to dig into the issue and make an informed decision. This also contains Patti Harrington’s plea to delegates to not vote for this resolution.

https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/state-gop-resolution-on-partisan-school-board-elections/

 

What were the opposing arguments made against this resolution?

Doug Wright, talk show host on KSL, came out against this resolution and invited Patti Harrington from the USBA, and Mark Mickelson the executive director from the UEA onto his show. I have transcribed their arguments on this post along with my rebuttals. We did have some commonality. All three of them acknowledged that the current election system for state board members is broken. :)

https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/responding-to-charges-against-partisan-school-board-elections/

 

You made speeches at the convention that stated certain things as factual. What are the links to those items?

Among the statements are the dramatic increase in education spending without results, based on recent Cato Institute research, Utah’s superior caucus and delegate system, federal grants that five Utah school districts applied to for money bypassing all state protections and opening themselves to direct federal strings/influence, a letter from two state office of education officials to educators around the state lamenting that if Rep. Greene’s partisan school board election bill passed it would give more power to parents and prevent them from adopting national standards, and Utah’s Memorandum of Understanding (noted specifically above) that acknowledged an unconstitutional federal role in Utah education.

https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/partisan-school-board-elections-resolution-passes/

 

Is there really a problem in school districts?

Yes. In Alpine and Nebo school districts there were a number of problems with the elections. The union endorsed a candidate and got the education establishment behind those candidates which caused school employees to violate election laws. Their punishment? Nothing. One principal sent out an email to staff telling them who to vote for. Another teacher told his class to tell their parents to vote for the incumbent John Burton because his challenger would shut down all the school clubs. It was totally false. Another teacher wrote who to vote for in the faculty lounge and sent out an email to the school employees telling them. The principal did nothing. There is no organization that can stand up to the establishment and no good way to get word out to the public about the real positions of candidates. Partisan elections will let a representative group vet the candidates more carefully.

https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/yet-more-election-law-violations-in-alpine-school-district/

https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/asd-board-member-in-panic-mode-uses-shocking-tactics/

https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/another-asd-principal-gets-political-john-burtons-turn/

 

What other reasons are there for partisan school board elections?

Rep. Brian Greene has shared these points:

1) Currently, the NEA, UEA, PTA, etc… control school boards. Non-partisan elections are their best option to continue to be the controlling influence.

2) It’s hypocritical that these organizations allege partisan elections will result in education being managed by political party leadership, but have no problem with their own exclusive control of education.

3) Concerns about political parties controlling education policy are unfounded. Rep. Greene stated that in two sessions in the legislature, he has never had party leadership demand he vote a certain way, or even pressured him to support a particular position. He is not aware of any such pressure being applied to his colleagues.

4) Partisan elections provide a more level playing field where competing interests can be heard.

5) We are currently in an epic battle to save our caucus/convention system and the primary arguments are that the current system neutralizes the control of big money. If we don’t use that system here, the big money of the NEA, UEA, and National PTA, will control our primaries.