Gotta love this exchange. Alison Moore Smith, homeschooling mom and blogger, just posted an enlightening conversation she had over email with Dixie Allen who serves on the State School Board. You don’t want to miss this one. Alison hits Common Core over the head and raises a lot of valid concerns.
http://homeschool-open-source.com/dixie-allen-common-core-why-we-homeschool/
Thanks for sharing, Oak. The exchange was particularly frustrating because, honestly, I expected to just get a simple “yes and here’s why” or “no and here’s why.” But I just could not get a straight answer. I expect that of long-term politicians. I didn’t expect it from a school board member.
In hindsight, that was naive. For two decades I’ve navigated the sea of ed-speak teachers/administrators use to puff up their positions. As Professor Martin Kozloff said in the Los Angeles Times, “It allows teachers and administrators to insulate themselves from scrutiny and maintain a grip on power…It’s a way to underscore the message that, I’m a professional, so give me your kid and leave me alone. All professional language is turf language.”
The people who call learning to read “phonemic awareness” and created the A/B schedule with class times from 9:42-11:17 shouldn’t be expected to speak without obfuscation.