Teachers, take heart, the NEA seems to be shifting against Common Core, at least in its implementation.

http://www.neatoday.org/2014/02/19/nea-president-we-need-a-course-correction-on-common-core/

Be sure to read the comments at the bottom of this article from teachers. Teachers have been afraid for their jobs. I spoke with one yesterday in Southern Utah who said almost all the teachers in his school don’t like Common Core but they are nervous about saying anything that could put their job in jeopardy. Lets hope the NEA finally wake up a bit.

Here’s one teacher’s story from the comments:

Moby Jones says: “I am beginning to hate my job. I hear in my district, “implement the Math Common Core this year. No, we cannot afford any new materials or texts. We want you to struggle through this process and create your own so you can become expertly familiar with the new standards. Oh, and yes, your value add score might show you are a ‘least effective teacher’ and next year your salary will be tied with your value add score. You are now under the guise of the PARCC Consortium and next year your kids will be taking the PARCC tests. This year, on top of state assessments, you also must have your kids take MAP tests 3 times per year, a Measure of Academic Progress. Heavens, no, you don’t know what the test items are! But we’ll send you your kids’ scores to see how well you’re all doing”. As I said, I’m beginning to hate my job. We are told we must do anything and everything to get our kids to pass these tests, especially those “subgroups” that notoriously don’t pass. We must do anything and everything; we change things mid-year and try something new. We shift on a whim. Why aren’t you growing these kids? Their projected scores say they should be at this number, but they’re not. I am not very effective. After almost 30 years, I am beginning to hate my job.”