Common Core Update and Simple Actions You Can Take

 

Here are several important news/action  items for those concerned about stopping the Common Core “reforms” and restoring freedom in education:

1. Michelle Malkin has joined American Principals Project and others on a letter-signing campaign aimed at governors, insisting that they break free of Common Core.  Read and sign here.

2.  The Utah State Office of Education is permitting people to give public comment on the new common library book standards.

I urge you to comment; the survey takes very, very little time.  Also, send a personal letter to the USOE on this issue, to these addresses for the board:  librarycomments@schools.utah.gov      and    Board@schools.utah.gov

Here is one of the library standards: 1.2.4. Maintain a critical stance by questioning the validity and accuracy of all information. 

This simple little sentence begins with “maintain a critical stance” –implying having good critical thinking skills, but then it veers into idiocy by “questioning the validity and accuracy of ALL information.”

Are children to doubt the existence of any truth?  Yes, according to the state school board’s library standards.

Classical (very pre-common core) education taught children to confidently and logically pursue truth.  But “progressive” education teaches children that there is no truth, no morality, no known anything.  Thus all information is of equal importance and any library book is of equal worth:  reading the rantings of Joe the communist pedophile may be as worthy a way to spend class time as studying what Washington, Einstein and Shakespeare wrote. What a terrible “standard”!

Of course there is truth; and there are facts. Doesn’t our existence on earth depend on the  truth that the earth is a certain, precise, indisputable distance from the sun?  If it were not so, we’d freeze or burn! That library standard has got to go.

Utah Standards for Library Media are posted;  comment  please. (The USOE Web site is hosting the public comment  –before Aug 17, 2014.  Also widen your audience by posting your opinion of the library standards to   librarycomments@schools.utah.gov      and    Board@schools.utah.gov as well as to your local newspapers and radio stations.)

 

3.  Jenni White of Oklahoma’s ROPE has this blog post:  If you do nothing, nothing happens!

4. Governor Herbert has approved government preschool in Utah, and President Obama is pushing for federal preschool for all,  but is anyone questioning the wisdom of such a move?  What are its impacts on the business of private preschools?  What are its impacts on little ones who would stay home with their families if not for the big government push to put them in rigorous preschools? Jonas Himmelstrand’s my favorite opponent of this push.  This Swede has spoken to countless groups in many countries about the disintegration of families, mental health and academic success when government daycare becomes the norm.  He speaks from experience.  Himmelstrand’s voice needs to be more widely heard.  Please read  more here and here.

 

5. If you haven’t already seen them, see these news links, published by Oak Norton at Utahns Against Common Core today:

Pioneer Institute Study Finds That New Technology, Relaxation of Protections Threaten Student Privacy A must read press release: you can also download the full Pioneer Institute study. 

Here’s a relevant clip: “These expansive data structures are intimately connected to the Common Core State Standards Initiative and national testing. Any information from the data initiatives mentioned above that is given to the two federally funded national assessment consortia aligned with the Common Core State Standards will be made available to the USED. The national standards will also create a unified “taxonomy” that facilitates creation of common instructional materials and data-collection technology. Because Common Core focuses not on academic knowledge but rather on “skills” that involve attitudes and dispositions, it paves the way for national assessments and digital platforms that measure such attributes.” http://pioneerinstitute.org/featured/study-new-technology-relaxation-of-protections-threaten-student-privacy/

 

Massachusetts Teachers Association Elects Anti-Common Core President We’ve already had the NY and Chicago teachers unions take anti-CC stances, but for a strong teachers association to join in is a great step. “The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), a union that represents about 110,000 teachers in the Bay State, elected an anti-Common Core president on May 10 in a hotly contested and close election. Barbara Madeloni, a clinical psychologist turned teacher, beat a Brockton teacher by 681 to 584 votes. A proponent of local control, Madeloni opposes high stakes testing and nationalization of educational standards.” http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/ma/201405130.asp

Saber-Rattling on Common Core (Utah) This is why we want legislators who understand Common Core issues. “On Wednesday, education officials climbed Capitol Hill to inform lawmakers of the progress they’re making on implementing the Common Core education system into Utah’s K-12 schools. But the educators were met with an extremely hostile welcome, as Republican lawmakers expressed their animosity towards the Core changes, which have grown increasingly unpopular among conservatives nationwide.”

http://utahpoliticalcapitol.com/2014/05/22/saber-rattling-on-common-core For the audio go here: http://le.utah.gov/asp/interim/Commit.asp?year=2014&com=INTEDU

Conflict: Common Core Testing Company VP Evaluating NCLB Waivers Utah mom Autumn Cook dug this interesting tidbit out showing a Vice-President of AIR (the SAGE test company) was selected to review NCLB waivers. http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/conflict-common-core-testing-company-vp-evaluating-nclb-waivers/

 

Student-centered or subject-centered education?

This article by Lynn Stoddard in the Standard contains a great story about a mom who noticed what her struggling autistic child was good at, and now, as a 15-year old, the child is being considered for a Nobel prize. For that full story here’s a link (http://themotherlist.com/mother-tore-label-nurtured-sons-hidden-genius/) http://www.standard.net/Opinion/2014/05/08/Student-centered-or-subject-centered-education.html