Archive for the ‘contact information’ Tag
These are watershed moments for education in our State.
If you’ve signed the petition at http://utahnsagainstcommoncore.com you received the following update today. If not, here you go.
Common Core Alerts
ACTION ITEMS:
1. Attend the Utah State Board of Education meetings Thursday, July 17 from – 4:00 PM to 5:45 PM and Friday, August 8 (please save the date) at Utah State Office of Education, Board Room/Conference Rooms, 250 East 500 South, Salt Lake City, Utah. We plan to PACK THE HOUSE.
The state school board will consider “a decision on whether to apply for an extension to its waiver under the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)” to be voted on at the August Board meeting (http://schoolboard.utah.gov/news/board-considers-not-applying-for-an-extension-on-utahs-esea-waiver). We hope that they DO NOT renew the waiver from No Child Left Behind. By not renewing the waiver, Utah can send a clear message that we are in charge of our education and would take us one step closer to cutting the many federal ties that are preventing true local control over education. We will not be the first state to make this vital stand. Read more here.
Our strong presence is vital to voice our support so that the board to vote in our favor. This is a critical vote. Please attend; bring your children; we need to fill the room. (This is their work meeting but with brief public input, so we need to be respectful. Signs are welcome to use in the hallways or outside.)
2. Call and write, before the July 17th meeting, to Governor Herbert, the State School Board, USOE representatives and send copies to your legislators, newspapers, and local school boards, asking them NOT to renew the ESEA waiver, to get us out of Common Core, and to return full control of education to Utah.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Governor – http://governor..utah.gov/goca/form_governor.html State Board – board@schools.utah.gov Your Board Member – http://schoolboard.utah.gov/board-members-2
Find other officials here – http://vote.utah.gov/vote/menu/index
3. WE WILL NOT CONFORM – GLENN BECK EVENT
JULY 22nd we hope to see you as we pack all the available movie theaters throughout our state (and nationwide) for Glenn Beck’s event: “We Will Not Conform: A night to make Common Core history”. It’s in 700 movie theaters! Several Utah parents will be attending the event live in Texas as well. An updated theater list can be found here: http://www.fathomevents.com/event/we-will-not-conform-live/more-info/theater-locations
4. Parent Groups and Candidates Organized to Stop Common Core:
We have updated the local parent group listings for those organizing in their areas.
http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/action-list/parent-groups/
There is a large SLC group until smaller groups form from it. Here’s an announcement from them.
Salt Lake County Committees – To Organize, Plan, Educate, and Act! Salt Lake County Committees will meet each fourth Thursday, except when it is a Holiday – like July 24. In which case we will meet on the third Wednesday (to help other attend that might not be able to). So we will meet July 16th 7 PM, at 7679 South Main St. (700 West), Midvale, a nicer and more central location. All are needed at these education and organization meetings (but attendance is more vital at State Board meeting on the 17th). Come one, come all and join your efforts to making Utah Education the best. The building is Utah Addition Centers – but is unmarked so look for signs, to enter, on the front and rear doors. Parking is in the rear. Contact Wendell W. Ashby ashbyww@gmail.com, and Administrative Support – Michelle Rodgers shelbysemail@yahoo.com
Candidate Alert
If you live in –or know people who live in– Rich County, please contact Bryce Huefner (435-757-0967, behuefner@gmail.com) to help with his campaign.
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“I am required to teach key reading comprehension strategies, the writing process, information-gathering skills, grammar, vocabulary, etc., etc. But I also hope to awaken a love of reading and literature, ignite curiosity about our complex world…. “All children are gifted—some just open their presents earlier than others.” I know that every one of my students understands something I don’t and has something to tell the world that no one else ever has. I am a “treasure seeker” and “talent scout,” hoping to help young people discover the gold within themselves and each other.”
This quote is excerpted from the disclosure statement of Utah English teacher Ann Florence who has been placed on forced leave, pending probable termination. How awful. This beautiful quote reveals that Florence is a treasure, not some problem teacher to be forced out. But she has been pushed out, for her act of standing up for the right to teach and the right to be judged on her actual teaching rather than endless government mandated tests.
Administrators have labeled her insubordinate. Read the news. See what has happened.
It seems to me that Ann Florence doesn’t buy the notion that teachers must give up their rights to free speech, nor give up their rights to participation in the political process, just because they are employed by the government. She certainly doesn’t believe that teachers should give up the art of real teaching to bow to government enforced, excessive high-stakes tests that narrowly judge not only students, but teachers as well.
A year ago, Florence wrote an op-ed voicing her concerns. She explained (excerpt):
“Managing teachers through intimidation is not working… teachers are looking for work elsewhere. Teachers who have loved their jobs are discouraging their own children from pursuing careers in education…. we feel exhausted and demoralized by the avalanche of mandates from the state and district… While legislators constantly raise expectations and think they can motivate us by publicly posting test scores, our time for teaching has shrunk….I now administer 19 days of standardized tests, costing me an entire month of instruction. This doesn’t include the days the testing site is down or the system crashes, eating up even more days…. I am held accountable for nine months of curriculum without enough time to teach it… Granite District has required teachers to learn the new Common Core, use a new grades program (which crashes regularly), design a new honors curriculum, use a new online system requiring the scanning and posting of all assignments and a daily summary of class activities, and learn to analyze complex data … No test score reflects the number of students who return to thank a teacher, the number who fall in love with reading again, gain new confidence to speak up in class, find solace in a teacher’s support, decide to try one more time just when they want to quit… We are tired of having our dedication reduced to a number.”
Now, the Salt Lake Tribune reports that after Florence criticized new “standardized tests as a waste of time and irrelevant to what students are being taught” she was “placed on administrative leave and may be fired.”
Her students’ response?
“Oh captain, my captain, you have taught me so much this year. The value of honesty, imagination, and freedom to express myself. I cannot thank you enough for that. You are the best teacher Wasatch could ever ask for.”
Along with the emailed poetry, students launched a petition drive, urging that Florence not be terminated.
The Tribune reported that Granite District spokesman “Ben Horsley said personnel decisions of this gravity take time to make the right choice. He said Florence has been unreasonably aggressive in demanding an answer.”
“Unreasonably aggressive” seems a more appropriate label for the policymakers at the district, state and federal levels who are intimidating and degrading the professionalism of top notch teachers while trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public. Shame on them.
Bravo, Ann Florence.
——————————————————————————————-
Update: The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Ann Florence has been fired. I sent a letter today and encourage others to write as well. Every voice counts. Here’s mine, and contact info if you want to write too, down after the letter:
Dear Granite School District, State Board, and State Office of Education:
Granite District made news this week by firing Ann Florence, an honors English teacher who stood on principle and did what she (and I) saw as the right thing to do. I am writing to voice my support for Ann Florence’s actions and to ask the District and State Board to take action to right this wrong.
The
Salt Lake Tribune reported, “
Florence refused to grade the writing portion of the districtwide Acuity Test. She said the exam was a waste of students’ and teachers’ time, did not further any education agenda and that it was unethical to have teachers grade their own students on a standardized test that then would be used to judge the teacher. In a letter to her students, she said she loved her career but had to stand up for principle.”The Acuity Test (McGraw Hill) was offering financial compensation to schools for having students take this test.
Did Granite District actually fire Ann Florence for refusing to enable the District to make money –by using children for unpaid research guinea pigs? What does “professional compliance” and “teacher ethics” really mean to the district?
Ann Florence’s opinion editorial of one year ago in the Salt Lake Tribune deserves careful re-reading. Her concerns included the non-validity of high-stakes testing because of the testing conditions provided at the school, about the push for Common Core and data analysis, and about the non-validity of reducing the whole time and dedication of a teacher to one student-test-based number, a number over which that teacher has relatively little actual control.
The Tribune also reported that this teacher was punished for speaking about her concerns with the high-stakes tests vocally, including speaking out in front of students. Does a teacher lose her Constitutional right to freedom of speech just because she is employed by the government? Are teachers to pretend to political neutrality or should they instead be shining exemplars as vibrant participants in the American process of open debate –and sometimes also in honorable disagreement?
Furthermore, basing the heaviest “accountability measures” of state tests on the federal-corporate collusion known as Common Core State Standards, in my opinion, is not only an error but a form of academic malpractice.
Thus, any teacher who refuses to push the SAGE test on students, or refuses to give or grade the Acuity Test, or to promote other high-stakes tests that do not honestly benefit students nor teachers –tests that exist to benefit powermonering politicians and moneygrubbing corporate aims, is, in my opinion, the teacher who is ethically and morally defensible.
The Granite District has marred its honor by firing Ann Florence. The State Board and Office, by doing nothing in this teacher’s defense, are complicit in the wrong.
Christel Swasey
————————
Granite District Superintendent Martin Bates: mwbates@graniteschools.org
State Superintendent Dr. Martell Menlove: Martell.Menlove@schools.utah.gov
Wasatch Jr High Principal Christine Judd: crydalch@graniteschools.org
Wasatch Jr High Asst. Principal John Anderson: jcanderson@graniteschools.org
State School Board:
kbuswell@wadman.com; jensen1brit@earthlink.net; dthomas@summitcounty.org; krb84010@aol.com; dgriffiths@tannerco.com; lesliebrookscastle@gmail.com; jj@jenniferajohnson.com; heather.groom@gmail.com; crandall@xmission.com; jeffersonRmoss@gmail.com; dixieleeallen@gmail.com; markopenshaw@gmail.com; debrar@netutah.com; barbara.corry@schools.utah.gov; teresatheurer1@gmail.com; jensenmk@ldschurch.org; freddiecooper1@comcast.net; jamesvolsen@gmail.com; kelinkowski@msn.com; dbrowley@q.com;
Granite School Board:
ggandy@graniteschools.org; thbawden@graniteschools.org; clanderson@graniteschools.org; ccburgess@graniteschools.org; jmjolley@graniteschools.org; dlofgren@cowboy.us; srmeier@graniteschools.org;
Governor Herbert: http://governor.utah.gov/goca/form_comment.html (copy/paste your email into this form to send it to the Governor)
Utah legislators: http://le.utah.gov (look up by address here)
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I like Superintendent Martell Menlove. He’s approachable, pleasant, polite; has a warm smile and even responds to emails.
But there is a problem. Dr. Menlove is not just any Utahn; he’s the State Superintendent. He supports Common Core and he’s a member of the Council of Chief State School Officers, which created and copyrighted Common Core (with the NGA).
Dr. Menlove is also on the
Board of Directors of WestEd, an organization with a key role in the
creation of the Common Core tests. I don’t know why he remains a member of these groups. Maybe he thinks he can influence them for good instead of having them drag him (and our state) down. Maybe. But Dr. Menlove told me once that the reason he supports Common Core is that the ACT and SAT do. He thinks that our students have to align with whatever ACT/SAT do because of college entrance traditions. (I suggested to Dr. Menlove that now that
David Coleman has corrupted the college entrance exams (
here and
here) down to Common Core standards,
we should flee ACT/SAT and find alternative testing for Utah students.) He did not agree.
Yesterday, my friend Oak Norton
wrote a letter to Dr. Menlove. He asked him to publically
clarify whether Utah Core Standards are the same thing as Common Core Standards because some people are of the false belief that Utah has independent math and English standards.
Dr. Menlove wrote back and clarified. Utah does Common Core standards. He wrote: “The Utah State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards as Utah Core Standards in Math and English/Language Arts. I do not believe I have said anything contrary to this. If I have, I apologize.” (See? He is nice.)
But there’s still a problem. It’s never been made clear by him nor other leaders that because we do Common Core, we cannot control our own standards anymore. Whether our leaders don’t understand this, or choose not to understand this, or don’t want the people to understand this, is no matter. What matters is that people are confused.
Let’s not be confused. We can fact-check our leaders who say, “Utah isn’t obligated to Common Core and we can easily alter “our” standards while still belonging to the Common Core Initiative”. It’s wishful thinking at best; lies at worst. Here’s why:
Look at 7 basic facts:
1. The Department of Education’s official website explains the conditions of getting ARRA money. It says:
“As part of its application for initial funding, the state must assure that it will take actions to: (a) increase teacher effectiveness and address inequities in the distribution of highly qualified teachers; (b) establish and use pre-K-through-college and career data systems to track progress and foster continuous improvement; (c) make
progress toward rigorous college- and career-ready standards and high-quality assessments; and (d) support targeted, intensive support and effective interventions to turn around schools identified for corrective action and restructuring.”
F.Y.I. – “College and Career Ready Standards and high-quality assessments” means only ONE thing to the federal government: COMMON CORE.
Read their definitions page.
Yes, we traded our educational freedom for federal ARRA money. Sad choice, Governor Huntsman. That’s where it all started: there were
four assurances in that signup (which included
common standards and assessments and data collection) that Governor Huntsman signed us up for in that
State Fiscal Stabilization Fund; the standards were one of the conditions. Data collection and testing were also included.
Maybe Dr. Menlove doesn’t know this. He really should.
2. BUT THERE IS MORE:
the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) that the school board signed got us started further down the path of Common Core –this MOU, which was used in other federal funding applications, proved we were on the Common Core commitment train.
3. BUT THERE IS MORE: the
NCLB temporary waiver application (see page 18) binds Utah to COMMON STANDARDS.
4. BUT THERE IS MORE: the Common Core
copyright page itself binds users to precisely what’s written and offers no amendment process for states governed by the standards;
5. BUT THERE IS MORE: there is a
15% clause in the Achieve implementation manuals (see page 23) and in the NCLB waiver and elsewhere, that is a “ceiling rule”, stifling what Utah can add to the Utah Core, and ensuring that anything Utah adds to the Common standards, including or beyond that 15%,
won’t be tested or recognized by the national testers nor written into the “acceptable” Common Core aligned curriculums
6. BUT THERE IS MORE. The lack of any amendment process for the states to alter the common standards should be a red flag to our leaders– whose duty is to protect us from the tyranny of corporate copyrights as well as to protect us from the tyranny of the federal Department of Education.
7. BUT THERE IS MORE. Even if we stand firm and reject the coming
science and social studies standards, which Dr. Menlove told us he would do, we are still standing without control over what our students will learn about history and science!
We’ve been duped by David Coleman, lead Common Core creator and now College Board President.This duping is clearly explained in a letter from another friend of mine, Jakell Sullivan, on the subject:
———————————
Dear Legislators,
Oak Norton published Superintendent Menlove’s reply to his email where Dr. Menlove admits that we have indeed adopted Common Core; however, he does not make any effort to address the places where Utah is bound to the federal mandates—this is, in my opinion, a consistent effort by him and Board members to never address the actual reality of the situation. Please see Dr. Menlove’s response, and please keep in mind that the Common Core Standards creators were clever in their approach to telling states they were only adopting Math and English. The actual cover of the English Language Arts standards reads:
“English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects“
This was a sleight of hand by the Standards creators, and why parents around the country are beginning to see such wordy math problems. All subjects will be enmeshed under Common Core standards, providing an easier framework to slip ideas and beliefs into all subjects.
Here is video of CC architect, David Coleman, talking about how he threatened to resign from writing the standards unless “teachers in history and social studies, and tech subjects bear the responsibility of bringing their kids to literacy.”
But, it is not about bringing English into all subjects, it is about bringing all subjects together so that states, who would never accept the anti-American history standards, would be getting those standards through the back door through the recommended curricula.
Watch from about the 6 min.-7.5 min. point.
I hope legislators will find a way to vet what has actually occurred.
JaKell
Please make your voice heard. Call or write to your local and state leaders. Let them know that this loss of local control is NOT OKAY with you. Speak up or you will lose your window of opportunity to defend freedom and your children’s rights. Silence is acquiescence.
Here’s contact information:
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Kansas is requesting help from all those who care for educational liberty nationwide. Do you have time to send an email or make a phone call?
The Kansas legislature is discussing whether to promote or oppose Common Core. What happens in other states affects our own.
It matters.
http://www.kansas.com/2013/05/16/2806191/kansas-budget-proposal-could-halt.html
Here’s the contact information for the Kansas Legislature.
Kansas House Roster 2013
Name District Capitol Phone Email
Rep. Alcala 57 785 296-7371 john.alcala@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Alford 124 785 296-7656 j.stephen.alford@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Ballard 44 785 296-7697 barbara.ballard@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Barker 70 785 296-7674 john.barker@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Becker 104 785 296-7196 steven.becker@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Bideau 9 785 296-7636 ed.bideau@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Boldra 111 785 296-4683 sue.boldra@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Bollier 21 785 296-7686 barbara.bollier@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Bradford 40 785 296-7653 john.bradford@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Bridges 83 785 296-7646 carolyn.bridges@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Bruchman 20 785 296-7644 rob.bruchman@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Brunk 85 785 296-7645 steve.brunk@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Burroughs 33 785-296-7630 tom.burroughs@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Campbell 26 785 296-7632 larry.campbell@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Carlin 66 785 296-7649 sydney.carlin@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Carlson 61 785 296-7660 richard.carlson@house.ks.gov
Rep. Carpenter 75 785 296-7673 will.carpenter@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Cassidy 120 785 296-7616 ward.cassidy@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Christmann 113 785 296-7640 marshall.christmann@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Claeys 69 785 296-7670 jrclaeys@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Clayton 19 785 296-7655 stephanie.clayton@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Concannon 107 785 296-7677 susan.concannon@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Corbet 54 785 296-7679 ken.corbet@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Couture-Lovelady 110 785 296-4683 travis.couture-lovelady@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Crum 77 785 296-6989 david.crum@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Davis 46 785-296-7630 paul.davis@house.ks.gov,
Rep. DeGraaf 82 785 296-7693 pete.degraaf@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Dierks 71 785 296-7642 diana.dierks@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Dillmore 92 785 296-7698 nile.dillmore@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Doll 123 785 296-7380 john.doll@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Dove 38 785 296-7670 willie.dove@house.ks.gov
Rep. Edmonds 112 785 296-5593 john.edmonds@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Edwards 93 785 296-7640 joe.edwards@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Esau 14 785 296-7631 keith.esau@house.ks.gov ,
Name District Capitol Phone Email
Rep. Ewy 117 785 296-7105 john.ewy@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Finch 59 785 296-7655 blaine.finch@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Finney 84 785 296-7648 gail.finney@house.ks.gov
Rep. Frownfelter 37 785 296-7648 stan.frownfelter@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Gandhi 52 785 296-7672 shanti.gandhi@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Garber 62 785 296-7665 randy.garber@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Goico 94 785 296-7663 mario.goico@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Gonzalez 47 785 296-7500 ramon.gonzalezjr@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Grant 2 785 296-7650 bob.grant@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Grosserode 16 785 296-7659 amanda.grosserode@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Hawkins 100 785 296-7631 dan.hawkins@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Hedke 99 785 296-7699 dennis.hedke@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Henderson 35 785 296-7697 broderick.henderson@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Henry 63 785 296-7688 jerry.henry@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Hermanson 98 785 296-7658 phil.hermanson@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Hibbard 13 785 296-7380 larry.hibbard@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Highland 51 785 296-7310 ron.highland@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Hildabrand 17 785 296-7659 brett.hildabrand@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Hill 60 785 296-7632 don.hill@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Hineman 118 785 296-7636 don.hineman@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Hoffman 116 785 296-7643 kyle.hoffman@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Houser 1 785 296-7679 michael.houser@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Houston 89 785 296-7652 roderick.houston@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Howell 81 785 296-7665 jim.howell@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Huebert 90 785 296-1754 steve.huebert@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Hutton 105 785 296-7673 mark.hutton@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Jennings 122 785 296-7196 russ.jennings@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Johnson 108 785 296-7696 steven.johnson@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Jones 5 785 296-6287 kevin.jones@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Kahrs 87 785 296-5593 mark.kahrs@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Kelley 80 785 296-7671 kasha.kelley@house.ks.gov
Rep. Kelly 11 785 296-6014 jim.kelly@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Kinzer 30 785-296-7692 lance.kinzer@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Kleeb 48 785 296-7680 marvin.kleeb@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Kuether 55 785 296-7669 annie.kuether@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Lane 58 785 296-7649 harold.lane@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Lunn 28 785 296-7675 jerry.lunn@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Lusk 22 785 296-7651 nancy.lusk@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Macheers 39 785 296-7675 charles.macheers@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Mast 76 785-291-3500 peggy.mast@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. McPherson 8 785 296-7695 craig.mcpherson@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Meier 41 785 296-7650 melanie.meier@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Meigs 23 785 296-7656 kelly.meigs@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Menghini 3 785 296-7691 julie.menghini@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Merrick 27 785-296-2302 ray.merrick@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Montgomery 15 785 296-7677 bob.montgomery@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Moxley 68 785 296-7689 tom.moxley@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. O’Brien 42 785 296-7683 connie.obrien@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Osterman 97 785 296-7689 leslie.osterman@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Pauls 102 785 296-7657 jan.pauls@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Peck 12 785 296-7641 virgil.peck@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Perry 24 785 296-7669 emily.perry@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Peterson 32 785 296-7371 michael.peterson@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Petty 125 785 296-7676 reid.petty@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Phillips 67 785 296-6014 tom.phillips@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. J. Powell 50 785 296-7674 joshua.powell@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Proehl 7 785 296-7639 richard.proehl@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Read 4 785 296-7310 marty.read@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Rhoades 72 785 291-3446 marc.rhoades@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Rooker 25 785 296-7686 melissa.rooker@house.ks.gov
Rep. Rothlisberg 65 785 296-7653 allan.rothlisberg@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Rubin 18 785 296-7690 john.rubin@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Ruiz 31 785 296-7122 louis.ruiz@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Ryckman Jr. 78 785 296-6287 ron.ryckman@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Ryckman Sr. 115 785 296-7658 ronald.ryckman@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Sawyer 95 785 296-7691 tom.sawyer@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Schroeder 74 785 296-7500 don.schroeder@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Schwab 49 785 296-7501 scott.schwab@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Schwartz 106 785 296-7637 sharon.schwartz@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Seiwert 101 785 296-7647 joe.seiwert@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Shultz 73 785 296-7684 clark.shultz@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Siegfreid 121 785 368-7166 arlen.siegfreid@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Sloan 45 785 296-7654 tom.sloan@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Sloop 88 785 296-7646 patricia.sloop@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Suellentrop 91 785 296-7681 gene.suellentrop@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Sutton 43 785 296-7676 bill.sutton@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Swanson 64 785 296-7642 vern.swanson@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Thimesch 114 785 296-7105 jack.thimesch@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Tietze 53 785 296-7668 annie.tietze@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Todd 29 785 296-7695 james.todd@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Trimmer 79 785 296-7122 ed.trimmer@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Vickrey 6 785-296-7662 jene.vickrey@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Victors 103 785 296-7651 ponka-we.victors@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Ward 86 785 296-7698 jim.ward@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Waymaster 109 785 296-7672 troy.waymaster@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Weber 119 785 296-5481 brian.weber@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Weigel 56 785 296-7366 virgil.weigel@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Whipple 96 785 296-7366 brandon.whipple@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Wilson 10 785 296-7652 john.wilson@house.ks.gov ,
Rep. Winn 34 785 296-7657 valdenia.winn@house.ks.gov,
Rep. Wolfe Moore 36 785 296-7688 kathy.wolfemoore@house.ks.gov ,
Here’s a letter for reference:
Dear Kansas Legislator,
It might surprise you that a citizen of Utah is going out of her way to ask you to oppose the Common Core agenda taking root in Kansas.
I have studied the Common Core thoroughly. I urge you to study it closely.
1) It isn’t state-led, despite the rhetoric. Legislators and voters were totally bypassed. The NGA is not a constitutionally recognized entity to rule on the national stage.
2) The academic standards are highly controversial, are untested and are based on no evidence to support their theories (diminishing classic literature, slowing math, etc.)
4) THERE IS NO AMENDMENT PROCESS. The standards are under copyright. Local control is gone.
Here are some videos that will help you learn the agenda of Common Core.
Thank you for studying this issue very carefully.
Sincerely,
Christel Swasey
Utah Teacher and Mom
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The Utah Legislative Session begins in two weeks. It is short.
Please call legislators, state school board members and Governor Herbert and ask for the following:
• UT LEGISLATORS MUST WRITE FREEING LEGISLATION – Utah should reclaim its educational sovereignty by following the lead of states such as Indiana and South Carolina which are attempting to break free of Common Core by writing legislation that halts it.
WHY?
• PRIVACY ISSUES – Common Core testing requires that every student be tracked using personally identifiable information that is sent beyond the local school and district to six Utah agencies (Utah Data Alliance) and uses the federally instated “State Longitudinal Database System” (SLDS) which allows interoperability for all states and federal oversight. The Dept. of Education has been sued because it altered Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations without congressional approval to empower common core testing data to be accessed by them and others. These alterations redefine terms such as “authorized representative,” “directory information” and “educational program” to remove the obligation of school systems to keep family information private.
• NO COST ANALYSIS – It is utterly irresponsible to have no cost analyis on Common Core. One of Texas’ and Virginia’s reasons for rejecting it was financial. Texas estimated $560 million just in CC professional development costs. Utah just spent $39 million just on CC test development alone. Corporations such as Pearson, Microsoft, Wireless Generation, and countless others will become wealthy at students’ learning expense and at taxpayer expense as they implement the mandates of common core in textbooks, teacher development courses and technology and sell them to us.
• NO ACADEMIC ANALYSIS – The standards and the preschool- through-workforce system they promote (P-20 system) are not only what amounts to an unfunded mandate; they are academically inferior to what we had before and far inferior to what top states (Massachusetts) had before. The line about “rigor” is a false claim, especially at the high school level. Members of the official CC validation committee Dr. Sandra Stotsky and Dr. James Milgram refused to sign off that these standards were rigorous or legitimate. We note that CC was written without input from any of the major curriculum research universities and is an unpiloted experiment without any metric to measure intended or unintended consequences. Its harms are less marked for lower grades, yet it slashes classic literature by 70% for high school seniors and dramatically dumbs down high school math.
• ILLEGALITY ISSUES – There is a Constitutional ban on federal direction of instruction which is underscored in the 10th amendment and further clarified in a law called the General Educational Provisions Act. Yet the Dept. of Education has gone around the law and congress to promote the copyrighted CC standards (developed by the National Governors’ Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers) and has put a 15% cap on top of it, so that no state may add freely to the supposed “minimum” standards. Additionally, the CC national tests are written specifically to CC standards, to divest the 15% allowance of states’ “wiggle room” of meaning. The Dept. of Education has coerced states into adopting the CC, using the lure of possible grant monies, and this financial incentivization has not put the best academic interests of children first.
Additionally, share a video link:
There are five short videos which explain Common Core very simply and with verifiable references (point out that the State Office of Education does not provide references for claims in any explanation of what Common Core is.)
There are 5 videos and each is short. The American Principles Project created them, with Concerned Women of Georgia.
http://stopcommoncore.com/youtube-channel-dvd/
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COMMON CORE 