Thanks to Jamie Gass for this compilation of news outlets that are covering the national Common Core controversy.

“The Common Core is in trouble,” said Randi Weingarten, the AFT union president,  “There is a serious backlash in lots of different ways, on the right and on the left.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/turmoil-swirling-around-common-core-education-standards/2013/04/29/7e2b0ec4-b0fd-11e2-bbf2-a6f9e9d79e19_story.html

The Wall Street Journal: New School Standards Spur a Backlash

http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-223674/

The Hill: GOP — White House taking over state education policy

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/297219-gop-says-obama-administration-taking-over-education-policy-with-no-input-from-congress

Washington Post: Turmoil swirling around Common Core education standards

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/turmoil-swirling-around-common-core-education-standards/2013/04/29/7e2b0ec4-b0fd-11e2-bbf2-a6f9e9d79e19_story.html

Washington Times: Common Core school standards hit another roadblock, this time in Indiana

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/apr/29/common-core-school-standards-hit-another-roadblock/

Washington Times: Indiana legislature latest to halt application of Common Core school standards

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/29/resistance-to-the-nationwide-k-12-school-standards/

Michigan: Michigan House Blocks Common Core Implementation

http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2013/04/25/michigan-house-blocks-common-core-implementation

Michigan: Michigan Pulling Away from Common Core

http://blog.heritage.org/2013/04/26/michigan-pulling-away-from-common-core/

Atlanta: Are we rushing Common Core without field testing it?

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/apr/30/are-we-rushing-common-core-without-field-testing-i/

New York Daily News: Teachers union chief Randi Weingarten has it correct on Common Core

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/randi-wrong-article-1.1331669

Washington Post: AFT’s Weingarten urges moratorium on high stakes linked to Common Core tests

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/30/afts-weingarten-urges-moratorium-on-high-stakes-linked-to-new-standardized-tests/

Washington Examiner: AFT’s Randi Weingarten calls for time out on Common Core testing

http://washingtonexaminer.com/afts-randi-weingarten-calls-for-time-out-on-common-core-testing/article/2528627

Fox News/NY: Common Core standards facing criticism

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/22124434/common-core-standards-facing-criticism

NJ: Concern Expressed Over Common Core System and Privacy Issues

http://thealternativepress.com/articles/concern-expressed-over-common-core-system-and-pri

Indy Star: Hoosiers are right to be wary about Common Core

http://www.indystar.com/article/20130430/OPINION03/304300036/Hoosiers-right-wary-about-Common-Core

Mississippi: Beware of the Common Core State Standards

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130501/OPINION/305010158/Beware-Common-Core-State-Standards

OH: Teachers Union Worried About Common Core Tests

http://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2013/05/01/ohio-teachers-union-worried-about-common-core-tests/

OH: Growing criticism of Common Core

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130429/NEWS/304290016/Growing-criticism-Common-Core

NH: Common core education talk draws opponents in Manchester

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130501/NEWS04/130509962/0/FRONTPAGE

TN: Common Core pushback in TN

http://www.examiner.com/article/current-common-core-standards-to-change

TN: New common core standards raise questions in Tenn.

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/viewart/20130501/NEWS01/305010030/New-common-core-standards-raise-questions-Tenn-

TN: New Common Core Standards Raise Questions

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/22131452/new-common-core-standards-raise-questions

TN: Critics speak out about new Common Core standards

http://www.wkrn.com/story/22124884/critics-speak-out-about-new-common-core-standards

Huff Post: Common Core Stakes Moratorium Proposed By Unions As National Standards Face Backlash

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/30/common-core-moratorium-teacher-evaluations_n_3187419.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

AZ: Common Core draws praise, pejoratives

http://www.azjournal.com/2013/05/01/common-core-standards-draw-praise-pejoratives/

PA: Opponents say Common Core oversimplifies education, lessens local control

http://articles.dailyamerican.com/2013-04-30/news/38938363_1_common-core-state-standards-early-childhood-education-school-board-member

FL: Who Supports, Opposes The Common Core?

http://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2013/05/01/who-supports-opposes-the-common-core/

Christian Post: Eight US Senators Join Fight Against Common Core

http://www.christianpost.com/news/eight-senators-join-fight-against-common-core-94876/

WY: The dangers of ‘Common Core’

http://trib.com/opinion/letters/the-dangers-of-common-core/article_0a192301-8dc4-5b70-8177-206c5bc8f020.html

By STEPHANIE BANCHERO http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444549204578022683272864910.html

  

Most people don’t know the difference between a P.T.A. and a P.T.O.

Main difference: PTA is a national group, while PTOs are locally controlled and don’t have to pay national leadership.

In this Wall Street Journal article, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444549204578022683272864910.html

we find out the differences.  We also find out why one parent-teacher organization (PTA) is suing the other (PTO)!

I decided not to join my child’s school’s PTA this year.  I’ll give money directly to the school or the classroom, but not to the PTA.  Why?  Only one reason:  because the National PTA is pushing Common Core. 

They’ve taken huge donations from Bill Gates to promote Common Core, which is not good for our kids.  And they don’t even admit Common Core is far from a politically neutral movement.  But anyway…

Here’s this week’s article on the subject, reposted from the Wall Street Journal:

CHICAGO—The national PTA sued a rival parent group in court here, claiming the group is infringing on its trademark and poaching members, in the latest controversy involving parents’ role in public education.

The National Congress of Parents and Teachers, the umbrella organization of the PTA, sued the parent company of PTO Today on Wednesday in U.S. District Court, accusing the for-profit company of using “false and misleading statements encouraging members to leave the National PTA” and opt, instead, to form a local parent-teacher organization, or PTO.

The 115-year-old, nonprofit PTA is a membership organization with about 25,000 chapters and roughly five million parents who pay annual dues of between $5 and $10. Donations made up nearly $10 million of the organization’s $14 million in annual revenue in 2011, according to its annual report. PTA officials say membership has dropped steadily for at least 10 years, but declined to provide exact figures.

The PTA provides resources and advice to parents, and it also lobbies local and national lawmakers on behalf of public schools. It supports “adequate and equitable” funding for schools, and opposes vouchers.

PTO Today, founded in 1999 and a unit of School Family Media Inc., provides resources to thousands of independent parent groups, many known as PTOs, and to local PTAs, according to PTO Today, which was founded by Tim Sullivan, who estimates there are about 55,000 PTOs.

The company’s revenue primarily comes from advertising in the monthly magazine it produces for elementary schools. PTO Today doesn’t lobby.

The suit claims that PTO Today has traded on the venerable PTA trademark and used false advertising to imply an association between the two groups. As a result, the suit claims, the PTA has suffered irreparable harm.

In the suit, the PTA asks the court to prohibit PTO Today from encouraging local PTA groups to leave the national chapter. It also asks the court to bar PTO Today from using the PTA name on its website, magazine or ads.

The two sides say they have spent the last few years trying to settle the matter before the suit was filed.

“They have made a number of false statements about the PTA and have laid out a road map for parents to leave the PTA,” said Betsy Landers, president of the national PTA, in a phone interview.

Mr. Sullivan denied the charges. He noted that the PTA has been losing membership since its heyday in the 1960s, when it claimed 12 million parents. “It is not the fault of PTO that the PTA is struggling,” he said in an interview.