Defunding Common Core Standards--NCLB Waivers And Why Urgent Attention From Parents Needed

10.6.11 -- “The Roadmap to Winning a NCLB Waiver” – Donna Garner’s response to this article:

Bottomline: The Obama administration will pick the “judges” and “set the definitions.”  Whoever has that kind of control will determine the outcomes.  In other words, the Obama administration will be able to decide beforehand which states get the NCLB waivers and which ones won’t.  Those states that dance to the Obama administration’s tune (meaning the adoption of Common Core Standards and its accompanying national standards, national curriculum, national assessments, teachers’ salaries tied to students’ test scores, teachers teaching to the test each and every day, national indoctrination of our public school children, national database with student/educator/family-identifiable data) will get the NCLB waivers.  AND all of this will be done right under the noses of Congress without their ever having taken a single vote.

I beg of you to contact your Congressmen. (I have posted various Congressional e-mail addresses at the bottom of this page.)  All they have to do is to cut the funding for Common Core Standards/Race to the Top RIGHT NOW, and the whole Obama scheme would come falling down in ashes.

States and locals can work together to write their own standards that are explicit, grade-level-specific, knowledge-based, academic, and measurable.  Then these standards can be tested with a majority of objective (instead of subjective), right-or-wrong answers so that the resulting student scores can be trusted.

In May 2008 Texas began redoing its curriculum standards and is in the process of redoing its testing and accountability system.  Other states could do the same.  The Texas Education Agency has even offered to help other states to develop their own state-specific process.  

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2011/09/_overall_instructions_a_plan.html?cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS1

Roadmap to Winning an NCLB Waiver

By Michele McNeil on September 29, 2011 6:01 AM

Although Education Secretary Arne Duncan holds the ultimate power in choosing which states get a No Child Left Behind waiver and which don't, a group of outside judges will wield a tremendous amount of influence in deciding states' fates.

And now, the very important peer review guidebook is out from the department, which issues instructions to the judges as they evaluate each state's waiver plan. This document outlines (almost) exactly what states have to do to win the judges over and get coveted flexibility under NCLB.

The judges have not been selected yet, and it's unclear how many will be needed and if their names will be made public before the judging starts. (If you'll remember, in Race to the Top, their identities were kept secret until after the winners were announced by the department, they said, to prevent undue influence.)

In the guidance, there are a lot of clear-cut, yes or no questions that will be easy for the judges to answer: Is the state part of the Common Core or has its university system certified that its standards are college- and career-ready? Does a state's school turnaround strategy include a provision for additional student learning time? Did a state attach its guidelines for its teacher and principal evaluation systems?

But then come the more complicated, nuanced, and even controversial decisions and judgments peer reviewers will have to make.

Overall, peer reviewers for the waiver package will be deciding whether a plan is "high-quality," and "comprehensive and coherent." They will also be looking for whether the plan will increase the quality of instruction and improve student achievement.

The judges also will examine whether the state "meaningfully" engaged and solicited input from teachers and their representatives. More importantly, the judges will be told to ask: Will implementation be successful because of the input and "commitment" of teachers and their representatives? Commitment seems like a pretty strong word, and seems akin to the buy-in the department stressed as part of Race to the Top.

Then, the peer reviewers will drill down and focus on the three main commitments states have to make to get more freedom under NCLB.

On adopting college and career ready standards

Judges will ask: Is there a plan to provide professional development to teachers and principals? Will the state disseminate high-quality instructional materials to accompany the new standards? Is the state planning to increase access to college-level courses, dual-enrollment courses, and other accelerated learning opportunities? Is the state going to work with colleges of education to better prepare teachers for the new standards?

On creating a differentiated accountability system

Are the state's new proficiency targets ambitious but achievable given the state's existing proficiency rates? In identifying rewards for successful schools, has the state made the case that the rewards will actually be meaningful and worthwhile to schools? For the "focus schools" (those that aren't in the bottom 5 percent, but are within another 10 percent of the state's most-troubled schools), has the state justified that the interventions selected will actually increase student achievement? Has the state outlined a rigorous review process for outside providers who will help with school turnaround work?

On adopting guidelines to improve teacher and principal effectiveness

Is student growth a significant enough part of the new evaluation system to differentiate among teachers who have made "significantly different contributions" (emphasis added) to student growth or closing achievement gaps? Will evaluations be frequent enough? Is there a plan for differentiated professional development based on evaluations? Will the state's plan ensure that local school districts will actually be able to put these new evaluation systems into place by 2013-14 (as a pilot), and 2014-15 (full implementation)?

What's missing? The guidance offers zero help to peer reviewers (or states) as to what it means for a state to have to use its new evaluation system to "inform personnel decisions." So, what does that mean? Can you give the poorly performing teachers lunch duty, and does that count? Will you need to hire and fire based on the evaluations? This is a huge question mark.

The Politics K-12 initial takeaway: The extensive number of questions in the Common Core section makes it clear that the department sees implementing standards as a huge challenge. There seems to be a lot of room for interpretation, especially in the teacher evaluation section, and in deciding whether state-designed interventions in low-performing schools are appropriate. If it wasn't clear before, it is now: The people chosen to be peer reviewers—their backgrounds, their ideologies, their employers—will matter greatly.

Senators -- E-Mail Addresses

(2.10.11)

Senate -- Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee

http://help.senate.gov/

Senator Tom Harkin                        Committee Chairman   (D-IA)   Democrat
E-mail Address(es):
  harkinintern8_help@help.senate.gov

Senator Michael Enzi                                                      (R-WY)
E-mail Address(es):
 (Delete contact) 

Senator Lamar Alexander                                                (R-TN)
E-mail Address(es):
  brandon_ball@alexander.senate.gov

Senator Richard Burr                                                      (R-NC)
E-mail Address(es):
  eric_leath@burr.senate.gov

Senator Johnny Isakson                                                  (R-GA)
E-mail Address(es):
  glee_smith@isakson.senate.gov

Senator Rand Paul                                                          (R-KY)
E-mail Address(es):
  seana_cranston@paul.senate.gov

Senator Orrin Hatch                                                         (R-UT)

E-mail Address(es):
  juliann_andreen@hatch.senate.gov

Senator Orrin Hatch                                                        (R-UT)
E-mail Address(es):
  senatorhatch@hatch.senate.gov

Senator John McCain                                                      (R-AZ)
E-mail Address(es):
  christopher_bowlin@mccain.senate.gov

Senator Pat Roberts                                                       (R-KS)
E-mail Address(es):
  joshua_yurek@roberts.senate.gov

Senator Lisa Murkowski                                                 (R-AK)                                                  
E-mail Address(es):
  karen_mccarthy@murkowski.senate.gov

Senator Mark Kirk                                                           (R-IL)
E-mail Address(es):
  jeannette_windon@kirk.senate.gov

 Senators -- Other

Senator Tom Coburn                                                          (R-OK)
E-mail Address(es):
  jenny_clem@coburn.senate.gov

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Congressmen -- E-Mail Addresses

(2.10.11)

Congressmen -- Education & the Workforce Committee

http://edworkforce.house.gov/Committee/SubcommitteesJurisdictions.htm

Congressman John Kline           Chairman   (R-MN)
E-mail Address(es):
  brian.melnyk@mail.house.gov

Congressman Tom Petri                        (R-WI)
E-mail Address(es):

(Contact deleted)        

Congressman Buck McKeon                (R-CA)
E-mail Address(es):
  chris.perry@mail.house.gov

Congresswoman Judy Biggert                (R-IL)
E-mail Address(es):
  brian.looser@mail.house.gov

Congressman Todd Platts                        (R-PA)
E-mail Address(es):
  mollie.vanlieu@mail.house.gov

Congressman Joe Wilson                        (R-SC)
E-mail Address(es):
  melissa.chandler@mail.house.gov

Congressman Duncan Hunter                   (R-CA)
E-mail Address(es):
  allison.sadoian@mail.house.gov

Congressman David Roe                           (R-TN)
E-mail Address(es):
  amanda.little@mail.house.gov

Congressman Glenn Thompson                   (R-PA)
E-mail Address(es):
  matthew.brennan@mail.house.gov

Congressmen -- Other

Congressman Eric Cantor           Majority Leader      (R-VA)
E-mail Address(es):
  liz.keith@mail.house.gov

Congressman Paul Ryan                                    (R-WI)            Chm. -- House Budget Comm.
E-mail Address(es):
  allison.steil@mail.house.gov

Congressman Darrell Issa                                    (R-CA)                   Comm. on Oversight,  Comm. on Judiciary
E-mail Address(es):
  kelsey.kerr@mail.house.gov

Congressman Mike Pence                                    (R-IN)                    2008 -- Chm. House Repub. Conf.
E-mail Address(es):
  lindsey.craig@mail.house.gov

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

Truth That Common Core or National Standards Is Truly A Dumbing Down--Even In Science

Boston Herald

Circulation: 185,000

Science friction

By Boston Herald Editorial Staff | Sunday, August 14, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Editorials

We’ve always thought Massachusetts should stay out of national curriculum standards in math and English because our standards were better, but the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education signed up anyway. We did say national standards were bound to be an improvement for many states. Now we’re no longer so sure.

An influential body has proposed new science curriculum standards (“frameworks” in education jargon). The state board plans to align the Massachusetts standards with whatever national ones emerge. Both the board and the national organizations sponsoring the “Common Core” project should reject this bewildering effort from the National Academy of Sciences.

We were alerted to this by Ze’ev Wurman, a software expert who helped develop California’s standards and who commented critically on the new Massachusetts standards. In his blog comment on the Academy’s proposal he said: “The framework does not expect students to use any kind of analytical mathematics while studying science.”

The document only expects students by grade 12 to be competent in recognizing this and expressing that, and in using “simple mathematical expressions’” to see if something “makes sense,” Wurman wrote.

Wurman could find only one equation in all 280 pages of the proposal. A careful reading of the 29 pages of the physical sciences section, where equations would be most important, found none at all.

This is baffling. Mathematics, to which the authors devoted much praise, is the language of science. Wurman’s conclusion, which we share: The document “simply teaches our students science appreciation.”

The size of the document is a disqualifier, too. Teachers and principals need a concise document that will tell them what students need to know and how to learn it, not endless streams of sludgy prose.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/editorials/view.bg?articleid=1358585

Texas Gov Rick Perry asks "Why would we trade our ability to educate our children?"

Gov. Rick Perry on National Education Standards”

9.30.10

 

Quotes from Texas Governor Rick Perry in this excellent video:

“The fact is,” Perry said, “that Washington’s Race to the Top, with their national standards, and their national testing — yet to be worked out, of course — we think would be devastating to the young people in the state of Texas.”

“Why would we trade our ability to educate our children for some faceless bureaucrat in Washington, D.C., for, frankly, a small amount of money in the grand scheme of things?”

 

Please click on this link to watch a brief but very important video in which Gov. Perry warns about the federal takeover of the public schools by the Obama administration:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7hgCntt6zI&feature=player_embedded

 

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

 

============================================

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/09/29/dont-mess-with-texas-gov-rick-perry-leads-opposition-to-national-standards/

The Heritage Foundation -- The Foundry

Exclusive Interview with Gov. Rick Perry

Posted September 29th, 2010 at 3:00pm

President Obama and his administration have mostly escaped criticism during the week-long Education Nation series on NBC. But outside the friendly confines of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, there’s a different view of the Obama administration’s desire to centralize control in Washington, D.C.

While an alarming number of states have signed on to Obama’s education agenda — which seeks to consolidate power with federal bureaucrats — some leaders are willing to take a stand. Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) is one of them. He has led the opposition to national education standards. He makes a powerful and principled case for protecting local control and preserving federalism. Perry spoke exclusively to Heritage about the issue.

The administration has used its Race to the Top grant program to quietly convince 34 states to support national standards. Congress had no say in the matter. In fact, the standards were developed by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers.

“The fact is,” Perry said, “that Washington’s Race to the Top, with their national standards, and their national testing — yet to be worked out, of course — we think would be devastating to the young people in the state of Texas.”

Equally troubling for Perry is the process by which the Obama administration has persuaded states to support its education agenda. By dangling money before cash-starved states, many governors jumped at the chance to compete for Race to the Top grants. Perry wasn’t enticed.

“Why would we trade our ability to educate our children for some faceless bureaucrat in Washington, D.C., for, frankly, a small amount of money in the grand scheme of things?”

Perry might be the most vocal, but he’s not alone. After the first round of Race to the Top concluded, nine states had reconsidered and, for a variety of reasons, chose not to participate in the second round of competition. States with high standards — notably Massachusetts and Virginia — have expressed concern about moving backward. Still, it’s an uphill battle.

Perry recognizes the challenge, but remains hopeful that a new crop of governors might next year reconsider ceding so much control to the federal government.

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

Tying It Neatly--Title I Funds To Common Core=Nationalizing Education?

To:  All Texans 

Date:  9.18.10

Please read carefully these excerpts from one of my previous articles because there is a possibility that the Obama administration might try to tie Title I funds to Common Core Standards/ Race to the Top.  If that were to happen, we in Texas would need to be prepared to wage a huge battle to keep the feds from completely taking over our public schools (e.g., as my article below explains).

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

(1)  On 9.16.10, I wrote “Am I a Wacko Now?” (http://www.educationnews.org/index.php?news=100137 ) in which I tried to warn people all around the country that the Obama administration has succeeded in taking over the public schools of nearly every state (except for Texas and Alaska) through Common Core Standards (CCS) and Race to the Top (RTTT). This was done while many conservatives and Republicans basically “sat on their hands” and did nothing. 

Obama and his administration skillfully groomed CCS/RTTT to divide and conquer, thus silencing the usual conservative/Republican opposition to Big Government.  Obama, working with U. S. Sect. of Education Arne Duncan and using Bill Gates’ money, managed to inject into CCS/RTTT an  emphasis on charter schools (which the conservatives/Republicans basically like). 

Secondly, the Obama administration also tied individual students’ assessment scores directly to teacher evaluations, thus inflaming the teachers’ unions (another aspect that conservatives/Republicans generally like because they prefer private enterprise to unions).

By inserting these two provisions into CCS/RTTT, the Obama administration and the Democrats successfully silenced the usual opposition; and while the country was fighting the federal takeover of the public schools, most citizens missed the fact that the federal government was taking over their children’s public schools.

Unfortunately, the charter schools that the Obama administration is supporting are not the kind of charter schools that the conservatives/Republicans are picturing.  Remember that Sect. of Education Arne Duncan tried to establish a gay charter school while he was the superintendent in Chicago, and nothing could make the Obama crowd any happier than to have “social justice” charter schools.

As of Sept. 9, 2010, thirty-seven (37) states had signed up to follow the Common Core Standards.  

The following states “won” the right to have their students thoroughly indoctrinated by the federal government because these states are taking the federal funds from Race to the Top:  District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Tennessee 

The ironic part is that the threat/carrot/stick of Race to the Top caused other states to push through the Obama administration’s CCS/RTTT stipulations to try to get the funds, but the federal funds only pay the state a one-time fee of approximately $75 per student.  For this pittance, the above-mentioned states have put their students directly into the hands of the Obama administration.

As you study the graphic below (highlighted in red), please ask yourself how easy it would be for the Obama administration to input pro-Islam/anti-Christian, anti-Judeo and social justice bias (multiculturalism, political correctness, global warming, diversity, acceptance of homosexuality, etc.) into the national assessments.

The CCS (1) English / Language Arts and (2) Math standards have already been published; the (3) Science CCS are in the pipeline; and the (4) Social Studies CCS are coming soon.

No public hearings have been held on any of these curriculum requirement documents nor are any likely to be held in the future.

The people chosen to write these documents are aligned with the Obama administration.  The entire CCS/RTTT plan was never voted on by our elected members of Congress. 

As the graphic below shows, teachers will be forced by CCS/RTTT to “teach to the test” each and every day because their jobs will depend upon it.  Sadly, the “tests” will actually be “national assessments” meaning that they will not have right-or-wrong, up-or-down answers.

Instead, the national assessments will be performance-based and subjectively scored based upon the value system of the scorer.  Subjectivity allows for students’ opinions, beliefs, and emotions to be assessed by scorers who have opinions, beliefs, and emotions that may not be in line with those of students’ parents. The U. S. Department of Education has awarded $330 million for these national assessments to be developed.   

Worse yet, to whom will the parent go to complain if he feels his child’s national assessments have been graded wrong -- to the U. S. Department of Education in the insular world of  Washington, D. C.? 

This is the way that the Common Core Standards and Race to the Top work.  The arrows mean “lead to.”

National standards  →  national assessments  →  national curriculum → teachers’ salaries tied to students’ test scores  →  teachers teaching to the test each and every day  →  national indoctrination of our public school children  →  national database of students and teachers

It is past time for citizens to rise up and stop the takeover of the public schools by those who want to crush the principles upon which our country is founded.  

I would encourage each person who reads this e-mail to contact those who are running for elected office on Nov. 2, 2010, and get a firm commitment from them that they will commit to repeal the appropriation of funds for Common Core Standards and Race to the Top. 

So far, there was $100 Billion in the Stimulus package for public schools with $1.35 Billion in Obama’s 2011 budget for education. The jobs bill passed on 8.4.10 and contained $26 Billion for the public schools.  Enough is enough.  

I also believe it is time for Congress to repeal all funding for the

U. S. Department of Education because it has become a funnel through which indoctrination is pouring into our children’s minds.  Those duties that the U. S. Dept. of Education does that are imperative need to be shuffled off to other government agencies to perform.

Remember that Kevin Jennings was chosen to head up the U. S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. 

Jennings is also the founder of Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN); and it was his organization that led discussions at a “Fistgate” seminar in Massachusetts where young teens were guided on how to perform dangerous homosexual perversions, including fisting.

If you want to learn even more about Common Core Standards/Race to the Top, please read further:

Posted by Donna Garner on 9.8.10:

CCSI Exposed--Can America Afford To Be In The Dark?--The Price Are The Children--Beware and Act Now with Knowledge

Hear the true story of the takeover of the public schools by the Obama administration (with the help of Bill Gates et al) under the Common Core Standards Initiative and the Race to the Top. 

In this roundtable discussion, you will hear explanations from:

Professor Jim Milgram (mathematics content specialist, Stanford University)

Professor Sandra Stotsky (English / Language Arts content specialist,University of Arkansas)

Betty Peters (member of Alabama State Board of Education)

Peyton Wolcott (investigative journalist in Texas,www.peytonwolcott.com)

Beth Schultz (math educator, parent activist in Maine)

Diana Crews (Alabama radio host of City on a Hill,http://cityonahill.squarespace.com/city-on-a-hill-blogs/2010/9/4/nationalizing-or-federalizing-education-ccsi-the-inside-stor.html )

Donna Garner (activist and retired Texas teacher) 

Summary graphic:

National standards  →  national tests  →  national curriculum → teachers’ salaries tied to students’ test scores  →  teachers teaching to the test each and every day  →  national indoctrination of our public school children  →  national database

Please click here to listen to the roundtable discussion:

Direct download: 9-1-10_CCSI_part_2.mp3

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

National Standards-National Tests and at the End--National Database!

9.8.10

CCSI Exposed--Can America Afford To Be In The Dark?--The Price Are The Children--Beware and Act Now with Knowledge

Hear the true story of the takeover of the public schools by the Obama administration (with the help of Bill Gates et al) under the Common Core Standards Initiative and the Race to the Top. 

In this roundtable discussion, you will hear explanations from:

Professor Jim Milgram (mathematics content specialist, Stanford University)

Professor Sandra Stotsky (English / Language Arts content specialist, University of Arkansas)

Betty Peters (member of Alabama State Board of Education)

Peyton Wolcott (investigative journalist in Texas, www.peytonwolcott.com)

Beth Schultz (math educator, parent activist in Maine)

Diana Crews (Alabama radio host of City on a Hill, http://cityonahill.squarespace.com/city-on-a-hill-blogs/2010/9/4/nationalizing-or-federalizing-education-ccsi-the-inside-stor.html )

Donna Garner (activist and retired Texas teacher) 

Summary graphic:

National standards  →  national tests  →  national curriculum → teachers’ salaries tied to students’ test scores  →  teachers teaching to the test each and every day  →  national indoctrination of our public school children  →  national database

Please click here to listen to the roundtable discussion:

Direct download: 9-1-10_CCSI_part_2.mp3

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com