CONSERVATIVE LEADERS URGE GOV. SCOTT WALKER TO REJECT COMMON CORE

Tea party and conservative leaders from across Wisconsin have sent Gov. Scott Walker (R) an open letter urging him to reject the Common Core State Standards.

In the letter, dated November 26th, the 61 leaders ask Walker to lead a repeal of the Common Core standards in Wisconsin and abide by the same words he himself wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal editorial:

Too many people in politics today spend their time trying not to lose instead of trying to do the right thing. They would better serve the country by worrying more about the next generation than the next election. The irony is that politicians who spend more time worrying about the next generation than about the next election often tend to win the next election – because voters are starved for leadership.

In September, Walker joined other Republican governors who were beginning to reconsider their states’ participation in the Common Core testing consortia. Wisconsin, in fact, was one of the first states to adopt Common Core in 2010 under State Superintendent Tony Evers.

However, when critics began to articulate concerns about the merits of the standards, the vast amount of student data collection involved in their implementation, and the realization that the federal government was more invested in Common Core than was originally believed, Walker decided that Wisconsin could do better.

“I’d like to have Wisconsin have its own unique standards that I think can be higher than what’s been established and what’s been talked about at the national level,” the governorsaid.

According to Fox News, though, Walker has not yet committed to specific improvements in his state’s education standards, nor has he announced his intention to rescind Common Core in Wisconsin.

Via: Breitbart

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RUMOR CHECK: A ‘MESSIANIC’ OBAMA DEPICTED IN BOOK FOR GRADE SCHOOLERS?

The scuttlebutt is that the poetry-based mini-biography “Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope” paints the president with a “messianic” brush and is reportedly a Common Core fave.

Gateway Pundit noted “Common Core kid’s book teaches 3rd graders that Barack Obama is honest, kind, fair and godlike.” It went on to quote EAG News:

… a new lesson that casts America’s 44th president in a messianic light. Literally.

And – surprise – it’s Common Core-aligned.

EAG called attention to a teacher’s guide for “Son of Promise” which is titled “Barack Obama Lesson Plan and Prezi,” authored by Sherece Bennett, and is for sale atTeachersPayTeachers.com.

TheBlaze picked up a copy of “Son of Promise.” Here’s what we found out:

Via: The Blaze

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Common Core Instructs Students To Learn About Gettysburg Address Without Mentioning Civil War

Is it possible to teach students the meaning behind President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address without mentioning the Civil War?

According to the government’s new Common Core education standards, the Gettysburg Address must be taught without mentioning the Civil War and explaining why President Lincoln was in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The Student Achievement Partners instructions tell teachers to, “Refrain from giving background context or substantial instructional guidance at the outset…This close reading approach forces students to rely exclusively on the text…and levels the playing field for all students as the seek to comprehend Lincoln’s address.”

Via: Fox News Insider

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Chart of the Week: How Many Edu-crats Does Your State Have?

Federal laws and regulations such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) levy a mighty bureaucratic compliance burden on state departments of education.

A recent report conducted by The Heritage Foundation finds that state departments of education on average have 142 employees per million state residents.

To manage the decades of federal growth and the corresponding paperwork burden placed on states, state departments of education have staff to manage the hundreds of hoops and federal regulations requiring them to demonstrate compliance with federal programs and mandates.

Via: The Foundry

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[VIDEO] Fourth graders get lesson in white privilege, racism due to Common Core

Your fourth-grader may be getting a little instruction in racism and white privilege along with his lessons in reading and writing.

A series of teaching guides, published recently by Zaner- Bloser Inc. and designed to be compliant with Common Core national standards in math and English, appear to do exactly that, according to EAG News.

The suggested fourth-grade lesson plan dedicates two weeks to the book, “The Jacket,” and mixes a little literature with a heavy dose of “white privilege,” according to EAG, which reported:

The story centers around a young white boy named Phil who wrongly accuses an African-American student of stealing his brother’s jacket.

It’s a fun little book about racism and white privilege – a left-wing concept that teaches African Americans the values of American society are designed to benefit white people.

Maybe it’s time we went back to the “Dick and Jane” series, when kids actually learned how to read and comprehend, free of ideology.

Watch the video from EAG News.

Via: Biz Pac Review

[MUST RED FOR PARENTS] Lesson has kindergarteners fill in bubbles to prepare for standardized tests

MUSKEGON, Mich. –  One teacher has found a clever way to profit off the Common Core-related tests that are about to be inflicted upon the nation’s youngest students.

A new worksheet, found on Teachers PayTeachers.com, trains kindergarteners how to carefully color in bubbles to prepare for the standardized tests related to Common Core national standards.

The lesson also trains young children not to color in the pictures on a standardized test or to write their names anywhere on the official booklet, according to the product’s creator, Maggie’s Kindergarten.

The lesson’s product description explains the need for such training: “Though many K-2 teachers will argue the reasoning behind giving a standardized test to a young child, we accept that educational mandates require us to do so. We also must acknowledge that such tests not only test Common Core Skills, but also skills that may not be required by Common Core at the Kindergarten level.”

Is this really what education has come down to – preparing for standardized tests? We’re all for assessing how students are learning and the effectiveness of educators, but this seems to be getting a little ridiculous.

And for those that attack corporations for “getting rich off of schoolchildren,” it seems teachers are getting in on the game, too.

As one commentator put it, “Don’t blame Pearson for this one.”

Via: EAG

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Updated: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan apologizes for “white suburban moms” remark

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan brought a firestorm of criticism on himself over the weekend, after remarking on Friday that “white suburban moms” oppose the Common Core standard in schools because they discovered “their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were” — and now he’s apologizing.

Duncan’s remarks came at an event for state superintendents of education. The Secretary was apparently attempting to convey that many people don’t anticipate the high achievement requirements in the Common Core standards, and are therefore startled when students underperform their expectations.

“It’s fascinating to me that some of the pushback is coming from, sort of, white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were, and that’s pretty scary,” Duncan said, according to The Washington Post. “You’ve bet your house and where you live and everything on, ‘My child’s going to be prepared.’ That can be a punch in the gut.”

He added that students were now competing on an international academic playing field, instead of just nationally.

Duncan apologized on Monday for his comments.

“My wording, my phrasing, was a little clumsy and I apologize for that,” he told CNN.

He reiterated that his point was to convey the higher standards of achievement that are need to compete in a  ”globally competitive work force.”

Duncan’s remarks received scattered press coverage, and the media focused on his dramatic-sounding — and definitely offensive — quote while leaving out the necessary context: agree or disagree with Common Core, American kids could seem ‘less brilliant’ when compared internationally. Comparison of test scores internationally is incredibly complex and there are many factors to consider, but at face value — what parents are likely to see of the data — Duncan’s statement has a ring of truth. Plus, the second half of his quote clearly reveals his concern for parents who are worried about their child’s success.

Via: Red Alert Politics

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Carney dodges on Duncan comments

The White House on Monday sidestepped a brewing controversy over whether Education Secretary Arne Duncan had erred when he said last week that "white suburban moms" were opposing new education standards.

Press secretary Jay Carney said he had not seen Duncan's "full comments" and had not spoken to President Obama about the remark.

But he also defended the apparent spirit of Duncan's comments, in which the secretary said it was "fascinating" that opposition to the Common Core standards was coming from “white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were.”

"If his point was that we need to be honest with kids and parents about whether we're providing the skills they need to succeed, I think we can all agree on that," Carney said. "So, again, I haven't had a discussion with the president about that, but I think the broader point that we need to be honest about whether we're providing the skills these — our children need to succeed, I think we can agree on that."

Asked if it was "appropriate" for Duncan to single out white mothers for their opposition to the standards, Carney again declined to respond.

"I can just tell you that the secretary of Education and everybody on the president's team dedicated to this effort is focused on making sure that we do everything we can, working with states and others, to ensure that our kids are getting the education they need for the 21st century," he said.

Duncan's remarks about the Common Core standards were reported by The Washington Post.

The controversial federal initiative is designed to standardize a single set of education criteria for English and Math studies from kindergarten through 12th grade. All but five states have adopted the standards, which are supported by a $4.35 billion stimulus grant.

Via: The Hill

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U. S. Education Secretary: ‘White Suburban Moms’ Upset Common Core Shows Their Kids Aren’t ‘Brilliant’

YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP! IS HE SERIOUS WITH THIS CRAP?

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told a group of state schools superintendents Friday that he found it “fascinating” that some of the opposition to the Common Core State Standards has come from “white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were.”

 

Yes, he really said that. But he has said similar things before. What, exactly, is he talking about?

In his cheerleading for the controversial Common Core State Standards — which were approved by 45 states and the District of Columbia and are now being implemented across the country (though some states are reconsidering) — Duncan has repeatedly noted that the standards and the standardized testing that goes along with them are more difficult than students in most states have confronted.

The Common Core was designed to elevate teaching and learning. Supporters say it does that; critics say it doesn’t and that some of the standards, especially for young children, are not developmentally appropriate. Whichever side you fall on regarding the Core’s academic value, there is no question that their implementation in many areas has been miserable — so miserable that American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, a Core supporter, recently compared it to another particularly troubled rollout:

You think the Obamacare implementation is bad? The implementation of the Common Core is far worse.

Via: Washington Post

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