Posted on 06/13/2013 9:55:20 AM PDT by Deadeye Division
As some conservative state lawmakers push last-minute legislation to block Common Core standards for math and English, supporters of the curriculum guidelines adopted by Ohio and 44 other states are going on the offensive.
StudentsFirst, an education-advocacy group, is mailing fliers this week to Republican voters in the districts of GOP legislators touting some well-known conservative politicians and business leaders who back the standards.
“Our intent is to combat myths about Common Core standards that are being perpetuated by some conservative provocateurs such as Glenn Beck, which have spread like wildfire, and seem intent on falsely casting (the standards) as if they were the educational equivalent to Obamacare,” said Greg Harris, Ohio director for StudentsFirst.
Ohio and 47 other states developed the standards as part of an initiative launched by the National Governors Association and the states’ education chiefs.
Ohio adopted Common Core in June 2010. Districts have until the 2014-15 school year to implement the standards; many are already phasing them in.
CommonCore was crafted out of concern that American students are falling behind their peers around the world, that though they graduate and pass required exams, the bar is too low because so many need remedial classes in college.
Harris said supporters were surprised by the recent swell of opposition in Ohio and elsewhere and are concerned the standards could be blocked or that funding for them, including professional development for teachers and technology upgrades for corresponding student assessments, could be jeopardized.
The StudentsFirst flier features Common Core supporters including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Fox news host and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The move comes as Rep. Andrew Thompson, R-Marietta, plans to introduce a bill that would repeal the use of Common Core standards in Ohio.
“It’s like a federal takeover in another guise,” Thompson said. “The concern people have is how it came in and how it was adopted, and if you are a local-control state and your local community doesn’t want to do it, (there is no option). It really forecloses innovation at the local level because we’re all using the same playbook.”
Thompson said his legislation is nearly complete and he anticipates legislative hearings on the proposal later this summer.
Rep. John Becker, R-Union Township, is among the critics and says he’s heard from numerous constituents with concerns. He recently introduced legislation to prohibit submission of a student’s personal information to the federal government without authorization of a local school board.
“A lot of people describe it as a federal intrusion, and depending on who you talk to, the standards are either too high or too low,” Becker said.
Sen. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee, said the concerns are based on “fake information or a lack of information.”
The criticism surfaced in the past few months, but work on the standards has been going on for two or three years in many districts, she said.
“If they are reversed now, we could have a revolution on our hands.”
Dispatch Reporter Jim Siegel contributed to this story.
ccandisky@dispatch.com
@ccandisky
Stupid Libs. Every state or school district already has (or had) its own standards.
Jeb Bush was pimping Commiecore here in Michigan a couple weeks back. Fortunately the legislature voted to hold it off for a while anyway.
people need to keep in mind this is just the beginning of Common Core implementation. It get’s worse from here out. So, it’s early death is to be devoutly sought.
There are at least two other important points: 1) Common Core is built on a foundation of deceit. From day one, this has been carried out in a “stealth” manner designed to leave parents out. ps, the deceit continues, and 2) There is nothing innovative about Common Core. The concepts, the techniques have been used before. Some have been rejected, yet the libs try again. This is toxic wine in new bottles. In fact, common core is obsolete. It is a set of ideas so out of step with the trends of American education that it is detrimental to kids.
Think of Kahn Academy and what you can learn there. Think of MIT’s Open Classroom, and Harvard’s EdX. Think of the tons of apps flowing onto cell phones, books for 99 cents which will teach you a universe. Common core has nothing to do with these trends.
Guess who started Students first?
The same nimrod that was involved in running one of the the WORST school districts in the country!
From wiki
StudentsFirst is a political lobbying organization formed by U.S. public school reform advocate Michelle Rhee in 2010, after she resigned as school chancellor of Washington D.C. public schools
All we have to do is get back to Classical Education (Resurrect the McGuffey Readers and burn the rest. Saxon math is great—only use the curricula that works and promotes God Given Rights (Judeo-Christian Values)-—get all the emotional garbage and lies OUT! They have been infantilizing our children-—making them into dependent drones, who know nothing, but “urges” and they “group” everyone-—since it is the easiest way to destroy unity and cohesiveness.
And the biggest thing they have been doing since John Dewey (the Leftist) is to destroy all traditions and morality (kill God) in our children. They mock everything good and promote Satanic Ethics-—tolerance (for evil), multiculturalism (to promote Satanic lifestyles and practices) and “diversity” (to prevent unifying under God-Given Rights (unalienable) and promote Satanic Rights to sodomize and kill).
They use “emotion” in the curricula—to destroy Reason and Logic. It goes on in preschool-—the conditioning and indoctrination with lies and half-truths. They mock Judeo-Chistian Ethics and destroy Virtue.
(Without Virtue—there can be no Free Republic—Socrates/Montesquieu/Machiavelli/ Founders.
Cultural Marxists knew to collapse USA they would have to destroy Christianity and the Natural Family-—to destroy the emotional growth of children by putting them into institutions (day cares/forced education) who would become weak and addicts and immoral and unable to sacrifice for others. (Me-first).
Take your kids and grandkids back-—form their worldview so some Billy Ayers is not allowed to put their evil ideology into their heads.
It's all out in the open.
Sebelius: Kids 'So Far Behind' by 3rd Grade 'May As Well Drop Out'
I’m not sure why your think Ree ran the worst district. She was making major changes, firing poor admin people and running an improved district when the mayor lost and election and she was fired by the new mayor.
Because the last I heard, D.C. DID have one of the worst district in the country.
So do you think this common core is a good thing?
yea it was at the bottom when she came in and was cleaning house. Even 60 minutes did stories about the heat she took by fighting unions.
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