If teachers think they know best how to educate kids, why are they excepting mandates from State and Federal agencies who think they know better?  Education in America continues to decline while spending has drastically increased!

80% of New York City High School graduates CAN’T read:

http://nation.foxnews.com/nyc-graduates/2013/03/20/80-nyc-graduates-cant-read

Much of Common Core was developed by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.  The below link is part of the story, below that is a comment made on the site by an Associate Professor of Early childhood Education

http://www.edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/common-core-watch/2013/put-up-or-shut-up-will-leaders-seize-the-chance-to-improve-accountability.html#body

“In spite of poor policy design and implementation, the vast majority of the high-quality research on standards and accountability policies in general and NCLB in particular finds they’ve had some positive intended consequences. Chiefly, kids are actually learning more.”

Actually, the test score trendlines were up prior to NCLB, and the best research does not find evidence of positive effects on the overall trajectory of American schools, but does find substantial evidence of collateral damage resulting from high-stakes testing. Among the damage: Many of the most promising teacher candidates no longer want to go into teaching once they find out what is going on in schools and how teacher autonomy and professionalism have been eroded.

Carrot and stick motivation turns learners off to learners and teachers off to teaching, so “accountability” is simply the wrong paradigm for educational improvement. The Founders didn’t need to “tweak” King George’s controls and we don’t need to “tweak” top-down test-driven accountability: It’s the wrong paradigm and we need to get rid of it. America cannot afford another lost decade in education.

Karl F. Wheatley

Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education

Cleveland State University

Maybe teachers know what’s best for their students!

RESOLUTION OPPOSING COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

WHEREAS, in 2010 officials in the Executive Branch committed our state to participation in the Common Core State Standards Initiative through the federal Race to the Top grant application; and

WHEREAS, this participation required our state to adopt the Common Core standards in K-12 English language arts and mathematics, and to commit to implementing the national [SMARTER Balanced (SBAC)/Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)] assessments, all without legislative oversight and without public input; and

WHEREAS, adoption of Common Core obliterates [state’s] constitutional autonomy over education in English language arts and mathematics, placing control in the hands of the federal government and unaccountable private interests in Washington, DC; and

WHEREAS, the Common Core standards have been evaluated by experts as mediocre at best, and based on questionable philosophies; and

WHEREAS, the Common Core standards will inevitably lead to a national curriculum, in violation of three federal statutes; and

WHEREAS, the Common Core scheme will be expanded to include national standards and curriculum in science, social studies, and other subjects; and

WHEREAS, neither the Common Core standards nor the [SBAC/PARCC] assessments were ever piloted to determine their effectiveness; and

WHEREAS, both the Common Core standards and the [SBAC/PARCC] tests will impose an enormous unfunded mandate on our state and our local school districts; and

WHEREAS, Common Core is part of a national scheme that includes collection and sharing of massive amounts of personal student and teacher data;

THEREFORE, the ______ of _____________ County hereby resolves that our state leaders should:

• Withdraw our state from the Common Core State Standards Initiative;
• Withdraw our state from the [SBAC/PARCC] assessment scheme, and any other testing aligned with the Common Core standards;
• Prohibit all state officials from entering into any agreement that cedes any measure of control over [state] education to entities outside the state and ensure that all content standards and curriculum decisions are adopted through a transparent state-wide process fully accountable to the citizens of [state]; and
• Prohibit the collection of personal student data for any non-educational purpose, and the sharing of personal data except with schools or education agencies within the state.

http://truthinamericaneducation.com/common-core-state-standards/common-core-model-resolution-for-county-political-party-platforms/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TruthInAmericanEducation+%28Truth+in+American+Education%29

Isn’t it time for LOCAL control of education instead of the failed models pushed by the Department of Education?  Can we afford to lose a generation of kids to lousy public indoctrination?  Give control back to teachers.