The US Department of Education supplies ~10% of the State/Local revenue. For that 10% they impose all sorts of rules and requirements. States and districts have gotten so desperate for money over time they fear doing anything that will staunch that flow of money. The ESSA (which replaced the No Child Left Behind failure) is the latest carrot. Common Core and associated testing must be used under threat of loss of funds. These programs started under Lyndon Johnson in the mid 1960's so we are nearly 60 years later...which should be enough time to figure out the value...right? So does any of this Federal money and intervention do any good? Answer: NO! Test scores in math and … [Read more...]
School vouchers – should parents have choice?
As Charter Schools gain traction. As religious/private schools grow. As Home Schooling expands...the question coming to the fore more and more is whether parents should have vouchers and use those to determine where their children go to school. Is the public school system antiquated and out of touch? As parents exit the public school system are the children remaining more challenged and thus perform at a lower level? What are the Pros and Cons of Vouchers and should parents have the right to use the money the way they see fit? How many states (as of early 2017) have a Voucher program? State_Voucher_List_March_2017 You will see that 16 States do have a Voucher system. That number … [Read more...]
Rep. Massie Introduces Bill to Abolish Federal Department of Education
If you are one of the people who think the US Department of Education has no reason to exist you may like this story. This comes from the website of Representative Thomas Massie from Kentucky. If you agree drop him a note of support. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Thomas Massie introduced H.R. 899, a bill to abolish the federal Department of Education. The bill, which is one sentence long, states, “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2018.” On the day of Betsy DeVos’ scheduled Senate confirmation for Secretary of Education, Massie said, “Neither Congress nor the President, through his appointees, has the constitutional authority to dictate how and … [Read more...]
Leaked Questions Rekindle Debate Over Common Core Tests
From an article in The NewYork Times The questions, taken from a Common Core fourth-grade reading test, came to a Columbia professor in an email from an anonymous teacher, part of a blistering critique of the exam. The professor put the questions and the critique on her blog, and before she knew it, her posting ignited on the Internet, fueling a new round of anger about nationwide standardized testing. As fast as the company that manages the tests played Whac-a-Mole, trying to get the questions taken down, teachers, parents and education experts kept spreading them on blogs and Twitter — despite the fact that the questions are still being used in testing. Some argued that robust public … [Read more...]
Legislators Send Letter to US Secretary of Ed John King about ESSA Mandated Testing
From Deutsch29 ..... On April 04, 2016, nineteen legislators sent a letter regarding the USDOE’s expressed intent to enforce the federal 95 percent testing mandate to US Secretary of Education John King. (See letter below). Regarding the language in the newly reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) version, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the legislators have some info correct and some incorrect as concerns exactly what ESSA states regarding the 95 percent participation in ESSA’s federally mandated tests tied to Title I funding. The legislators rightly point out that ESSA allows states to determine how, exactly, to factor the 95 percent of required testing … [Read more...]
USDoE explains how to share pii-and- gives parents the right to see who has requested data
From Missouri Education Watchdog ..... If you watched yesterday’s Congressional Hearing on Strengthening Education Research and Privacy Protections to Better Serve Students –you heard one parent ask for transparency on how student data is collected, shared and used. You also heard many extolling the need for student data–both Congressmen and a panel of chosen research experts stated that it was not a parent’s right to opt out of data collection (one panel expert said that by registering your child in a public school, you are agreeing to have your child’s data collected) and all were very concerned about the effects opt out has on data. During the hearing, you also heard one … [Read more...]
Getting the Common Core (and Federal) Facts Right
By Neal McCluskey We’ve been fighting over the Common Core national curriculum standards for years now, and at this point the people who “fact check” ought to know the facts. Also, at this point, I should be doing many other things than laying out basic truths about the Core. Yet here I am, about to fact-check fact-checking by The Seventy Four, an education news and analysis site set up by former television journalist Campbell Brown. Thankfully, I am not alone in having to repeat this Sisyphean chore; AEI’s Rick Hess did the same thing addressing Washington Post fact-checkers yesterday. Because I have done this so many times before – what follows are relatively quick, … [Read more...]
Candidates: Would You? Could You? Ask your elected (or potential elected rep)
From CommonCoreDiva Share this article and the link at the bottom.... Yesterday, Anti CCSS Warriors, I shared with you the news about the U.S. PIE (United States Parents Involved in Education) and their new campaign to dump the U.S. Dept. of Education due to its grasp on America through College and Career Readiness, Common Core State Standards, Career Tech Education, and all that goes with them. Today, I am challenging any candidate out there running for election this year (2016). What is the challenge? I am requesting them to make a video of their signing the U.S. PIE Candidate Pledge. I would also like to point out that this is my challenge to you, as the Common Core Diva, not … [Read more...]
USPIE…is Born!
What you ask is USPIE? It is a group of parents, educators, business leaders and legislators who have banded together in a Non-Partisan coalition to....eradicate federal intrusion into education. Their Mission: UNITED STATES PARENTS INVOLVED IN EDUCATION (USPIE) IS A NATIONWIDE, NONPARTISAN COALITION OF STATE LEADERS FOCUSED ON RESTORING LOCAL CONTROL OF EDUCATION BY ERADICATING FEDERAL INTRUSION. WHO IS US PARENTS INVOLVED IN EDUCATION? PARENTS AND GRASSROOTS ACTIVISTS WHO HAVE LED THE FIGHT AGAINST COMMON CORE IN THEIR STATES sharING ideas and resources to ensure all children have access to excellent education. The Cato Institute offers a video that explains why the US … [Read more...]
Ted Cruz’s Plan To Dump the Common Core and the U. S. Dept. of Education
From an article in Education News ............. Ted Cruz’s Plan To Dump the Common Core and the U. S. Dept. of Education — Policy Statement https://www.tedcruz.org/five-for-freedom/ DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Educational opportunity thrives on choice, ingenuity, and diversity; the Department of Education squelches all three. Largely created as an outgrowth of Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society, the Department of Education has existed in its current form since 1980. Despite its stated aim to bring equal access to all, it has failed to close the gap between low-income communities and other communities, and instead has led to one-size-fits-all solutions imposed on millions of students … [Read more...]