Do you want the same to happen in Washington State? Original article at Western Journal Business owners, beware of students with high school diplomas from Oregon. They may not be able to read or do basic math. According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, in 2020, the Oregon Department of Education suspended the “essential skills” requirement to accommodate students who had fallen behind because of school shutdowns and online learning — or so they said. The state changed letter grades to a pass-incomplete system. There were little to no attendance requirements, and the essential skills requirements were suspended, according to OPB. Although the suspension was supposed to … [Read more...]
Evergreen School District – Won’t take NO for an answer
The Evergreen school district went to the voters in February asking for a new Operations Levy to supplement the state money. It failed. But the district and school board don't agree with a NO vote so they come back again just 2 months later. Today we bring you an opinion piece by a local resident who thinks that NO means NO. The Evergreen School District is attempting another voter approved levy just 2 months after 57.2% of the voters rejected their last levy February 8th (by over 3,600 votes). They say it is not an increase and although the levy rate is the same as the current levy, that is disingenious thanks to the ever increasing property values (11% average increase this year) … [Read more...]
This 1897 Text Gives 3 Clues Why Today’s Students Can’t Write
Do things change over time? Today's article was originally published in November 2015 at Intellectual Takeout by Annie Holmquest. So 6+ years later and has anything changed? Should it have? Why not? What will you do about it? Last week the Nation’s Report Card announced that no more than 40% of America’s 4th and 8th graders are proficient in reading and math. Those are scary numbers, but the numbers for writing are even more frightening: only 27% of American 8th and 12th graders attained proficiency. Why are American students such terrible writers? Several answers to this question dawned on me while reading through an 1897 text by Dr. Edwin Lewis. Entitled A First Book in Writing … [Read more...]
Common Core testing…is here again…it’s time to act
For those who don't know or don't pay close attention to notices from school it's now time for the "BIG" Common Core testing again. Every spring the children in multiple grades spend weeks and weeks on practicing and taking the SBAc (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium). If you want to see the propaganda from the group that owns the testing here is a link: http://www.smarterbalanced.org/ This is a private group that profits from the testing. What do they claim it does and is good for? Supporting high-quality teaching Improving learning for all students Preparing students for life after high school Why is this testing used? Originally it, along with a sister test (PARCC) was … [Read more...]
Washington State ESSA Plan – Submitted Oct 31, 2016 – Randy Dorn
On October 31, 2016, outgoing Washington State Superintendent of Schools, Randy Dorn, chose to issue Washington States choices on the ESSA to the US Department of Education. Given that Mr. Dorn's tenure has been contentious and that his successor will be elected ~1 week after he issued his edict it seems strange to us that he didn't wait and give his replacement the opportunity to weigh in. This of course has been his modus operandi...he does what he wants regardless of what the parents and public might want. Here is the PDF of his submission: essarecommendationsapprovedstatesuptdorn_oct_31_2016 Here is the link to the OSPI website for ESSA: http://k12.wa.us/ESEA/ESSA/default.aspx … [Read more...]
Why is public education failing?
Laurie Rogers wrote a book in 2011 in which she walks through reasons why she thinks the public school system is failing. She presents some interesting views and information and has agreed to allow me to repost a blog she wrote in 2014. I will also provide a link to her web site if you want to dig deeper. As always I ask for your feedback on what you read. Do you agree or disagree and why? http://betrayed-whyeducationisfailing.blogspot.com/2014/09/reframing-common-core-battle-for-our.html Thursday, September 25, 2014 Reframing the Common Core discussion: A battle for our freedom By Laurie H. Rogers “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed … [Read more...]