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Two Weeks to KILL Common Core Curriculum
Dear Friends of Liberty,
Attached are two items relating to the Common Core
Curriculum, a federal takeover of Arizona’s K-12 Educational system.
The first is a summary handout, with legislator contact information.
The other is a more detailed history of this vile, dumbed down,
government propaganda-ridden program, written by Laddie G Shane,
Chairman of Arizona Conservative Educators. Please send the senators
identified below and in the handout this information, and ask them to
vote NO.
Common Core must be stopped in Arizona!
In the name of God, Family, and Civic Duty,
Anita Christy
RAPID RESPONSE - ALL HANDS ON DECK!!
Less Than 2 Weeks to STOP Common Core - the Federal Takeover of Arizona’s K-12 Education
Background:
What’s The Common Core Movement?
Essentially, it is the federal government’s plan to
control the K-12 education system in the US by nationalizing education,
state-by-state, including Arizona.
You haven’t heard about it?
Common Core is a requirement to participate in the Race To
The Top federal grant program, 46 states signed on without knowing what
Common Core was.
Standards were accepted by the Governor and the State Board of Education adopted it.
Implementation has begun under the radar. All occurred with no public debate or parental input.
What’s Wrong With That? The Common Core Movement is a Trojan Horse:
The Common Core Movement has 3 parts – The Standards, The PARCC Assessment (test replacing AIMS) & The Curriculum.
Each part is “aligned” or moves in relationship to the
other. The point of the Standards/Assessment is to drive
Curriculum/content choices, this is by design.
Standards are Mediocre Quality – “Internationally Benchmarked”? Only Math and English are written, all subjects eventually will be included and the state can only add 15%.
70% of all reading will be non-fiction, not classics.
Algebra 1 is delayed from 8th to 9th grade. Estimations say US students
may be 2 years behind other countries.
PARCC (Partnership Assessment for College & Career Readiness) Not Completed - only exists in prototype form, no finished product, reliant on technology to fully implement,
tests given multiple times in a school year, but there is
no final cost analysis. Scores are expected to go down (as has occurred
in Kentucky and Georgia).
Curriculum – They say “It’s Voluntary”? The Standards/Assessment/Curriculum are a matrix, binding them together. Standards alone won't make a difference,
you need curriculum, instruction, professional
development and assessments that embody the standards. Most schools
will eventually be convinced to use the curriculum
to align with Standards and testing, we do not have
control. Most classic literature will be replaced by “informational
texts” such as technical manuals. The goal is less textbooks more
technology.
Costs Open-Ended & Unfunded Mandates,
for implementation, administrative & teacher training,
testing, text books, technology (online testing, hardware, software,
digital curriculum and data tracking). No cost analysis by Legislature.
Federal v. State Control – They say it is written by the states?
Primarily drafted by a DC based non-profit called Achieve Inc., working with the National Governors Association & the Council of Chief State School Officers,
without legislative authority and limited input from the states, gives the appearance of a state generated initiative.
Federal government grants support the groups writing the Common Core, the Department of Education promotes it and the Race To The Top grant program requires it.
Gains in AZ school choice options will be set back – Charter schools are required to adopt Common Core
State Sovereignty Issues – The US Constitution
does not refer to education, so education decisions defer to the
states. Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina said,
“Just as we should not relinquish control of education to
the federal government, neither should we cede it to the consensus of
other states.”
Collecting Student Data – States assist the larger
federal goal of the long term tracking of a child from birth to
workforce by tracking student performance and “other” data then
providing
it to the Departments of Education, Homeland Security and Labor.
The Good News: We Can STOP the Train (We’re Not Alone – Other States are Rejecting or Debating Common Core)
Our Challenge: TIME, We Have Less than 2 Weeks and we need 16 Senators to Vote NO
What You Can Do:
The general public doesn’t know about Common Core, so virtually no opposition has been expressed to the Governor or Legislature.
The PARCC Assessment portion, HB2047 – Pupil Assessments/AIMS Transition was passed in the House with a majority of Republicans voting YES,
only 9 voted against it, Steve Smith one of the most Conservative House members, voted NO. We have recourse:
STOP HB2047 from being passed in the AZ Senate
The Senate will vote on the Assessment within 2 weeks. If passed, we essentially are giving state control to the federal government. Most Republicans are expected to vote yes.
WE NEED 16 SENATORS to VOTE NO
WE NEED 100’s of emails/phone calls. Call first and
urge ALL the Senators to VOTE NO on HB2047, then email them. Please
distribute to everyone you know.
(You'll have to cut and paste these email addresses into your address line, because they are not "hot" links.)
spierce@azleg.gov kward@azleg.gov ccrandell@azleg.gov amelvin@azleg.gov abiggs@azleg.gov dshooter@azleg.gov ggriffin@azleg.gov nbarto@azleg.gov rcrandall@azleg.gov
syarbrough@azleg.gov jmccomish@azleg.gov kyee@azleg.gov rmurphy@azleg.gov jburges@azleg.gov bworsley@azleg.gov adriggs@azleg.gov
Steve Pierce 602.926.5584
Kelli Ward 602.926.4138
Chester Crandell 602.926.5409 Vice Chair Education Committee
Al Melvin 602.926.4326
Andy Biggs 602.926.4371 Senate President
Don Shooter 602.926.4139 Chairman Appropriations Committee
Gail Griffin 602.926.5895
Nancy K Barto 602.926.5766
Rich Crandall 602.926.3020
Steve Yarbrough 602.926.5863
John McComish 602.926.5898
Kimberly Yee 602.926.3024 Chairman Education Committee
Rick Murphy 602.926.4444 Vice Chair Appropriations Committee
Judy Burges 602.926.5861
Bob Worsley 602.926.5760
Adam Driggs 602.926.3016
Children are often used as props in the education debate.
This time it really is about “the children” - my child, your child,
your grandchild and the future of our country.
Thank you in advance for your participation. (Originated by Patriots in LD17)
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