At Last .... a well written comprehensive article accurately outlining "Bill Gates and Friends" take over of public education. The actors: non-educators Bush/Obama/Duncan and our state legislators and educator Mr. Randy Dorn. This group supported Mr. Gates and poured the children's money into corporate pockets.
October 14, 2015 —
from Asia's Think Tank
Common Core’s Leviathan: Bill Gates and (Mis)Adventures within American Public Education
The debate over the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) is not politics as usual. .... It behooves anyone interested in liberal education to join in stopping the CCSSI.
Advocates claim the CCSSI is state-led, internationally benchmarked, and based on the latest research, yet it is none of those things. In addition to manifest pedagogical shortcomings, Common Core is dangerously close to an army of crony capitalists, anxious to cash in on the bonanza of federal, state, and local contracts. Critics charge the CCSSI with doing for education what the military-industrial complex has done for defense – spawning expensive and wasteful boondoggles overseen by burgeoning bureaucracies that harm the very people the system purports to help. ....
However, students, parents, and teachers are learning the hard way that
calling something magic does not make it so. There are better ways to
build a curriculum than corporate cronyism and secret standards. The
question remains: Is this the best we can do? Clearly it is not. The
CCSSI should be rejected on the merits because it fails to provide for a
high-quality liberal education for American children.
==============
The Washington State local truth. In 2010 before the CCSS components were known, the legislature "adopted CCSS" with Bill 6696, which included a provision that State Superintendent
Randy Dorn must provide a detailed report on CCSS impacts to the legislature on or before January 1, 2011.
Mr. Dorn failed to do that. His report was 30 days late and appeared just before a crucial hearing of the House Education Committee (Rep. Sharon Tamiko Santos {chair}).
This gave the Public no time to read it and respond.
I filed documents in Superior Court in Pierce County
to begin a recall of Randy Dorn as he had violated a portion of state law 6696 written expressly for him. A WA recall requires proof of misfeasance or malfeasance to proceed.
Mr. Dorn is defended by the WA Office of Attorney General. The defense for Mr. Dorn stated that
the report requirement was to produce a report for the legislature's education committees and no legislative committees complained so no harm no foul. Superior Court Judge Beverly Grant then ruled against my request for instituting a recall petition. .
.. So much for the Public right to know anything.
===
SB 6696 ENGROSSED SECOND SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6696
EDUCATION REFORM
EFFECTIVE DATE: 06/10/10
-->
Session Law E2SSB 6696.SL PAGE 46
COMMON CORE
STANDARDS
NEW SECTION. Sec.
601. A new section is added to chapter 28A.655
3 RCW to read as
follows:
4 (1) By August 2,
2010, the superintendent of public instruction may
5
revise the state
essential academic learning requirements authorized 6
under RCW
28A.655.070 for mathematics, reading, writing, and 7
communication by
provisionally adopting a common set of standards for 8
students in grades
kindergarten through twelve. The revised state 9
essential academic
learning requirements may be substantially identical 10
with the
standards developed by a multistate consortium in which 11
Washington
participated, must be consistent with the requirements of 12
RCW 28A.655.070,
and may include additional standards if the additional 13
standards do not exceed
fifteen percent of the standards for each
14 content area.
However, the superintendent of public instruction shall 15 not take
steps to implement the provisionally adopted standards until 16 the
education committees of the house of representatives and the senate 17 have an
opportunity to review the standards.
18 (2) By
January 1, 2011, the superintendent of public instruction 19 shall
submit to the education committees of the house of 20 representatives
and the senate:
21 (a) A
detailed comparison of the provisionally adopted standards 22 and the
state essential academic learning requirements as of the 23 effective
date of this section, including the comparative level of 24 rigor
and specificity of the standards and the implications of any 25 identified
differences; and
26 (b) An
estimated timeline and costs to the state and to school 27 districts
to implement the provisionally adopted standards, including 28 providing
necessary training, realignment of curriculum, adjustment of 29 state
assessments, and other actions.
30 (3) The
superintendent may implement the revisions to the essential 31 academic
learning requirements under this section after the 2011 32 legislative
session unless otherwise directed by the legislature.
==============================
So there you have it: (in a nutshell) A,B,C,D,E
(A)
The requirement
... By
January 1, 2011, the superintendent of public instruction shall
submit to the education committees of the house of representatives
and the senate: a detailed report of CCSS impacts
(B)
... He did not do it
(C)
... The Superior Court and the Legislative education committees do not care
(D)
... Open Government is a fraudulent sham
(E)
... The Laws passed apply to some but not the favored.
There are better ways to
build a curriculum than corporate cronyism and secret standards. ... but do not count on the Washington State Legislature to allow such building of curriculum.
NAEP change 2013 to 2015 : WA State 8th graders dropped 5 in reading and 3 in math
Be sure and notice the chaotic jumping about the textbook as the Kindergarten teacher proceeds through the 13 units on the new "Scope and Sequence". The planned chaos for other grades is similar. {{ District admin clearly does not like the sequence of topics in Math in Focus }}
Links to my Dropbox are below.
Kindergarten
Kindergarten Year at a glance
Grade 1
First Grade Year at a Glance
Grade 2
Second Grade Year at a Glance
Grade 3
Third Grade Year at a Glance
Grade 4
Fourth Grade Year at a Glance
Grade 5
Fifth Grade Year at a Glance
Grade 6
Sixth Grade Year at a Glance
Grade 7
Seventh Grade Year at a Glance
Grade 8
Eighth Grade Year at a Glance
Information about Scope and Sequence Secondary
Algebra 1
Algebra Year 1 at a Glance
Geometry
Geometry Year at a Glance
Algebra 2
Algebra 2 Year at a Glance
These links which contribute to Open and Transparent communications are NOT brought to you by the Superintendent, School Board or Central Office Staff of the Seattle Public Schools.
It is now mid October and the SPS is still keeping parents in the dark about huge elementary school math changes.
==================
On the Seattle School Community Forum
North of 85th wrote:
Great teacher in tears last night on the issue. Told....not asked....to drop MIF and adopt downtown's new worksheet based class flow and materials. Teacher told specifically this is to achieve high SBAC scores.
Using the "Grade Level Year at a Glance" information above, parents can finally see what is going on with elementary school math.
This JSCEE staff math action seems similar to a "coup d'état" .
Are the Directors complicit in this?
Are the Directors unaware?
Do the Directors even care?
Beats me.