Rebecca Mallory
Do you think Alice Cooper was forewarning us about Common Core with that annoying song, incessantly repeated every May by school kids across the fruited plain? I wonder how our parents would have reacted when they yelled at us to, “Turn that horrid music down! You shouldn’t be listening to that trash anyway!” if we would have come back with, “Oh yea? Well Alice Cooper is a psychic! And the trash he’s screaming about will become standard curriculum in every public school in America one day!” (Then mom sticks a bar of soap in your mouth and grounds you, after which she is arrested for “child endangerment” then shipped to a re-education camp. But that’s another blog post…) Touching lyrics that I’m sure were the topic of many a parent and teacher’s worry.
Well we got no choice
All the girls and boys
Makin’ all that noise
‘Cause they found new toys
Well we can’t salute ya, can’t find a flag
If that don’t suit ya that’s a drag
School’s out for summer!
School’s out forever
School’s been blown to pieces.
Brings a tear, eh? One of my first blog posts was about Common Core. I had no idea then just how ominous and pervasive it actually was. Thank heaven for the Internet and other sources that allow us to do our own homework and use our own brains to come to our own conclusion. I highly urge you to do the same. You should never take my or anyone else’s word on any controversial subject. Check it out for yourself. Though there are myriad reasons to be concerned about Common Core this post will focus on the big one: money.
The money: Where does it come from? Who’s cashing in? Who’s benefitting? Who are the losers?
Thousands of parents, teachers, administrators and politicians have finally begun to peel back the onion discovering why Common Core stinks and is making our eyes water. Proponents tout the “rigorous standards” that would theoretically bring all students up to a super smart level resulting from standardized testing and curriculum. But is that true?
Did you catch the recent news about a concerned New Hampshire father of a ninth grade girl? He attended the school board meeting to exercise his freedom of speech and express his concerns over the content of a book her class was assigned to read. “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult, graphically paints the picture of two teenagers engaging in rough sex. Explicit images. William Baer merely read the passage to the school board. He was arrested. For what you ask? Violating the two minute time limit. Not kidding. Handcuffed and hauled out. School board officials had asked him to stop and be “respectful to other people present.” Really?? Like you were to my 14 year old daughter? Yup. Arrested. The school’s lame explanation was that they “forgot” to send out notices to the parents of the explicit content. Why would explicit content even be an issue at ANY age and in ANY public school? But even this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Teachers are “getting it.”
Kathleen Jaspar, was a Florida high school teacher who recently got fed up with the Common Core nonsense in her state and quit her job. Like William Baer, she dared to voice her concerns and was basically told by school administrators to “sit down, shut up and just do your job.” Morally, she knew she couldn’t just sit by and watch her students fall victim to this evil takeover of public education.
Jaspar recently appeared on the Glenn Beck TV show (The Blaze) and followed the money, at least in her state. Former governor, Jeb Bush, is a robust proponent of Common Core. Jaspar explained why. “Mr. Bush has a foundation called ‘Excellence in Education’ that is tied heavily to Pearson Publishing company. Pearson writes the tests, builds the curriculum, scores the tests, and stores the data. One stop shopping!
Elementary through middle school, each student is given the test once a year to determine if the student advances to the next grade. Teachers do not see or use any of these skills acquired during the school year. Teachers are not even given any of the information from the data.
There is a 30-50% failure rate built in to those tests. Pearson is paid $15-30 per test per student. Jaspar says that some students literally have to take the test over and over as many as five times before they pass! The school district aka, YOU, pays for that. Ok…. back up a sec…. let’s do the simple math here. So one test at $15-30 per test, X a gazillion students, X 3-5 retakes = a boatload of money… that goes to hard-working teachers and copy machines? Nope! Right to Pearson Publishing, or the Gates Foundation, etc. Think of that!! It gets worse folks.
“One state just like the other?”
High school students in Florida are required to take the FCAT which is a standardized test now commandeered by Common Core, but field tested in Utah. What?? Why? Demographics are a whole lot different from Florida to Utah. How does that make sense? Are kids in your state exactly like kids in Florida or Utah? Or are they all individuals? Florida high school students are required to take five tests: geometry, algebra, biology, American history, and FCAT writing. So each of these tests X $15-30, X 3-5 retakes = an even bigger boatload of money. Do you think Pearson is in business to help little Johnny pass those tests? With a 30-50% failure rate built in? Think of the money they lose if all students pass those tests the first time. Nope. They’re in the business of failure. They’re setting your child up to hopefully fail. They win big time.
Also – where’s the autonomy of the teacher? Remember those special teachers that inspired you in school? No time for that silly stuff anymore. My sophomore high school English teacher was also the assistant football coach. Coach Myers. Dreamy as well as a fabulous teacher. I’ll never forget the day he taught us how to write a descriptive essay. He brought in the smelliest and grossest garbage can complete with flies and ooey gooey slop dripping down the sides. We each gingerly took a 15 second turn, sticking our nose in and taking a big whiff. (Can you imagine the lawsuits if a teacher did that now? Hazmat alerted, attorneys screeching up in their black BMW’s etc. Shudder….) Then we scurried back to our seat and wrote a description of what we smelled, saw, tasted, heard and felt. Impact? I immediately knew I would be an English teacher some day. (Coach Myers was drop dead gorgeous which may or may not have influenced that decision.) Alice Cooper, the psychic, would surely have warned me that future Common Core standards would never allow such a germ-infested health hazard during the current politically correct ‘wussification’ of public school children.
Common Core teachers are mere proctors for the tests they administer. Who has time for imagination and creativity when there are so many mandated tests to pass and pigeonhole students into a future that the state deems worthy? Teachers want their students to be successful, and must focus on teaching to the state tests. That’s all they have time for. Students are labeled and herded before they can even succeed and/or fail enough to dream about what they may want to be when they grow up.
The man behind the curtain knows what is best for each child.
Eerily sound like the Communistic Chinese or Russian system where children are compartmentalized and steered by potential for gymnastics, hockey, science, downhill skiing, etc? It’s for the good of the collective, you know. Who cares if the kid really wants to be a mechanic, rock star or baseball player? He’s not as smart as the man behind the curtain who has already determined what’s best for him. Common Core allows all kinds of data to be gathered on your kid. Religious affiliation, family life, what they ate for breakfast, what mom and dad do for a living, what time they leave the house in the morning, how they sweat and develop heart palpitations just before testing, etc.
I have a granddaughter who just turned six who is in the top 95% of her height and is playing volleyball. She’s pretty good. Grandma loves watching volleyball and is salivating at her potential. But what if she suddenly has no interest? She may just get burned out and want to play the trombone. But collected data mining over the years shows that she should be playing volleyball not the trombone. Hmmmm…. re-education camp for her? (See archive blog, “Why capitalism is crucial to your child’s future”).
Our country is on life support, America. We all need to pull our head out of the TV coma and get involved. If only to save your own kids and grand kids. How do you do that? Do your own research. Listen to both sides of the issues from people you trust and make up your own mind. Teach your kids truth… about all things. Let the chips fall where they may. Pay attention to what they’re learning in school. If you have a bad feeling, say something.
By the way, did you know that the 15th annual “White Privilege Conference” was just held in Madison, WI in March? Yup. Teaching 1,500 educators about the evils of white people. Want your kids indoctrinated with that stuff? Insane education material called Common Core coming to your town soon. Look it up, America. I beg you to prove me wrong. Now THAT…. Would be good for the collective.