For the record, I love the Common Core, as it actually makes it WAY easier to innovate in this space.
Sent from my iPhone On Feb 13, 2013, at 11:41, [email protected] wrote: > > > > > > > > > Bill Gates' Monopoly on Education Standards > to Cost States $16 Billion > www.christianpost. > > By Melissa Barnhart , CP Contributor > February 13, 2013|12:54 pm > Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft founder Bill Gates is spending > millions to bankroll the Common Core education standards that have been > embraced by the Obama administration. > > Forty-five states, Washington, D.C. and four territories have adopted Common > Core, a set of uniform math, English and other education standards that > determine what students should learn in each grade, who teaches them, and > what child and family information the federal government can collect and > share. > > Even though the Common Core website states that adoption of the K-12 > standards is in no way mandatory, Jason Turesky and Charles Chieppo of the > Pioneer Institute disagree. > > "Regardless of how proponents defined it, Common Core is anything but > voluntary," Turesky and Chieppo said. "In actuality, it's a $16 billion > trickle-down mandate, the vast majority of which is unfunded." > > "As part of the 2009 stimulus legislation, the federal government created the > Race to the Top (RTT) Fund, $4.35 billion in competitive educational grants > available only to states that adopt Common Core," Turesky and Chieppo said. > > Although parents, teacher and legislators agree that education standards are > necessary, many say that Common Core standards are not the answer, because > they don't benefit students' education, and states cannot afford to fund the > program. > > Follow us > > "The solution is not more federal government, it's less federal government," > Emmett McGroarty director of American Principles Project's (APP) Preserve > Innocence Initiative, told the Wall Street Journal last May. "In order for > states to compete for Race to the Top, they had to commit to the Common Core > standards, even before they were able to review the program. … [Also] States > were told that the standards were internationally benchmarked, but they are > not." > > Gates has spent $163 million to develop the Common Core and corresponding > curriculum, and to get lawmakers and business leaders to support it, > according to the Heartland Institute, which also states that Gates bankrolled > the development of the Common Core through the National Governors Association > and Council of Chief State School Officers. And, since all three are > nonprofit organizations, their policymaking happens in private meetings. > > "It is not unfair to say that the Gates Foundation's agenda has become the > country's agenda in education," Michael Petrilli, vice president for national > programs and policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, told the Puget Sound > Business Journal in 2009. > > For example, the Heartland Institute reveals that the Gates Foundation has > "directly sponsored state departments of education and myriad groups who aim > to influence policymakers. In 2012, it gave $1.9 million to the Kentucky > Department of Education 'to examine the use of high-quality curriculum to > accelerate common core state standards implementation.'" > > On Jan. 16, Indiana's Senate Education Committee held a hearing on the Common > Core, and 26 of the 32 people who testified against a bill to withdraw > Indiana from the education standards are members of organizations the Gates > Foundation funds. > > Indiana Sen. Scott Schneider (R-Indianapolis) is the author of Senate Bill > 193 that would shift the state away from Common Core. > > According to TheStatehouseFile.com, "Schneider said adoption of the Common > Core standards has resulted in a loss of local input from parents, teachers > and administrators. Heather Crossin and Erin Tuttle, stay-at-home mothers > from Indianapolis, urged him to do so. [Because] Tuttle said Common Core led > her third grader to learn 'fuzzy math' taught out of sequence." > > "Tuttle said one textbook teaches students to subtract by starting in the > hundreds, tens and then ones – opposite of the traditional way. … after > speaking with the teacher and principal about her issue with the curriculum, > the Indiana Department of Education told her she would have to contact the > national governance association to express her concern. She said she felt she > did not have input on her child's education because of the national > standards." > > Turesky and Chieppo said that: "Because of parameters set by the federal > government, states that opt out of Common Core are out of the running for > both federal grants and the coveted waivers from the federal No Child Left > Behind law. From there, states exert the same kind of influence on local > school districts. The districts don't have to implement Common Core, but the > standards are the basis for state-designed standardized testing." > > According to McGroarty, "It's time to recommit ourselves to the Constitution > and return education policymaking to states and localities, where it is > closest to parents." > > Texas, Alaska, Minnesota, Nebraska, Virginia, and Puerto Rico and the > Northern Mariana Islands are not signed on to Common Core. > > > -- > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. 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