This is the third installment delving into the Common Core propaganda event held by the Raleigh Chamber. Remember, the NC Chamber corrected me — it’s the Raleigh chamber, not the NC Chamber. Right, whatever. The whole lot of them are pushing Common Core. Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe.

Here is Part One and Two.  This is part three and I still have more coming.  In part three, we look at the report from another attendee, Anthony Bruno. Mr. Bruno has been very engaged in the Common Core debate going on in NC. He attended the forum and the highlights of his letter below include Senator Stein and other panel members politicizing the topic. Stein went as far as say people who don’t like Common Core just don’t like Obama. WOW.

During the first panel Sen. Josh Stein took the occasion to mention he had been told people are against it only because President Obama is for it.

Politicizing. I told you, it’s the new attack line and the only ones politicizing are Pro-Core people like Senator Stein. His colleagues like Rep. Cotham, Rep. Brandon and Sen. Parmon all have used this same theme. Even McCrory’s Democrat Education advisor has used it:

Eric Guckian: #NCGOV #3 priority on education: Standards & Assessment. Describes Common Core as “political football.” #ncpol @NCACC

— Frank Williams (@frankwilliams) February 19, 2014

Bruno also noted the use of fear mongering to promote keeping the standards and the general lack of real, substantive questions about the standards; it was a room full of head nodders. The Fordham’s Grading report that was funded by the Gates foundation was also put forth as evidence, despite it being debunked time and again.

Read his run-down for yourself:

Friends,

On Wednesday, May 21st, the Wake Education Partnership and Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce co-hosted a presentation on Common Core, the national education standard currently being implemented and both groups fully support.

It appeared most of the audience were members of these groups or other supporters, as this event was meant to be educational, not one to address the concerns of those who oppose Common Core.

The event had an introduction by Elizabeth Schneider representing an education alliance and followed by two discussion panels.

One thing which struck me was the title of the first panel, “The Politics of Common Core”.  I found the word ‘politics’ out of place for in the time I have become aware of the standard and the criticism, politics never entered the discussion. (More later)

As someone who has studied Common Core and believe it is wrong for NC Public education I wanted to learn why so many professional organizations support this education standard.

After the three hours I learned little more than I already knew, it was mostly a rehash of the reasons we need this standard; raising the performance of students, being globally competitive, and having a nationwide standard so all students would have the same standard no matter the state they lived in.  All, compelling reasons to continue implementation.

As worthwhile as these desires may be, the concerns of a growing number of NC parents and those across the nation, were not addressed.

The event was well-organized, opened with an informative history of Common Core, its creation, development and implementation by Schneider, Sr. VP of the education alliance.

The only disappointment was seeing it was only a positive reinforcement for the audience which appeared to be like-minded in their support, as I observed their heads nodding affirmatively throughout.

After the presentation the first panel discussion included  Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, Sen. Josh Stein and Caroline McCulen of SAS Institute – a strong supporter of Common Core.

Only Forest seemed concerned that Common Core was not the best standard to educate NC students, while Stein and McCulen echoed the positives of using this standard.

None of the questions from the audience delved deeply into the problems with Common Core, and only Forest brought to light his concerns which he learned from talking with over 500 teachers across the state, many parents and even our own Dept. of Public Instruction.

Forest even brought up the dangers of more “Federalism”, a word I am sure most in the audience were not concerned with, or even understood. When he said this I immediate thought of the US Dept. of Education and the worsening of public education since it was created in 1980.

Can anyone believe adding another, smaller education bureaucracy to solve the problems which came after the US DOE was created?

In my opinion, the pro-Common Core statements relied on ‘fear’ as a reason for replacing Common  Core.  The audience was told we had to be competitive globally, at a time students cannot be competitive locally.

We were also told NC students needed remedial education as they are not prepared
for college, yet no one mentioned this could be due to the failed  policy of  “social promotion” frequently used in public education, not the lack of a national standard.

Perhaps, if teachers are held to account for moving students along as if they were on a grade assembly line, rather than accurately grading them remedial education could be significantly cut.

Additionally, we were told that as of 2010 NC students received a grade of D+. This was the same year  Gov. Perdue lauded NC public education when she announced that Common Core will build on NC “excellent education foundation”. Which should we believe?

We also learned that businesses fully support Common Core. But, Cary Academy, the gold standard in education is not implementing the standard even as its founder, Jim Goodnight has been actively promoting it. The public deserves an answer.

One last word on “politics”.  In all discussions of  Common Core I have had it has been refreshing to have a thoughtful debate without politics entering the discussion.

Well, today politics was raised.

During the first panel Sen. Josh Stein took the occasion to mention he had been told people are against it only because President Obama is for it.

I don’t know who Stein has spoken with but in my experience it is hard to believe. I have attended every public hearing on Common Core, met with every member of the Study Committee (Stein was not on the committee),dozens of teachers, more than one hundred parents and many professional educators and not ONCE was politics part of the discussion.

If Stein is attempting to weaken the opposition by falsely citing politics it shows more desperation to save Common Core than affirmation to promote it.

Finally, I do not believe this event was planned and scheduled “out of the blue”.  I believe there is a direct connection to the decision of the Common Core Study Committee to replace the standard with a state developed one.

To make sure your voices continue to be heard I urge you to contact your state representatives, Gov. McCrory, Lt Gov. Forest and both hosting groups,

Wake Education  Partnership   http://www.wakeedpartnership.org/

Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce http://raleighchamber.org/

Regards,

Anthony

PS: The following is as the invitation for the event…look it over.

—————————————————-

Good afternoon,

The Common Core State Standards have become a widely-discussed and highly controversial issue in North Carolina.

The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and Wake Education Partnership are coming together for breakfast on Wednesday, May 21. We will be discussing the components of the common core, the benefits and challenges of implementing these new educational standards, and what it means for our children and talent development going forward.

Speakers will include:
Keynote:  Elizabeth Schneider, senior vice president of Strategic Initiatives, Alliance for Excellent Education

Panel 1:
NC Sen. Josh Stein
NC Sen. Jerry Tillman (invited)
Caroline McCullen, director of Education Initiatives, SAS Institute

Moderated by Phil Kirk, director at Brady Energy Services
Chairman Emeritus State Board of Education

Panel 2:
Allison Reid, English teacher, Heritage High School (WCPSS Teacher of the Year 2014)
Shejuanna Rodgers, principal, Dillard Drive Middle
Muriel Summers, principal, Combs Leadership Magnet Elementary School

Moderated by Drew Cooke, principal at Garner High School
(WCPSS Principal of the Year 2011)
Breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. at Marbles Kids Museum, and our interactive program gets started at 8 a.m. Click here to learn more or register. We do request that you RSVP by tomorrow, May 16th.  If you have any questions, please contact Abbie Mahoney at amahoney@raleighchamber.org or 919.664.7090.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,

Gary Greene, Chair
Wake Education Partnership Board of Directors