There are no words for the amount of Common Core dumb packed into Governor Sugar Dumplin’s suit.

I recently visited a second-grade classroom in North Carolina and watched a fabulous teacher help kids understand the concept of the number “55.”  She used 12 addition and subtraction examples to show kids how many different math equations get you to 55.

She showed them how you can use five buckets of tens and five buckets of ones. Or you can use 11 buckets of fives — or six “fives,” two tens” and five “ones.”  She taught these second-graders to think logically and to explore how many ways you can get to an answer.

It was thrilling to see them working in teams and when they found the answer, yelling out, “I get it.”  If they can get it, we can all get it.  – Former Gov. Bev Perdue, Hechinger Report

Shorter: Isn’t Common Core great!?!?

Yeah, Bev, great. Great by how overly convoluted it is and how badly it confuses our kids.  I can’t wait to see the kids doing this stuff now hit complex concepts in algebra and geometry and try to make ‘buckets’ to figure it out.

The subtitle of this article is, “How second graders are doing the math and why the rest of us can “get it” too”. See, ya dummy parents? You can get it too! This from the woman who wanted to suspend elections, left out state in huge debt after a single term and likely owns mint flavored shoes.

The entire article Perdue penned is a string of long-debunked talking points.  It even starts out with the Fordham Grading report, which has been exposed for basically being full of crap and for its $2 million funding source: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dear Former Governor Perdue,  let’s get some things straight.

Common Core was not created by the states.
Please, stop using that embarrassing false talking point. You insult the reader.
Two unelected, unaccountable D.C. trade groups along with Bill Gates’ pet project, Achieve Inc., created Common Core.

You fail to mention in this attempt to blow sunshine about Common Core up NC’s rear end, is that these kids are FORCED to do multiple different strategies whether the strategy if works for them or not.

A lot of these strategies are overly convoluted and confuse the kids. They are assessed on each strategy and that forms their grade.

The strategies and subjects for math in 2nd grade Common Core are also presented in a sequence that makes no sense and which jumps around so fast, it is no wonder kids are really just mimicking, not learning. This sequencing issue is the same complaint in the latter grades, by the way.

“The Common Core standards encourage problem-solving and critical thinking skills – skills that were often absent in the classrooms of the past.”

Where is your data to support this? In fact, where is the data to support ANY claim about the Common Core standards doing anything supporters say it can?

“With so much positive progress under way, states should not be driven by fear-mongering around federal control of our schools and our children.”

The ESEA reauthorization begs to differ with you, madam. If the states have control, then why are legislators having to legislate their way out of Common Core? When coupled with the SBAC and PARCC tests, trying to get out is a bad joke.

In fact, while we are on the topic of ‘getting out’, would mind explaining why you signed out Race To The Top Grant which specifically names & obligates NC to use the Common Core State Standards nearly 6 months before Common Core was even released and then adopted?  How did that pass legal muster?

Moving on…follow the money.

What Perdue doesn’t mention is who funds her little outfit, DigiLearn.

Digilearn was given development operating money by the Gates Foundation under the ‘College Ready’ Grants section. Here is the grant:

Date: July 2013
Purpose: to develop a business and operation plan for the Digital Learning Institute (DigiLEARN)
Amount: $250,669
Term: 15
Topic: College-Ready
Regions Served: GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA
Program: United States
Grantee Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Grantee Website: http://www.digitallearninginst…

Perdue also mentions NC New Schools, who I recently wrote about.

North Carolina New Schools is “A public-private catalyst for Education” who’s largest funders give over half a million dollars for the privilege of being a ‘partner’.
Top donor? Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In fact, Gates gave NC New Schools $24 million in start-up money. That’s some start-up, right?

The president of NC New Schools is Tony Habit. This is the same man advising the NC Superintendent’s Large District Consortium who recommended a “7-year lock-in” of Common Core for North Carolina.

Superintendent Frank Till sits on both the Large District Consortium and the NC New Schools leadership staff.

It is no surprise NC New Schools focused on rural students to earn college credit because Common Core is focused on the middle 40% of students and funneling them into a “non-selective 2-year college”.

Related Materials:

• NC RTTT Application
• NC RTTT Cover Letter w/ Signatures: June Atkinson, Beverly Perdue
• NC RTTT Scope of Work
• NC SBAC Memorandum of Understanding
• Letter from NC DPI to US DOE – Adoption, June 3, 2010

Gates Grants to NC Department of Public Instruction:

November 2006, $1,819,055
Purpose: to support ‘turnaround’ high priority high schools (less than 60% proficiency) through strategic technical assistance, professional development, and school redesign

October 2005, $911,500
Purpose: to coordinate an implementation plan for high school reform, develop new standards and assessments, develop a principals training institute, and construct affinity networks for theme schools.