Category Archives: Common Core

#DM7 Article: It Begins: Common Core Syndrome

Posted on December 8, 2013 by A.P. Dillon

Here is my latest article up at Da Tech Guy – It Begins: Common Core Syndrome

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Anxiety attacks. Bursting into tears. Vomiting. Headaches. Self-mutilation.

Sounds like someone suffering from any of a few mental disorders, but this list of symptoms is coming from a clinical social worker and psychologist in New York state. These symptoms are being displayed by children and the cause is Common Core. Here is the testimony from Mary Calamia at a Suffolk, NY forum: Continue reading →

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DPI’s Atkinson Unleashes Fear Mongering Rhetoric On Vouchers

Posted on December 8, 2013 by A.P. Dillon

I’m technically in a blog break, but some things are just too incredible not to write about.
Case in point, NC Superintendent June Atkinson’s recent remarks about vouchers. The partisan rhetoric and over the top, fear mongering language are just stunning. Emphasis below is mine.

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson offered a pointed critique of the state’s new voucher law during a stop in Wilmington Thursday.
“With the voucher legislation that we have we could be in dangerous territory as far as taxpayers’ dollars going to private schools,” she said prior to speaking to the N.C. School Boards Association’s Public Policy Conference. “There is nothing in the legislation that would prevent someone from establishing a school of terror.” Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, EDUCATION, POLITICS NC | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on DPI’s Atkinson Unleashes Fear Mongering Rhetoric On Vouchers

#DM7 Week 2: The New Tone Of Common Core

Posted on November 25, 2013 by A.P. Dillon

In case you missed it, my Magnificent 7 article from last week at Da Tech Guy can be found here.

Excerpt:

Those of us engaged in political debate know the term ‘new tone’. We’re used to seeing the hyperbolic, vitriol packed statements from legislators, talking heads and the like. Seeing people called racists, bigots, terrorists and worse have increasingly filled the airwaves and have been pounded out into articles and blogs all over the internet. Sadly, this is par for the course when it comes to political debate. I’ve been subjected to various incarnations of new tone in my time and have come to dub such attempts as ‘shutuppery‘ — as that is really a truer connotation of what these tactics are about; getting the opposing opinion to shut up. Continue reading →

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What I Saw At The Holly Ridge ‘Walk In’

Posted on November 6, 2013 by A.P. Dillon

On Monday evening I attended the Holly Springs ‘Walk In’ event. After the original invitation messaging went a bit sideways, things turned around with the Holly Ridge teachers putting up a website. Upon seeing Holly Ridge ‘own’ their own event, I wanted to hear what they had to say. I also wanted to show my support for teachers in general, so I went to listen and while there , took some video.

The event ran just over 26 minutes and the session you will see took place at Holly Springs High after the group walked from the Holly Grove campus. I would estimate between 50 to 60 people showed up throughout the event. There is a lot of honesty in the commentary. Running themes included the frustration at the amount of testing going on, the anxiety and stress said testing was putting on the kids, Common Core being implemented with little to no input from teachers or any training for it, data tracking and compensation issues. I’ll be looking more closely at the compensation piece in a separate future article.

The video I shot is can be viewed below in two parts. It is not edited or cut in any way other than being in two parts. The reason it is in two parts is due to YouTube length limits. The only additions made are titles and a few captions that include dialogue or clarification. The sound quality is not that great as I did not have a stand alone microphone, so I apologize for the viewers having to crank it up a bit.

Have a look for yourself: Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, EDUCATION, Moral Monday, POLITICS NC | Tagged , | 1 Comment

News & Record’s Statist Response To Home Schooling Searches

Posted on October 16, 2013 by A.P. Dillon

I was under the weather and out of action yesterday but perhaps might have rallied to respond to this article at the News and Record had I seen it: Home school inspections would intrude on privacy?

A day ago, the Lt. Governor’s office sent out press releases alerting the public that NDPE (Division of Non-Public Education) might be thinking about bringing back random spot inspections and searches of home schools. NDPE and the Lt. Governor’s office then issued a joint statement saying such inspections would not happen.

The article, written by Doug Clark, seems to take aim at the Lt. Governor for advocating the privacy rights of home schoolers. The article reports the facts of the case in the first couple of paragraphs, then it turns a bit statist sounding. From the article with emphasis added: Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, EDUCATION, Homeschool, Media Bias | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

UPDATED – Homeschools Being Subjected To Random Inspections?

Posted on October 14, 2013 by A.P. Dillon

Are homeschools in North Carolina going to be subjected to random searches? It looks like the NDPE (Division of Non-Public Education) might be resuming just such a practice. I’ve written before that we’d be seeing homeschools come under more scrutiny. Common Core is becoming wildly unpopular and widely criticized, so could this be the start of a crackdown of parents trying to flee it?

Via press release from the Lt. Governor’s office: Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core, EDUCATION, Homeschool | Tagged | 1 Comment