Category Archives: Common Core

The Gates Coup Of Education

Posted on June 9, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Over the weekend, the Washington Post featured an article on Bill Gates and his foundation, which supplied nearly 3 billion in funding to develop, promote and push Common Core. Gates couldn’t do it alone, he needed the Department of Education on board and dangle a carrot in front of the states. He got it with the Race To The Top grant. What resulted was an education coup.
What opponents have been saying from the start is true: Common Core is not state-led. It’s Gates-led.

The follow-up article today in the Washington Post calls it just that, an education coup. The opening of this article lays bare the key spots of how this happened, with little or no vetting by the states.

KEEP READING…. Continue reading →

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North Carolina and The Shared Learning Collaborative

Posted on June 9, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

In my article earlier today, I linked to an article by Mercedes Schneider which had a familiar talking point in it. A talking point we’ve heard come out of the mouths of NC Chamber members and legislators who are their allies in forcing Common Core down the throats of NC parents and kids.
At the end of my earlier article, I mentioned that I didn’t even touch on the second half of Schneider’s article which dealt with the Shared Learning Collaborative (SLC) and the sharing of unprecedented student information. This article is the follow-up.

Schneider talks about their state superintendent and his pressuring of Governor Jindal to keep the Core and the PARCC assessments. This combination would result in an unprecedented amount of data collection on students as well as subsequent sharing. Here is the relevant section:

KEEP READING… Continue reading →

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“We Don’t Need Last Minute Change”

Posted on June 9, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Stop me if you’ve heard this line recently:

“They do not need a last-minute change. They do not need chaos in the classroom.”

Sounds like the NC Chamber of Commerce or perhaps Senator Stein or Rep. Brandon complaining about dropping the Common Core? Maybe Dr. Atkinson?

It’s none of them, although any one of them has said something similar in the last few weeks. No, this quote comes from Louisiana’s state superintendent. Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

NCSPIN Re-Runs N&O Op Ed Smearing Parents

Posted on June 8, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Another day, another N&O anonymous Op-ed smearing those who oppose Common Core. More Common Core Shutuppery from our media. Gotta love it.

You can read it at NCSPIN. I won’t send the traffic to the N&O. Here’s my response (below), which I also posted in the comments of the NCSPIN piece.

I’ve added some hyperlinks where relevant.
Begin Comment:

Another Anonymous N&O Op ed likely written by the Chamber of Commerce for them in which they demonize parents, students and teachers who see the Common Core for what it is: a flawed set of experimental standards.

MEMO TO N&O: This isn’t Right or Left. This isn’t the Tea Party. One of my friends involved in this is as Liberal as they come and she LOATHES Common Core. This movement includes people from all walks of life and ideologies and we’re sick of our own news outlets smearing us.

Let me know how that “tea party is racist” label you are attempting to put on your readership works out for ya?

KEEP READING Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core, Media Bias | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

About That Wilmington Police Chief Supporting Common Core….

Posted on June 8, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

A Wilmington Police Chief opposes the repeal of Common Core? Do tell. Now, why would a Police Chief be weighing in on legislation like this? Via StarNewsOnline, emphasis added:

Wilmington | Wilmington’s police chief will join others Thursday at a demonstration in Raleigh in support of Common Core education standards, according to a news release from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids.

Chief Ralph Evangelous is expected to join Fayetteville Police Chief Harold Medlock and Brevard Police Chief J. Phillip Harris Jr. to urge lawmakers to reject legislation to replace the nationally developed academic standards used in more than 40 states, the release states. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is an organization of more than 5,000 law enforcement leaders, including 91 in North Carolina.

The standards that establish what a student should learn in each grade level would be phased out in North Carolina under legislation that cleared a General Assembly committee Tuesday.

Last year students’ test scores fell by about 30 percentage points, which state education officials say is the result of more stringent testing than in the past. Many lawmakers say the tests may not be appropriate and are concerned the state is giving up its control of education.

– F.T. Norton

Let’s ignore the reason the end of year scores dropped 30 points was likely due to Common Core and look at why this police chief is involved here. Focus in on the highlighted passage above that include Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. That group has an acronym — FCIK. They have some sort of tie to ESEA, but their own page does not contain the PDF describing it anymore; the link goes nowhere.

I’m sure this organization does some wonderful things, however they and this chief are out of their depth and very misinformed about the Common Core. This letter shows that misinformation both on the bills in question and the Common Core quite painfully.

On their website, they have this disclaimer at the bottom of the page:

2014 © Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a membership organization of law enforcement leaders and crime victims under the umbrella non-profit Council for a Strong America.

Council for a Strong America rang a bell for me.

It rings a big bell at the Gates Foundation – $1.7 million last year alone to promote Common Core.

KEEP READING Continue reading →

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CMS Superintendent Wants Common Core Opposition to ‘Be Specific’

Posted on June 8, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

CMS Superintendent Heath Morrison wants the Common Core Opposition to be specific. I think he will be getting more than he bargained for. Ann Doss Helms over at the Charlotte Observer’s Your Schools blog has the article up on this challenge. Go read the whole article, especially the bit she quotes from the Achieve, Inc. guy. Relevant snippet:

Mike Cohen of the DC-based nonprofit group Achieve, who helped develop the standards with state leaders, said President Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan inadvertently hurt the cause by “taking credit” for the Common Core push and using Race to the Top grants to prod states to embrace the standards.

Inadvertently hurt the cause? That’s a laugh. Race To The Top grants which arguably were monetary coercion for to adopt the Common Core were funded with Obama administration stimulus funds. Most people don’t know that. For some deeper reading on The Race To The Top, check out my three part series here. Continue reading →

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