Category Archives: June Atkinson

Common Core And South Carolina’s Withdrawl

Posted on July 16, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

There’s an article on The State this week about the SC Superintendent killing Common Core with a plan of his that he intends to execute on his way out of office. The plan tells educators re-writing the standards to ignore Common Core:

KEEP READING Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core, June Atkinson, NC State Standards | Comments Off on Common Core And South Carolina’s Withdrawl

Citizen’s Information Request Yields 60K In CCSSO Dues

Posted on July 14, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

A citizen request for information regarding one of the two D.C. trade groups responsible for the Common Core standards, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), yielded some interesting results from the NC Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI).

At least $60,000 in taxpayer funds paid for CCSSO related activity last year. Keep reading, there is more beyond the specific CCSSO dollar figure. Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core, June Atkinson | Tagged , | Comments Off on Citizen’s Information Request Yields 60K In CCSSO Dues

McCrory And Tillis Offer Teacher Pay Raise; Keep Tenure

Posted on June 26, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Yesterday, Governor McCrory and Speaker of the House Thom Tillis held a press conference to announce alterations to their original Teacher Pay Plan. This new plan will be part of a new bill.

“There will be no teacher in the state who, in a couple years, if they follow our plan, will make less than $35,000 a year,” McCrory said.

The governor said teachers would get paid more for having master’s degrees and schools would get more money for textbooks, which is a growing problem in the state. A new pilot program would also be set up which would award teachers based on experience, leadership, performance, and market value.

“All these things can happen without sacrificing 4,000 to 6,000 teachers’ assistants, without sacrificing Medicaid,” McCrory said. “We can also do this while meeting the educational needs to pre-k, colleges, and universities.” – ABC 11

So, in essence, all the changes made in the past year are now gone.

The new plan will give teachers at 5% raise, allow them to keep tenure and includes keeping teacher assistants. Tillis added that the Education lottery funds are not needed to support the proposed bill. On hand was NC Superintendent and CCSSO President Elect, June Atkinson. Apparently, this has her blessing yet was quoted by ABC 11 as saying it was ‘not nearly enough’. That figured, right? The Governor would do well to get rid of Common Core if he intends to keep this promise — the costs to NC for keeping and implementing it are estimated at over $640 million for just the first five years. That does not include testing.

Watch the clip from the press conference via News and Observer on YouTube: Continue reading →

Posted in EDUCATION, June Atkinson, NCGA, Pat McCrory, Video | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

News and Observer’s John Frank Can’t Get Common Core Stories Right

Posted on June 25, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Another day, another News and Observer Common Core fiasco. John Frank has gotten really skilled at regurgitating talking points instead of actual reporting. I could pick this latest attempt down line by line, but frankly I don’t have the time to waste. I will hit highlights instead. This section bothered me: Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, June Atkinson, Media Bias, NCGA | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Common Core Aligned: WorkKeys

Posted on June 23, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Common Core is not ‘just a set of standards’. That statement is one of the bigger lies perpetrated by the supporters of the Core. The ultimate goal is to align everything from materials to books, apps to tests and yes, the means of entry into the workforce.
Common Core, arguably, is lends itself to reinforcing the ‘cradle to grave’ tracking and funneling of your child and their potential. As I was thinking about writing this article, I couldn’t help but make a comparison of what is happening with this kind of tracking and a book I’ve recently read, Divergent. Kids are placed in one of five given classes of society based on what a test tells them is their best match. If your text doesn’t given conclusive results, you’re considered Divergent.

[VIDEO CLIP]

Are our children currently being funneled into one career or another based on often poorly designed tests? We have multiple tests for kids across multiple grades, multiple entry tests for colleges as well. How long until it’s pared down to just a few tests? Tests aimed at becoming some kind of workforce sorting mechanism are not a thing of the future. They’re here now. Those of us standing up and pointing it out? Are we Divergent?

WorkKeys

The following article is going to get a bit involved. There is an article I am going to refer back to. It is essential one reads and comprehends this article before reading what I have to add to it. Please read Missouri Education Watchdog’s Public Education as Workforce Training. Is WorkKeys in Your State. Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, June Atkinson | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Michaels on NCSpin: Atkinson won’t run again in 2016

Posted on June 22, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Cash Michaels made the claim on NCSpin ‘s 6/22/14 episode) that State Superintendent June Atkinson won’t run again in 2016. Also in this episode was an minor hissy fit by NC Policy Watch’s Chris Fitzsimon. For a laugh, watch the portion from the 19:45 mark talking about Moral Monday. At the end of it, Fitzsimon has a bit of a meltdown. I laughed.

Watch the Cash Michaels clip below:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/K2UJnREgvtc?t=26m43s]

Gee, someone else thinks that too? I’ve noted before that she dismantled her campaign website and dissolved her campaign fund at the NC Board of Elections. There is likely more than a simple wish to retire, the fact she’s losing allies at a rapid rate, has done little to advance the teacher pay agenda or the fact she has the Perdue knack for making ridiculous and embarrassing hyperbolic statements. No, I bet it has more to do with her stealthily sneaking the fundamentally flawed standards in to North Carolina.

What fundamentally flawed standards? Oh that’s right, the majority of citizens still haven’t heard of them after two years of implementation. Or maybe you have heard of Common Core?

As President Elect of the CCSSO (one of the two D.C. trade organizations that hold the copyright on Common Core) she’s made an unholy mess out of it. I doubt many voters out there cared for the way she’s treated them during this fiasco.

KEEP READING…. Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, June Atkinson | Tagged | 3 Comments