Category Archives: NCGA

#NCGA Rep. Brandon Repeats Racist Smear Of Common Core Opposition

Posted on June 20, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Rep. Marcus Brandon and his cohorts have continually made references that opposition to Common Core in North Carolina oppose President Obama. The subtext of that reference is if we oppose the President, we therefore must be racists. More shutuppery. More politicizing.

I find it disgusting an elected official would attack parents, students, teachers, student, grandparents, military personnel and other concerned citizens in North Carolina in such a manner, yet he’s done it again:

“Other Democrats accused the Republican majority of pouncing on misunderstandings about the program to undermine President Barack Obama, who supports it.

“We’re using this bill to appease about 20 percent of the population that’s very upset about something that’s been misconstrued,” Democratic state Rep. Marcus Brown said.” – Watauga Democrat

This kind of behavior out of an elected official should be called out on the carpet. Not just the rhetoric, but the ignorance about the role of this administration in this whole fiasco. Continue reading →

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NC Must Get Out Of The Common Core’s SBAC

Posted on June 20, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

I’ve written in the past about the SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) and its ramifications for keeping North Carolina tied to Common Core even with two bills in our General Assembly attempting to get us out of the standards. For those who have not dug into the SBAC, I encourage you to do so. Start with the Cooperative Agreement between the U.S. Department of Education and the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium.

The Cooperative Agreement in a nutshell is the U.S. Dept. of Education getting around the law barring them from creating national tests and curriculum by farming it out to a private company. It was paid for with your tax dollars via the Obama administration’s Stimulus package, of which a portion of was funneled into the Race To The Top Grants. The purpose statement from the Cooperative Agreement:

The purpose of this agreement is to support the consortium recipient in developing new, common assessment systems that are valid, reliable and fair for their intended purposes and for all student subgroups, and that measure student knowledge and skills against a common set of college- and career-ready standards in mathematics and English language arts. In light of the technical nature of this grant and the fact that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) will likely be reauthorized during the course of this project, the Department will provide necessary flexibility to respond to changing circumstances, technology, and laws by working collaboratively with the recipient through this agreement. The objective is to assist the consortium in fulfilling, at minimum, the goals articulated in the consortium’s approved Race to the Top Assessment (RTTA) application, requirements established in the RTTA Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 that was published in the Federal Register on April 9, 2010, and any subsequent additions detailed through this agreement.

The price tag was large:

The estimated cost for the work to be performed under this Agreement is $159,976,843 and $15,872,696 for the supplemental award.

This article will hit some of the bigger reasons why North Carolina needs to get out of the SBAC. However, before going forward, it is worth noting that the SBAC tests were a confirmed “glitch” fiasco and the tests themselves, like PARCC’s, were shrouded in secrecy. Teachers have told me they were not allowed to see the pilot test beforehand in NC nor were they allowed to talk about specifics afterward.

Keep Reading…. Continue reading →

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

#NCGA House Ed Cmte Passes PCS To #SB812

Posted on June 20, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Yesterday at the NC General Assembly, the House Education Committee passed a PCS (proposed committee change) to Senate Bill 812 – Maintain State Auth. Over Academic Standards. The PCS passed 25-17.

PCS to #SB812 Ayes 25 Nos 17. Motion passes. #NCGA #StopCommonCore

— LL1885 – A.P. Dillon (@LadyLiberty1885) June 19, 2014

My understanding is that what this PCS does is to substitute the language of HB 1061 for that of SB 812. From what I gathered, the bill will head to a conference committee sometime next week. In that conference committee a compromise will have to be hammered out which takes SB 812 and includes a large portion of the language of HB 1061. From there, it will be voted on by both chambers of the NCGA and will be sent to the Governor for signature.

Here is what I tweeted out during the meeting yesterday: Continue reading →

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#CommonCore NC Action Item: Contact Senate Ed Cmte

Posted on June 18, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Common Core Fighters in North Carolina,

We need to act once again.

keep-calm-and-pass-hb-1061 twitter piIt has come to my attention the Senate Education Committee is possibly trying to avoid conferencing with the House to merge HB 1061 and SB 812. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. SB 812, as it stands by itself, is a weaker bill than HB 1061. The two need to be merged.

To the NC Chamber folks reading this: We know you like SB 812 and we know why.

Section Five? SB 812 has language keeping the Common Core Testing Consortia on the table. Common Core is driven by data, which these consortia require as well. NC is still part of the SBAC and we MUST withdraw or all of this is for not. North Carolina would do far better with a proven, public use set of tests that have no strings attached like the SBAC and PARCC do.

Let’s be clear: Without PARCC /SBAC, Common Core dies. With them, Common Core lives. Continue reading →

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Occupy Monday 6/16/14 Arrests

Posted on June 17, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Hey Hey! Ho Ho! Arrested at Moral Monday yo!

Before we get into the list of the arrests, catch up on what went on by reading yesterday’s article: Occupy Monday 6/16/14 Edition: Workers ‘Rights’.

The Moral Monday Union Pals

Yesterday’s Moral Occupy Monday was packed with unions. Of note in attendance was The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). The attendance of AFGE likely sent chills up the legs of the NC Association of Educators and their protest arm, Organize2020, who desperately want to become a full-fledged union and ultimately kill NC public schools in the process. Take a gander at the “About” page at AFGE to see why; BFF’s with the AFL-CIO etc. Related read: Occupy Monday Agenda Would Cost $7 almost $10 Billion To Fund

Even with the influx of out-of-state union organizers there, attendance was sparse again.

Define “crowd” RT @704_SPCLC: The crowd in Halifax Mall #1u #MoralMonday pic.twitter.com/MlkgBZPaLc

— LL1885 – A.P. Dillon (@LadyLiberty1885) June 16, 2014

Even Trumka got in on the Occupy act yesterday by tweeting the AFL-CIO’s video promoting civil disobedience:

#MoralMonday pushing ahead today, even in the face of bans on “imminent disturbance https://t.co/vqZA7yG6yE — Richard L. Trumka (@RichardTrumka) June 16, 2014

Not to be left out, the SEIU stood in solidarity with their Occupy Monday brothers and sisters.

The Arrestees & What The Local Media Won’t Tell You About Them

Here are the local Raleigh stories (below) which don’t really name any of the arrestees. ABC11 puts the number at ‘nearly 20’. In fact, it was 20. Nineteen arrested for 2nd degree trespass and one arrested for possession of pot. Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Moral Monday, NC NAACP, NCAE, NCGA, Occupy 2.0, Organize2020, Reverend Barber, Social Justice, Unions | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

#CommonCore Action Alert – Inquire on Status of HB 1061

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

What is the status of HB 1061/ SB 812?

We know these bills passed their respective Houses and have since been referred to their respective education committees:
Since then, we have heard little about the conference committee to merge these bills.
Yes, it is time to get on the phone and fire up the emails yet again!
Continue reading →

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