Professional Lobbyist Pens ANOTHER Letter to NC Common Core Commission – #nced #asrc

Posted on November 2, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

CC ED Potemkin VillageBack in March, I reported on a professional lobbyist and PR consultant named Andrew Meehan who penned a letter to the NC Common Core Commission (ASRC) in support of the controversial Standards.

Mr. Meehan has struck again it seems. The Common Core Potemkin Village is well looked after.

This time a group of teachers, that includes members of the Gates backed Hope Street Group, has sent the commission. A letter which they failed to mentioned  Meehan also penned.

Joanna Schimizzi sent the letter to the Commission, however upon looking at the document properties, Co-Chair Tammy Covil found it was created by Meehan.

The email containing the letter, as well as Covil’s reply is below.
Beyond the email, I have added the text of the letter that I obtained and which Schimizzi attached with some commentary.

From: Tammy Covil <tcovil@ec.rr.com>
Subject: Re: Teacher Input
Date: November 2, 2015 at 9:08:47 AM EST
To: Joanna Schimizzi <jschimizzi@gmail.com>

Ms. Schimizzi,

We are in receipt of your letter and will take note of your comments.
Quick question: Are the teachers who endorsed this letter aware that it was authored by an education lobbyist by the name of Andrew Meehan, president of Meehan Strategy Group? I’m sure his organization didn’t prepare this document out of the goodness of their heart. Please share with this commission the name(s) of those who are funding his services on your behalf. 
Quite frankly, I am appalled that educators would not only plagiarize someone else’s work but then try to pass it off as their own. You may disagree with parents and attack them by insulting their intelligence for sharing legitimate concerns about Common Core, but at least their thoughts are genuine.
I have copied a few legislators on this email. I will also be sharing this with the media.
Tammy J. Covil
On Nov 2, 2015, at 6:28 AM, Joanna Schimizzi <jschimizzi@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Academic Standards Review Commission —

Thank you for the work you are doing to examine the standards from multiple points of view.
Many educators have been actively following your work. We appreciated the teacher focus groups that were formed, but many of us were unable to attend them due to geographic location. 
We realize that you are preparing to finalize your recommendations. As members of organizations such as NCAE, Hope Street Group Fellows, America Achieves Fellows, Center for Teaching Quality and other groups across the state, we wanted to combine our thoughts into one document for you. 
While we all had many individual thoughts, we were able to condense them into three shared themes. 
If you don’t mind, could you please reply confirming that you received our email?
Thank you,
Joanna Schimizzi and over 40 collaborative educators

<Letter from Teachers.docx>

Note the vast majority of those listed at middle school and above. I only saw two in claiming to be in elementary school.

The list is significant, however not as significant as the fact that we know teachers who speak out against Common Core in North Carolina have been threatened and told to keep quiet.

Many of the individuals signing this letter have been Common Core advocates going back to the NCGA Legislative research committee, such as Nancy Gardener.

Schimizzi herself is whole-hog for Common Core along with Mr. Leichner, who also signed the letter sent to the Commission. Schimizzi is no stranger to the spotlight.

Trey Ferguson is a Hope Street Group Fellow and in general has been the lead mouthpiece for promoting and protecting Common Core for the Gates backed group with regard to this commission.  Other Hope Street Group “fellows” who signed the letter are Dr. James Brooks, Bryan Christopher, Lucas Pasley and Courtney Sears.  Quite a contingency.

View all the NC “Fellows” here.

One of Hope Street Group’s founders recently even tried to troll me — how’s that for desperate?

*This article has been updated for clarity.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Academic Standards Review Commission, Common Core | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

#DM7 Article: Obama’s ‘Testing Cap’ Comes At Convenient Political Moment

Posted on November 1, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

This is a repost of my weekly Da Tech Guy column:

Obama’s ‘Testing Cap’ Comes At Convenient Political Moment

By A.P. Dillon

If it looks like a political stunt and smells like a political stunt, then it stands to reason it is a political stunt.

President Obama’s big shift in rhetoric on testing this past week comes at a politically convenient time.  In a total course reversal, Obama wants a cap that limits the testing on children to 2% or less of their class time.

That 2% sounds great, but really it’s not changing anything if one realizes that 2% of a school year’s class time translates to somewhere between 20 to 24 hours worth of testing. Like I said, this is a stunt.

This administration has beaten the drum of ‘test and punish’ for seven years right alongside tying test scores to teacher evaluations — a move that has had teachers unions up in arms nationwide.

What better way to quell the powerful, big donors like teachers unions just prior to a Presidential election year than to offer a ‘testing cap’?

It’s bait in an election cycle where education is taking the main stage with voters.

Likewise, it’s an opportunity for this administration to subtly hit Hillary Clinton over the head again, as she has come out supporting Common Core, which has been anchored to two testing consortia and ‘testing accountability measures’.

This isn’t just about hitting Hillary over the head. It’s also about beating Congress over the head. Again.

Remember, the House pushed forward with the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, which strengthens over testing instead of stemming it. The reauthorization also solidified Common Core. It’s a nightmare.

A recent article at Front Page Magazine by Mary Grabar points this out. Here’s an excerpt, but do read the whole thing:

In a smooth move, the Obama administration called on Congress to fix a problem that had been foisted on the people without the consent of Congress—namely the national Common Core standards, even as the widely hated name was scrupulously avoided.  The Obama administration also told teachers to fix tests that they had not devised and were forced to administer.    

In an even smoother move, the New York Times summed up the blame this way:

The administration’s move seemed a reckoning on a two-decade push that began during the Bush administration and intensified under President Obama. Programs with aspirational names — No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top — were responding to swelling agreement among Democrats and Republicans that higher expectations and accountability could lift the performance of American students. . . . .”

Alas, the push began “during the Bush administration.”

Shorter: If JEB! needed a final coffin nail, here it comes.

Meanwhile, in Obama’s backyard of  Washington, D.C.,  only 1 in 10 DC students score ‘college ready’ on the new Common Core math tests.  The scores dropped in neighboring Maryland as well.  Let’s not even get into the results for Hispanic students; Obama has that one covered with a forced touchy-feely outreach program.

But for educrats like William Bushaw, who is the director of the agency overseeing the NAEP (Nations Report Card),  the narrative remains the same: Common Core is not to blame.

William Bushaw, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees NAEP, tried to discourage connecting this year’s test results and Common Core in a telephone call with reporters Tuesday.

NAEP exams, while overlapping with the Common Core standards, are not tied to any specific curriculum or material used in public schools, Bushaw said.

He added that states might not have used Common Core in the same way.

“We should not assume the Common Core has been evenly or persistently implemented in the country,” he said.
– News and Observer 10/27/15

That’s an AMAZING admission right there, folks.  For the last 5 years, supporters of Common Core have maintained that the standards would be the same — everywhere.

About every five or so years, Educrats and Ed Reformers roll out some shiny new reform. None of these amazing reforms have moved the needle for our kids, nothing has changed for them.  Nothing has changed in the way these reformers window dress the failure of their amazing reform either; perhaps they took deck chair rearranging lessons in a past life.

It was vital kids be able to transfer from state to state and learn the exact same thing, even though the transient student population is less than 2% of the overall student population in the United States.

So not only was Common Core not being implemented the same way, it’s now clear the other major platform of Common Core has crumbled. That platform is consistent comparison of tests from state to state.

But don’t blame Common Core.  It’s the implementation. It’s the tests. It’s anything but the flawed and experimental standards that were rolled out rapid fire in order to yoke states into using them via the Race To The Top grant.

Having said all of that, Obama’s ‘test cap’ is an insulting band-aid on a machete wound that this administration has allowed to fester for the better part of his Presidency.

DM7 small LL1885A.P. Dillon resides in the Triangle area of North Carolina and is the founder of LadyLiberty1885.com.
Her current and past writing can also be found at IJ Review, StopCommonCoreNC.org, Heartland.org and Watchdog Wire NC.
Catch her on Twitter: @LadyLiberty1885

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on #DM7 Article: Obama’s ‘Testing Cap’ Comes At Convenient Political Moment

How Does a Patriot Hacker Tell Time? Check this out!

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Liberty Speaks

Hacktivists are an interesting brand.  They have websites, personal logo’s, unique followers, and are scattered across many social media platforms.  Some use their skills for nefarious reasons, however, a select few go after those hell bent on doing harm.  They’re “Patriot Hacktivists” and one was the first to take up this mission.  Six years ago he became a one man wrecking ball against Jihadist websites & other online entities aiding and abetting enemies of the US.  Many know him in cyberspace as The Jester.  However, there’s a new “first” in the hacker community and it’s quite a patriotic collaboration.

Yep, that’s right, a very special edition  JΞSTΞR ✪ ΔCTUAL watch is being released by Minuteman Watches.

Jester-Watch-for-website-1024x948The Minuteman Watch Company is American owned and each watch is built in the US with 25% of profits going to charities that help out our Veterans and their families.  Here is the backstory on the company:

We would like to tell you why we created Minuteman. Speaking as the owner of Minuteman my father is a disabled Vietnam vet. This has brought my father & I into contact with many other veterans over the years. Some have gone to have great success after their military service. However, many do struggle greatly after their service. Suffering life long physical & mental issues connected with their service. This inspired us to create Minuteman.

We came to the realization that there are charities which do great work in helping our veterans. These charities need funding to allow them to continue the great work which they do. So we created Minuteman to help provide these great charities with much needed funding. In addition we believe in sourcing product and services in the United States when we can. Lastly, we believe in offering a quality product that will stand the test of time.

25% of the profits from each Minuteman product we sell goes to charities that assist veterans and their families. Our watches are built and tested in the United States by highly skilled American workers. In the future we plan to expand our efforts by offering other types of American made products. Therefore we ask that you help us in our efforts with the purchase of a Minuteman product.

Thomas Carey
Owner Minuteman Watch Co.

To make a long story short, Jester appreciated and respected the Minuteman brand and how they help out our veterans. He tweeted this to his 68,000 followers regarding the company & their product

He liked what they were doing and Minuteman liked what he’d been doing.  Days later another tweet went out

The positive interest for this watch was nothing short of overwhelming, so the Special Edition JΞSTΞR ✪ Watch was born and 25% of the profits of each watch sold will go to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

I encourage all patriots, watch collectors and supporters of our Military, our Veterans and their families to go to Minuteman Watches and checkout the newest patriotic “wrist porn” this wonderful company is going to produce.  For the price you cant beat it, but be quick, only a limited amount will be made.  Be sure to also follow Minuteman on Twitter.

*Jester also has a product line called JΞSTΞRGΞAR and 10% of all net profits go to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.  Be sure to check out his store as well.  As J often says, “Stay Frosty”.

Thank you to the following sites for Linking!

Grumpy Opinions (includes special commentary on our Veterans by Grumpy)

Doug Ross Journal

Gleam Daily

Gorgelicious

Posted in EXCLUSIVE, Liberty Speaks, Twitter | 4 Comments

Heartland Article: Chicago City Council Approves Mayor’s Historic Property Tax Hike

Posted on November 1, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

heartland iconThis article originally appeared at Heartland Fiscal Times on October 29th, 2015.

Chicago City Council Approves Mayor’s Historic Property Tax Hike

The Chicago City Council approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed $543 million property tax hike on Chicago homeowners, partially filling a gap between unfunded pension liabilities and available assets that exceeds $32 billion.

The property tax hike is the single largest tax hike in the city’s history.

Sheila Weinberg, founder and chief executive officer of the government watchdog group Truth in Accounting, says the first step in solving the city’s financial problems is being honest with taxpayers about how bad the problem is.

“Tell the public the true debt amount,” Weinberg said. “Truth in Accounting determined that the city’s unfunded pension liability totals [about] $20 billion, but the city does Enron-style accounting by hiding $11 billion off of its balance sheet.”

‘False Impression’ of Budgets

“Each year, Mayor Emanuel has told the public he has balanced the city’s budget, which has given citizens a false impression that the city was living within its means,” Weinberg said. “But the city’s audited financial report gives a better picture of the truth, indicating the city has run a deficit of more than $1 billion each year.”

Weinberg says the financial truth, no matter how bad it is, is better than comforting accounting lies.

“While Chicagoans might not like the idea of higher taxes, we are pleased that they are finally getting an idea of how much the city government really costs,” Weinberg said. “Unfortunately, sometimes the truth hurts, but it is better than the blissful ignorance that has put the city tens of billions of dollars in debt.”

Budget Band-Aid

Jonathan Williams, director of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Task Force on Tax and Fiscal Policy, says Emanuel’s proposed tax hike is a Band-Aid covering more substantial problems needing reform.

“It seems to me like this proposal is clearly a start in paying for the huge unfunded liabilities and the debt it accumulated across the area, but it’s certainly not going to be something that’s going solve the underlying problem,” Williams said. “The underlying problem is the year-to-year debt and the unfunded liability that has been increasing. One property tax increase is not going to do anything to be a substantive cure to this problem.”

Wanted: New Ideas

Williams says Chicago lawmakers need to stop trying tired old ideas and seek newer ideas that have already been proven to work, most importantly in restructuring pensions to consist of how much government pays in, not in offering guaranteed payouts.

“Nobody wants to have that conversation of the fundamental reform going forward, though, and unfortunately, I think this huge property tax increase is going to be very, very painful for the taxpayers to swallow in Illinois,” Williams said. “It’s going to be the first of many dominos yet to fall in this ongoing pension crisis, unless the fundamental shift toward the direct-contribution model is made for new hires.”

Andrea Dillon (thell1885@gmail.com) writes from Holly Springs, North Carolina.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885) | Comments Off on Heartland Article: Chicago City Council Approves Mayor’s Historic Property Tax Hike

Community Organizer Worries About ‘School To Prison Pipeline’ – #nced #ncpol

Posted on November 1, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

I’ve written in the past about the ‘school to prison pipeline’ narrative.

The idea is that school discipline practices are discriminatory.

The goal, which organizers will deny, is to have a separate set of discipline rules for minorities and remove any type of police presence from schools.

The tactic is to protest using similar escalating methods like ones we’ve seen at Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter.

The difference is this time, it’s middle school and high school kids. With professional agitators supporting them.

Three groups have been involved in this in North Carolina – Education Justice Alliance, NC HEAT and Youth Organizing Institute.

Fun Fact:  Education Justice Alliance’s website is registered to Angeline Echeverria, one of the PVC Six arrested this past week and who is a staffer at El Pueblo.

WNCN, with emphasis added.

RALEIGH, NC (WNCN) — Could our schools be leading some students to prison? A group of students, teachers and education advocates say it is.

They gathered at Washington GT Elementary School and then marched to central prison in Raleigh on Saturday afternoon.

Organizers say more money is needed for schools and education.

That the focus has become security and that certain racial and ethnic groups are being unfairly targeted.

The event is part of the “dignity in schools’ national week of action.

For one Raleigh protester its personal.

“I grew up with these kids and I knew who they were and it was just disheartening for me to see they keep getting arrested and keep getting in trouble. Because it’s boy conducive to them becoming a more productive member of society,” said Sanyu Gichie, a protester.

Protesters are calling for an end to school resource officers.

WNCN’s Google must be broken.

Sanyu Gichie isn’t even in high school. She graduated UNC Chapel Hill this year.

She’s the “Solutions Not Suspensions Campaign Manager” for Youth Organizing Institute, which is a partner of BlueprintNC and the NCNAACP’s Moral Monday.

Look, there’s all the kiddies with Bully Barber.

“Youth Lead March To Governor: https://wakeyouth.wordpress.com/2013/06/27/youth-lead-march-to-governor/

Oh and Gichie’s also apparently into acting and modeling.

Before that, Gichie was a ‘community organizer’ with the NCSU Student Power Union and she is the co-founder of NC HEAT. Read NC HEAT’s about page – tell me how Art Pope and the Koch’s fit anywhere in HEAT’s alleged crusade?

NC HEAT and Youth Organizing Institute are best pals. So much so, that when you want to donate to NC HEAT, you are sending money to Youth Organizing Institute:

The Youth Organizing Institute is a projec tof Action for Community in Raleigh (ACRe), a registered 501c(3) organization

The typo above is not mine.

The HEAT in NC HEAT stands for “Heroes Emerging Amongst Teens”. They misspell ‘amongst’ on their website though: “NORTH CAROLINA HEROES EMERGING AMONST TEENS”.

Follow the Money
View the NC Secretary of State’s profile for ACRe.  ACRe is apparently a 501(c)3.
There are TWO records for Youth Organizing Institute; one under ACRe and the other under Southern Vision Alliance.

Group was registered in February of 2005 by Attila Nemecz, a far left radical associated with the climate change group Earth First! and Asheville’s ‘Rising Tide‘.  Nemecz had her Wake county voter registration removed, but looks to have an active one in Beaufort county?

Also listed in the creation filings for ACRe are Megan Lebda of Cary, NC and Brad Goodnight of Raleigh.   Lebda has no active voter registration, but had one registration removed. I was unable to nail down Goodnight’s voter registration status.

The address listed as the corporate office doesn’t appear to be valid anymore. According to Wake County tax records, 822 Chamberlain Street Raleigh NC seems to be a rental property owned by one Shallal Jefferson of New York City.

Donations are taken through a site called “Network for Good”, which another 501(c)3 that apparently funnels hundreds of millions of donations to non-profits around each year. The donation address for ACRe is 804 Old Fayetteville St, Durham, NC 27701.  According to Google, that’s the address for the HAYTI Heritage Center?

Something doesn’t jive here.

By the way, this School to Prison Pipeline narrative is a coordinated movement that goes all the way up.

Related Reading on “School To Prison Pipleine” from LL1885.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), BlueprintNC, Moral Monday, NC NAACP, Racial Justice, Social Justice | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Community Organizer Worries About ‘School To Prison Pipeline’ – #nced #ncpol

Did The PVC Six Vote Illegally? What Will Roy Cooper Do? – #NCPOL

Posted on October 31, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

illegals protest hb318Earlier this week, six individuals chained themselves together in front of the Governors mansion in protest of HB 318, a bill signed by Governor McCrory blocking cities in North Carolina from adopting sanctuary city status.

Some of the individuals were self-described ‘illegal immigrants’. A Facebook post by James Johnson of NCFIRE cites the voting records of all six protesters who were arrested.

Did these people vote in North Carolina illegally? What will Attorney General Roy Cooper do?

From the Facebook Post (edited to correct the links to the voting records):

Carmen Rodriguez, a young mother of three who is in the country illegally and has lived and worked in Raleigh for more than 10 years.
https://vt.ncsbe.gov/Voter_Search_P… and here
https://vt.ncsbe.gov/Voter_Search_P…
Angeline Marie Echeverria, the executive director of Raleigh-based El Pueblo and a Cuban-American
https://vt.ncsbe.gov/Voter_Search_P…
Ivanna Christina Eljuri Gonzalez, an immigrant from Venezuela who grew up in Miami and has lived in the Triangle for the past six years
https://vt.ncsbe.gov/Voter_Search_P…
Martha Iliana Santillan-Carril, an organizer at El Pueblo and a former teacher
https://vt.ncsbe.gov/Voter_Search_P…
David Salazar Montalvo, a contractor who has lived and worked in North Carolina for almost 30 years
https://vt.ncsbe.gov/Voter_Search_P…
Nayely Irais Perez-Huerta, who is the regional organizer for the Southeast Immigrant Rights Network.
https://vt.ncsbe.gov/Voter_Search_P…

Update:
Someone has complained about the first person on the list above. Let me be clear, this is information as posted on Facebook by ANOTHER PERSON. I merely reposted it.  If you have an issue with it, take it up with them.
There is another Carmen Maria Rodriguez in the voter records, but at a different address: https://vt.ncsbe.gov/Voter_Search_Public/voter_details.aspx?voter_reg_num=000066043758&county=26

Given that Rodriguez is a self-proclaimed illegal immigrant per her comments to the media, it is a valid question to ask the status of those arrested with her.
Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), ELECTIONS, Voting | Tagged , , | 15 Comments