#DM7 Article: You Will Be Made To Care – Fed Ed Edition

Posted on August 30, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

This is a repost of my weekly Da Tech Guy column: You Will Be Made To Care – Fed Ed Edition

By A.P. Dillon

For many parents engaged in the fight against Common Core, discovering the level of control the federal government has over your child’s education has likely been an ulcer inducing adventure and a disturbing eye-opener.

The deeper I got into the weeds investigating the overlapping tentacles of Common Core, the more I realized that just how much control the federal government asserts over the states in terms of education.

For brevity, let’s call this control what Michelle Malkin calls it: ‘Fed Ed’.

A fine example of ‘Fed Ed’, which I doubt most people out there know about, is a non-profit called WestEd which is used to farm out wish list projects that certain government agencies are prohibited from engaging in. WestEd has reaps millions in government contracts annually.

Another example of ‘Fed Ed’ would be the tax dollars that flow to Teach for America (TFA) and subsequently trickle down to TFA employees and alumni who are “Black Lives Matter” professional agitators.

‘Fed Ed’ includes ‘Full-Service’ Community Schools, which according to the program description provides “comprehensive academic, social, and health services for students, students’ family members, and community members”.  This program was just extended for another five years. Remember, Obama believes that the government should have some kids in government run schools “24/7“.

Now consider the pressure (legal and otherwise) being brought to bear on state school discipline procedures by the Obama administration which fits right in with the Liberal’s  ‘You will be made to care‘ theme.  Specifically, Southern states.

The Obama administration’s DOJ has been poking around school districts looking for racist policies with regards to discipline procedures, specifically looking at the discipline and expulsion rates of black students. In conjunction with that poking around is the use of the phrase ‘school to prison pipeline‘ by multiple social justice organizations.

The focus of this ‘school to prison pipeline’ has been mostly on Southern states and a recent report being written about right now is only about Southern states.  This report is penned by Edward J. Smith and Shaun R. Harper of  the “Center for the Study of Race and Equity” located  at the Penn Grad school of Education. They use the phrase, ‘school to prison pipeline’ throughout their report.

It’s worth noting that the report doesn’t mention who paid for this report, what data sets were  or were not used, that Southern states have a higher black population in general, a description or details of the circumstances of the expulsions/suspensions,  nor does it cite any statistics on other ethnicities for comparison or as a control.

The report does mention that a large chunk of data (269 school districts) had missing or incomplete data. Gee, that might skew conclusions even more?

What is mentioned in the Smith/Harper report is the blaming of Zero Tolerance policies and the involvement of the US Dept. of Education, the NAACP and Teach for America.

Don’t miss the suggestions for using this report on page 3 and the report’s conclusion statement on page 89.  Here’s a snippet from ‘Using this report’:

“Our aim is to equip anyone concerned about the school-to-prison pipeline and the educational mistreatment of Black youth with numbers they can use to demand justice from school boards, educational leaders, and elected officials.”

With ‘use statements’ like that, it’s pretty clear this report was less about science and more about promoting a ‘You will be made to care’ narrative.

 

 

 

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

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Possibly the most arrogant and insulting Common Core article I’ve seen in a while

Posted on August 30, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

 

An article on Common Core penned by one Andy Overstreet appeared in the News and Observer this weekend.  The title was, Creating School Standards that make sense for children.

This article might be behind the pay wall for some readers, but I managed to read the whole thing and I have to say, this is possibly the most arrogant and insulting Common Core article I’ve seen in a while.

First and foremost, the entire premise of the article is based in a big, fat strawman argument. That argument rests on the fact that we don’t even know ‘what our kids will face in their life and work 20 years from now’ but yet, somehow, Common Core is immune to that fact.

Mr. Overstreet, how does Common Core magically answer that same question  of ‘what our kids will face in their life and work 20 years from now’?  Overstreet admits in his opening paragraphs that no one knows what jobs will be like in 2035 — But hey, Common Core is the answer, so don’t you touch it!

According to Overstreet’s very first sentence, the Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC) really doesn’t know what they think they know.

Overstreet starts out his article with the insulting assertion that because of “political ideology” and “grandpa’s curriculum”, the ASRC tasked with reviewing NC’s standards (Common Core) is somehow too stupid to produce any significant recommendations for changes.

Was that “grandpa’s curriculum” comment a slight to ASRC member Dr. Scheik’s age?

Grandad Learns About CC MemeOr was that an attempt to smear parents who prefer to teach the way they learned math instead of watching their kids struggle over what should be basic, simple first grade addition and subtraction?

Either way, with this article, Overstreet appears to be following the template of the horrifyingly bad PR campaign that produced a video that mocked the elderly on Common Core.

Funnily enough, Overstreet is a “grandpa” himself, but he, like his strawman premise, is apparently immune.

The remainder of the article throws around old and debunked Common Core talking points and includes the related buzzwords like ‘Global economy’ and ’21st century learning’. The piece then closes with a shaming finger wag.

How arrogant this guy Overstreet is — or perhaps it’s not arrogance, but ignorance and is, as Overstreet himself wrote, the “illusion of knowledge”.

Perhaps it’s neither but instead, a fat paycheck.  The article ends with this sentence:

Andy Overstreet, a former superintendent of schools in Virginia, recently retired from N.C. State University College of Education

Yes, recently retired from NCSU College of Education’s Friday Institute where Overstreet was “Director of Education Leadership Initiatives” and served on the leadership team, as well as Executive Coach for the North East Leadership Academy (NELA).

NELA is funded by over $18.6 million in Race To The Top (RTTT) grant money and has “specialized training” that includes “Social Justice” and has Common Core hard-wired into the programming.

RTTT is not the only source of funding, though.

The Northeast Leadership Academy (NELA) is an innovative school leader preparation program designed to develop 21st Century school leaders for rural, high-need schools in Northeastern North Carolina. NELA was initially funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction. Subsequent funding was secured through North Carolina’s Race to the Top award by the U.S. Department of Education.
–NELA Wikispaces Page

Don’t miss the “NELA Logic Model” graphic.

There are four education related grants on the Gates Foundation site for NC State University, but I have to believe there are more grants listed under a different title or group since NELA started well before the dates on the current Gates grant list.

It is possible the money was funneled to NELA through one of the two grants from the Gates Foundation that went directly to NC Dept. of Public Schools:

  1. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 2009 and earlier College-Ready US Program $1,819,055
  2. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 2009 and earlier College-Ready US Program $911,500

Mr. Overstreet brings little to the table with this Op Ed besides a myopic, echo chamber view of Common Core wrapped in a series of intelligence insulting statements.

Those of us who have been on the ground at every Legislature committee meeting, the ASRC meetings, have been in our kids classrooms and have sat at our kitchen tables watching Common Core unfold know what we see. Our knowledge isn’t “illusion”.

 

Related materials:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Academic Standards Review Commission, Common Core, NC DPI | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Rep. Glazier Resigns, Heads to #BlueprintNC’s Parent Organization – #NCGA

Posted on August 29, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Back in June, Rep. Glazier tweeted that he was headed to NC Justice Center.

It took a few months, but seven term NC representative, Democrat Rick Glazier, has resigned as of August 28th.

Gee, just in time to skip out on the budget negotiations. Lucky him.

By the way, in case anyone forgot — NC Justice Center is the parent organization of Blueprint NC.  [Read: Liberal NC Non-Profit Group’s Attack Memo Leaked]

MTL GIFHe is arguably a good pick to continue the Democrat fear mongering and false education narratives. Also, to keep the Blueprint NC ‘Cripple, Eviscerate, Pressure and Slam’ chugging along into 2016.

NC Justice Center probably thinks they’ve hired a war-time consigliere. Laugh.

Glazier’s role will be “executive director”.  It’s unclear if Glazier is replacing Billy Wilson, listed as interim Executive Director on the NC Justice website.

Shots fired:

According to ABC 11, the NC Democrats wasted no time filling his position with former legislator, Billy Richardson.

Richardson lost in his challenge to Wesley Meredith in 2014 for the NC-19 Senate seat. As of the publishing of this article. Richardson’s campaign site was still live.

Related:

Also:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), BlueprintNC, NC Dems, NCGA | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

About Those Groups Protesting #WCPSS’s Black Student Suspensions…

Posted on August 28, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Three groups are protesting Wake County Schools discipline policies involving black students according to an article at News and Observer.

Continue reading →

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What They’re Saying About Education In NC (8/26/15) – #NCED

Posted on August 26, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

NCED IconSome quick hits on what’s going on in Education in North Carolina

SLOW DOWN
School is starting for many traditional calendar kids this week. PLEASE, slow down! Watch out for stopped buses and for our children crossing the road.

Food for Thought
Find out what the PTA supports and decide if you still want to support them. The National PTA and the NC PTA have consistently supported Common Core.

ACT Scores Flatline
News and Observer has an article on NC’s ACT scores being ‘stagnant’.

I have to laugh at the spin by multiple parties in that article. The ACT CEO’s pearl-clutching statement about a ‘wake up call’ is really over the top.

Here’s a wake-up call: ACT’s CEO has a vested interested in making sure his test is needed, that’s how they make their money.

All Due respect to Ms. Jeter, but her comment that “It does take time to see scores on that kind of test go up,” is a rather funny thing to say when NC has been using Common Core for 3 whole years and is now entering the 4th year. Also – The ACT is now Common Core aligned.

If Common Core was doing what supporters have claimed it does, kids should be hitting it out of the park on the ACT (or any test for that matter), whether it is Common Core aligned or not.

The KEA & K-3 Formative Assessments
For parents with a child entering Kindergarten this year, the most important articles you can read right now are about how to opt your child out of the photo/video data collection that accompanies the KEA (Kindergarten Entry Assessment).

NC Media reporting on ‘open’ teacher positions 
Dr. Terry Stoops at the John Locke Foundation puts the NC media’s pearl clutching stories about the number of teacher vacancies this year into perspective:  Public school jobs: A five year summary

2015 READY Accountability 
This is where DPI releases test scores from last year.  For those interested, DPI is doing a webinar on Thursday, August 27th from 10:30 to 11:30.
To register, visit this link.

Another useful information link: NC Public Schools Accountability & Testing

NC Superintendent of Schools
The last thing we need is a legislator (Dem or Rep) at the helm of the Department of Public Instruction.

Yet, according to NC Insider, Rep. Tricia Cotham (D Mecklenburg) is ‘considering running’ and has been getting cozy with current Superintendent June Atkinson. It seems that the ” two had lunch together in Raleigh — celebrating Atkinson’s birthday, according to Cotham — after which Atkinson told a reporter she remained undecided on her plans.”

Sounds like a repeat story from 2011.

cotham core politicizingCotham is a big fan of her own opinions and of Common Core.

On more than one occasion, I personally watched her deride opposition (mainly parents) in front of reporters during the General Assembly’s  Legislative Research Committee on Common Core.

Cotham seems to be fan of mocking her colleagues on Twitter – in particular, having a laugh at the expense of Sen. Bob Rucho.  Classy.

Dr. Rosemary Fernandez Stein, a Burlington Pediatrician, has thrown her hat into the ring. Stein has been concerned with falling test scores, the age and developmental inappropriateness of Common Core.  View her campaign website.

Also allegedly in the race is a former principal turned motivational speaker named Henry Pankey.

Speculation is still circulating that Tammy Covil of New Hanover County, who currently is serving on the NC Common Core Academic Standards Review Board, might also run. The rumor mill also pumped out the idea that BEST NC’s Brenda Berg may be interested in a run.

Recent NC Ed Related Articles From LL1885

RELATED READING

What They’re Saying About Ed in NC archive

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More On NC’s ‘Partnership’ With The Gates Backed Hope Street Group

Posted on August 24, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

 

Bill Gates Dead CatYesterday, I mentioned going into more detail about the cozy partnership NC’s Superintendent and current CCSSO President, Dr. Atkinson, entered into with the Bill Gates backed non-profit called Hope Street Group.

Here’s the deal.

As previously mentioned, the big policy and partnerships person at Hope Street group is former NC Dept. of Public Instruction (DPI) employee Tabitha Grossman.

Grossman did a stint at the National Governors Association; she gave Governor’s a report that was basically Common Core implementation for Dummies packed with ready-made action plans and talking points.

Grossman shifted to Hope Street Group in 2013. In March of that same year, Dr. Atkinson was a participant at Hope Street event in Washington, D.C.

At that D.C. Hope Street event, participants included a number of interesting big names in Common Core as well as elected officials and federal officials from the FCC, Dept. of Education, office of Medicaid and the White House. One name jumps out: John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s right hand man.

In November of 2013, the CCSSO held it’s annual policy forum sponsored by the Success for All Foundation.

In attendance were all the big publishing and testing companies (AIR, PARCC, Pearson, ACT, College Board) and of course, representatives of Bill Gates and Hewitt Foundation. Also there were officials from non-profits run by some of Jeb Bush’s pals, Achieve Inc, The Hunt Institute, SAS Institute, WestEd and Ms. Tabitha Grossman of Hope Street.

Fun sidenote about that 2013 annual policy forum was one of the session leaders:

Governor Mike Huckabee will address the chiefs and engage in a dialogue around the current political landscape surrounding education policy. 

Yeahhhh.

Jump forward to the March, 2015 State Board of Education meeting, where this following announcement is recorded in the minutes. Emphasis added is mine:

State Fellowship for Teachers NC DPI Partners with Hope Street Group to Support Teacher Fellows

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), together with the North Carolina Association of Educators, is embarking on a new statewide partnership with Hope Street Group, a national nonprofit organization known for its influential teacher engagement work.

Hope Street Group will bring its successful state teacher fellowship program for working classroom teachers to North Carolina in spring of 2015.

  • Funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the fellowship is designed to elevate the teaching profession and connect educators to education policy, the yearlong fellowship will provide North Carolina teachers with training and resources to identify teaching challenges and propose solutions to district and state policymakers.
  • The collaborative statewide program has already been implemented in Hawaii and Kentucky and will also be replicated in 2015 in New York and Tennessee.
  • Hope Street Group North Carolina State Teacher Fellows will have access to a variety of professional development and training opportunities, including peer engagement, data collection and communication strategies.
  • They will collect data from thousands of their colleagues to present to NCDPI. They will also serve as leaders within their own school communities.
  • Fellows selected will represent a broad range of outstanding teachers dedicated to working toward improvements for their colleagues and their students.

Did NO ONE on the State Board of Education question this?

Known for “influential engagement”?  “Peer engagement”? ‘Collect data for NCDPI’?

No, from what I gathered from my contacts in other states where Hope Street Group has landed, they are known for bullying local school boards, doing end runs around parents, pressuring legislators and for informing on teachers who aren’t on their approved narrative bus.

Hope Street Group has infiltrated only five states so far, including North Carolina. Most people, myself included, have never heard of them until it is too late. That’s what they call ‘influential engagement’?

No, that’s a covert take-over reminiscent of the adoption of Common Core, only this time using our children’s teachers to accomplish educrat reformer goals.

Related:

Articles on Hope Street Group:

 

 

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Big Ed Complex, Common Core, EDUCATION, June Atkinson | Tagged | 1 Comment