BEST NC’s 2020 Vision Initiative

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

Common Core was discussed in North Carolina’s legislature starting in 2013 and running through 2014. The result of the discussion, meetings, hearings and testimony was Senate Bill 812. This bill ordered an appointed commission (ASRC) to review and replace the Common Core State Standards in a fashion that was transparent to the public.  That commission has begun work and are rolling up on their 4th meeting.

Transparency has been mentioned multiple times during these ASRC meetings and for good reason.   The adoption of Common Core in most states was done almost by stealth and questions about the non-governmental entities and businesses involved in the creation of the standards have become a national hot button issue.  Arguably, transparency and local control are at the heart of much of the Common Core debates and that of education issues in general.

Having said all of that, it would appear from a PowerPoint presentation I have received that there is another group working on education issues, including looking at academic standards in North Carolina. This group has met multiple times since late Summer 2014. This presentation, titled “K12 Standards Working Group – Mtg 1 notes“ carries in it the name “Vision 2020 Initiative”.  I will embed this document at the end of this article.

Is this necessarily a nefarious or secret group? No.

Is this businesses and various elected officials kicking around education issues away from public scrutiny like we saw with Common Core? Maybe or maybe not. Keep reading.

One of the key organizations behind the presentation is BEST NC.  In speaking to BEST NC’s CEO, Brenda Berg, I was informed that the ‘top-line’ recommendations from their work groups would be presented to the NC General Assembly sometime in January. After those ‘top-line’ recommendations were revealed, there would be a ‘grassroots conversation’ orchestrated across the state.  Berg also told me that a web portal related to their initiative would be appearing possibly sometime in April 2015.  Berg indicated the purpose of this initiative was that “we want to take away the politics” and “stop the infighting” when it came to education issues facing North Carolina.  The idea was to ‘create a platform to move education forward’.

Ms. Berg gave me the following description to share with readers:

BEST NC is a non-partisan group of business leaders who care deeply about education.  Recent discussions around education have been far too politicized and have left smart, well-intentioned North Carolinians without a forum to work together.  We believe that breaking down those barriers and having a shared plan is the best way to move education in North Carolina from good to great.
The 2020 Vision process is designed to give all education stakeholders including families, educators, and elected officials a forum where they can share their ideas and strategies for improving education in North Carolina.  The initial working groups helped form the high level plan.  It was a diverse, inclusive group of people who care and think deeply about education.  The website will be up by April and we invite anyone to engage wherever they have ideas on how we can improve education for all students in North Carolina.

 

So, what is going on here and who is BEST NC?
BEST NC is formally known as North Carolina Business Leaders For Education (D.B.A BEST NC). They are a 501(c)3.  Their membership seems to be exclusively businesses. Membership can be costly and is based on the number of employees your company has.  For a business of 1-50 employees, the cost is $5,000, and for a business with 500 and more employees, the fee listed starts at $30,000 and spans up to $50,000.  View BEST NC’s mission statement here.

BEST NC held meetings at SAS Institute that were apparently held on a bi-weekly basis and have since concluded sometime before Thanksgiving.  The formation of these work groups apparently sprang from an event BEST NC held on the SAS campus earlier in 2014.

Working under the aforementioned  title, ‘2020 Vision Initiative’, participants have been divided into work groups composed of NC legislators, NC government officials, NC board of education members, NC non-profits/think tanks on the Left and Right, other high-ranking NC education officials and includes SAS lobbyist, Susan Gates.  There is of course the considerable amount of business interests behind BEST NC which are likely in the mix as well. Those opposing Common Core are likely shifting uncomfortably in their seat viewing that list and then realizing the money that is behind it all.

Here are all the names from the BEST NC presentation material, the ‘focus areas’ and ‘working group’ they belong to.  On the list are former Superintendent Heath Morrison and former State Board of Education member Marcella Savage who both resigned their official positions in recent months. Also present in the list are various legislators involved in the passage of SB 812.

Strangely, Superintendent and CCSSO President, June Atkinson, is listed as being on the “Accountability, Transparency & Communication” team even as many continue to question whether she has been accountable, transparent or communicative during the Common Core investigations or with the public in North Carolina.

As for ‘taking away the politics’, some of the worst serial offenders like Rep. Cotham and Sen. Stein also appear below.

I’d like to call attention to the 13th slide in the presentation. The title is ‘2020 headlines and barriers’, but formatting on Scribd cut off the ‘barrier’s part. Looking over the list of barriers, it could arguably read like a complaint list from Common Core proponents.

Beyond Brenda Berg, I also reached out for comment to the Lt. Governor’s office, Civitas and John Locke Foundation who were named in the presentation.  I received confirmation that these work groups started to form near the end of summer and concluded sometime before Thanksgiving after holding a handful of meetings.

Jamey Falkenbury in the Lt. Governor’s office told me that the Lt. Governor got involved to be part of the conversation on the facilities and technology piece, which is relevant to work the Lt. Governor is currently doing.  Falkenbury also made mention of contact with individuals in Massachusetts who are currently revising their standards after finding Common Core didn’t stack up as necessarily better than what the state had in place previously.  Suggestions and advice from individuals in Massachusetts were being taken under advisement during at least one 2020 Vision work session and discussion ensued on how to replicate what Massachusetts was doing.

At Civitas, Bob Luebke also said there was debate about getting involved with the BEST NC venture, and it was decided that it was better to have a seat at the table and be able to give input than stand on the sidelines.   Dr. Terry Stoops of the John Locke Foundation echoed Luebke’s sentiments on that front. Both made statements to the effect that they had no idea what the final ‘top-line’ recommendations were going to look like and that, if in fact those recommendations did not line-up with policies they supported, their sign-off on the final product might not occur.

One final note, which may or may not be related and merely coincidental. Both the Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Wake County school districts also have ‘new’ strategic plans and both utilize the terms “vision” and “2020” in them.

Update:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Academic Standards Review Commission, Common Core, EDUCATION, EXCLUSIVE, June Atkinson, NCGA | Tagged , | 10 Comments

#DM7 Article: Protests and Educators

Posted on December 21, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

This is a reposting of my weekly Da Tech Guy column: Protest and Educators

By A.P. Dillon

The last few months have been filled with protests in multiple states over the decisions in Ferguson and in the NYC case of Eric Garner.  In my own state of North Carolina, protests have occurred as well, mainly in the Durham area.

What’s interesting to me about some of these protests are various educators and education related groups like Teach For America being involved. From police reports on these protests, anarchists and occupiers are also involved.  In a protest that occurred on December 10th, one arrest included charges of ‘inciting a riot’. Those charges were attributed to one Robert Stephens. Stephens is the North Carolina executive director of alumni for Teach for America.  Perhaps ironically, Durham Public Schools has recently broken off its contract with Teach for America.

One of the people waiting to bail out those arrested at the event on the 10th was Rachel Schankula. Schankula is a long-time employee of Teach For America.  It should also be noted that the woman who runs Teach For America’s alum affairs is the wife of Eric Guckian, education adviser to Governor Pat McCrory. Eric Guckian is also a Teach for America Alum. So are the other advisers under Guckian.

This is not the first Teach for America tied person to such protests. In Missouri, Brittany Packnett was assigned to the Ferguson Commission by Governor Jay Nixon. Packnett had been organizing protests over the last few months according to the Huffington Post.

Then we have the report that a prominent Teacher’s Union figure was arrested at a protest:

Weingarten is the president of AFT.  She was arrested in NYC at an Eric Garner protest. Be sure to click on the tweet and read the subtweets on that one.

Don’t forget Eric Linsker, the CUNY professor arrested for attempting to incite a riot and carrying around a backpack full of hammers — as well as marijuana.

Shifting back to North Carolina, just this past week the school board of one of the largest school districts held one of its regularly scheduled meetings.  At that meeting, board member Keith Sutton wore a shirt that had “#blacklivesmatter” printed on it and went on to give a little speech where he attempted to compare his own brush with police to that of Eric Garner in NYC. He went on to try to tie the achievement gap of minorities into that speech.  Check out that contrived bit of hand-wringing for yourself.

Children in schools look up to their teachers a great deal. Teachers have been role models for many students in the past. In the current times we live in, it seems like political activism is on the rise in and around our schools. There is a noted glorification happening with being arrested at a protest.  The actions and opinions of teachers inevitably end up filtering into the classroom. What impact those actions and opinions are having is becoming clear. Given the education related activism I’ve just chronicled, one has to see a bigger and arguably coordinated picture emerging.  Now, more than ever, parents need to be engaged with what their kids are learning, seeing and doing.

If you enjoyed this article, you should really check out other pieces written by Da Tech Guy’s Magnificent Seven writers and maybe hit that tip jar!

AP DillonA.P. Dillon (Lady Liberty 1885), is a Conservative minded wife and mother living in the Triangle area of North Carolina. A.P. Dillon founded the blog LadyLiberty1885.com in 2009. After the 2012 election, she added an Instapundit style blog called The ConMom Blog. Mrs. Dillon recently participated in Glenn Beck’sWe Will Not Conform. Mrs. Dillon’s writing, in addition to Da Tech Guy’s Magnificent 7, can also be found at StopCommonCoreNC.org, WatchdogWireNC and WizBang. Non-political writing projects include science fiction novellas that are, as of yet, unpublished. Her current writing project is a children’s book series.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, Protests | Tagged , , | Comments Off on #DM7 Article: Protests and Educators

The Common Core Weekend Reads – 12-21-14

Posted on December 21, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

CommonCoreJebThese are the Common Core Weekend Reads for December 21, 2014.

This is a review of the past week of news on Common Core nationwide and in North Carolina.

Articles are organized by category.

Prior Edition of Weekend Reads: 12-14-14
Weekend Reads archive at StopCommonCoreNC HERE.

 

NC UPDATES:

APUSH UPDATES:

QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

“The George H. W. Bush style of domestic policy that both his sons inherited is one of giving liberal programs half the funding and authority liberals want, but dolloping on so much conservative-branded “accountability” that it can be sold to the right. Poppy pushed “standards-based reform.” W. did No Child Left Behind. And Jeb is the leading GOP advocate for what’s become of Common Core. Whatever the merits, being identified so closely with a Bill-Gates subsidized education scheme hated from the right wing to Louis C.K. will prove costly.” ​
– The Week, Don’t run for president, Jeb.​

LEGISLATIVE/LEGAL:

POLITICAL/PROTESTS:

HIGHLIGHTED ARTICLES:

THE WEEKEND READS:

TESTING UPDATES:

WEEKEND VIDEOS:

Sen. Rand Paul blasts Jeb Bush for support of Common Core

Take a chance and step out of the collective

TWEETS OF THE WEEK:

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

Another Controversial Lesson Used In Support of Common Core

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

A vocabulary lesson using passages about Islam is making the rounds in the news today. The root of it comes from a viral video posted on Facebook by Dianne Lynn Savage. This assignment was given out at Farmville Central High School in North Carolina.

FOX’s Todd Starnes already has an article up:

From the FOX article, a Pitt County official gave a statement saying it met Common Core ELA standards. Emphasis below is mine:

A spokesman for Pitt County Schools defended the lesson  – noting that it came from a state-adopted supplemental workbook and met the “Common Core standards for English Language Arts.”

“The course is designed to accompany the world literature text, which emphasizes culture in literature,” the statement read.

The problem is it’s emphasizing a specific culture and religion – and the school district acknowledged there were concerns “related to the religious nature of sentences providing vocabulary words in context.”

“Our school system understands all concerns related to proselytizing, and there is no place for it in our instruction,” the statement goes on to say.

“However, this particular lesson was one of many the students in this class have had and will have that expose them to the various religions and how they shape cultures throughout the world.”

I asked the school district to provide me with a copy of vocabulary worksheets that promoted the Jewish, Hindu and Christian faiths.

The school district did not reply.

I also asked for the past or future dates when the students would be given those vocabulary worksheets.

The school district has yet to reply.

The student I spoke with told me they have not had any other assignments dealing with religion – other than the one about Islam.

I can hear the Common Core proponents now: This isn’t Common Core! This is a bad assignment being labeled Common Core!

Gates HSLDA Curriculum alignedYes, it is a bad assignment. That bad assignment was from a school approved workbook being used to fulfill Common Core standards. You can’t have your cake and eat it too, proponents.

You know the solution right, proponents?

Control everything from tests, to materials to curriculum — double dog dare you to make that argument. 

This should make parents question how well vetted this workbook was and whether this was approved by the NC Textbook Commission or a local board?

Local NC media has a story up which includes the actual pages in question and the workbook, produced by “Holt, Rinehart and Winston”:

Holt, Rinehart and Winston was a division of Harcourt Education. As part of Harcourt, it was bought sometime in 2008 by Houghton Mifflin. Once acquired, the group McDougal Littell was merged with it to form Holt McDougal.

 

Update – Thanks to Carolina Plott Hound for linking!

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core | 5 Comments

#SB812 And The Common Core Commission’s Task

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

Yesterday, Senator Tillman’s newsletter pressed the Common Core Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC) on their task of “writing new standards” and not just ‘tweaking’ and/or rehashing them. That’s what Senator Tillman has said for many months now about his bill.

Here’s what SB 812 says about the task of the ASRC, with emphasis added:

SECTION 2.(c)  The Commission shall:

(1)        Conduct a comprehensive review of all English Language Arts and Mathematics standards that were adopted by the State Board of Education under G.S. 115C‑12(9c) and propose modifications to ensure that those standards meet all of the following criteria:

a.         Increase students’ level of academic achievement.

b.         Meet and reflect North Carolina’s priorities.

c.         Are age‑level and developmentally appropriate.

d.         Are understandable to parents and teachers.

e.         Are among the highest standards in the nation.

(2)        As soon as practicable upon convening, and at any time prior to termination, recommend changes and modifications to these academic standards to the State Board of Education.

(3)        Recommend to the State Board of Education assessments aligned to proposed changes and modifications that would also reduce the number of high‑stakes assessments administered to public schools.

(4)        Consider the impact on educators, including the need for professional development, when making any of the recommendations required in this section.

The Commission shall assemble content experts to assist it in evaluating the rigor of academic standards. The Commission shall also involve interested stakeholders in this process and otherwise ensure that the process is transparent.

The “writing of new standards” is not among the charges of the ASRC.  Making recommendations to the legislature is what they are supposed to do.

Spectators would do well to remember the difference noted above when it comes time for the ASRC to present its findings sometime next year.

By the way, I’ve talked with various officials in this state about ‘modifying’ the Common Core.  The copyright, contrary to Bill Cobey telling me it’s a “red herring“, is an issue. In a nutshell, you can’t unless you’re staying in the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which North Carolina is not.

Attempting to bob and weave inside of Common Core would be like trying to nail jell-o to wall. Recommendations of the ASRC might should include the idea of scrapping Common Core, returning to our old standards and improving areas that need it might be the best course of action. DPI already said they were in the process of this when ‘magically’ Common Core arrived.  This move would not be unlike what Massachusetts has done.

Supporters will flip out if you suggest going back to our old standards because according to the ‘grading report’ Fordham did, North Carolina’s standards sucked. Except they didn’t.

oh noes cat gates studyMichael Brickman of Fordham came before the NC General Assembly’s Common Core LRC and trotted out this report and a survey. Forham has since taken a beating over that grading report and the survey.  It’s a well deserved beating, because what they peddled was embarrassing and yet some legislators ate it up because the chamber of commerce told them to.

As it turns out Fordham was paid by the Gates Foundation to do that ‘grading report’, so of course the report trashed almost every state’s standards by comparing it to an experimental set of standards that no one had used before. Good times.

Now factor in DPI’s painfully long, involved presentations of the ELA and Math. We watched the ASRC try to map out a single standard through multiple layers and levels. It was the best and worst presentation tactic on Common Core I’d ever seen and displayed very clearly they are not ‘fewer’ or ‘clearer’.

By the way, this not unrelated — DPI is pushing for the January 30th, 2016 deadline for the ESEA waiver renewal.  We need to pay attention to this as I’ve said before.

Public feedback can be sent to Lou Fabrizio:

The public is invited to review and comment on the renewal extension of ESEA Flexibility being requested through Jan. 9, 2015. A copy of the current ESEA Flexibility Request for North Carolina that currently is in place through the 2014-15 school year can be accessed athttp://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/program-monitoring/esea/flexibility-renewal.pdf . The NCDPI intends to submit its renewal request to the USED by Jan. 30, 2015.

Interested persons may submit their written comments to Lou Fabrizio via email at lou.fabrizio@dpi.nc.gov or US Mail:

Lou Fabrizio, Ph.D.
Director, Data, Research & Federal Policy
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
6367 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-6367

Related Reading

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

Sen. Tillman Presses Common Core Commission On Their Task

Posted on December 19, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Duncan State LedSenator Tillman is pressing the Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC) on their assigned task, “writing new standards” and not just ‘tweaking’ and renaming them. He also mentions the SBAC, which North Carolina HAS NOT withdrawn from despite the legislature choking off their funding.

The SBAC is only one big issue. I would encourage Senator Tillman to get up to speed fast on DPI’s plans to renew our ESEA waiver which has implications for more rounds of Common Core.

See the excerpt from this newsletter below.

Common Core – N.C. Cuts Ties

Legislation passed in 2014 severs North Carolina’s ties to Common Core standards. Repeal and replace have no double meaning. They are clear. Lawyers, some slicker than a mountain trout, may try to convince you otherwise. There are those who are trying to convince the Standards Commission (who are charged with writing new standards) to take the path of least resistance and keep the Common Core standards. For appearance sake, they may tweak and rename some of them. This kind of “whitewash” will not fly. I don’t believe the legislature nor, the public will stand for a meaningless “warmed over,” “half-baked,” set of standards – certainly not the people I’ve heard from.

I sincerely hope the Standards Commission will act in good faith and do what the legislation calls for. There is a lot of work required to do this job and to do it right. I will do all I can to ensure the Standards Commission has the tools they need to do the work. There is a lot of interest in the work of the commission. A progress report to the legislature early in the long session may prove beneficial to all interested parties. We’ll see…

Note: Regaining local control of education in North Carolina is essential. Don’t ever forget; standards dictate what’s taught. What’s tested is dictated by the standards – and what’s tested is driven by Federal testing (PARCC/Smarter Balanced). This is the Common Core North Carolina has severed its ties with. More and more, states are doing the same thing. Is there any wonder why? Education belongs to the states – NOT anywhere else. We’ll see…

I’ve always been a proponent of local control of education. The more flexibility we can give local school systems in funding and in decision making the better. Federal intervention seldom, if ever works. Less state control will result in better results. DPI may have a role in education in NC but not to the extent it currently has. We’ll see…

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, NC DPI, NCGA | Tagged | 4 Comments