June 13th Cape Henlopen School Board meeting
Last Thursday, June 13th, the Cape Henlopen School Board met at Beacon Middle School in Lewes. The meeting’s main focus, at least for the majority of those in attendance was a presentation followed by discussion and a vote on a proposed resolution asking the State legislature to opt Delaware out of “Common Core”. This was the 3rd meeting in the district where Common Core was discussed. I attended the first meeting where this resolution was first brought up and noted that there appeared to be two Board members in support of the resolution (Jen Burton and Sgt. Brittingham) with the President of the Board, Andy Lewis appearing to be on the fence and both Dr. Posner and Dr. Wilkinson against the measure. Mr. Prettyman who was not in attendance on the 13th was noncommittal about the resolution during the first meeting. The process of passing a measure in the school district is to bring up the measure at 3 consecutive meetings, one to introduce the proposal, one for a presentation on the proposal and the final as a vote on the proposal. The attendance was good, standing room only and it was soon apparent that the makeup was about ¾ in favor of the resolution and ¼ against it. The
Board however, would prove to be a much different story. Once the subject of Common Core was
introduced at the meeting, the presentation presenter took the floor. Her name was Whitney Neal, a teaching veteran
from Texas with 5 years of experience among all aspects of the student spectrum
and a former Social Studies department head.
She also happens to be the “Director of Grassroots” at
Freedomworks. Whitney’s presentation
laid out the facts about Common Core, often using language taken directly from
the documents sanctioned by the creators of the system. She displayed the special interest
connections, the federal government encroachment and the loss of local control
sure to come from Common Core. The moans,
groans, and gasps from the assembled crowd were audible but unfortunately must
of it seemed lost on the majority of the Board.
After the presentation, the floor was opened to comments. First up was Maria Evans, who assaulted Ms.
Neal for pointing out the special interest group involvement while being from a
special interest group herself (it wasn’t until the end of her comments that
Maria let it slip that she herself is a special interest group LOBBYIST). Maria also saw fit to call out the handful of
us who had come from across the state to support the effort by School Board
member Sandi Minard to draw attention to Common Core. She even made a direct reference to me when she
called out that “we even have people here from as far away as New Castle
County…who have no skin in the game here…”.
Since I did not speak (nor was I planning to) that night but was
mentioned by Maria, I thought that I would take just a moment to explain a few
things. First of all, Common Core and
Race to the Top are federally funded programs which technically means that
every citizen in the country who pays taxes has “skin in the game” even if it’s
just a little. Second, Delaware collects
a good chunk of our state tax revenues and applies them to education needs
across our state (contrary to popular belief, local tax revenues don’t even
come close to covering the bill for our schools) so all Delaware residents “have skin in the
game”. Finally, while it’s true that my
direct family lives in Newark, my parents live in Lewes, as does my sister and
her 4 children who all attend Cape Henlopen schools. My attendance at the meeting, while in
support of Ms. Minard, was also as a voice for my parents, my sister and my 4
nieces and nephews whose futures I very much care about. So while you may not THINK that I have “skin
the game” Maria, I assure you, I have my share.
She was followed by a teacher, Ms. Kristin Gray. Ms. Gray is a highly decorated union representative
and math teacher in the Cape School District who had a prepared attack on Ms.
Neal’s presentation (which was odd since the presentation hadn’t been seen by
anyone in Delaware until that night and these remarks were clearly prepared
ahead of time). Ms. Gray began with a
theatrical walk through the vocabulary of “Common Core” and the basic gist of
her argument was that people keep addressing Common Core “Curriculum” (even
though Whitney was careful to explain in her presentation that indeed, the discussion
was about the standards) when Common Core State Standards was what she felt
should be discussed. Her goal was to
separate standards, assessments and curriculum as if you could possibly have
one without the others. What good are
standards without assessments to measure progress towards them and what good
are standards and assessments if you’re not teaching material that is aligned
to them? She even praised Jason Zimba,
writer of the Common Core Math Standards as she was citing the rigor of standards
(Zimba told the Massachusetts
Board of Education that the standards weren’t sufficient for access to a four
year University). It was perhaps the
most disingenuous and convoluted argument in favor of Common Core that I’ve
heard but one that had obviously been prepared ahead of time, likely with some
assistance from her friends at the DSEA who are very much in support of Common
Core and Race to the Top as they stand to make a great deal of money out of the deal. After Ms. Gray and Maria
had spoken, the remainder of the speakers were largely in favor of calling for
the state to reject Common Core, including Delaware “Mother of the Year” Luann
Reilly who lives just a few miles outside the Cape Henlopen boundaries (and as
Maria Evans’ was heard snorting with disdain, is “a homeschool mom”). Finally, Larry Mayo read from a late 1800’s
catechism used by American 8th graders that left even the highly
educated on the Board, at the District staff table and in the audience
scratching their collective heads, proving once again just how far American
education has fallen in the last 125 years. After public comments, the Board
moved to the business of the matter which was a motion to approve a resolution
calling on the state legislature to pull out of Common Core. Looking back to the first meeting, the crowd
certainly expected a vote on the measure and potentially a close one. They were disappointed. The measure was brought to the floor but
there was not even a second for the measure.
The two Board members who had spoken out at the first meeting, Sgt.
Brittingham and Jen Burton, waffled in their retreats from their previous
position. And Board President Andy Lewis
joined Jen Burton with strikingly similar near tear renditions of their own
family experiences with the new curriculum (which couldn’t exist according to
Common Core supporters since Common Core is just standards). I sympathized with both of them as I
listened to them describe how their children, who previously struggled and who
now found themselves performing better.
I have a child who has been diagnosed with ADHD and who has struggled
over the years in school and I too have seen an improvement in his test scores
this year. I have also however, noticed
that there was an awful lot of “review” this year and coverage of core tasks
that he had already covered in previous years.
In addition, I noticed many more accommodations were taking place (like
calculators for math portions so as not to bog down children with the basics of
mathematics). This might seem like a good idea on its face but it presents challenges that we’ve all faced at one time or
another, like being able to make change when the computerized register breaks
down. Kids who form solid basic skills
and refine them through their school careers will be able to calculate your
total, subtract from the amount you present and count out the correct amount of
change without much delay while those who’ve been used to calculators for all
that “easy stuff” will reach for YOUR fingers and toes to get the answer. I’m not suggesting that either Mrs. Burton or
Mr Lewis’ children (or mine for that matter) would necessarily fall into the
latter category but let’s face it, the potential exists. See, the problem with Common Core (and other
national education reform movements has never been whether kids could succeed,
but rather whether ALL KIDS could be sufficiently challenged to improve. Inevitably, some will be challenged and some
will be bored when you try to create a one size fits all system. The question remained, was it the final
report cards and personal experiences of the Board that led them to backpedal
on what had appeared to be a close decision previously? I’m not so sure. The DSEA and state Department of Education
have been in a full court press mode to reign in rogue school boards who dare
question Race to the Top and Common Core.
In the Christina School District (where, Maria Evans, I DO have direct
skin in the game), the state Department of Education has cracked down when
board members wisely began asking too many questions about Race to the Top and
its demands. I’m inclined to believe
that a similar tactic was employed in the Cape District. The DSEA has dozens of trained Common Core
“salespeople” like Ms. Gray who they call upon in situations where school
boards need to be spoken to. They know
that school boards by and large defer to the teachers as opposed to the parents
that elect them and at whose pleasure they serve. My guess is that they used misdirection (such
as: these are standards…not curriculum) and misinformation (one board member
was told that Cape Henlopen School District did not share any data with the state when in fact every district in the state reports data back to the state Department of Education) to sway board members away. Fair enough if you’re not interested in the truth. Those of us that are, are still trying to figure out why all this stuff was shoved in the back door while we weren’t paying attention.
What a crock. Thank God people like you could never win an election. Not even worth responding to all 11 clear untruths in that post.
I oppose a lot of the state’s “education reform.” I opposed RTTT, and was one of very few who did at the time, and was publicly criticized for opposing the wonderful influx of money to Delaware. And I have severe problems with the data collection and third-party database sharing, which I will address in the proper venue, with my state legislators.
But the idea of having one measuring stick with which to measure all kids is simply not a threat to me. Common Core doesn’t threaten local control in Delaware. Local control in Delaware went away long before Common Core.
But now that crackpots like Evan & Sandi Minard, the 912 “Patriots” and others like Louann Rieley have come and opposed CC from an outsider/special interest/questionable facts/conspiracy theory approach — AND LOST — it will make it much harder for legitimate arguments from respected people to be heard on the subject.
Also, Maria Evans is a lobbyist, but not for an organization with any stake in Common Core. So trying to minimize her – AN ACTUAL CAPE PARENT – by comparing her to a Freedomworks lobbyist from Texas, is another example of just how weak your arguments are.
“her friends at the DSEA who are very much in support of Common
Core and Race to the Top as they stand to make a great deal of money out of the deal.”
I assume you have evidence of this.
Also, I’m just now noticing that you referenced no one who lives in the district and has children in the schools speaking out against Common Core, but both people you referenced speaking in favor of Common Core were stakeholders: one Cape teacher and one Cape parent.
There were 4 parents of Cape students who spoke out about Common Core when the Secretary of Education gave his presentation a month ago.
What a crock. Thank God people like you could never win an election. Not even worth responding to all 11 clear untruths in that post.
So what you’re saying is that you can’t refute anything I’ve said…ok cool…
I oppose a lot of the state’s “education reform.” I opposed RTTT, and was one of very few who did at the time, and was publicly criticized for opposing the wonderful influx of money to Delaware. And I have severe problems with the data collection and third-party database sharing, which I will address in the proper venue, with my state legislators.
And I will continue to shine light on these very things and ensure that more parents and school board members become aware of them.
But the idea of having one measuring stick with which to measure all kids is simply not a threat to me. Common Core doesn’t threaten local control in Delaware. Local control in Delaware went away long before Common Core.
It’s not so much about “one measuring stick” as it is that there was no local input into the measuring stick and really why the measuring stick was developed. I want my kids to get an education that allows them to follow whatever path THEY choose in life, not one marked out by corporations. The problem with Common Core is that it was a top-down invasion of state education systems. While it may be true that Delaware School Districts gave up local control long ago, that doesn’t mean we should continue down that path. We should not.
But now that crackpots like Evan & Sandi Minard, the 912 “Patriots” and others like Louann Rieley have come and opposed CC from an outsider/special interest/questionable facts/conspiracy theory approach — AND LOST — it will make it much harder for legitimate arguments from respected people to be heard on the subject.
It’s interesting how we oppose the same thing and for many of the same reasons and yet *I* am crazy and you are sane? Ridiculous. And we haven’t “lost”…in fact newspapers around the state have covered this first shot across the bow of Common Core. Now, the focus is turned on and we will engage in full force. I expect to see parents across the state beginning to ask questions of their local school boards and legislators with regards to Common Core and to not like the answers they get.
Also, Maria Evans is a lobbyist, but not for an organization with any stake in Common Core. So trying to minimize her – AN ACTUAL CAPE PARENT – by comparing her to a Freedomworks lobbyist from Texas, is another example of just how weak your arguments are.
Freedomworks is advocating for local control and against unproven, untested “standards” (laughable to even call a bunch of arbitrary rules that have never been tried or evaluated “standards”) that are forced upon districts. Yes, forced…because as I’m sure YOU know…Districts arms were TWISTED to accept Common Core in order to qualify for Race to the Top funding. Maria Evans, unfortunately, did herself a disservice by attempting to attack the people who were there to support or speak on behalf of local citizens. Whitney was a mouthpiece, a vessel to properly address Common Core for those who aren’t comfortable speaking to it from the local district. Maria went all “attack dog” on her and those of us whom board members and parents had asked to support them. It’s really a shame because I think, as “a Cape parent” she might have swayed us a bit more…as a lobbyist attack dog, she just made herself look bad.
more conspiracies. no second because after the first presentation those of us who quietly go about our business emailed our board members and implored them to put an end to this waste of time. your assertion that a few of these people were from outside the district is not accurate. they were rallied from the 9/12 delaware patriots. an audience for the presenter they were all drooling over. a traveling circus. go set up your tent somewhere else. the show is over in eastern sussex.
“Yeah, so maybe we ought to fix that by raising the standards. And maybe even make them the same for all of the schools, to make sure all of the kids learn what they’re supposed to. GREAT IDEA!! Wait. Oh.” anon
So they haven’t got it right for 25+ years and now all of a sudden you think they waved some magic wand and it will all be fixed. I bet you still believe in the tooth fairy too. It’s more important to make sure that some students self esteem doesn’t get bruised because they don’t give a rats ass about getting an education, so standards have been lowered. That way the DOE’s across the country can say see what a good job we’re doing.
Laffter you’re a moron the state of Delaware contribute 60% of the budgets for the schools in the state so we all have a stake in the education system regardless of what county a person lives in. Don’t like someone from Kent or NCCo speaking out in Sussex County it’s an easy solution stop taking the state and federal money and sally up to the money bar and put in as big an amount as your mouth is.
“her friends at the DSEA who are very much in support of Common
Core and Race to the Top as they stand to make a great deal of money out of the deal.”
I assume you have evidence of this.
The NEA is heavily invested in promoting Common Core Standards. (http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=3285) I’d expect, as all unions operate, that you don’t become part of the DSEA leadership without toeing the union line. We know that the DSEA doesn’t care all that much what the teachers themselves think (unless of course they are in lock step with the union heads…http://delawarelibertarian.blogspot.com/2013/04/who-speaks-for-delaware-teachers.html)
Of course, it could be the $11 million that the NEA/AFT has received for backing Common Core (http://www.susanohanian.org/core.php?id=387)
Not to mention all the Race to the Top money being spent on teacher salaries…for those whom the DSEA decides are worth the money.
“A Voice Against Common Core” and I agree. The districts have the power to decide for themselves, they simply need only refuse state and federal funding and pay higher local taxes for the things they do want. That comes down to the voters in the district understanding that local control is lost the second they accept outside funding.
If you are concerned with the fact that your schools are not teaching your child the classics, then read the classics with your child, I did! If you feel that the schools are teaching something that you feel goes against your values, it is up to you as a parent to counteract that.
A parent’s responsibility does not end when the door of the bus closes. It is called personal responsibility.
So many parents act as if the school is the end all to their child’s education. If you as a parent are not the biggest influence in your child’s life, then you are not working hard enough as a parent. It is up to the parents to offer the choices of education that the public system does not.
A child’s education should not begin and end at the doors of the public school system. The most important “TEACHER” for any child is their parents.
This does not mean that I support or oppose CC in total. Having standards is a good thing, and a necessary thing. We have them in our work place to ensure quality and safety. Parents set standards for their children’s behavior and correct them when the children do not meet those standards.
Maybe for all involved the question is not whether or not we should have standards, but what they should be, and this is where I agree with Evan, the local districts should set those standards, based on input from teachers, board members and parents and voters within the district.
I would ask Evan and others who oppose CC, is there one thing you like within CC that you think would benefit the children?
I would ask those who support CC, is there one thing you would take out to benefit the children?
Great to see that despite many requests, no evidence has been brought forth to back up the assertions that the teachers are profiting financially from Common Core. In fact, there’s NOT ONE SHRED of independently verifiable evidence to support any of your accusations (arm twisting, payments, profit, threats, etc.). What a bunch of frauds you are.
“So they haven’t got it right for 25+ years and now all of a sudden you think they waved some magic wand and it will all be fixed.”
You’re right. We should just give up and close all the public schools. Great idea. I’m sure you’ve put your kids in a charter or private school to save them from the travesty that is the public school system. Right?
” It’s really a shame because I think, as “a Cape parent” she might have swayed us a bit more…as a lobbyist attack dog, she just made herself look bad.”
Sounds to me like she did just fine. Who won the vote again?
“Now, the focus is turned on and we will engage in full force. I expect to see parents across the state beginning to ask questions of their local school boards and legislators with regards to Common Core and to not like the answers they get.”
I’m sure the 912 Patriots can get any half-informed parent in the state angry enough to oppose ANYTHING the state or school boards attempt. It’s really EASY to use anger to oppose things. There are flaws in any approach.
But the people who won the elections are charged with trying to improve education. This is what they chose. Don’t like it? Win an election.
Anon…it’s awaiting moderation because apparently this site abhors links…
” It’s really a shame because I think, as “a Cape parent” she might have swayed us a bit more…as a lobbyist attack dog, she just made herself look bad.”
Sounds to me like she did just fine. Who won the vote again?
SHE was a show pony my friend. The Board made their decision before the presentation. I watched as Brittingham and Wilkinson and Posner tended to their paperwork and paid little attention to the presentation itself. They’d decided LONG before the meeting what they were going to do.
“A Voice Against Common Core” and I agree. The districts have the power to decide for themselves, they simply need only refuse state and federal funding and pay higher local taxes for the things they do want. That comes down to the voters in the district understanding that local control is lost the second they accept outside funding.
Agreed…but this leads to problems with your next statement.
A parent’s responsibility does not end when the door of the bus closes. It is called personal responsibility.
So many parents act as if the school is the end all to their child’s education. If you as a parent are not the biggest influence in your child’s life, then you are not working hard enough as a parent. It is up to the parents to offer the choices of education that the public system does not.
A child’s education should not begin and end at the doors of the public school system. The most important “TEACHER” for any child is their parents.
The problem with this is that the current public education system make up does not allow for ALL children and ALL families to seek outside education sources. Their tax dollars are taken to support public schools leaving them with little spend on private schools. It’s a catch-22 that you propose, leaving a larger burden on the parents of low-income students than on others. REAL School choice reform on the other hand, would support this assertion and is something I would agree with.
I would ask Evan and others who oppose CC, is there one thing you like within CC that you think would benefit the children?
You know, honestly, I think that there are some incredible uses of technology integrated into the CC model. I think if locally controlled and accountable districts really put parents in control of SOME of the data collection around their child’s actual learning models (not the random data mining but truly focused on scores and aptitude), it could do some good. I also agree that in general, having the states submit and collaborate and agree on basic standards for grades is OK. Our country is based upon the idea of INDIVIDUALS (and individual localities, states, etc) coming together and collaborating on issues of shared concern. That’s unfortunately NOT what has happened with Common Core. This was something that was pushed down from an entity to all of the states without much if any input.
First off, once again EVAN! Limit you number of links to “TWO”, “2”, “DOS”, or maybe for you, ” ZWEI” per comment and you won’t end up in moderation, learn to control yourself! This is a standard blog feature to avoid spammers. I know for you it is hard but learn to play by the rules.
Now I am sorry that I wasn’t clearer when I said, “It is up to the parents to offer the choices of education that the public system does not.”
I didn’t mean you should just pay someone else to teach your children, again turning over the education of your child to someone else. I meant actually teaching your children, and no I don’t mean home schooling in the usual sense. I mean reading with your children, talking to your children, take them fishing is a great science outing. In other words, being involved in their lives. All of the things we do outside the home are great, our activism is great, unless it takes time away from our families, then we have already lost the battle for our kids.
My daughter knows my politics, not because she reads my blogs, but because we have discussed politics and issues at the table since she was just a little girl. You start young teaching your values before you send them off to school, this is how you prepare them to fend off the stuff that you disagree with.
Waiting until some program comes along that you don’t agree with is already too late.
I chose to focus on one child, my own, and I am damned proud of how she is turning out.
evan
i read the link you posted to document that “they” “could” track your religion. this is a guiding document for the development of a longitudinal data system. the mention of religion in the document informs the readers that it is against the law to obtain such information without written consent from the parents.
did you bother to read it? do you have reading comprehension problems? one strategy you could use would be to identify words that you don’t understand the first time you read the document. use a dictionary to get a meaning or ask someone who does know. don’t just guess or keep reading. that’s how information can be misinterpreted. the common core does speak of the need for students to be able to read and interpret informational texts (like the link you provided). do you see the irony here?
i am also waiting for you to tell who “they” are.
Y’all just mad ’cause Thursday night you suckers got served.
local control = 1
tea party = 0
I reviewed your links. There’s no evidence in there of any Delawarean making “a great deal of money” from CC. Just like there’s no evidence for any of your other crackpot conspiracy theories.
Oh, and Harry wins the Internet for today. No way I can top that. I’m done here.
Sorry Harry but the kids of the Cape School District are the ones who “got served”. Hope you enjoyed sticking it to our most vulnerable people.
Evan Queitsch: It was rather poetic when she ended up having to admit that she herself was a special interest lobbyist…a little pot calling the kettle black on that one.
She didn’t admit anything, it was part of her statement, I read it before she gave it. She said that she worked in politics, and that she was there to object to political groups like yours invading our school board meetings. What a shame you can’t read or listen for comprehension, our Cape elementary school kids would run circles around you in a classroom.
BTW, she won and you lost. You got nothing. I understand that makes your 20% of the vote for state senate up there in NCC look good in comparison.
Hey…Anon…can’t make yah see it if you choose not to. I guess you think that the NEA is somehow disconnected from the DSEA *shrugs* That’s your fantasy world bro/sis (non gender specific nameless moniker?)…I know the truth…just trying to enlighten as many as I can along the way.
Again Viking, I’ve lost nothing…your Cape children have. That said, whether she planned to admit it or not, was not the point, that she did, in fact, close with the fact that she is a lobbyist, was the point.
Besides, her testimony had nothing to do with the outcome, she could have stayed home and the Board would have taken the same lack of a stance on the matter. Their minds were made up LONG before Maria Evans took the microphone.
Are you trying to pretend the Board took a “lack of stance on the matter” when they rejected Minard’s resolution by not even giving her motion a second? Stay in your own district little man, at least there 20% of the people care about what you have to say.
the kids won! you think you know what is best for our kids? what a joke. stay in new castle. you think the people of the cape community missed the fact that minard did not show up for graduation, but brought a bunch of carpet baggers to a board meeting. think again dude. take your circus on the road. see if you can get whitney neal to show up anywhere else in delaware. bet you can’t. she realizes now that you people can’t deliver. shame she didn’t do her homework before she wasted her time here.
For the 2010–2011 school year, 1,442 of the 39,124 students enrolled in grades 9–12 dropped out of school. The 2010– 2011 dropout rate was 3.7%, which is a decrease compared
to the previous year’s rate of 3.9%). Of that number state wide 45.4% were blacks, 43.3% were white, followed by 11.4% Hispanic.
Cape Henlopen School District rate were higher then the state wide rate (blows the hell out of the claims the students/kids won), or society for that matter since these dropouts will most likely turn to crime, drugs or become the next generation of the welfare system.
Cape Henlopen
2008-2009 1,285 students
43 dropouts
3.3%
2009-2010
1,318 students
52 dropouts
3.9%
2010-2011
1,339 students enrolled
64 dropouts
4.8%
2009-2011 cumulative
4.0%
salty less than 5% of the teachers ever show up at graduation your point is meaningless about Ms. Minard
Minard makes a lot of public statements about common core and Bible literacy but I can’t find one public statement from her about keeping our kids in school in her 3 years on the board.
Vote her out and let’s get a school board member who tries to get results for our children instead of attention for herself.
“Vote her out and let’s get a school board member who tries to get results for our children instead of attention for herself.”
Fear not. This is very much going to happen.
This conversation is all over the place, and that serves to help those pushing Common Core upon us.
Think of it as a toothpaste. It’s in a tube, it has .24% sodium fluoride. Some brands say they make you kissable when you brush, some cut down on visits to the dentist, some make your teeth whiter, and some fight cavities.
They all have the exact same active ingredient in exactly the same amount.
Where I’m going with this, is that in dealing with Common Core, these argument are like arguing over the number of angels on the head of a pin. Because when I say: what is common core, no one yet has said,” it’s that crap my kid brings home that doesn’t make sense!”
So what is being fed to our kids? No one knows. Not even Maria Evans hasn’t the slightest clue.
If you have a child in Common Core go over their homework. Do you understand it? Publish it. For you see, that is the problem with Common Core. It is junk; it’s enshrouded in secrecy. It’s one’s secret junk….
But if you read deep enough, you can find that the principle behind common core is that learning “how” to do something is more important than doing it. Knowing “how” things work as opposed to just memorizing data… Sounds good right? Now let me illuminate how that translates into teaching math…
A child no longer has lots of homework. He learns concepts in school, Instead of adding 30 numbers enough so that one instinctively knows that 2 +2 = 4, or 3+3 = 6 etc… one learns that addition is adding two boxes together, both with numbers of black dots inside of them, and getting a bigger box with all the black dots inside of them.
This very basic principle I’ve just illustrated, to which most kids would go “yeah, duhh”, is a very big thing and the spine of Common Core. We are showing kids that adding is taking one box and adding it to another, and wow… when you do so, you get all of the things inside the union box together… That children, is what adding is!… Ok, time for the test question… what is adding…?
The problem with Common Core, is that there is no place to learn that 7+3=10, or 8+7=15 etc.. Those basic blocks necessary to learn math, are missing from this curriculum by design. Kids don’t need that busy work the “experts” said, they need to know how adding works. The concepts behind it….
That’s Common Core. The opposite of Common Core is Common Sense. Because we do need to know those details contained within the busy work.. If I say add 6+ 6…. how long does it take for you to say 12? Almost instantly? Yet Common Core kids are not learning that. Instead they count on their fingers and come up with 12.. They do so for every transaction…. They never practice it enough to know it by rote…
So later, a couple of grades up, when one is multiplying 3 digit numbers, like 456 X 654 and one has all those numbers below the line one has to add up, these students are counting on their fingers for every transaction…. Simply put, the building is being constructed virtually with no foundation to support it…
How could this happen? How could the 5th grade syllabus, be done using something the 3rd grade syllabus leaves out? Pretty simple. Common cores was just an idea in 2010. It got developed across 2011 school year. The first class took it as a pilot program this year beginning 2012.. Next year, almost everyone will suffer it… Only teachers and sharp parents paying attention this past year, know the problems this Common Core creates.
This whole common core philosophy is the equivalent of telling a young man or woman, “oh, yeah, if you want to farm you go out, throw some seeds on the ground, make sure they get water and sunshine, then you harvest them when they are ready… Farming is a piece of cake”… You can easily imagine the very real outcome, if you’ve ever lived one day on a real farm…
Point is, all should focus first on how bad this curriculum is. It doesn’t matter if one is pro or anti government. That is important, but secondary. It doesn’t matter is one is a member of the 9/12 patriots or the Heritage Foundation. That may be important, but it is secondary. It doesn’t matter where one lives or what district he comes from. That may be important, but it is secondary…
All these other things, distract everyone away from the truth that Common Core is a shoddy piece of garbage. It is a seeder designed so poorly that it always jams up so much, it dispenses one tenth the seeds a competitor seeder would. And one will never know it, until the growing begins, and you wonder what on earth is wrong….how there could be these huge spaces of no growth… That’s impossible you say. Everyone did everything right! Fact is … they did.
What’s wrong is… Common Core. It doesn’t teach… and that is why it needs to be exposed by every parent and every teacher who has access to it…. I have put examples of it out there, and don’t want to tie up this thread by illustrating them again, but examples are out there.
They are bad.
No one can defend common core when you show them real examples. All are appalled. But using principals instead of actual lessons allows our Governor to dismiss people who are against Common Core as anti-American Tea Partiers… almost giving credence to Common Core in the process.
Stick to the facts, and the facts are exactly what your kids bring home. What they bring home is appalling, horribly so….
kavips excellent commentary. At the CSD meeting that the secretary of education did his presentation about Common Core, a parent read Charles Osgood’s poem entitled “Pretty Good” which sums up the eduction system we have had in place for nearly 30 years now.
There once was a pretty good student
Who sat in a pretty good class
And was taught by a pretty good teacher
Who always let pretty good pass.
He wasn’t terrific at reading,
He wasn’t a whiz-bang at math,
But for him, education was leading
Straight down a pretty good path.
He didn’t find school too exciting,
But he wanted to do pretty well,
And he did have some trouble with writing
Since nobody taught him to spell.
When doing arithmetic problems,
Pretty good was regarded as fine.
5+5 needn’t always add up to be 10;
A pretty good answer was 9.
The pretty good class that he sat in
Was part of a pretty good school,
And the student was not an exception:
On the contrary, he was the rule.
The pretty good school that he went to
Was there in a pretty good town,
And nobody there seemed to notice
He could not tell a verb from a noun.
The pretty good student in fact was
Part of a pretty good mob.
And the first time he knew what he lacked was
When he looked for a pretty good job.
It was then, when he sought a position,
He discovered that life could be tough,
And he soon had a sneaking suspicion
Pretty good might not be good enough.
The pretty good town in our story
Was part of a pretty good state
Which had pretty good aspirations
And prayed for a pretty good fate.
There once was a pretty good nation
Pretty proud of the greatness it had,
Which learned much too late,
If you want to be great,
Pretty good is, in fact, pretty bad.
That poem may have been read by a parent, but it wasn’t a Cape parent. Stay in your own Districts, you lost here.
viking the poem was read by a parent who has a child in the Cape District.
Now if you don’t want people who you claim aren’t from the district attending your meetings it’s an easy solution. You and everyone can pony up all the funding for the district by increasing the tax base of those families whose children attend schools in the district.
You sure don’t sound much like a “cape concerned parent” anymore. Do you think that taking state and federal money means that your political group can invade our District and tell us what our children will learn? You think you own us? Do you think you own a senior citizen who gets federally funded prescription drugs? A small business that got a federal grant? Why don’t you go and tell a farmer what to do with his land because he takes federal subsidies.
If Cape pulls out of common core we lose federal funding, can we come to you 9/12 Delaware Patriots to pony up what we lose in federal money? You tea partiers sure are smart.
viking you made the accusation the person who read the poem wasn’t a Cape parent, I rebutted with the fact that the person was. Now you imply I’m affiliated with some political group who “invaded” your district. This nation is a free nation it’s people can go wherever they please. This state is a free state our people can go wherever they please. The 1st Amendment affords everyone the right to speak and offer their opinion.
Just so I get this straight you are saying;
It’s okay for the federal government to dictate what our children learn in our local schools, because they fund the school with federal money.
It’s okay for the federal government to own a senior citizen by dictating what generic prescription medication they have to accept because the federal government pays for it.
It’s okay for the federal government to own/dictate what a small business may or may not do because they received a federal grant.
The federal government owns a farmer the minute the farmer takes a subsidy, when the federal government dictates what crops the farmer must grow or dictates to the farmer not to use his land at all.
Anyone who thinks there aren’t all kinds of strings attached with the Federal governments money is a fool. That includes the federal government dictating how many “administrators” a school district has to have to administer the federal programs. Cape is no different; student/teacher ratio is 16/1 teacher/administrator ratio 4/1
This years graduating class had a college readiness index of 12.7 based on standardized entrance exams which only 21% of the students passed. If you believe all the hype and bullsh*t that Common Core is magically going to make the other 79% of the students pass the same exam you’re a fool.
I’m not a tea partier I a concerned parent who has watched the education system continue to spiral downwards out of control at the expense of our children’s education due to programs like NCLB, CC will be no different. Obviously you don’t care if our children’s education is compromised, all that matters is the feds are gonna help pay. You’re willing to accept federal money even if it compromises our children’s education and future. So tell me who’s really the idiot, the person who realizes that the federal government is only offering another program doomed to fail or the person who says hey so long as we still gonna get the money who cares what they’re telling us, just show me da money.
Common core isn’t in place yet and you’re already blaming it for poor test results. Do you know what has been in place for 3 years and hasn’t increased our children’s test scores? Sandi Minard.
viking nowhere did I blame Common Core for the low test results. The low test scores are the results of the failed NCLB Act, Race to the Top, and other federally mandated programs. I put blame where it lies on the federal governments failed programs. According to you it’s all Sandi Minard’s fault that test scores haven’t improved, interesting that you don’t find any fault with Sgt Brittingham, or Drs’ Posner and Wilkenson, or Mr. Prettyman.
Like I already said if you think that Common Core will result in the other 79% of Capes students magically prepared for college, as DE’s Secretary of Education claims you are a fool.