What I Learned at the Constitutional Coalition--the Confirmation of our Concerns

I had an illuminating time at the Constitutional Coalition today in St. Louis. I was able to attend speeches from national speakers who have been following the educational path the United States has been on for several years. Speakers included former and present state school board members from Alabama, Colorado and Nebraska. These speakers are extremely concerned about the common core standards now adopted by the majority of states and see this as the most important issue to address in education today.

Kathy Wilmot (Nebraska) made an extraordinary presentation on the history and the ramifications of common core standards. I purchased a DVD on her presentation and will be giving you information on her speech over the next several days. Ms. Wilmot's research is extensive and will take some time to dissect. I was also fortunate to meet most of these speakers in a one on one conversation in the halls and can attest to their passion for educational information and how these decisions on adopting common core standards will adversely impact our children and society.

What I learned with from these speakers is this:

• Federal standards are antithetical to state sovereignty
• Federal standards are financially unsustainable
• Federal standards have an ulterior motive that have less to do with education and more to do with control of the student’s educational pursuits
• Longitudinal Data Systems encroach on civil liberties

We have been blogging about these concerns for a year and a half on Missouri Education Watchdog; these speakers confirmed our concerns. My head is still spinning with the information from these speakers. We’ll be highlighting their research during the next several days. Stay tuned.