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| Does CSCOPE sound like Common Core? |
What is CScope? From the home page:
CSCOPE is a customizable, online curriculum management
system aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
CSCOPE's high quality
curriculum, assesment, and instructional components assist schools in
meeting the high standard of rigor and relevance required in the TEKS and STAAR assessments.
CSCOPE has come under intense scrutiny from Texas legislators, parents and educators because of the cost, the curriculum, the necessity for online infrastructure in the schools, the fact CSCOPE is copyrighted and the taxpayers do not have the right to access the curriculum taught their children. The school districts/teachers do not have the right to teach other curricula other than what is mandated in CSCOPE.
Donna Garner attended a Texas Senate Education Committee hearing on CSCOPE and the following is her transcript of the meeting. Many of the same issues raised by the legislators seem to be many of the same issues in CCSS: the huge cost (not voted on by taxpayers) to local districts, private corporations holding copyrights to curriculum paid for by tax dollars, the need for online infrastructure in the schools, curriculum inaccessible to the taxpayers and the inability for teachers/school districts to change the curriculum/standards/assessments.
As you read Garner's transcript, do you believe this is a glimpse of the future to come with CCSS mandates? Is there really any substantial difference between the two programs?
"Most Amazing Senate Ed. Hearing Ever -- CSCOPE"
Today's
Texas Senate Education Committee hearing on CSCOPE was amazing. I
watched the proceedings online from 8:30 A. M. until it finished around
3:15 P. M., and I took notes as fast as I could type. These may not be
word-for-word, but I trust that I have captured the essence of the
hearing.
Texas
Senator Dan Patrick led the hearing, and these are the Senators who
worked alongside him to question the witnesses: Donna Campbell, Larry
Taylor, Eddie Lucio, Robert Duncan, Ken Paxton, and Kel Seliger. (As
best I could tell from online viewing, Royce West and Leticia Van de
Putte did not attend the hearing.)
What
thrilled me is that all of us private citizens who have dug out the
truth about CSCOPE and who have been vilified for our efforts were
vindicated today because the evidence presented proved we were right all
along.
FACTS REVEALED IN TODAY'S HEARING
CSCOPE
was originally produced in 2005-2006 by outside consultants, one of
whom was Linda Darling-Hammond who is tied to Obama and the Common Core
Standards which is a takeover of the public schools by the federal
government.
In
2009 CSCOPE was incorporated as a 501(3)(c) non-charitable organization
under the TESCCC (Texas Education Service Center Curriculum
Collaborative), and the 20 directors of the Education Service Centers
(ESC's) make up the board of directors of TESCCC. To do this
incorporation, no legal counsel was sought from the Texas Attorney
General's office nor from the Commissioner of Education/Texas Education
Agency.
Now
875 districts are using CSCOPE and pay for it with taxpayers' dollars
costing from $7 to $9 per student to "rent" CSCOPE each school year.
The monies collected by the ESC's are passed along to TESCCC and then to
their fiscal agent, ESC 13 in Austin.
COST OF CSCOPE AND ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES
The
Senators asked the ESC 13 witness how much school districts have paid
for CSCOPE over the last several years, but that information did not
seem to be readily available. Sen. Campbell mentioned that Ector County
ISD alone had spent $1.7 Million for CSCOPE just this school year.
Questions
were also raised about whether the ESC staffers who handle CSCOPE
full-time are paid by TESCCC/ESC 13 or by their own ESC's and whether
such an arrangement represents a type of double-dipping.
Sen.
Campbell wanted to know who owns the proprietary property of CSCOPE if
it was developed using public funds -- "Do the people of Texas own it?"
She also questioned whether only parents should have access to CSCOPE
since all Texas taxpayers paid for it. She said there are many good
educators who are active and retired who have a commitment to helping
children gain a good education and that everyone in the general public
should have easy access to CSCOPE -- in the same way that they do to
copyrighted textbooks. Sen. Campbell wanted to know where the checks
and balances are to verify the content of CSCOPE.
Sen.
Patrick told Wade Labay, Statewide Director of CSCOPE, that when a
governmental body seeks to form a 501(3)(c), TESCCC should have sought
legislative authority. None was sought by TESCCC.
The
Senators were very troubled by the fact that the Texas Attorney
General's office has said that the TESCCC is a governmental body yet it
is using public funds to develop its product; uses public dollars to pay
its ESC employees; has no TESCCC business office; does not post its
agenda; does not allow the public into its meetings; and will not allow
public access to its minutes.
"PLAYBOOK" RESPONSE FROM EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENT
Throughout
the hearing, whenever members of the "education establishment"
testified (e.g., school administrators, curriculum directors,
representatives from Texas Association of School Board/Texas Association
of School Administrators), it was as if they spoke from one "playbook"
which had obviously been put together by ESC personnel.
The
common line used by the education establishment was, "Our district
bought CSCOPE as a cost-saving curriculum management system to help our
students to raise their academic achievement and to master the new
STAAR/End-of-Course tests. Our teachers could not live without CSCOPE."
However,
when hard data and research were sought by the Senators from the "ed
establishment" to prove the effectiveness of CSCOPE, none could be
produced -- only their subjective opinions. Almost all of the ed
establishment witnesses mentioned their close-knit relationships with
the ESC's, and most said they had first heard about CSCOPE through the
ESC's. Nearly all said their districts were constantly trained by ESC
staff on CSCOPE.
CONCERNS OF THOSE CLOSEST TO THE CHILD
When
classroom teachers, parents, or the general public testified -- the
ones closest to the classroom students -- they told a completely
different story. One of the most poignant moments in the hearing
occurred when a veteran Algebra teacher almost broke down in tears as he
told of having to quit his teaching job recently because he was
required to teach CSCOPE. He said he could not look his students in the
eyes, knowing that he was "aiding and abetting ignorance...and giving
them an allusion of an education."
A
well-credentialed education researcher, who works with many Texas school
districts and who intensely dislikes CSCOPE, said she had had doors
slammed in her face when she sought to uncover the ideology behind
CSCOPE. She said teachers are afraid to speak out about the content of
the CSCOPE lessons and the links that students are directed to
investigate. Several of these links take students to sites where
Wiccans are said to be similar to Christians and where Islam and
Christianity are harmonized as being similar.
A
current classroom teacher of 30 years' experience told about being
offended with the lesson in which students were required to make a
Communist/Socialist flag. She said her father had proudly fought in
World War II to keep our nation free and that our students should be
taught American exceptionalism. She also said that CSCOPE content
teaches none of the great novels and does not teach the young readers a
systematic approach to reading using phonics. She complained that
CSCOPE instead teaches whole language and that there is no formal
instruction of grammar, usage, and correct writing.
This
experienced teacher gave the Senators a copy of the TESCCC/CSCOPE legal
document passed out during a CSCOPE 2012 summer training session that
states, "To support implementation of this detailed curriculum,
districts must have processes and people in place to insure that there
is sustained monitoring of the curriculum and that individual teachers
do not have the option to disregard or replace assigned content." This
teacher said that when parents put their children on the school bus to
come to school, they are not sending them to school for a controlled and
compulsory learning environment. They want their children's teachers
to be able to be creative and to meet the individual needs of each
child. She said, "I want it recorded for the record that I have never
voted for a conglomerate to take over the Texas school system, and
parents have not either."
Another
witness said there was no need for CSCOPE because the curriculum
standards (TEKS) are on the Texas Education Agency website along with
many other excellent helps that teachers can use to prepare their
students for the new STAAR/EOC tests. Good teachers working together
can create their own timelines and lesson plans.
One
witness asked why the TESCCC was incorporated as a non-profit. Was it
to be able to hide the content of CSCOPE from the public? Was it to
keep their meetings, minutes, and agendas secret?
TESCCC/CSCOPE PERSONNEL -- OOPS!
When
confronted with this evidence, the CSCOPE personnel at the hearing
repeatedly admitted they had "Oops! Dropped the ball." As the meeting
proceeded, it became clear that a pattern of cover-up by Wade
Libya/TESCCC/CSCOPE has been taking place since the public "sleuths"
started digging out the facts. The website has been changed
substantially since the Senate Education Committee public hearing was
announced. Now Labay says teachers are not prohibited from allowing
parents to see CSCOPE materials, but Sen. Patrick could never get a
confirmed "yes" that parents could go right now and see fully their
children's CSCOPE materials 24/7.
OBJECTIONABLE CSCOPE LESSONS
When
the CSCOPE lesson referring to the Boston Tea Party patriots as
"terrorists" was discussed (which had been in CSCOPE for seven years),
Labay said it had been removed.
When
Labay was confronted with concerns over a lesson teaching the 5 Pillars
of Islam, a lesson in which students role play a trek to Mecca, a
lesson that teaches Allah is the same as Almighty God, a lesson on
Christopher Columbus that cherry-picks his diary to take out any of his
references to his belief in God, and a lesson in which students create a
Communist/Socialist flag, he gave a lame excuse about those lessons
having been a part of the "old" lessons, having been left in CSCOPE at
the request of teachers.
One
Senator said he found it perplexing that when these lessons were first
revealed by the public "sleuths," TESCCC accused these concerned
citizens of circulating "fallacious claims."
Senators
Taylor and Paxton were deeply troubled about the student project in
which students were to design a Communist/Socialist flag. They
cautioned that teaching children to role play and sympathize with a
particular cause is indoctrination of the mind, and they asked Labay to
tell them who came up with that lesson plan? Labay gave the lame excuse
that there are over 1600 lessons and that ESC 12 CSCOPE staffers are
the ones who are in charge of the content.
One
of the Senators responded, "Oh, you mean the same group that has the
closed door board meetings...We have already talked about several
egregious lessons today. How many more are there that are buried up in
the rest of the CSCOPE lessons that we have not located yet?"
NO OUTSIDE, INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF CSCOPE
The
Senators kept hammering at the fact that 875 Texas school districts
have been using CSCOPE for the last seven years; yet there has been no
outside, independent review of CSCOPE to make sure that its lessons
align with the SBOE-adopted curriculum standards (TEKS) upon which the
new STAAR/End-of-Course tests are based.
Sen.
Patrick said he found it highly upsetting that it had taken the chair
of the Texas State Board of Education six months to get a password to
CSCOPE. Former SBOE member Charlie Garza testified that he had asked
TESCCC to have extra time to study the CSCOPE lessons, but his request
was denied.
It
was also brought out that besides the per-student CSCOPE rental, TESCCC
also makes money by charging publishers $100,000 per event to see the
CSCOPE lessons so that textbooks can be produced that align with it.
Other vendors pay fees, and TESCCC also makes money from its yearly
educators' conference.
Senator Patrick said that the public had brought most of the CSCOPE
problems to their attention over the last six to eight months and that
he was upset over the lack of transparency and the secrecy demonstrated
by TESCCC/CSCOPE. He said this is the reason we need transparency, open
meetings, and posted meetings -- so that a governmental body cannot
violate every entity of being a public entity. "How many more mistakes
are there? ... What is behind the curtain? ... You are in 875 school
districts ... This is a very serious matter."
SBOE OVERSIGHT OF CSCOPE CURRICULUM CONTENT
One
Senator said he was investigating the possibility of charging the
elected members of the Texas State Board of Education with the task of
verifying the content of CSCOPE to make sure it is aligned with the
TEKS. Barbara Cargill, the chair of the SBOE, said that the Board has a
review process already in place that could be used for CSCOPE since it
is being used in 70% to 80% of Texas school districts.
Cargill
also mentioned her concern that TESCCC in its incorporation papers
states that if TESCCC is dissolved, CSCOPE goes to the federal
government. She mentioned that she is concerned CSCOPE is not aligned
with publishers' textbooks and that it is very confusing for students
when they read a CSCOPE lesson (or CSCOPE test) that says one thing and a
textbook that says another.
Ms.
Cargill complained that CSCOPE does not align itself with the new
Science TEKS in which all sides of scientific theories (both strengths
and weaknesses) are to be taught. Instead, the only links she could find
in the CSCOPE lessons go to material that teaches evolution as fact.
Barbara
Cargill was asked by one of the Senators whether SB 6 (passed in the
82nd Legislative Session) triggered the explosive growth of CSCOPE since
school administrators can now purchase CSCOPE (i.e., instructional
materials including software and hardware) with state dollars without
those materials having passed through the rigorous SBOE adoption
process. She said that having "100 eyeballs" to evaluate the
instructional materials at the SBOE level is far superior to having only
a few CSCOPE employees do so.
Pat
Hardy, also a member of the Texas State Board of Education, verified
that CSCOPE is a curriculum [not a "curriculum mnagement system" as
claimed by TESCCC/CSCOPE] and that it is the SBOE who adopts the
curriculum standards -- TEKS.
A
parent whose children are in the public schools where CSCOPE is being
utilized believes that the elected SBOE should have authority over
CSCOPE. However, she has a serious reservation because one of the
present SBOE members is a registered lobbyist for Microsoft; and she
wonders about the possible conflict of interest and corruption that
could bias the SBOE/CSOPE alignment process.
COMMON CORE STANDARDS INFILTRATING CSCOPE?
One
retired science teacher said that at some point, Common Core Standards
tried to purchase CSCOPE; and she is concerned because the Texas
Association of School Administrators (TASA) is having a convention in
California, using public dollars to pay for Texas school personnel to
attend. At this conference, Common Core Standards and Linda
Darling-Hammond will be featured. Gov. Perry and both Texas Education
Commissioners have said Texas will not participate in Common Core
Standards. Since CSCOPE is already in 70% to 80% of Texas' school
districts, the retired science teacher is afraid the CCS ideology could
be permeating CSCOPE's lessons right now.
CHILDREN BELONG TO PARENTS -- NOT TO THE STATE
One
of the last witnesses reminded everyone that children belong to their
parents and not to the state; school children should be able to take
their CSCOPE materials home each evening; and the public should have
open access to see everything except the tests and answer keys.
