The Delphi Technique Did Not Work at the Lindbergh DESE Meeting. People Were "Mad As Hell and They Were Not Going to Take This Anymore".

This did not happen at the DESE Lindbergh meeting

An overflow crowd (150 people estimate) packed a too small meeting room for DESE's presentation on Common Core.  Here is the press release announcing the statewide meetings for last night.  Apparently citizens were under the impression they would receive answers to their questions about Common Core but this was not DESE's intention.  At the beginning DESE representative Maureen Clancy-May announced DESE would not answer any questions.  Clancy-May stated that she may not even know the answer to many of the questions.  DESE was there to present, break up into discussion groups, gather the questions, reveal the questions to the larger group, then take them back to Jefferson City so the citizens can be informed at some other date.

This is a classic Delphi Technique used to diffuse and control the message as facilitators would ask the question, take the information and then present it to the larger group.  The people who actually ask the questions never get  a chance to ask the person in charge and receive an answer to their questions. 

This presentation may have been cursed from the beginning.  It began with a power point presentation read directly off the screen with videos that have appeared previously on DESE's website.  The videos did not work (which is ironic with the increased emphasis on technology and computer requirements for districts) and the citizens became increasingly agitated.

Finally, one person stated that people came to ask questions and receive answers.  The group already knew what DESE's position and didn't need to be told again.  Clancy-May insisted we break up into groups (which would have been impossible as there were no tables or enough room to divide up) and an elderly woman asked,

Do you not know how to deviate from your agenda?

The presentation was eventually stopped and the floor was opened up for questions.  No questions were answered by May but they were written down to be taken back to DESE.  What was very interesting, is that the citizens provided answers to citizen questions.  It was clear the governmental agency was unable/unwilling to answer the basic questions of common core.

DESE never did answer questions on cost or data.  These are the two issues Senator Lamping wants DESE to talk about in SB210 in the eight townhall meetings around the state with Commissioner Nicastro in attendance.   It is imperative to contact Senator Lamping to make sure this bill is passed so DESE finally has to answer to the Legislature and the people on these two critical questions.  If the bureaucrats cannot answer the questions, it is necessary to have the Commissioner answer these question.  It is her signatures on Common Core signed MOUs and she should be the person to answer citizen questions.  If not her, then Governor Nixon should appear since he also signed these MOUs.

We will be providing stories from the other DESE meetings as we receive them.  Most of what we heard from the attendees is that they did break up into groups and followed DESE's instructions.  It was DESE's agenda and it had the authority to run the meetings as it deemed appropriate.  However, what is important to know about this Lindbergh meeting is that DESE's agenda did not fit the attendees' needs.  Citizens came to get answers to questions about an initiative that has been put into motion for more than 3 years that has been done under the radar.  They didn't come to hear a presentation to hear about how great CCSS are, they wanted answers on why they haven't been told before now, why the Governor signed onto them before they were even written, the data collection required via CCSS, how much they were going to cost, why the Legislature didn't know about CCSS, why we are in a consortia and cannot direct/develop our own educational standards/assessments.

One woman told May we are adults and we will not divide into Delphi groups.

Anne's and my impression was the Lindbergh group stood up to DESE and basically said we are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore.  The people decided everyone needed a voice and a chance to ask their question in a larger venue vs small groups where their message could be altered or even ignored by a facilitator.  This is a significant moment.  It represents the taxpayers paying for these programs asserting their rights to ask questions and to receive answers on these programs.  This act is the beginning of regaining control of their schools and the programs directing educational policy.

James Shuls from Show-Me Institute was available for citizen questions in the lobby afterward and Anne and I answered questions as representatives from Missouri Coalition Against Common Core.  This meeting may be a game changer in our Common Core battle in Missouri and citizens in other school districts should take note.  DESE cannot pacify people with meetings where no real information is disseminated (only talking points) and taxpayers demand answers from bureaucrats spending our  money and using our children for these programs. 

The DESE folks were genuinely surprised by the reaction (this was told to an attendee) of the crowd.   When DESE doesn't even allow comments on their videos, a genuine forum to ask questions and institutes an agenda that has been hidden from public scrutiny for several years, it only has itself to blame for the distrust, frustration and genuine anger present at last night's meeting.

The media has been contacted been contacted several times and only a few print media were in attendance.  The story is as massive and important as the Department of Revenue debacle and the governor's involvement in lack of transparency and setting policy outside of legislative approval.  Why isn't the media covering this important issue?  Call them today and ask them that question.

We can't wait for DESE's official answers to the written questions.  Look for video and pictures to be posted soon.  We will also be posting reports from the other locations.  If you were at Lindbergh or other locations and have some observations, please post them in the comment section.

To understand the tone of the meeting last night at Lindbergh, watch this clip from the movie "Network" and "I'm mad as  hell and I'm not going to take this anymore":



 

Sign the petition here against the implementation of Common Core.

What the Missouri Department of Revenue and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Have in Common

The Missouri Department of Revenue copied and sent private information on Concealed Carry permit holders to Homeland Security without the knowledge of the permit holder,  despite the fact this was against state law.  Does this sound a bit like the collection of 61 data points our educational state agency is gathering on students?   Commissioner Chris Nicastro informed the legislators about the data gathering by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in HB616 testimony but she did not offer:

• what 61 data points are being gathered
• why they are gathered
• which organization/agency mandated this data mining
• where the data is being sent
• what the data is being used for

Did your school alert you to this data mining?  Did you give permission for your student/family data to be disseminated to the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortia?  Did you know student/family/ teacher/principal data is then sent to the Federal Government by the consortia?

This was accomplished within the last two years via the Governor and Commissioner signing onto a Memorandum of Understanding with the consortia in May 2010.  In July 2011, the consortia signed a MOU with the Department of Education to send it personally identifiable student data.  The US Department of Education then can send this information to any other federal agency and third party it deems appropriate.  Did you know any of this?

Maybe the legislators can ask DESE why the student data sharing information and practice was never shared with the legislators until House testimony in HB616. The legislators might just want to start this investigation sooner than later as DESE seems to have done some creative budget work with funds earmarked for other purposes which has caused concern in the Capitol.  This lack of transparency or operating outside legal boundaries appears to be a systemic problem in Missouri (think of the Mamtek debacle last year and the subsequent Department of Economic Development director's resignation) with state agencies and needs to be addressed by the Legislature.  From Department of Revenue bows to Schmitt’s deadline to submit to rule-making process:

“The rulemaking process contains important safeguards for the public. Citizens have a right to comment on rules that will seriously affect them. The department ignored that right,” Schmitt said. “Equally disturbing is that the General Assembly was completely kept in the dark, preventing us from vetting this new policy, a critical part of representing the people’s interests.”

Last month, a Stoddard County resident filed a lawsuit against DOR alleging the department had scanned and collected the citizen’s private information as part of a new policy for renewing or receiving a driver’s license or concealed carry permit.
In response, the Senate launched an investigation into the accusations. Recent developments have shown the Department did not follow the rule-making process in implementing the new policy, a potential violation of state law.

“In recent weeks, we’ve seen a troubling trend of state departments willfully circumventing the law and purposefully deceiving the public and the General Assembly,” Schmitt said. “The Department of Education and Secondary Education has taken it upon itself to decide the distribution of the education formula funds, DOR implemented a policy in direct violation of state law, and now we discovered that the Highway Patrol has twice now given a list of nearly all concealed carry permit holders in Missouri to the federal government, also in violation of Missouri law. This cannot continue.”

Schmitt said he fears the trust of Missourians in their state government is on the line.
“This could fundamentally change how people view our state agencies,” he added. “It is critical we move quickly to address this issue and ensure our departments follow the laws set by the people’s elected officials.

 What do all these agencies have in common?  Mismanagement, lack of transparency, poor judgment...and the agency directors have all been appointed by the governor, Jay Nixon.  Nixon started the ball rolling for a monumental poor educational decision when he signed on to the first MOU with the National Governors Association agreeing to use Common Core standards/assessments (before they were even written) in June 2009 which gave away Missouri's right to direct/develop educational direction.

Should Jay Nixon be investigated for educational malfeasance?

Common Core Reality: The Cat's Out of the Bag in Missouri

 

Missouri districts will be required to use computer-based assessments by the 2014-15 school year.  Who/what is setting this requirement for your school district?

The San Francisco Chronicle reports Missouri schools are required to use computers for testing and the districts are reporting they don't have the funding for the computers, infrastructure and implementation.  

The article reported the Missouri Association of School Administrators found that 37 percent of districts lacked sufficient bandwidth and 44 percent needed hardware.This result contradicts DESE's statement that the vast majority (95%) of districts were ready for the assessments.

 

The article explains how administrators are concerned that the tests will not accurately test childrens' knowledge, rather, it will be a reflection of keyboarding skills.  Many districts do not have the funding available for these upgrades and they are apparently unable to make this transition.  

What this article doesn't address is WHY Missouri schools are transitioning to computerized assessments.  It's because of the common core mandates DESE, Governor Nixon and the State Board of Education signed taxpayers on to....unfunded mandates and nationalized standards/assessments.

CCSS mandates are going to cost districts money they don't have to comply with mandates voters never approved.

Can taxpayers file lawsuits under the Hancock Amendment to stop CCSS?  DESE, Nixon and the State Board of Education are mandating school districts to spend money they don't have for implementation of mandates taxpayers never had a chance to vote for or against.   Districts cannot tax citizens above a certain ceiling for schools without taxpayer approval.  
Would action under Hancock nix the expenditures and implementation mandated by CCSS? 

Are mandated common core costs borne by districts constitutional in Missouri?

DESE and Governor Nixon Threatening School Districts?

......Including the state as well. Coming soon to your school district?

 Are DESE and Governor Nixon ignoring the foundation funding formula law for schools?  Say it isn't so.  From johncombest.com via Missouri Scout.  Wonder what this will do to your school district's budget?  Budget?  What's a budget?

Political theater once again.

Don't Worry about what the Legislature would do with Money from Higher Taxes. DESE, Governor Nixon and the State Board are Spending Money the State Doesn't Have Now.

The following was posted on HotAir's Green Room, written by Patrick Ishamel from the Show-Me Institute regarding a St.  Louis Post Dispatch editorial.  The Post Dispatch contends Missouri needs more money (tax increases) for government programs; Ishmael argues the expansion of government programs stifles the free market.  Ishmael believes it would be a nightmare if the Legislature had $4 Billion at its disposal to institute more governmental spending.  

Regarding education in Missouri (and other states), the outrage of the Institute should include concern about the incredible spending of money the state doesn't have for educational mandates that are unconstitutional, unproven, untested and underfunded.  It's  concerning to realize DESE, Governor Nixon and the State Board of Education have already signed us onto to at least $350,000,000 (or more) in unfunded mandates via Common Core standards via the Pioneer Institute study and a $1.6 BILLION early childhood program with Race to the Top type mandates. 

Perhaps the Show-Me Institute should do a study on the debt and mandates these agencies and politicians have signed taxpayers into funding without legislative approval.  Maybe there should be a followup article by the Post Dispatch entitled "Imagine (or, just sit back and watch it happening in real time) how much debt the governor, DESE and the State Board of Education can rack up with nary a legislative vote." 

The legislature has become impotent. It cannot (or will not) stop the actions by governmental agencies, politicians and appointed officials which create more taxpayer debt.  This is evidenced in what has occurred in the signing onto RTTT (or RTTT like mandates), Common Core, and Early Childhood mandates.  It doesn't matter if citizens are taxed an additional $4 Billion; our agencies are instituting  programs (without tax increases) Missouri or the Federal government cannot possibly fund.   The state bill for education alone is approaching an unfunded $2 Billion. 

How's that for a nightmare?

**************************************************************************

The Post-Dispatch’s $4 Billion Tax Hike

Missouri’s major dailies have had quite a run over the past few days. Last week, the Kansas City Star told readers that the state’s governor needed “to promote reasonable revenue-enhancing measures” — taxes — and put more money toward state programs. The notion of “government investment” features prominently in the piece, as increasingly has become the case when “revenue-enhancing measures” are suggested, post-Stimulus. What the editorial board doesn’t say is that the city’s own local taxes are already among the highest in the region.

Stratospheric municipal taxes overlayed with an even higher state tax burden? This won’t turn out well.

But yesterday the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Star‘s cross-state peer, spectacularly one-upped the KC paper. Missouri lawmakers are constrained by law in how much they can tax and spend each year and are billions below the statutory limit. How much of that difference would the Post-Dispatch like to spend?

All $4 billion of it.

A lot of folks purchased Mega Millions lottery tickets last week dreaming about what they could do with $640 million. Imagine what $4 billion would do for Missouri.

Let’s be clear: That’s a radical tax hike proposal, tucked into what is otherwise an uninspired editorial about state and local governing responsibilities. Combined state and local tax rates have stayed roughly the same for decades in Missouri, but the Post-Dispatch would have those rates hurdle skyward to provide more public services and somehow, some way, improve the economy above the status quo.

Even the suggestion that raising taxes and spending would help the state makes no sense by the newspaper’s own standards. State and local tax rates have actually increased slightly since 1980, the apparent “good ol’ days” implied by the editorial, from 8.6% then to 9% today. The newspaper can’t even claim that plummeting tax burdens are why Missouri is suffering economically, since by its own metric, taxes have actually increased over the last 30 years.

The proposal is mostly academic here in Missouri, as taxpayers and policy makers in the state would blanche at the thought of such a hike, but that doesn’t mean the suggestion isn’t troubling. If implemented, the plan would have awful real-world implications — giving families less to spend and taking capital out of the market for use in less productive government programs. It’s a roadmap to ruin, and yet the Post-Dispatch apparently doesn’t see it.

“Imagine what $4 billion would do for Missouri”? No, imagine if legislators took their cues from Missouri’s newspapers. What a nightmare that would be.