DESE Commissioner Doesn't Like Citizen's Question on Data Gathering

Dottie Bailey covered the hearing on SB210 House Education Committee yesterday.  She caught up with Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro after her testimony, wanting to ask her about the state's move from collecting aggregate student data collection to a student level data collection system.  A question that has not been satisfactorily answered in any of the May 2 DESE hearings is if individual student data is being gathered by DESE and if so, where that individual data is being sent.  Dottie attempted to ask the commissioner that question and this is what happened:

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From Notes and phone slapped down by Chris Nicastro…for asking a question:
 

On Monday May 13th, 2013 I made my way down to Missouri’s Capitol, Jefferson City.  I wanted to attend the SB210 House Education Hearing Committee meeting regarding Common Core.  SB210 is not massive legislation, it is just asking for DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) to have meetings in each of the 8 Congressional Districts in Missouri.

Just doing my duty as a citizen journalist, I got a statement from the bill’s sponsor Representative Kurt Bahr and a few other Representatives on the committee.

Not shocked but disappointed there was not one other journalist in the entire Capitol from what I could tell. I thought the place would and should be covered with them regarding this major news story and the general public’s interest.  But who was I kidding, crickets made louder noises.  

Additionally, this Friday, May 17th is the end of this legislative session.  I peeked in on the gallery floor from the second floor and it looked like little ants with laptops running amock.  The only one with any poise or maybe it was the gavel, but the Speaker seemed to have everything under control and was directing traffic with ease.

Another reason I went to Jefferson City that Monday is that I wanted to try and get a statement, you know since I’m in the neighborhood.  A statement from someone in DESE regarding the recent audit that showed an unaccounted for amount of $130 million dollars.  Easy enough or so I thought, silly citizen journalist…

During earlier discussions of SB210, it was found that DESE has not followed the foundation formula used to distribute the $130 million dollars to the districts. One of the amendments was to have an interim committee look into this situation. (See my previous blog) However before the hearing on Monday I found out that amendment had been taken out.  O.K., no problem, I can still ask the question that no one is asking.

Many people in Missouri and around the country are concerned about Common Core and it’s data collection aspirations.  This is one of the items the people want more clarification on from DESE.  They want to ask their own questions, just not be spoken to like third graders. Up to this point DESE delivers their talking points and says how great the Common Core Standards are going to be……enter the love music..ugh.

I had in my possession, a screen shot from DESE’s own website regarding the sharing of information to the Federal government.  You can go to their website and see it for yourself here.  The whole overview but particularly the last paragraph states that instead of data being collected as aggregate now will transition into being collected on an individual level.

Half way through the hearing, the Commissioner of Education, Chris Nicastro was speaking.  She went on and on about the wonders of Common Core.  One of the Representatives asked about the cost of broadband needed for the assessments to take place.  Commissioner Nicastro said, “I believe that broadband should be a Civil Right.” No I am not kidding.  The room erupted in laughter trying to hide their disgust.  Hey John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, you guys forgot something in the Constitution…Life, Liberty and unlimited access to 24/7 Broadband.  Truly the Founders did a couple back flips in their graves.

Near the end of her time given to speak she was asked about the sharing of individual student’s data being shared with the government.  She assured everyone that only aggregate information would be shared.  The little hairs stood up on the back of my neck as I had the screen shot from DESE’s website laying in hands.  She started to get up, I grabbed my phone and the stranger next to me and said “let’s go”.  I turned on the camera on the phone and we followed her.  I asked her very kindly if I could ask her some questions.  She barked at me and said she didn’t have time.  Again I very kindly said, no problem I would walk her out.  She asked who I was and who I’m with….she rolled her eyes.  I persisted and asked her to explain her comments before and the contradictory screen shot I was holding in my hand.  She mumbled something and then slapped the paper out of my hand.  Then turned to the girl holding my camera phone and slapped the phone too.  But the camera girl caught the phone before it hit the ground.  She walked quickly away and I said “Thank you”…didn’t really know what to say…..

I was shocked and a little startled that she retaliated in that way.  I really thought with her position and caliber of being a professional educator she would conduct herself in a manner of integrity and grace.  Boy, was I wrong….it was Slapfest–Hissyfit 2013 in the basement of the Capitol building.  But what should I expect from someone telling untruths and then being confronted on them.  If she was telling the truth wouldn’t she have just told me I was incorrect and to check again.

They bummer part is my battery on my phone died and we only got half of the quick walk to the garage.  My camera girl and I are the witnesses to the slap fit Ms. Nicastro had but it reminds me that people trying to hide something usually act out like children.

Needless to say I didn’t get a statement regarding the unaccounted for $130 million dollars.  But I will be following up on that story.

So what are your thoughts?  Do you think it was a reasonable or ridiculous behavior by an appointed government official?

This is Why We Are Against Common Core Standards

But I'm too young to read informational text.  I'm only in kindergarten.

Is this scenario coming soon to a kindergarten class in your school district?  Teachers are mandated to teach developmentally inappropriate standards, assessments and curricula to district students.  What do you think will happen?  Will endlessly assessing students in kindergarten make them more ready for the global workforce or will they dissolve in tears and view school as something to avoid at all costs?

THIS is what teachers, parents, school board members and legislators need to understand about Common Core standards.  When students implode, there is nothing your school can do.  Schools can't subtract from the standards and they must use the copyrighted material. 

This is not what education should be.  But this is what it is becoming unless we stop the implementation of the standards in our states.

From the NY Post:

Way beyond the ABCs, crayons and building blocks, the city Department of Education now wants 4- and 5-year-olds to write “informative/explanatory reports” and demonstrate “algebraic thinking.” 

Children who barely know how to write the alphabet or add 2 and 2 are expected to write topic sentences and use diagrams to illustrate math equations.

“For the most part, it’s way over their heads,” a Brooklyn teacher said. “It’s too much for them. They’re babies!”

In a kindergarten class in Red Hook, Brooklyn, three children broke down and sobbed on separate days last week, another teacher told The Post.

When one girl cried, “I can’t do it,” classmates rubbed her back, telling her, “That’s OK.”

“This is causing a lot of anxiety,” the teacher said. “Kindergarten should be happy and playful. It should be art and dancing and singing and learning how to take turns. Instead, it’s frustrating and disheartening.”

The city has adopted national standards called the Common Core, which dramatically raise the bar on what kids in grades K through 12 should know. 

Read more here. This is the same story, just set in a different school, published about a kindergartner in Chicago who sobbed "I'm just no good at kindergarten".

If you are in Missouri, call your Senator and ask him/her to support Senate Bill 210:

This act prohibits the State Board of Education and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education from implementing the Common Core State Standards for public schools developed by the Common Core Standards Initiative or any other statewide education standards without the approval of the General Assembly.