 |
| East Newton School Board says "not so fast" to Common Core |
There was a huge CCSS development in Missouri yesterday. The Newton Missouri School Board passed a resolution raising concerns about Common Core implementation in its district. From an East Newton school district parent:
With
a vote of 5 to 1 with one abstaining, the East Newton School Board
voted to pass a resolution raising their concerns about the
implementation of the Common Core standards.
Voting yes
on the resolution: Mark Knight, Keith Guinn, Greg Kruse, Lance Renner
and Lawrence Frencken. Tal Clubbs voted against with Terry Clarkson
abstaining.
Thank you
everyone, for your support to our school board and school as we held
community meetings, attending board meetings and tried to understand
this as a community. This is the first school in the state to vote on
such a resolution, but this follows other school boards through
the country who have taken similar action.
I know it
was a process that the board took very seriously, and I deeply
appreciate their courage and diligence in looking into this issue more
seriously. I am most grateful for the example they have set for our
children, in raising their voices when they see something amiss.
Senator Ed Emery said, "How much better, that it comes from the home of
the Patriots!" Please, if you have an opportunity, write them a note of
appreciation. I am sure they will appreciate hearing of your
support as they act in our behalf and the behalf of our children. It is
often a thankless job.
Below is a copy of the resolution to be signed and sent up to Jefferson City, for your review.
P.S. There will be a town hall
Common Core/education meeting in Joplin at MSSU, Oct. 19th at 7:00 P.M.
at the Mills-Anderson Justice Center Auditorium.3950 E. Newman Road
Joplin, MO 64801
Joplin, MO 64801
This meeting will be sponsored by Joplin parents and students who are
concerned about Common Core and other educational concerns. You
are welcome to attend.
**********************************
**********************************
Resolution of the School District
of East Newton, R- 6 to stop and re-evaluate the Implementation of Common Core
State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) 2013
This
RESOLUTION was made and adopted by the Board of Education of the School
District of East Newton, R- 6, on the date set forth after the signature of
each of the board members set forth below.
1.
CCSSI was never approved by Congress,
but was embedded in the “four assurances” that
the U.S. Department of Education required of governors to apply for State
Fiscal Stabilization Funds and Race to the Top grants financed by the American
Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
2.
CCSSI was never evaluated by Missouri
State Legislators; the people’s representatives were
bypassed.
3.
CCSSI was presented as an enticement
for “Race to the Top” funds and the waiver of “No Child Left Behind.” Because “No Child Left Behind” saddled school districts with the unrealistic requirement that 100% of students be proficient in
reading and math by 2014, a waiver was a must to avoid loss of accreditation.
4.
CCSSI are copyrighted to non-government
trade organizations. We have concerns
regarding access to additional information and the cost of such information.
5.
Individual school districts are
committed to paying unknown costs associated with implementing Common Core
assessment plans, and purchase of materials, of which tax payers and their elected
representatives never had any input.
This would imply taxation without representation.
6.
There is an apparent conflict of interest by our Governor who sat on the Board of
Directors of the National Governors Association in
2010, which holds the copyright to the CCSSI English and math standards when
the standards were developed. He currently sits on the Board of Directors
of Achieve Inc. which holds the copyright to the Next Generation Science
Standards.
7.
CCSSI,
which is an integral component of a U.S. Department of Education plan to
collect a large amount of data collection on students as well as teachers,
could lead to unauthorized sale or sharing of personal data to commercial
sources. Although, it has not presented a problem to date, MO has no formal restrictions on
DESE from populating data systems designed according to the National Data Model
of over 400 data points including non-education related information such as
religion, voting history, biometric data, etc.
8.
The Department of Education Organizational Act of 1979, the
General Education Provision Act, and the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
that was reauthorized as the No Child Left
Behind of 2001 each prohibits the U.S. Department
of Education from involvement in developing, supervising, or controlling
instructional materials or curriculum (Federal Law 20 USC 1232a-Sec. 1232a. and
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Pub.L. 89-10, 79 Stat. 27, 20
US.C. ch. 70), CCSSI and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium assessment
tests coming in 2014 were funded, incentivized, and will be controlled under
the memorandum of agreement with the Federal
Department of Education. This seems to
be an overreach
of the Federal Government into the state’s educational system.
9.
There is no evidence that DESE
complied with Missouri State Statute 160.526 2. prior to administration of
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium pilot tests. The statute states,
The state board of education shall, by
contract enlist the assistance of such national experts, as approved by the
commission established pursuant to
section 160.510, to receive reports, advice
and counsel on a regular basis pertaining to the validity and reliability of
the statewide assessment system.
The reports from such experts shall be
received by the commission, which
shall make a final determination
concerning the reliability and validity of the statewide assessment system.
Within six months prior to implementation of
the statewide assessment system, the
commissioner of education shall inform the president pro tempore of the senate
and the speaker of the house about
the procedures to implement the
assessment system, including a report
related to the reliability and
validity of the assessment instruments, and the general assembly may, within
the next sixty legislative days, veto such implementation by concurrent
resolution adopted by majority vote of both
the senate and the house of
representatives.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE EAST
NEWTON R6 SCHOOL DISTRICT
1. Recognizes
the CCSS for what it is – a component of the four assurances that are designed
to manipulate states and facilitate unconstitutional federal overreach to
standardize and control the education of our children for the purposes of
workforce planning, agreed to by Governor Nixon outside of due process while on
the Board of Directors of the National Governors Association,
2. Recognizes
that, as per Missouri Revised Statute 160.514 of the Missouri Outstanding
School Act, curriculum frameworks adopted by the state board of education may be used by school districts, and we have
great concerns regarding the adoption of the Missouri Core Standards/Common
Core State Standards curricular framework for the East Newton School District,
3. Recognizes
that, as per Missouri Revised Statute 160.514 of the same Act, the state board
of education shall develop a statewide assessment system that provides maximum
flexibility for local school districts to determine the degree to which
students in the public schools of the state are proficient in the knowledge,
skills, and competencies adopted by such board, and we exercise our right to
insist on that flexibility. We have
great concerns in participating in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium
assessments,
4. Rejects
the collection of student assessment data outside of the limits specified in
Missouri Revised Statute 160.518; and rejects the collection of personal
student data for any non-educational purpose without the prior written consent
of an adult student or a child student’s parent and rejects the sharing of such
personal data, without the prior written consent of an adult student or a child
student’s parent, with any person or entity other than schools or education
agencies within the state,
5. Insists that the Missouri Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education (DESE) shall adopt academic standards and a statewide
assessment system as required by Missouri Revised Statute 160.526 of the same
Act, that is, as approved by the legislature,
6. Insists that any amending of Missouri’s
Learning standards must be done through a transparent public rulemaking process
that allows Missouri’s people ample time and opportunity to review proposed
changes and provide feedback.
Specifically, the DESE shall ensure
that any amendment to the Learning Results be posted for public review and
comment for at least 60 days. Any
comments received during this notice period shall be made public prior to final
adoption of any changes.
7. Calls on the Governor and the
Missouri State Board of Education to re-evaluate Missouri’s participation in the
Common Core State Standards Initiative, and asks the Missouri State Legislature
to discontinue funding programs in association with Common Core State Standards
Initiative/Missouri’s Core and any other alliance that promotes standards and
assessments aligned to them until such re-evaluation can be completed.
THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this
resolution shall be delivered to the Governor and the State Legislature for
executive and legislative action.
This resolution was adopted by the Board of Education
School District of East Newton, R-6.
East Newton
22808 East Highway 86
Granby, Missouri
64844
You can find the resolution (that first appeared at Missouri Coalition Against Common Core) to take to your school board and it can be adapted to your particular state. Push back against the elites who have devised educational reforms without taxpayer and legislative approval or knowledge.
Thank the East Newton School Board for being the first school district in Missouri to question the Common Core and following Missouri statutes.
