So is Kevin Ohlandt!
Someone recently suggested to me this should be the title of my next article. This was in reference to Mike Matthews being number one on a list of public commenters at a recent task force meeting. That’s it. Nothing more to see here!
On December 2nd, Senator David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana introduced a bill which would eliminate Federal control over local education. As the bill states:
To prohibit the Federal Government from mandating, incentivizing, or
coercing States to adopt the Common Core State Standards or any other
specific academic standards, instructional content, curricula,
assessments, or programs of instruction.
To prohibit the Federal Government from mandating, incentivizing, or
coercing States to adopt the Common Core State Standards or any other
specific academic standards, instructional content, curricula,
assessments, or programs of instruction.
“(h) Prohibition on Requiring Certain Standards for Waivers.–
“(1) In general.–The Secretary shall not require that a
State, local educational agency, Indian tribe, or school adopt,
as a prerequisite or condition for any waiver under this
section, any specific instructional content, academic standard,
assessment, curriculum, or program of instruction, including–
“(A) the Common Core State Standards developed
under the Common Core State Standards Initiative, any
other academic standards common to a number of States,
or any specific statewide or nationally recognized
content standards; or
“(B) any assessment, instructional content, or
curriculum aligned to, or based on, any specific
academic standards, including any of the standards
described in subparagraph (A).
“(2) Effect on previously issued waivers.–
“(A) In general.–Any requirement described in
paragraph (1) that was required for a waiver provided
to a State, local educational agency, Indian tribe, or
school under this section before the date of enactment
of the Local Control of Education Act shall be void and
have no force of law.
“(B) Prohibited actions.–The Secretary shall
not–
“(i) enforce any requirement that is void
pursuant to subparagraph (A); and
“(ii) require the State, local educational
agency, Indian tribe, or school to reapply for
a waiver, or to agree to any other conditions
to replace any requirements that is void
pursuant to subparagraph (A), until the end of
the period of time specified under the waiver.
“(C) No effect on other provisions.–Any other
provisions or requirements of a waiver provided under
this section before the date of enactment of the Local
Control of Education Act that are not affected by
subparagraph (A) shall remain in effect for the period
of time specified under the waiver.”.
According to the Daily Signal, Vitter is quoted as saying “I’ve fought tooth and nail for local control of education and against the enormous growth of federal power under President Obama. That includes prohibiting the federal government from mandating, coercing or bribing states to adopt Common Core or its equivalent.”
Legislation Lets States Cut Ties Between Common Core and Federal Grants
The proposed legislation was read twice the very same day and immediately passed to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Vitter wants to add it to the spending bill being looked at by Congress. This spending bill is something that needs to be passed immediately, so having this in the bill could be an incentive towards abolishing parts of the current education reform agenda.
I urge all of you who support this bill to contact your congress representatives in DC to support this amendment to the spending bill.
http://www.senate.gov/reference/common/faq/How_to_contact_senators.htm
To read the full bill, please go to:
Wow! This article hit the bullseye! Mike Matthews and all DEA members need to read this. If anyone in public education isn’t aware, there is a war going on, and if steps are not immediately taken to fight this war from the “good guys” side, it will be over before you know it.
After speaking and guiding a workshop recently, I was struck by some distinct impressions I witnessed among several hundred educators.
First, although teachers and educational leaders coming to a conference are a skewed subset of teachers, I was impressed with their passion for teaching but more so for their students.
However, I must add that these teachers repeatedly expressed a lack of agency as professionals; a common refrain was “I [we] can’t,” and the reasons were administration and mandates such as Common Core (or other standards) and high-stakes testing. That sense of fatalism was most often framed against these teachers clearly knowing what they would do (and better) if they felt empowered, professionally empowered, to teach from their expertise as that intersects with their students’ needs.
This experience came just two weeks after my trip to the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) annual convention, this year in Washington DC—where…
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The Season Of Myths 