One of my favorite talk-show radio hosts in Delaware is Rick Jensen on WDEL. While I may not always agree with him on every issue, we stand united in our hatred of Common Core and both actively advocate for parent opt-out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment. Or as Rick calls it, the “Not So Smarter Balanced Assessment”. He had this guy from the Thomas Fordham Institute on the show today.
I love how this guy refuses to call Common Core a curriculum. Really? Then why is it I put an article up with a copy of my son’s math homework a year ago, and it generated 15,000 hits in less than 24 hours? Because parents across America were Googling this homework that night, when kids all across the country had the SAME homework, with teachers teaching to that math that day. If that is just a standard, then I strongly suggest this man buys a dictionary and learns the difference between standards and curriculum.
And let’s not forget one thing that most folks don’t know. The NAEP test, that has been a “steady” barometer of our children’s success in America, is based on tests designed by American Institutes for Research. Who is also a vendor for numerous states and their standardized assessment, including all the Smarter Balanced Assessment states. Of course kids would do worse on a test they helped create against a test they helped create. A company like that doesn’t get $38,000,000.00 from a small state like Delaware, and who knows how much at a national level, if all children are succeeding. They need kids to fail this test, in great numbers, so they can continue their profit margins. That’s what it’s all about. So when these “think tank” guys talk about how much we need this data, they need that data so they can line their pockets with taxpayer money. It’s not about the kids. It’s never been about the kids. It’s about greed, pure and simple.
Why are these Fordham guys showing up in the News Journal and WDEL all of a sudden? Because folks like Dr. Paul Herdman of Rodel are asking them to. Because they know opt-out numbers are going to go through the roof next spring, and they want to get the spin control out now. Because these corporate intruders, and that’s what they are, are scared to death of the 148th General Assembly overriding Governor Markell’s veto of House Bill 50. But like the Smarter Balanced Assessment itself, they will fail. Because they are missing the crucial ingredient in all of this. A parent’s love for their child. There is nothing greater aside from the Almighty Himself! So Jack, Paul, Mark, all of you, listen up. We will not give up. We will not surrender. We will not stop. We aren’t idiots who believe whatever lines you throw our way. We are parents. We are our children’s voice. You all need to stop before you embarrass yourselves even further.
The Season Of Myths 