Call to Action – Week 4: Learn & Share

CALL TO ACTION – WEEK 4
LEARN & SHARE

We hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas!

Only two weeks until the start of the next legislative session on January 13^th, 2014.  We need every concerned Kansan to help spread the truth about Common Core and participate in the effort to restore local education in Kansas.

This week we want you to LEARN & SHARE about Common Core!
We are often contacted by people who are opposed to Common Core, but say they are not comfortable discussing it with others.  That is very easy to understand!  The entire package of Common Core is very complicated and can seem overwhelming. That is why this week we want to provide you with some great links for information – basic to very in-depth.

Please take time to learn more about Common Core.  After you spend time doing your own research about Common Core, share with friends and family.  Many people have still not heard about Common Core, and it is so important to share the truth and make them aware of the changes happening in education.

Here are some great papers, articles and videos to help you learn more,
AND SHARE with others!

Common Core – Myths vs. Facts

Videos:

• Video Series: Stop the Common Core
• Video: Why Common Core is Gutting Educational Freedom
• Video: Early Childhood Standards of Common Core are Developmentally Inappropriate
• Video: The Current School Reform Landscape: Christopher H. Tienken
• Video: David Coleman 2 Years Ago: We Were a Collection of Unqualified People

Articles:

• A Brief Audit of Bill Gates’ Common Core Spending  Part 2, 3, 4, 5
• 7 Links to Evidence of Federal Control of Common Core
• Five People Wrote ‘State-Led’ Common Core
• Jason Zimba on What is College and Career Ready?
• Bill Gates: ‘It would be great if our education stuff worked but…’
• SIX THINGS THE US DEPT OF EDUCATION DID TO DEPRIVE YOUR CHILD OF PRIVACY

Pioneer Institute White Papers:

• Controlling Education from the Top Down – Why Common Core is Bad for America
• A Republic of Republics: How Common Core Undermines State and Local Autonomy over K-12 Education
• Lowering the Bar: How Common Core Math Fails to Prepare Students for STEM

Other resources:

• Truth in American Education – Action Center
• Fight Common Core – An Initiative of American Principles Project
• HSLDA
• Heartland Institute – Education
• The Heritage Foundation – Education
• Pioneer Institute – School Reform
• Common Core Fails – FreedomWorks
• Catholic is Our Core – The Cardinal Newman Society

Please continue to TAKE ACTION and share:
Call to Action – Week 1: Contact KS Legislators
Call to Action – Week 2: Sign the Petition
Call to Action – Week 3: Merry Christmas!

And mark your calendar to
JOIN US IN TOPEKA!

Happy New Year!

Call to Action – Week 3: Merry Christmas!

We wish you all a wonderful week!

Things will be pretty quiet on our facebook page and website this week as we take time to focus on our own families, faith, and Christmas celebrations.  We will do our best to return emails and phones calls as promptly as possible, but that may not be until next week.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Road trip to Topeka! #stopcommoncore

Download sign-up sheet for a Day at the Capitol

We need you to start planning your road trip to Topeka NOW!
Put down the wrapping paper and the Christmas cards, and get out your January 2014 calendar.

The Kansas Legislature returns to Topeka for the start of the next session on Monday, January 13th –

and we need every Kansan opposed to Common Core to be there too!

We know how difficult it can be to take a day and make a trip to Topeka – especially for our friends out west – but nothing speaks to legislators, like having concerned Kansans walking around the Capitol, and stopping by offices.
We are asking you to take just one day out of your schedule to make a difference.
If you can two or three days – even better!

Please help us make our voices heard!
Meet us at the Capitol on one of these days:

January 14, 15 or 16

January 21, 22 or 23

We will also be sending out information with additional details, including directions and a simple guide to make stopping by to visit with your legislators, leadership, and education committee members as easy as possible. Look at your calendar, and then let us know when we can expect to see you at the Capitol.

email: kristin@kansansagainstcommoncore.com

Are you a group leader, active in an organization, or do you have a large contact list of friends and family?
If so, please help us spread the word and keep a sign-up list, of names, emails and dates that you can share with us going forward for planning purposes.  We have also created our Stop Common Core petition in a document format for obtaining multiple signatures.  You can also sign and share our petition online:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stop-common-core-in-kansas/
Sign! Sign! Sign!

See YOU in Topeka!

Call to Action – WEEK 2

CALL TO ACTION – WEEK 2

SIGN THE PETITION

Welcome to Week 2 of our Call to Action series!

We are posting a new Call to Action each week, until the start of the next legislative session on January 13, 2014.  There is not much time!  We need every concerned Kansan to help spread the truth about Common Core and participate in the effort to restore local education in Kansas.

This week we need as many signatures as possible!!!

The signed petition will be presented to legislators, the Governor’s office, and others during the upcoming legislative session.

Click on this link to sign our petition online:

Support Local Control of Education in Kansas  – Stop Common Core

Help us get even more signatures by PRINTING & SHARING!

Take copies with you to the grocery store, play dates, lunch with friends, etc.

SIGN, SIGN, SIGN

Download and print copy of our petition, sign and mail to:

Kansans Against Common Core
P.O. Box 108
Pratt, KS 67124

Support Local Control of Education in Kansas – Stop Common Core

We reject the Federal Government’s intrusion into our education system and want control over what is taught in our classroom returned to our state and local school boards.

• Common Core removes control of our state k-12 education standards from Kansas and puts it in the hands of private trade organizations who wrote and copyrighted the standards and who are not accountable to the public which pays for their implementation.

• It allows the federal government to dictate the terms of our teacher evaluations.

• It makes it practically impossible for local school districts to control their costs because independent consortia develop assessment tools which our districts must use. These on-line assessments are not only many times more expensive than our existing tests, they are a technical impossibility for many schools in our state who do not have broadband access to the internet.

• Common Core Standards are not internationally benchmarked as marketed, nor have they been tested and found to be superior to existing state standards. They have never been tried before. Their implementation in 45 states amounts to a massive pilot program that uses our children as test subjects.

• Common Core assessments ramp up the collection of personally identifiable data on our children. Through various agreements this data will be sent directly to the US Department of Education who has changed the Family Education Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) to allow this data to be shared with other government agencies and third parties without our knowledge or consent.

• The architect of the Common Core Standards has vowed to align the SAT tests to these standards thereby pressuring homeschoolers and private schools to teach to these standards as well. Millions of children will be lost inside a one size fits all system designed to create equal mediocrity among the new “global citizens.”

And don’t forget about Call to Action – Week 1

Contact Kansas Legislators

Thank you for taking time to make a difference!

Please share with other concerned Kansans.

Kansans Against Common Core
www.KansansAgainstCommonCore.com

This past week…

The BIG news this week…

Kansas Opts to Create Its Own Common Core Test

But,
Did it just sound good?
____________________________________________________________________

Common Core: The Biggest Election Issue Washington Prefers to Ignore
 – Joy Pullmann
People who have strong reasons to vote do, and turnout often determines elections. Getting passionate people to vote is half the point of a campaign. The Common Core moms have a reason to vote, and boy, do they have a lot of friends.

Major Admission by Common Core Proponent: Special Needs Students Not Being Addressed Under Common Core – Missouri Education Watchdog
So there is an admission from an employee from the Center of College and Career Readiness that CCSS does not address the needs of special needs students.  Where is the protection for these children under IDEA?  How can teachers be held accountable to teach these students under CCSS when there is no adaptation available?  Not only is adaptation not allowed, the children don’t even have textbooks.

What PISA Says About PISA – Christopher Tienken

Pundits, education bureaucrats, and policy makers rejoice! It’s PISA time once again. Cue the dark music, fear mongering, worn out slogans and dogma about the United States education system failing the country economically.  Sprinkle in “global competitiveness” throughout your press release, gush over how well those non-creative, authoritarian Asian countries performed, push your market oriented, anti-local control reforms, and presto, you are ready for prime-time education-reformer status. It seems as if America is suffering from a severe case of PISA envy. But what do the vendors of PISA say about PISA?

Hubby, R.I.P.—Hooray! The Common Core Takes on Marriage – Terrence Moore
Such “lessons” now bear the logo of the Common Core, the educational regimen that we are told is the yellow brick road to “college and career readiness in a twenty-first-century global economy.” Yet since the Common Core has come under a lot of pressure of late, its advocates are claiming that it is only a “set of standards” and does not dictate curriculum. “Don’t mind us. We’re just innocent little standards (and test) makers who want to bring much-needed rigor to the schools.” Rubbish.

Moms at the National Council for the Social Studies Conference Tell MEW about Social Studies CCSS Aligned Curriculum – Missouri Education Watchdog
“I left the social studies conference with the understanding that now our children are being taught about social justice, equality, tolerance, becoming community activists for social change as well as what is and isn’t fair according to someone other than me (the parent). In addition, our children are learning about being a global citizen, not an American citizen. Many of the sessions I attended were plugging the United Nations and the Rights of the Child treaty. I heard over and over again the need for the U.S. to ratify this treaty.”

Dissecting Mike Huckabee’s Statement on the Common Core – Shane Vander Hart
The first red flag was that he doesn’t support “what Common Core has become” meaning he supported it in its original form.  This is an inadequate response because it doesn’t recognize problems inherent with the standards themselves regardless of what curriculum publishers and the Federal government has done.

VIDEO: Kenneth Ye Farragut student Dec 4th School Board
This is a must see video from a brilliant Knoxville Tennessee student who lays out all that is wrong with Common Core’s basic philosophy and our now insane focus on standardized test results.

Teachers face retaliation for criticizing Common Core – Karen Schroeder
NEA Today published an article claiming that 75 percent of their members supported Common Core Standards. Insulted and betrayed by their union, more than 200 teachers immediately reported that they had not been surveyed and that they knew of no teachers in their schools who supported Common Core Standards. Others implied that the union knew that the majority of teachers hated Common Core and that the union refused to represent those teachers.

VIDEO: A teacher describes why she left teaching in pubic schools… Common Core

And in his own words… David Coleman
“we’re composed of that collection of unqualified people
who were involved in developing the common standards.”

_______________________________

COMING MONDAY!
WEEK 2 – Call to Action

If you missed Week 1, please visit here for details.

Start planning to meet us in Topeka for a Day at the Capitol!

January 14, 15, & 16 and 21, 22 & 23

Take time to participate and make a difference!

We are going to need more than emails and phone calls,

if we really want to make a change.

*The legislative session begins January 13, 2014.*

 

Did it just sound good?

Maybe.

Did Kansas really get out of Smarter Balanced yesterday?

We did some looking into this question after we received an email with the following comment that was posted on the article from yesterday:

It takes quite a bit of prodding to get CETE to admit it, but in the past they contracted out the writing of test questions to a third party. From 2006 until last year the vast majority of test questions (all but pilot questions that did not count in the score) were written by a California based company called West Ed. CETE put the questions into computer form and ran the computer system, but did not create the test questions.

Here is what we found on the WestEd website:

 WestEd is honored to serve as the Project Management Partner for the multi-state Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) — the first collaboration of its kind building a common assessment system among a majority of states.

Read more here.

WestEd was the prime contractor developing all elementary, middle school, and high school assessment items for the state of Kansas assessment program.

Read more here.

Will KU CETE be partnering with WestEd for future Kansas assessments?

We will keep you updated as we learn more.

Other states have also “left” SBAC or PARCC, but still find themselves connected…

Utah Never Left the SBAC

Is Indiana’s withdrawal from PARCC for real or for show?

Kansas chooses KU CETE Assessments – withdraws from SBAC

In case you missed it…  THIS happened at the KS State Board of Education meeting yesterday in Topeka!

Kansas withdrew Tuesday from a federally funded, state-led initiative to develop tests aligned to the controversial Common Core mathematics and English standards, choosing instead to commission the tests from The University of Kansas.

After hours of in-depth discussion, the Kansas State Board of Education voted 8-2 to walk away from a years-long effort that Kansas played a lead role in — the Smarter Balanced state consortium that is developing Common Core tests with a federal Race to the Top Grant.

Please take a few minutes to send a THANK YOU to the KS State BOE members (emails below) who supported Kansas assessments through the KU CETE, and voted against SBAC at yesterday’s meeting.  We sincerely appreciate them taking the time to research this very important issue, and vote in favor of Kansas assessments from KU CETE.

Read more here: http://cjonline.com/news/2013-12-10/kansas-opts-create-its-own-common-core-tests

There were actually two votes yesterday.  Here are the results and the email addresses for the SBOE members.  Additional contact information can be found here: http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=54.

 1^st Vote MOTION:  Mrs. Sally Cauble moves to accept SBAC for grades 3-8 and flexibility for high school level.

 No (to SBAC) – Mrs. Kathy Busch (kathy.busch@ymail.com), Mrs. Deena Horst (deena@worldlinc.net ), Mr. John Bacon (jwmsbacon@aol.com), Mr. Kenneth Willard (kwillard48@gmail.com) and Mr. Steve Roberts (mrxmath@gmail.com)

 Yes – Mrs. Janet Waugh (JWaugh1052@aol.com), Mrs. Jana Shaver (jshaver@cableone.net), Mr. Jim McNiece (nemprin@yahoo.com), Mrs. Sally Cauble (scauble@swko.net), Ms. Carolyn L. Wims-Campbell (campbell4kansasboe@verizon.net)

 2^nd Vote MOTION:  Mr. Kenneth Willard moves that KS adopt tests designed by KU’s CETE for grades 3-8, with flexibility for high school.

 Yes (to KU CETE) – Mrs. Kathy Busch (kathy.busch@ymail.com), Mrs. Deena Horst (deena@worldlinc.net ), Mr. John Bacon (jwmsbacon@aol.com), Mr. Kenneth Willard (kwillard48@gmail.com), Mr. Steve Roberts (mrxmath@gmail.com), Mrs. Janet Waugh (JWaugh1052@aol.com), Mrs. Jana Shaver (jshaver@cableone.net), and Mr. Jim McNiece (nemprin@yahoo.com)

 No – Mrs. Sally Cauble (scauble@swko.net), Ms. Carolyn L. Wims-Campbell (campbell4kansasboe@verizon.net)

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

And in case you missed it, this also happened at the meeting:

State board approves handwriting standards
Topeka — The Kansas State Board of Education voted unanimously today to approve new standards for handwriting, including a statement that the board “expects” schools to ensure that all students can write legibly in cursive and be able to read material written in cursive.

John Boesen, a handwriting analyst from Salina, told the state board today that learning to write helps develop cognitive and motor skills, and that it is still an important form of communication.

 “The pen is mightier than the keyboard,” Boesen said.

_________________________________________

And a big THANK YOU to every person who has taken time to research the facts, attend a State BOE meeting, speak at a State BOE meeting, contact the State BOE members,  and share the information with friends and family.

We can make a difference…. 3 minutes at a time!

 

 

Call to Action – Week 1

CALL TO ACTION – WEEK 1

CONTACT KANSAS LEGISLATORS

Welcome to our first Kansans Against Common Core Call to Action!

We will be posting a new Call to Action each week, as we countdown to the start of the next legislative session.  There are only six more weeks until the Kansas Legislature will return to Topeka on January 13^th.  We need to be as active as possible between now and then.  Although the holiday season is upon us, and we are all busy with friends, family, faith and festivity commitments – we hope you will please take a few moments of your time to participate.
Thank you!

CONTACT KANSAS LEGISLATORS:
Email, call, send a handwritten letter – or even send a Christmas card – to your Kansas legislators telling them you want Common Core Standards out of Kansas.  Kansas can do better!  It is very important for the legislators to hear from as many Kansans as possible – they want to hear from YOU!  It is crucial that they hear your voice on this matter, or things will not change.

We encourage you to convey your personal concerns and message directly to your Kansas Representative and Senator, but we also encourage you to email all legislators (email lists below).  Please remember to stick with the facts, and to be respectful in all forms of communication.

You may want to put something like “Stop Common Core Standards” in the subject line of your email, but also consider other options like “Restore Local Education in KS” or “Concerns with Common Core Standards”.  It is important that our efforts are grassroots and personal – not just form emails or letters.

Here are some great, concise points of concern with the Common Core Standards to include or use when writing or calling…

(from Tip Sheet: Common Core Standards – Joy Pullmann, June 11, 2013)

• Point 1: Common Core is of mediocre academic quality, according to nationally known experts, and research shows education standards do not improve student achievement.

• Point 2: Common Core was not created by states in any meaningful sense. It was written behind closed doors by unelected committees inside organizations funded largely by the federal government.

• Point 3: Most states have agreed to subject their laws to federally funded and monitored Common Core testing groups, largely through contracts legislatures have not reviewed.

• Point 4: Many states promised the federal government they would trade their standards for Common Core before a draft or final version of the standards was published.

• Point 5: The national Common Core testing groups have not specified what data they will require of states within their student assessments, but they have promised the federal government will receive full access. The Obama administration has removed federal protections that in the past limited student data-sharing and required schools to inform parents of it.

• Point 6: Common Core threatens school choice, private schools, and home schools by creating a national market for education in which all tests—including the SAT, ACT, Iowa Basic, and Stanford 10—and most curricula are structured according to one system.

• Point 7: Common Core is entirely experimental. No state or school has ever tested it.

• Point 8: Education standards are not curriculum, but they determine what children will and will not learn. They define curriculum. And the federally funded testing consortia are creating a model Common Core curriculum, although federal curriculum creation is illegal.

• Point 9: Almost no state has analyzed how much retraining teachers, new curriculum, and upgrading technology by 2016 for online-only Common Core tests will cost taxpayers.

• Point 10: There is no process for parents, teachers, and school boards to provide feedback or gain flexibility on all or part of Common Core as students begin encountering it.

• Point 11: Common Core assumes one schedule of learning fits all children, and a small group of paid experts know what it is. It also rests on the premise, rejected by many communities and parents, that the sole purpose of public education is workforce training.

References
“The Common Core: A Poor Choice For States,” The Heartland Institute: http://heartland.org/policy-documents/common-core-poor-choice-states.

Another good resource for facts and information is Truth in American Education, www.truthinamericaneducation.com.

Did you know there was an effort to “pause” Common Core last session?
If you would like to know how your legislator voted on the effort to “pause” Common Core, please visit our website under KS Legislation, HB 2391(2013) to see the final vote for both the Senate and the House.  This vote is a good indicator of where your legislator stands on the issue of Common Core.  Support for 2391 meant support for a pause and review of Common Core in Kansas, but voting “No” meant continuing down the road of full implementation… which is where we are today.

 And if you haven’t yet signed the Stop Common Core in Kansas Petition,
please do so now and ask your friends and family to sign it too.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stop-common-core-in-kansas/

 Thank you for taking the time to contact your Kansas legislators!

Please share with other concerned Kansans.

Kansans Against Common Core
www.kansansagainstcommoncore.com

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR LEGISLATORS

Find your Representative and Senator contact information here:

Kansas Legislature – http://www.kslegislature.org/li/

 
House Roster: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/chamber/house/roster/

House Emails (house.ks.gov): john.alcala@house.ks.gov, j.stephen.alford@house.ks.gov, steven.anthimides@house.ks.gov, barbara.ballard@house.ks.gov, john.barker@house.ks.gov, steven.becker@house.ks.gov, sue.boldra@house.ks.gov, barbara.bollier@house.ks.gov, john.bradford@house.ks.gov, carolyn.bridges@house.ks.gov, rob.bruchman@house.ks.gov, steve.brunk@house.ks.gov, tom.burroughs@house.ks.gov, larry.campbell@house.ks.gov, sydney.carlin@house.ks.gov, richard.carlson@house.ks.gov, john.carmichael@house.ks.gov, will.carpenter@house.ks.gov, ward.cassidy@house.ks.gov, marshall.christmann@house.ks.gov, jrclaeys@house.ks.gov, stephanie.clayton@house.ks.gov, susan.concannon@house.ks.gov, ken.corbet@house.ks.gov, travis.couture-lovelady@house.ks.gov, david.crum@house.ks.gov, paul.davis@house.ks.gov, pete.degraaf@house.ks.gov, diana.dierks@house.ks.gov, john.doll@house.ks.gov, willie.dove@house.ks.gov, john.edmonds@house.ks.gov, joe.edwards@house.ks.gov, keith.esau@house.ks.gov, bud.estes@house.ks.gov, john.ewy@house.ks.gov, blaine.finch@house.ks.gov, gail.finney@house.ks.gov, stan.frownfelter@house.ks.gov, shanti.gandhi@house.ks.gov, randy.garber@house.ks.gov, mario.goico@house.ks.gov, ramon.gonzalezjr@house.ks.gov, bob.grant@house.ks.gov, amanda.grosserode@house.ks.gov, dan.hawkins@house.ks.gov, dennis.hedke@house.ks.gov, broderick.henderson@house.ks.gov, jerry.henry@house.ks.gov, larry.hibbard@house.ks.gov, ron.highland@house.ks.gov, brett.hildabrand@house.ks.gov, don.hill@house.ks.gov, don.hineman@house.ks.gov, kyle.hoffman@house.ks.gov, michael.houser@house.ks.gov, roderick.houston@house.ks.gov, jim.howell@house.ks.gov, steve.huebert@house.ks.gov, mark.hutton@house.ks.gov, russ.jennings@house.ks.gov, steven.johnson@house.ks.gov, kevin.jones@house.ks.gov, mark.kahrs@house.ks.gov, kasha.kelley@house.ks.gov, jim.kelly@house.ks.gov, mike.kiegerl@house.ks.gov, lance.kinzer@house.ks.gov, marvin.kleeb@house.ks.gov, annie.kuether@house.ks.gov, harold.lane@house.ks.gov, jerry.lunn@house.ks.gov, nancy.lusk@house.ks.gov, charles.macheers@house.ks.gov, peggy.mast@house.ks.gov, craig.mcpherson@house.ks.gov, melanie.meier@house.ks.gov, kelly.meigs@house.ks.gov, julie.menghini@house.ks.gov, ray.merrick@house.ks.gov, bob.montgomery@house.ks.gov, tom.moxley@house.ks.gov, connie.obrien@house.ks.gov, leslie.osterman@house.ks.gov, jan.pauls@house.ks.gov, virgil.peck@house.ks.gov, emily.perry@house.ks.gov, michael.peterson@house.ks.gov, reid.petty@house.ks.gov, tom.phillips@house.ks.gov, joshua.powell@house.ks.gov, richard.proehl@house.ks.gov, marty.read@house.ks.gov, marc.rhoades@house.ks.gov, melissa.rooker@house.ks.gov, allan.rothlisberg@house.ks.gov, john.rubin@house.ks.gov, louis.ruiz@house.ks.gov, ron.ryckman@house.ks.gov, ronald.ryckman@house.ks.gov, tom.sawyer@house.ks.gov, don.schroeder@house.ks.gov, scott.schwab@house.ks.gov, sharon.schwartz@house.ks.gov, joe.seiwert@house.ks.gov, clark.shultz@house.ks.gov, tom.sloan@house.ks.gov, patricia.sloop@house.ks.gov, gene.suellentrop@house.ks.gov, bill.sutton@house.ks.gov, vern.swanson@house.ks.gov, jack.thimesch@house.ks.gov, kent.thompson@house.ks.gov, annie.tietze@house.ks.gov, james.todd@house.ks.gov, ed.trimmer@house.ks.gov, jene.vickrey@house.ks.gov, ponka-we.victors@house.ks.gov, jim.ward@house.ks.gov, troy.waymaster@house.ks.gov, virgil.weigel@house.ks.gov, brandon.whipple@house.ks.gov, john.wilson@house.ks.gov, valdenia.winn@house.ks.gov, kathy.wolfemoore@house.ks.gov

House Emails (alternate): jalcala3@cox.net, j.stephenalford@yahoo.com, johnbarker2012@yahoo.com, steveb@embarqmail.com, sueboldra@gmail.com, barbarabollier@gmail.com, jbrad125@gmail.com, cbqatar@yahoo.com, sbrunk@cox.net, rep.tburroughs@hotmail.com, larrylcampbell@sbcglobal.net, sydcar20@cox.net, richard.cheryl.carlson@reagan.com, carpfam6965@sbcglobal.net, wardmcassidy@gmail.com, jr@claeys.com, stephaniesawyerclayton@gmail.com, sconcannon@nckcn.com, ravenhpsc@aol.com, travis@travisforkansas.com, dbcrum8@cox.net, petedegraaf@att.net, dierks@salinahomes.com, johndoll22@gmail.com, williedove@sunflower.com, jtedmonds@aol.com, servantje@yahoo.com, budestes@btiequip.com, johnewykansas@gmail.com, blainefinch@gmail.com, gafinney5@yahoo.com, stanfrownfelter@yahoo.com, sgandhi@cox.net, randygarber@ymail.com, goicorep94@cox.net, rgofoz@msn.com, lynngrant@cox.net, amanda@amanda4kansas.com, danhawkinskansas@gmail.com, dhedke@cox.net, jhenry@asnek.org, LarryPHibbard@gmail.com, rlhighland@wamego.net, hildabrand2010@gmail.com, donhill70@hotmail.com, dhineman@st-tel.net, kyle@kylehoffman.net, mhouser_2010@yahoo.com, rep.houston@gmail.com, JimHowell4Ks@gmail.com, shuebert77@sbcglobal.net, mhutton881@cox.net, jrussj@gmail.com, stevenj@hometelco.net, kevinjonesforkansas@gmail.com, mark@kahrsforkansas.com, kasha@kansasleadership.com, jim.kelly@swbell.net, just4smk@aol.com, lance@lancekinzer.com, marvin@marvinkleeb.com, kuet@aol.com, lanebbq@netzero.net, jlunn@brushcreekpartners.com, nnlusk@kc.rr.com, charles@macheers.com, mastpeggy@gmail.com, craig@craigmcpherson.com, meiermel@hotmail.com, krmeigs@live.com, jmenghini@cox.net, merrickrf@sbcglobal.net, tmoxley@tctelco.net, edconob@aol.com, lildoc92@sbcglobal.net, janpauls@sbcglobal.net, virgil@virgilpeck.com, perryforkansas@gmail.com, mjpkck@gmail.com, reid.petty2012@gmail.com, tphillips3@cox.net, joshua@powellforkansas.com, rproehl@labettebank.com, bjread2@embarqmail.com, marcrhoades@cox.net, melissa@melissarooker.com, rothlisberga@hotmail.com, rubinshaw@aol.com, louis_ruiz@sbcglobal.net, ron@ronryckman.com, ryckmanr2001@yahoo.com, shocker3@cox.net, dnjschroeder@gmail.com, schwab@scottschwab.com, porkchop@bluevalley.net, joeseiwert@onemain.com, shultz@usa.com, patsloop@gmail.com, gene@genesuellentrop.com, bill@billsutton.us, svswan@twinvalley.net, jackthimesch@live.com, atietze@cox.net, jameserictodd@gmail.com, etrimmer@cox.net, vickrey@jenevickrey.org, ponka-we@votevictors.com, jwardks88@gmail.com, twaymaster@aol.com, virgiljweigel@hotmail.com, brandon@whippleforkansas.com, vwinn@kckcc.edu, kathy4rep36@gmail.com

Senate Roster: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/chamber/senate/roster/

Senate Emails (senate.ks.gov): Steve.Abrams@senate.ks.gov, Pat.Apple@senate.ks.gov, Tom.Arpke@senate.ks.gov, Elaine.Bowers@senate.ks.gov, Terry.Bruce@senate.ks.gov, Jim.Denning@senate.ks.gov, Les.Donovan@senate.ks.gov, Jay.Emler@senate.ks.gov, Oletha.Faust-Goudeau@senate.ks.gov, Steve.Fitzgerald@senate.ks.gov, Marci.Francisco@senate.ks.gov, David.Haley@senate.ks.gov, Tom.Hawk@senate.ks.gov, Anthony.Hensley@senate.ks.gov, Tom.Holland@senate.ks.gov, Mitch.Holmes@senate.ks.gov, Laura.Kelly@senate.ks.gov, Dan.Kerschen@senate.ks.gov, Jeff.King@senate.ks.gov, Forrest.Knox@senate.ks.gov, Jacob.LaTurner@senate.ks.gov, Jeff.Longbine@senate.ks.gov, Garrett.Love@senate.ks.gov, Julia.Lynn@senate.ks.gov, Ty.Masterson@senate.ks.gov, Carolyn.McGinn@senate.ks.gov, Jeff.Melcher@senate.ks.gov, Michael.ODonnell@senate.ks.gov, Rob.Olson@senate.ks.gov, Ralph.Ostmeyer@senate.ks.gov, Mike.Petersen@senate.ks.gov, Pat.Pettey@senate.ks.gov, Mary.PilcherCook@senate.ks.gov, Larry.Powell@senate.ks.gov, Dennis.Pyle@senate.ks.gov, Vicki.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov, Greg.Smith@senate.ks.gov, Caryn.Tyson@senate.ks.gov, Susan.Wagle@senate.ks.gov, Kay.Wolf@senate.ks.gov

Senate Emails (alternate): sabrams@hit.net, pat.apple@patapple.org, tkarpke@hotmail.com, elaine@concordiaautomart.com, JDenning@Discovervision.com, oletha29th@aol.com, Fitz_Steve@hotmail.com, tom@tomhawk.com, anthony.hensley@hotmail.com, tomholland23@hotmail.com, mitch@mitchholmes.com, laura@laurakelly.org, dnk7@pixius.net, jeffkingks@hotmail.com, senatorforrestknox@gmail.com, jacoblaturner@yahoo.com, jlongbine@longbineauto.com, garrett@loveforkansas.com, julia@senatorjulialynn.com, senatormasterson@gmail.com, jeff@melcherforsenate.com, rkostmey@st-tel.net, mikepetersen@swbell.net, jmphp42@yahoo.com, mary@pilchercook.com, lpowell18@cox.net, vicki.schmidt@mac.com, greg4ks@gmail.com, kaywolf@me.com

Articles, Updates and more!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS
We need your continued support and participation now more than ever!
It will soon be January 13th, and the Kansas Legislature will back in Topeka.

The first two weeks of the session will be very important.

We want to see you in Topeka!

Teacher slams scripted Common Core lessons that must be taught ‘word for word’

What has changed is Common Core State Standards.  I was given a curriculum and told by my administration to teach it “word-for-word.”  In a meeting with my administration, I was reprimanded with “Don’t forget, standards drive our instruction.”

Common Core Even Affects Letter Grades
As schools adopt standards-based grading, whether to tie instruction more closely to Common Core or for the other benefits proponents claim, some parents and teachers are not impressed. They say the grading scale is confusing and grants too much authority to those outside classrooms.

7 Links to Evidence of Federal Control of Common Core
We are in unrepresented dire straits: In no way do voters or teachers (or states themselves) control what is now set in the Common Core standards.

The PTA Does Not Represent Parents or Teachers. It Represents Special Interests.
Education Week (which has received Bill Gates funding) reports that the NY PTA (which has received Bill Gates funding along with the National PTA) is bullying parents and threatening to turn their children to Child Protection Services if children are not offered up for Common Core assessments.  From We Need Great Leaders Now More Than Ever:

New York Principals Send An Open Letter to Parents
An open letter signed by 545 Principals across New York State was addressed to the parents of elementary, middle, and high school students in New York.

Secretary Duncan, Yes Your Power Does Have Limits
A noisy opposition to Duncan’s reforms has emerged — and it only grew noisier this month when Duncan dissed “white suburban moms” for opposing the new Common Core academic standards because the tough tests made their kids look bad.

Dads Too, Mr. Duncan
Countless –countless– men and fathers are publically and boldly standing up against Common Core. It’s not only “white, suburban moms” who oppose Common Core, and it’s not only the right or the left, either– despite what the U.S. Secretary of Education has so absurdly claimed— not by a long shot.

More on the Common Core: Achieve, Inc., and Then Some
I have written a number of posts related to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). In this post, I examine a key organization in the creation of CCSS: Achieve, Inc. Whereas my reading Achieve’s tax documents served as the launch for this post, it certainly did not stop there.

Sandra Stotsky Responds to My Common Core-Achieve Post
CCSS ELA Validation Committee member Sandra Stotsky read my post and and added the following information in the comments. Since this additional information has also received next to no publicity, I wish to post Stotsky’s comment as its own post, for all to easily read.

Kansas’ 8th Grade Student Math and Science Performance Measured Globally for the First Time
Kansas students score well above international average

*Please note: This was BEFORE Common Core.

Wurman Testimony on Common Core in Ohio
The default Common Core high school mathematics is misleadingly touted as “college-ready” yet it will lead at best to community and non-selective colleges. The retarded pace in K-8 and the slow and deficient content in high school will further restrict the number of qualified students able to pursue STEM careers rather than increase it as promised.

 

WEEKLY CALL TO ACTION

*Starting next Monday on facebook and website*

Help us grow the grassroots and spread the truth about Common Core.

We will be posting a simple action you can do each week
to make a difference and #stopcommoncore.

UPCOMING EVENTS – DECEMBER
Common Core Standards Presentation
Wednesday, December 11 at 7pm
Basehor Community Library
Basehor, KS

Learn more about Common Core from guest speakers…
Megan King, co-founder Kansans Against Common Core
Dr. Walt Chappell, President – Educational Management Consultants
Angela Stiens, co-founder Kansas Catholics for Academic Excellence

Letter to parents from KSDE

Earlier this week we received a copy of this letter.  The letter was shared with us by parents that contacted the KSDE for documentation supporting their request to use the Opt Out Form for their students.
*Please use this for evidence purposes, but we advise that you do not try to personalize it.

View this document on Scribd

 

We’ve also been doing some updating.  You can now find a Opt Out menu with the following information:

Common Core Testing Opt Out Form

Opt Out FAQs

Letter from KSDE – Opt Out

Articles: Testing and Opting Out