CALL TO ACTION…Stop the Lies

Stop Common Core Warriors-

Your legislators are believing Randy Watson’s lies.

You see, several members of the Kansas House have reported that Mr. Watson, the highly paid Kansas Commissioner of Education, has been lying to Kansas legislators and saying that Common Core is gone from Kansas classrooms.

In reality, Common Core standards remain in Kansas classrooms, under the name of College and Career Ready, and under other aligned standards and curricula.

In addition, assessments used in Kansas today are all aligned with Common Core!

Randy Watson knows that if our legislators know the truth, they will be much more likely to insist on passing H.B. 2292 to fully repeal Common Core!

The simple truth is that many programs, curricula, and standards are aligned with the Common Core standards, including College and Career Ready and the AP courses, to name only two. The simple truth is that Kansas schools will continue to use these and other Common Core aligned standards, assessments, and curricula until your Kansas legislature passes H.B. 2292!

Contact your Kansas representative immediately, and tell them to stop believing Randy Watson’s lies about Common Core no longer being in Kansas! (See contact info below.)

It should be no surprise that we would see this kind of lying from the education establishment in 2016. After all, we saw the same lying last year from the education establishment and from legislators who wanted to appear to support Common Core repeal, but instead worked hard only to discredit our bill.

We expected that opponents to our bill would use the same tricks and schemes on the House floor that they tried last year in the House Education Committee, including:

>>> Lying about our bill costing taxpayers, when it will actually save money;
>>> Lying about the contents of our bill;
>>> Lying about the constitutionality of our bill;
>>> Proposing large last minute amendments to gut our bill;
>>> And even proposing last minute amendments to replace our entire bill.

But we had no idea that Randy Watson would be willing to publicly state an outright lie, repeatedly insisting that Common Core is no longer in Kansas schools!
And your legislators are believing this lie!

Attacks against H.B. 2292 by the education lobby are a testimony to the fact that this bill would completely expel Common Core and all related standards and curricula from Kansas schools. The education lobby knows that they must defeat this bill to preserve their power! H.B. 2292 was written very deliberately, because your Kansans Against Common Core team did their homework. These attacks are also due to your hard work. The education lobby is running scared, because you have been sending calls and emails to your legislators demanding a full repeal of Common Core by passing H.B. 2292.

You see, over the last year, moms, teachers, and activists from all across Kansas have been going to work knocking on doors, making phone calls, writing emails, gathering petition signatures, and doing whatever it takes to force a vote on our Common Core Repeal bill.

We are proud to tell you that your hard work is paying off! Thanks to your hard work and that of grassroots activists across the state, our bill –- now officially H.B. 2292 — has been passed out of the Kansas House Education Committee! That’s right. The Kansas House now has the opportunity to pass the most thorough Common Core Repeal bill IN THE NATION.

And the education lobby is now more afraid than ever! We can expect more shenanigans, not less, from them between now and the vote on H.B. 2292 on the house floor!

So our hard work cannot stop here. If we stop now, Speaker Merrick could choose to never give our bill a recorded vote on the House floor. If we stop now, your legislator might continue to believe Randy Watson’s lies. That’s why it is so important you take action immediately!

Contact your Kansas representative immediately, and tell them to stop believing Randy Watson’s lies about Common Core no longer being in Kansas! (See contact info below.)

Repealing Common Core is now more important than ever!

With the passage of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) last fall, Randy Watson and many others want us to believe Common Core has been eliminated by the federal government. That could not be further from the truth!

Unfortunately, the ESSA keeps the College and Career Ready standards, which are essentially Common Core. Worse, the ESSA forces states to comply with these standards to receive money from the federal government! If Kansas complies with the ESSA, the feds will control the standards and assessments in Kansas schools, possibly forever.

The feds only contribute about 8% of total Kansas spending on education, but they want to control 100% of the standards and outcomes. The good news is H.B. 2292 will fully repeal Common Core, including College and Career Ready and other related standards and curricula.

The other good news is the original 2016 bill lists 30 cosponsors in the Kansas House.

But we could lose this opportunity if your legislator believes Randy Watson’s lies!

That’s why it is so important you take action immediately!

Last year, we got a hearing on our Common Core Repeal bill in the House Education Committee, but the debate and vote were fraught with shenanigans!

This year, however, thanks to grassroots efforts, our bill has already passed out of the House Education Committee!

But you can expect that opponents of our bill are planning to use the same tricks and schemes on the House floor that they tried last year in the House Education Committee!
And you can expect that Randy Watson will continue to lie to legislators in Topeka. Our insiders are already telling us that some folks — who claim to be against Common Core — are saying our bill will cost astronomical sums, when our bill will actually save $9 million every year on superfluous and time-wasting assessments required by Common Core!

The opposition is also already telling lies about the non-existent 2017 Kansas standards. They are falsely claiming the 2017 standards would ban AP and IB courses, but these standards are well over a year from even being prepared! You can see the despair of the education establishment in their lies and shenanigans!

We will face down every one of these lies. Truth can prevail. This year — with your help — we will get a roll call vote on the House floor for our Common Core Repeal bill.
With your help, we can pass a clean bill that is not watered down or destroyed by bad amendments. We can pave the way for a victory against Common Core, forever. But this is a slow process, and winning takes hard work.

That’s why we need your help to ensure that your legislator does not believe Randy Watson’s lies. We need your help to ensure that this important bill gets a fair debate and roll call vote on the House floor.

Contact your Kansas representative immediately, and tell them to stop believing Randy Watson’s lies about Common Core no longer being in Kansas! Tell them you want them to pass this bill, HB2292, with NO amendments!

You can find contact information for your Kansas state representative here.

If you are not sure who your Kansas state representative is, you can find that information here.

Also, please contact these members of the leadership in the Kansas House to tell them to stop believing Randy Watson’s lies about Common Core no longer being in Kansas!

Speaker Ray Merrick
785-296-2302
ray.merrick@house.ks.gov

Speaker Pro Tem Peggy Mast
785-291-3500
peggy.mast@house.ks.gov

Majority Leader Jene Vickrey
785-296-7662
jene.vickrey@house.ks.gov

Assistant Majority Leader Mario Goico
785 296-7663
mario.goico@house.ks.gov

Majority Whip Willie Dove
785 296-7677
willie.dove@house.ks.gov

With your help we can expel Common Core from Kansas schools permanently!

Thank You,

Kansans Against Common Core

P.S. Thanks to the hard work of grassroots activists across the state our bill to fully expel Common Core from Kansas schools has been passed out of the Kansas House Education Committee!

Call your legislator and House leadership immediately and tell them to stop believing Randy Watson’s lies, and to assure that H.B. 2292 gets a fair hearing and roll call vote on the House floor!

Light Bulb Moment

A “light bulb” moment! Insight into how the 2014 AP U.S. History Framework was lengthy, “unprecedentedly detailed” and “from a leftist perspective.” Previously, the Framework was five pages long allowing “sufficient flexibility for teachers to approach U.S. History from a wide variety of perspectives.” Regardless of how the teacher taught, parents could “still see their students do well on the AP Test.”  The new Framework was “vastly more detailed” and taught “on behalf of a leftist political and ideological perspective.” “The College Board has drastically eroded the freedom of states, school districts, teachers, and parents to choose the history they teach their children.”

To find out how this happened, we invite you read on.

Why Do YOU Send Your Child To Public School?

Why Do YOU Send Your Child To Public School?

Stop and think for a moment. Why do you send your kid to public school, or school at all? What is the purpose? What do you expect your kid to get out of it or be able to do because your kid receives an education? Do you think that school is about academics? What percentage of schooling should be about academics? 20%? 40%? 80%? More? Less? Who should be offering up feedback to the Kansas Education Department? Parents? Teachers? Government officials? Business leaders? In what percentages should these groups provide thoughts and information?

Randy Watson, the Kansas Education Commissioner, has been scooting all over our state with his presentation called Kansas Can. He is basically laying out the Kansas Department of Education’s marketing plan by asking teachers to “get on board” and help him promote the grand plan. He reveals what he says the Chamber of Commerce wants out of your child and his education. Why the focus on the desires of business? Is parent pro-creation merely the producing of humans for the needs of business and government? Take a look at the graph from his presentation:

That’s right. You’re not seeing it wrong. You don’t need to reach for a different pair of glasses. According to Watson’s presentation, the Chamber of Commerce tells him that only 15% of a child’s education should focus on academic skills. So, that begs the question, “What, exactly, are these “non academic skills” that the Chamber thinks that education should provide your child?” Well, evidently, young adults don’t know how to show up to work on time or know that they shouldn’t be texting their friends while they are on the clock, and that sort of thing. Never mind that kids are required to show up to school on time, every day, and never mind that schools have existing policies about texting while taking a test.

What jumps into my mind is this, “Why is it a school’s job to teach my child to be punctual? Isn’t that my job?” So now, rather than teaching our kids the “three Rs,” we are going to spend valuable teaching time with these social and emotional types of things. The teachers really do replace the parents in an “educational” environment like this.

But wait…it gets BETTER!

We have done our research. They are also planning on filling up your kids’ minds with the copyrighted, unchangeable Common Core values, beliefs, and attitudes. This includes Common Core aligned standards, such as the “social, emotional and character development standards.” Don’t expect the Kansas educational “elites” to drop this without a big fight; they helped design/implement these intrusive standards. Did you know this was going on?

Take a close look at this pie chart presented in Watson’s Kansas Can presentation with which he is currently “on tour.”

Here’s a juicy bite: This change in teaching focus violates the Kansas Constitution! Article 6 section 1 states:
1: Schools and related institutions and activities. The legislature shall provide for intellectual, educational, vocational and scientific improvement by establishing and maintaining public schools, educational institutions and related activities which may be organized and changed in such manner as may be provided by law.

It is no wonder. When the Kansas Can marketing bus visited cities and “Delphied” the masses, take a guess how much parental involvement was included. Exactly 5.6%! Now, guess how much input the educational establishment usurped for itself? An unbelievable 74.5%! Classroom teacher involvement is expected and desired, but parental rights are supreme and guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that parents possess the “fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children.”

The court has declared that “the child is not the mere creature of the State: those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right coupled with the high duty to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.” (Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S.10, 534-35).

Is anyone starting to see that things are just not adding up? Is this “Kansas Can” or is this “Kansas Scam?”

Here is a link to Watson’s full PowerPoint presentation: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gszw4nw44qf33m5/AABAGlXh_O6OeY1ln-Qjy5gea/2016%20SESSION/2016%20MEETINGS/JANUARY%20MEETINGS/January%2013%20-%20Dr.%20Randy%20Watson/01-13-16%20KSDE%20Presentation%20RWatson.pdf?dl=0

CALLING ALL KANSAS TEACHERS BOTH PAST AND PRESENT

Here is what you do:1. Say who you are (and you do not have to use your name specifically if you want to keep your testimony anonymous). Include what you teach and how long you’ve been teaching (or taught if you’re retired or on hiatus).2. Give 1-3 reasons why you would like to see Kansas out of Common Core. e.g. The standards are not age appropriate in lower grades, there is too much data collection, there is too much emphasis on testing and/or teaching to the test, the standards, and thus, the curriculum dictate pedagogy, there is too much federal intrusion, what you see in your own classrooms, over-emphasis on technology, etc.3. Ask that they (the House) support HB2292 with NO amendments to expel Common Core (a.k.a. The Kansas College and Career Ready Standards).Half a page is good, but no more than one page would be ideal. Yes, you can offer supporting documents if you like.

Source: CALLING ALL KANSAS TEACHERS BOTH PAST AND PRESENT

Press Release

TOPEKA, Kan. (Feb. 19, 2016) – A step in the direction of upholding the U.S. Constitution and the Kansas Constitution was taken Wednesday. A step to uphold the state’s purview over Education and uphold parent rights and responsibilities to educate their children was taken Wednesday.

A Kansas bill to cut off education related ties with the federal government including the withdrawal of the state from the Common Core standards passed out of the House Education Committee on Wednesday. This bill would nullify nationalized education in the state.

A combination of thirty representatives introduced House Bill 2676 (HB2676), the Local Control of Kansas Education Act, on Feb. 10th.

HB2676 is nearly identical to last year’s bill, House Bill 2292 (HB2292), with only minor updates. HB2292 received a hearing and a vote in committee last year, but did not make it out of committee.

On Wednesday, a motion to reconsider HB2292 in committee was successful. This was followed up by a successful motion to substitute HB2676 into the bill, and finally a motion to pass Substitute for House Bill 2292 (Sub for HB2292). It was successfully passed out of committee, under Chair, Ron Highland. House members voting it out of committee were: Tony Barton, John Bradford, Rob Bruchman, Amanda Grosserode, Dennis Hedke, Becky Hutchins, Kevin Jones, Kasha Kelley, Charles Macheers, Peggy Mast, Marc Rhoades, and Jene Vickrey. Now it will move on to the full House for consideration.

The legislation declares “the state shall retain sole control over the development, establishment and revision of K-12 curriculum standards.”

Additionally, the bill forbids any Kansas entity or official from ceding any authority over Kansas education to any entity not explicitly named in the Kansas Constitution. It then voids any past or future action taken to implement Common Core or other national education standards.

“Any actions taken by any education entity or any state official to adopt, implement or align programs, assessments, testing, surveys or any educational materials or activities to the common core state standards, the social, emotional and character development standards, the national curriculum standards for social studies, the national health education standards, the national sexuality education standards, core content and skills, K-12 or any other academic standards not in the public domain, free of any copyright, are void beginning July 1, 2017.”

Local control of education is upheld. Parents’ rights to direct the education of their child through locally controlled schools is upheld. Local schools and teachers will be responsive to parents rather than implementers of state and federal education dictates. The bill mandates that new academic standards shall be developed through a state process but also makes clear that any standards developed will be “model” standards with local school districts having the authority to maintain their own curriculum.

A first of its kind step was taken to explicitly ensure parents’ and students’ rights to protect their intellectual property. The bill upholds parents’ control over their child’s data in regard to its creation, collection, use, and privacy. A significant step was taken to protect students from intrusive data mining and collection, programs that are inherent with initiatives like Common Core.

As the House Education committee learned on Wednesday, the all-encompassing federal intrusion in education is being rejected across the country including in states like Washington and New York.

However, you can be sure that the Education Establishment, including the KNEA, KASB, State School Board, and State Department of Education, will do everything they can to maintain the status quo, resulting in “rebranded” versions of the same program.

You can be sure that people you elected, who said they were against the federal intrusion into education and would work to remove it, will staunchly claim their commitment to protect the state, but will act to water down or prevent passing this bill.

Some claim that a bill recently passed by Congress, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), places a great deal more control in the hands of states, local communities, parents, and educators including cutting the federal strings of Common Core. That could not be further from the truth. The ESSA actually requires states to comply with College and Career Ready Standards, which are Common Core. The bill does not remove the federal government from the business of education, as it requires the federal education secretary to approve each state’s plans for education. In addition, state chief school officers continue to be held accountable for not reporting a 95% participation rate on student assessments. The ESSA also extends federal funding to states to review and improve their existing pre-K programs. We can fully expect, and have found, this extension of “assistance” to be laden with all the usual federal encroachments that accompany federal funding.

Federal involvement in education is about control, not education. The partnership between the federal departments of Labor and Education to further the development of fully functioning statewide birth-to-adulthood databases on citizens, and commonality of standards and testing across the country is reshaping the nation. It will result, as intended, in only people whose education they can control getting jobs, getting into college, and getting into the military. It’s a tool of control, not a tool of education.

It is extremely important that this bill move forward without any amendments. Changes that affect the intent or effectiveness of the bill will be attempted. “Rebranded” do-nothing bills occur when all aspects of federal intrusion are not addressed and repealed.

HB2292 (formerly HB2676) does address and repeal all aspects of federal intrusion, including Common Core.

We believe parents are those best equipped to direct the upbringing and education of their children.

We believe teachers are best able to be responsive to parents and meet the education needs of children when they are not encumbered by federal and state mandates.

We believe individual teachers are degreed professionals who are capable of creating their own lesson plans and deciding how to teach.

Rejecting nationalized education standards is the first step toward bringing true academic choice, freedom, and protection of personal property. Passage of this legislation, without amendments, into law represents a positive step forward for the children, parental rights, and the constitution.

CALLING ALL KANSAS TEACHERS BOTH PAST AND PRESENT

I know many of you have just been waiting for me to say this and waiting for your opportunity to get involved, so here it goes….It’s your turn, Kansas teachers! 🙂

We are looking for YOUR written testimony that will support expelling Common Core from Kansas forever. You can do it anonymously if you like, but if we don’t get YOUR support, we are stuck with this in Kansas for another 7 years!

Here is what you do:
1. Say who you are (and you do not have to use your name specifically if you want to keep your testimony anonymous). Include what you teach and how long you’ve been teaching (or taught if you’re retired or on hiatus).
2. Give 1-3 reasons why you would like to see Kansas out of Common Core. e.g. The standards are not age appropriate in lower grades, there is too much data collection, there is too much emphasis on testing and/or teaching to the test, the standards, and thus, the curriculum dictate pedagogy, there is too much federal intrusion, what you see in your own classrooms, over-emphasis on technology, etc.
3. Ask that they (the House) support HB2292 with NO amendments to expel Common Core (a.k.a. The Kansas College and Career Ready Standards).

Half a page is good, but no more than one page would be ideal. Yes, you can offer supporting documents if you like.

Either email me with your document or email me if you have questions. courtney@kansansagainstcommoncore.com.

Again, if you are PRESENTLY teaching or you are RETIRED or just taking a HIATUS or even if you are a SUBSTITUTE or PARAPROFESSIONAL (Administration also WELCOME!), we NEED YOUR WRITTEN TESTIMONY! Do not assume that someone else is doing this. What you should assume is that the opposition will be out in full force. They will bring in whomever they must to stop this bill. We cannot let that happen. Teachers, we are relying on you for this because right now, it is your turn!

Thanks
KACC

*UPDATE* Call To Action–ALL HANDS ON DECK

*We have a few more calls we need you to make. Please see the updated list below.*

Things have heated up and we need YOUR help. Please, pass this along to your friends, family, and neighbors and encourage them to make the calls too. We cannot take the next step without you. The opposition is fierce and we must stand strong and united.

1. Call Speaker Ray Merrick’s office: Phone: 785-296-2302
Email: ray.merrick@house.ks.gov
Ask him to “support HB2292 with no amendments.”
2. Call Speaker Pro Tem Peggy Mast’s office: Phone 785-291-3500
Email: peggy.mast@house.ks.gov
Ask her to “support HB2292 with no amendments.”
3. Call House Majority Leader Jene Vickrey’s office: Phone: 785-296-7662
Email: jene.vickrey@house.ks.gov
Ask him to “support HB2292 with no amendments.”
4. Call House Majority Whip Willie Dove’s office: Phone: 785-296-7677
Email: willie.dove@house.ks.gov
Ask him to “support HB2292 with no amendments.”
5. Call Governor Brownback’s office: 785-296-3232
Ask him to “support HB2292 with no amendments.”
6. Call YOUR representative (find your rep here):
http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2015_16/chamber/house/
Ask your rep to “support HB2292 with no amendments.”
*Even if your representative doesn’t want to hear from you, it’s still important to make that call.

Again, things are REALLY HEATING UP and the opposition is swinging into fast action. We cannot let them get the upper hand. The State School Board and some legislators are up to their usual actions to derail getting Common Core out of Kansas by challenging the bill’s constitutionality and drafting amendments to water down the bill. One call will not be enough. You’re going to have to make many calls over the next week. It is critical that our calls outnumber their calls.

We have heard that videos and lengthy PDFs are being put together in opposition to this bill. We must unite now and fend off these attacks from groups like the PTA who put out this type of negative propaganda.

Thank you for your support and your action is key to getting Common Core out of Kansas. Without you, the grassroots, we are dead in the water.
KACC

***UPDATE***

KACC would like to send a special thanks to Representatives Joseph Scapa and Tony Barton. In addition, we would like to thank Dr. Duke Pesta for coming to speak to the House Education Committee today. Finally, to all of you grassroots warriors out there, thank you!

Now, for some awesome news…we passed our REPEAL COMMON CORE BILL OUT OF THE HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE!

The battle has begun in earnest, so please prepare yourselves for more activation and whatever else we need to pass this bill, without amendments, on the House floor. The bill number, for a couple of reasons, has changed back to HB2292, so if you make any calls of thanks or to encourage your representatives to get on board, use HB2292 and remember, “WITHOUT AMENDMENTS.”

We will keep you up to date with things to help with and what the schedule is as it becomes available, but for right now, it is a time for a quick prayer of thanks and a promise to see this through.

Thanks!
KACC

Heads Up…And OPT OUT of State Testing

Fine Followers-

Two years ago the Kansas Department of Education declared that we were out of the Smarter Balanced testing consortium and that our state assessments would be returned to the University of Kansas (CETE). For a brief moment, we were thrilled. That is until we dug just a little deeper to find out that CETE then farmed out that testing to none other than Smarter Balanced. So, it was really nothing but a poorly veiled smoke screen.

Fast forward to February 2016–present day. According to The Street and PR Newswire,

“Questar Assessment Inc. will administer the spring 2016 English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century (ELPA21) summative assessments for grades K-12 for the State of Kansas.”

You can read the whole thing here: http://www.thestreet.com/story/13454317/1/questar-assessment-inc-to-administer-elpa21-k-12-summative-assessments-for-state-of-kansas-in-spring-2016.html

So, at first glance, this too seems like it might be a good thing. However, let me point out two damaging facts. 1. Questar is ALIGNED with Smarter Balanced. Here it is from the Questar website (and I will add the screen shot below as well):

“Our system features a bank of 26 technology-enhanced items types that include all recommended by the Smarter Balanced, PARCC and ELPA21 consortia, as well as a unique audio item type that allows students to respond with, and be scored on, recorded voice responses.”
Here is the website:

2. The Kansas Education Commissioner, Randy Watson, is telling Kansans that we do not have Common Core in Kansas. That is just not true. The Kansas College and Career Ready Standards ARE Common Core. The fact that this Questar test has connections with SBAC (Smarter Balanced) and PAARC, means that the tests ARE ALIGNED to the Common Core Standards, AKA Kansas College and Career Ready Standards. Abraham Lincoln said, “How many legs does a dog have if you count his tail as a leg? Four. You can call a tail a leg if you want to, but that doesn’t make it a leg,” so do not let this twisting of words fool you.

So….what to do??? OPT OUT! Opt out your kid(s) from state testing! It’s not too late! Here’s all you need to do:
1. Write a note to the principal saying that you want to opt your kid out of state testing–both formative (little tests that happen during the school year) and summative (the “big” tests in the spring). KEEP A COPY for yourself. Make sure that it’s dated and has your kid’s full name on it and your signature.
2. Know that your child cannot be punished for not taking the test.
3. Some parents pick up their kids during state testing times. Some parents help provide another activity for their kids. Some kids work on existing assignments (not additional assignments), some read for pleasure, some do an art project or practice their instrument, and some help a teacher. These are just some suggestions.
4. This isn’t about what’s “best for the school,” but rather “what’s best for your kid.” Always keep that in mind. YOU are your child’s first and best advocate.

Let us know if you have questions and thank you for all your support!
KACC

Call to Action: Let’s Win This One!

Our bill, HB 2676, has been submitted in the Kansas House, and will fully expel Common Core from Kansas schools!

Despite this good news, the fact remains that your actions are needed immediately. This bill is subject to a fast approaching legislative deadline, and must be heard, debated, and voted on within the next two weeks!

Not only that, but our contacts in Topeka are reporting that opponents of HB2676 are planning to use the same tricks and schemes they tried last year!

These tactics include:

>>>Lying about the contents of our bill
>>>Lying about the constitutionality of our bill
>>>Proposing large last minute amendments to gut our bill
>>>And even proposing last minute amendments to replace our entire bill

That’s why we need your help to ensure that this important bill gets a fair vote in committee.

The following 8 members of the House Education Committee have signed on as sponsors of HB 2676. Contact them immediately and urge them to stand firm for the exact language in HB 2676, and nothing more or less! Your courtesy and professionalism is always requested and appreciated when calling or emailing our legislators.

Rep. Tony Barton 785-296-7522 tony.barton@house.ks.gov
Rep. John Bradford 785 296-7653 john.bradford@house.ks.gov
Rep. Dennis Hedke 785 296-7699 dennis.hedke@house.ks.gov
Rep. Becky Hutchins 785-296-3971 becky.hutchins@house.ks.gov
Rep. Kevin Jones 785 296-6287 kevin.jones@house.ks.gov
Rep. Jerry Lunn 785 296-7675 jerry.lunn@house.ks.gov
Rep. Charles Macheers 785 296-7675 charles.macheers@house.ks.gov
Rep. Marc Rhoades 785 296-7671 marc.rhoades@house.ks.gov

It is amazing to think that the Kansas legislature has still not expelled Common Core from Kansas schools.

You would think that a legislature with a 3-1 “conservative” majority in the Kansas House, and a 2-1 “conservative” majority in the Kansas Senate, could have done this by now.

To make things worse, with the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) last fall, many want us to believe that Common Core has been eliminated by the federal government.

Unfortunately, the ESSA keeps the College and Career Ready standards, which are essentially Common Core.

Worse, the ESSA forces states to comply with these standards to receive any money from the federal government.

If Kansas complies with the ESSA, the feds will control the standards and assessments in Kansas schools, possibly forever.

The Feds only contribute less than 8% of total Kansas spending on education, but they want to control 100% of the standards and outcomes.

The good news is that HB 2676 will fully repeal Common Core.

The other good news is that the bill has 8 cosponsors in the House Education Committee. Please call them immediately to urge them to stand firm for the exact language in HB 2676, and nothing more or less!

Rep. Tony Barton 785-296-7522 tony.barton@house.ks.gov
Rep. John Bradford 785 296-7653 john.bradford@house.ks.gov
Rep. Dennis Hedke 785 296-7699 dennis.hedke@house.ks.gov
Rep. Becky Hutchins 785-296-3971 becky.hutchins@house.ks.gov
Rep. Kevin Jones 785 296-6287 kevin.jones@house.ks.gov
Rep. Jerry Lunn 785 296-7675 jerry.lunn@house.ks.gov
Rep. Charles Macheers 785 296-7675 charles.macheers@house.ks.gov
Rep. Marc Rhoades 785 296-7671 marc.rhoades@house.ks.gov

Thanks to your efforts, last year we got a hearing on our Common Core repeal bill in the House Education Committee. Almost identical to HB 2676, our bill last year would have fully repealed Common Core, including the College and Career Ready Standards.

But last year, the debate and vote on our bill were fraught with shenanigans! There was literally no debate on our bill, only on the amendments that would have destroyed or seriously watered it down!

This year, we want a real debate and vote on the Common Core Repeal bill in House Education, so that we know who is for expelling Common Core and who is for keeping Common Core.

You need to know where your legislators stand! You need to know who says they are against Common Core, and who really has the courage to vote for a full expulsion of Common Core from Kansas schools!

With your efforts again this year, we can pave the way for a victory against Common Core, forever. But this is a slow process, and winning takes hard work.

And the lame excuses and false statements are already starting to flow:

Some legislators are trying to claim the bill is unconstitutional, but they said that about last year’s nearly identical bill as well, and Secretary of State Kris Kobach wrote that last year’s bill was not only constitutional, but that he enthusiastically supported it!

Some legislators naively or diabolically claim that the ESSA already eliminated Common Core standards, so we don’t need to pass our bill. They either have not read the ESSA, or do not understand that the College and Career Ready standards are now forced on Kansas by the ESSA and are also really Common Core.

Some legislators whine and complain that the bill is “too strong” for them to support, but in other states which recently passed weaker Common Core repeal laws, teachers are finding that Common Core “is alive and well and we are kicking and screaming.”

HB 2676 was written very deliberately, because your Kansans Against Common Core team did their homework. Experts in Kansas and across the country were consulted to learn what works and what hasn’t worked.

So, please call the sponsors of HB 2676 in the House Education Committee immediately to urge them to stand firm for the exact language in HB 2676, and nothing more or less!

Rep. Tony Barton 785-296-7522 tony.barton@house.ks.gov
Rep. John Bradford 785 296-7653 john.bradford@house.ks.gov
Rep. Dennis Hedke 785 296-7699 dennis.hedke@house.ks.gov
Rep. Becky Hutchins 785-296-3971 becky.hutchins@house.ks.gov
Rep. Kevin Jones 785 296-6287 kevin.jones@house.ks.gov
Rep. Jerry Lunn 785 296-7675 jerry.lunn@house.ks.gov
Rep. Charles Macheers 785 296-7675 charles.macheers@house.ks.gov
Rep. Marc Rhoades 785 296-7671 marc.rhoades@house.ks.gov

With your help, we can get a full debate and honest vote on Common Core repeal, and set the stage to expel Common Core from Kansas forever! You deserve to know who has the courage to stand up to the paid lobbyists in Topeka!

Your calls and emails got our bill to the House Education Committee last year, where we exposed the shenanigans of those opposed to Common Core repeal. Help keep this bill moving!

Contact the cosponsors in the House Education Committee immediately!

Thank you for your support and efforts-
KACC

Link to the HB2676: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2015_16/measures/hb2676/