Students Opting Out of Federalized Smarter Balanced Assessment

The following piece appeared on WCSH6.com.

Cathy

Bill would eliminate new statewide standardized test

AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Students across the state are taking a brand new standardized test this year, and it's drawing complaints from teachers and students.

The Smarter Balanced Assessment is designed to measure students' progress in meeting newly adopted common core standards. Students and teachers have complained that the test takes too much time away from learning and has technical problems.

"Out of our five day week of school, one hour every day to learn how to prepare for the test for about three weeks that could've been way better used doing another core class or doing a class you wanted to have fun in like chorus or band," said Gorham eighth grader Evelyn Kithcen. "Instead we had to do test prep and then once we finally got to the test it was 2 1/2 hours for a week that could've been used to learn something new."

A legislative committee heard testimony Monday on one bill that would do away with the test, and another that would make it clear that students can opt out of testing. The Department of Education is opposed to the opt out bill. The acting commissioner said it violates federal law.

"Nowhere in the law does it mention the state," said Department of Education Acting Commissioner Tom Desjardin. "So this is really a situation between the federal government and the schools to where they send money, and for us to interfere with that and say it's okay to opt out or it's not okay to opt out is not really our place, it's not our law."

The Department of Education is not taking a position on the bill to eliminate the test. Desjardin said when it comes time to select a company to provide statewide English and math testing next year the department will choose the test that is the most cost-effective and takes less time away from learning.

Gender Fluidity Studies?

With many students not reading or performing math at grade level, seems kind of silly to focus on this.  Lets get children performing at grade appropriate level before we verve off course.

The following piece appeared on PJMedia.com.

Cathy

Coming Soon to a Middle School Near You: ‘Gender Fluidity’ Studies
by Rick Moran

One of the nation’s largest public school systems is contemplating introducing the concept of “gender fluidity” into its curriculum. In case you’re not up to speed on the latest in the gender identity nonsense, gender fluidity posits the notion that biology doesn’t matter — that no one is 100% girl or 100% boy.

The radical gender-identity crowd is determined to mainstream transgenderism. In this campaign, science doesn’t matter. Biology is a fraud. Only personal feelings and fulfillment is what counts.
I know that kids are growing up faster these days, but is this really an appropriate subject for middle schoolers?
Fox News:

Fairfax County Public Schools released a report recommending changes to their family life curriculum for grades 7 through 12. The changes, which critics call radical gender ideology, will be formally introduced next week.

“The larger picture is this is really an attack on nature itself – the created order,” said
Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council.

“Human beings are created male and female. But the current transgender ideology goes way beyond that. They’re telling us you can be both genders, you can be no gender, you can be a gender that you make up for yourself. And we’re supposed to affirm all of it.”
The plan calls for teaching seventh graders about transgenderism and tenth graders about the concept that sexuality is a broader spectrum — but it sure smells like unadulterated sex indoctrination.

Get a load of what the kids are going to be learning in middle school:
“Students will be provided definitions for sexual orientation terms heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality; and the gender identity term transgender,” the district’s recommendations state. “Emphasis will be placed on recognizing that everyone is experiencing changes and the role of respectful, inclusive language in promoting an environment free of bias and discrimination.”

Eighth graders will be taught that individual identity “occurs over a lifetime and includes the component of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

“Individual identity will also be described as having four parts – biological gender, gender identity (includes transgender), gender role, and sexual orientation (includes heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual).”

The district will also introduce young teenagers to the “concept that sexuality is a broader spectrum.” By tenth grade, they will be taught that one’s sexuality “develops throughout a lifetime.”

This is not a new movement. It has been on the fringes of the LGBT community for years. But trying to mainstream completely unproven theories about gender identity is political, not educational — and certainly not scientific.

The idea that there is more to gender than biology is not without merit. Under very rare and specific circumstances, people born male have been shown to have female biological characteristics and vice versa. This doesn’t mean these people should all be given free sex change operations under Obamacare. Neither does it mean that any of these gender-conflicted individuals will become gay, or bi, or have any sexual orientation beyond their biological attraction for the opposite sex.

But the scientific basis for transgenderism is still weak — especially as it is defined by the radicals. Like most of human sexuality, gender identity is poorly understood with much to learn. One thing is certain, however: it is a topic that should be approached with a lot more care and concern if it is going to be taught to middle schoolers.

Besides, the county schools recently passed a measure that would allow boys and girls to choose whatever bathroom or locker room they felt like using:

School Board spokesman John Torre told the Washington Times the proposed curriculum changes have nothing to do with last week’s vote to allow boys who identity as girls to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice.

He would have us believe it was purely coincidental.

To make matters worse, Lafferty contends parents will not be able to opt their children out of the classes because the lessons will be a part of the mandatory health curriculum.

However, Torre told me that parents will indeed be able to opt out of those classes “including the sexual orientation and gender identity lessons.”

“They are not being forthright with the information,” Lafferty said. “They are not telling people the truth. They are bullying parents. They are intimidating and they are threatening.”

So what’s new from this crowd? Bullying is their MO, as is intimidation and threats. Your kids will be forced to tolerate transgenderism as it is being promoted by the LGBT community, even though it has far more to do with politics than “health education.”

School districts spending millions on ‘white privilege’ training for employees

Remember when people were judge by the content of their character not the color of their skin.  It sure would be nice if we went back to that.

The following story appears in whole on EAGnews.org.

Cathy

School districts spending millions on ‘white privilege’ training for employees

SAN FRANCISCO – The Pacific Educational Group (PEG) espouses a lot of controversial and stereotypical concepts regarding minority students in K-12 schools.

For instance, the organization teaches that black kids are less likely to respond to fundamental ideas like working hard to achieve success, or being on time for school or work, because those ideas are supposedly foreign to African-American culture.

PEG is literally selling notions like that to American public schools, and the schools are buying them, at a cost of millions of tax dollars every year.

One prominent black professional, journalist and author Juan Williams, thinks those schools are subscribing to a politically-driven philosophy that grossly underestimates the capabilities of minority students, particularly black children.

“These people (associated with PEG) are engaged in cultural, political arguments that are based on negative stereotypes of black capacity to achieve in any situation,” Williams said.
“My mother never would have said, ‘You don’t have to be on time. If you are then you are acting white.’ That idea is tragically insulting.”

RELATED: PEG’s ‘culturally relevant teaching’ program is simply another Marxist attack on American values

EAGnews recently obtained a partial list of American school districts that contract with San Francisco-based PEG for educational consulting services. Most of those services come in the form of workshops for teachers and other staff members.

Forty-two districts on that list responded to an EAGnews request for information about how much they have paid PEG over the past five years.

The total amount was $3.9 million between 2010 and 2015, with some districts spending a lot more than others.

The biggest spender on the list was Pittsburgh Public Schools, which paid PEG a whopping $586,300 over a four-year period.

The district’s initial investment was $231,000 in the 2010-11 school year. It spent $96,100 the following year, then $183,200 in 2012-13 and $76,000 in 2013-14.
Then there’s the Osseo, Minnesota school district, which has paid PEG $533,800 over the past three years.

It started with a $100,000 payment in the 2012-13 school year, followed by $225,000 in 2013-14 and $208,800 in 2014-15.

RELATED: Portland schools paid $526,901 to learn about how peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are racist

The other top PEG spenders on the list are Baltimore County Public Schools ($427,000), Lawrence Public Schools in Kansas ($362,750), Talbot County Public Schools in Maryland ($259,100) and the Bellevue School District in Washington ($237,100, including $153,600 in 2014-15).
What are the educators in these districts learning in exchange for all of that money?

The PEG message is centered on the concept of “white privilege” and the detrimental impact it supposedly has on minority students.

On a basic level, PEG teaches that minority students don’t do as well as white students on the average because traditional American education is structured around white cultural norms, which are frequently difficult for minority students to grasp.

Reasonable people might see value in that idea. It makes sense for teachers and other educators to be more aware of the various cultural influences and traditions that shape the mentality of their students.
But many people believe PEG goes overboard with the concept, to an alarming degree. Many of the organization’s messages seem to suggest that minority kids are incapable of learning and succeeding unless K-12 curriculum is specifically customized for them.

“When I came here the teachers really did believe that they were doing the best job for the population that they worked with,” Sharon Brittingham, a school principal, told a 2010 “white privilege” conference in Wisconsin, which PEG helped organize. “But what had to change was that belief that these children could learn at high levels of expectations.”

RELATED: Portland principal slams $2.4 million ‘investment’ in cultural sensitivity training for staff

Teachers are actually encouraged by PEG to segregate children by race.
PEG doesn’t put it quite that bluntly, but it does instruct teachers to identify “focus students,” adding that “it is preferable for all the students to be of the same racial group.”

Teachers are also taught that they should have separate behavior expectations for minority students, because those students supposedly come from cultures with radically different values.

For instance, one of the annual white privilege conferences in Wisconsin taught participants that minority kids frequently have a “different value and view on time, missed days, working together, and wait time between questions and answers.”

It tells teachers to “be flexible” with minority students who are persistently late or miss a lot of school days. It also tells teachers to be tolerant if black children exhibit “an exuberant participation style of shouting out answers and questions.”

RELATED: Educators flock to conference attacking ‘white supremacy’ and ‘systemic racism’

According to PEG, white culture is based on “white individualism” or “white traits” like “rugged individualism,” “adherence to rigid time schedules,” “plan(ning) for the future,” and the idea that “hard work is the key to success.”

Minority students shouldn’t be expected to subscribe to those values because they are foreign to their culture, according to PEG.

Williams strongly disagrees.

“The tradition of black Americans throughout history is one that values the opportunity for education,” Williams said. “That includes being on time and working hard in school. You won’t find a black mother or father who says that’s not our tradition.

“We’re all in the same American culture. In any job you have to be on time. That’s just the way the world works. These people are engaged in cultural and political arguments that are based on negative stereotypes of black capacity to achieve in any situation. They are not helping these kids.”

Here is a partial (and by no means exhaustive) list of school districts spending taxpayer money on “white privilege” training for employees:

For more information on this story and graphs that go with this story visit EAGnews.org.

Barry Finally to Meet with the Largest School District.

When: May 4, 2015 @ 7:00 PM

Where:  City Hall

908 Elm Street
Manchester, NH 03101
USA

Cost:  Free

For more information visit Stop Common Core, New Hampshire.

Commissioner Barry has finally agreed to meet with the largest school district in the state to answer their questions. Since Barry didn’t want to come alone, the State Board of Education Chair Tom Raffio will join her.

Previous the Commissioner refused saying that “A public meeting rarely accomplishes the kind of meaningful conversation necessary to support students and families in these complex times.” This is a public servant who doesn’t understand that she works for us and not vice versa.

Please come and ask the Commissioner about any of your concerns. The public is allowed to bring their questions and speak for 3 minutes (max.) during the Public Comment period at the beginning of the meeting – before the Commissioner engages in Q&Ar with the School Committee.
You might want to ask the Commissioner why she promised the US Department of Education in her most recent Waiver application that she would transition all our public schools over to a Regionally controlled pilot program under her control.

Unless the Senate reverses the Senate Education Committee’s recommendation to pass HB 323 on May 7th, districts will be forced to Regionalize ….. lest NH should lose federal funding. The Senate wants to hand the Commissioner a blank check to re-design our statewide assessment program. Only these new assessments will be weekly and parents won’t be able to Refuse them like they can with Smarter Balanced.

Rich Girard will carry this meeting LIVE for the whole state to listen to this discussion. People can listen on 90.7 WLMW FM and also online at

Manchester City Hall, Aldermanic Chamber 3rd floor . Free parking in the public lot behind City Hall.


Hat tip Ann Marie Bandfield.

Earning $120,000 was not Enough

MANCHESTER — The former director of the Manchester School Driver Education program was indicted for allegedly stealing more than $12,000 in cash that students paid for driving lessons, according to a prosecutor.
Michael Dubisz, 55, of 14 Morse Drive, Hooksett, was indicted by a Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District grand jury on a felony charge of theft by deception. Dubisz, a former Hooksett School Board member who resigned his board seat in April 2013, citing personal reasons, earned nearly $120,000 in 2010 running the driver education program — a salary topped in the district only by then-superintendent Thomas Brennan Jr.   To read the rest of the story visit the Union Leader.


Future thefts could helped to be avoided by having checkbooks on line for people to follow the money. 

Cathy

Elementary Indoctrination

"It's not a conspiracy if it is done in broad daylight. The reason the left demands everyone go to public schools is simple. That is where they intend to indoctrinate, not educate, your children.
Any lefty who doesn't simply admit this is being intellectually dishonest. This is also why I am being 100% intellectually honest when I say I want to dismantle the public education system.
Dismantlement is the only way you get your children out of the indoctrination system. Conservatives who think they can "save" schools are lying to themselves. There is no saving them. There is only saving "an educated populace," and you do this by dismantling the bureaucracy that is mis-educating them. We simply must start funding children, not systems, schools, bureaucracies or districts."  Bruno Behrend

The following piece appears in full at City Journal.org.

California

Larry Sand

Elementary Indoctrination

Teachers’ union propaganda is creeping into California’s public school curricula.

April 24, 2015

To say California’s teachers’ unions wield outsize influence over state education policy is hardly novel. From setting tenure rules to rewriting dismissal statutes and blocking pension reforms, the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers roam the halls of the legislature like varsity all-stars. But less well known are the unions’ efforts to remake curriculum—and thereby influence the next generation of citizens and voters.

According to labor expert Kevin Dayton, organized labor has been trying to get its collective hooks into classroom content since 1981, when the City University of New York developed the “American Social History Project.” The idea was to present the history of marginalized and oppressed groups—including labor unions—to a “broad popular audience.” In California, the project took a great leap forward in 2001, when Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg cooked up the Speaker’s Commission on Labor Education, which, as Dayton explains, was established “to address issues of labor education in California’s public school system.” At the commission’s behest, Governor Gray Davis signed a bill that encouraged school districts to set aside the first week in April as “Labor History Week” and “commemorate it with appropriate educational exercises to make pupils aware of the important role that the labor movement has played in shaping California and the United States.”

By 2012, labor’s “week” had morphed into “Labor History Month,” and California’s teachers’ unions began advancing their politicized agenda. The CFT’s elementary curriculum includes a story about a “mean farmer” and his ticked-off hens that organize against him. The CTA meantime offers up a passel of lessons with a heavy emphasis on issues such as “tax fairness.” The University of California’s Miguel Contreras Labor Program joined in, adding an anthology of stories promoting the IWW, a radical union noted for its ties to socialism and anarchism, as well as a biography of America’s singing Stalinist, Pete Seeger.

The unions were on the move again in 2014, as the California Department of Education began its periodic review of the state’s history framework. In November, the CFT sent a proposal to the Instructional Quality Commission, an advisory body to the state board of education on matters concerning curriculum, instructional materials, and content standards. The union’s suggestions included downplaying the Second Great Awakening—the eighteenth-century religious revival that had a profound effect on the temperance, abolition, and women’s rights movements—in favor of greater emphasis on anti-Muslim discrimination after the 9/11 attacks. The union also wants the United States described as an “empire” that regularly “dominate[s] other civilizations,” despite the nation’s record of rebuilding countries we have defeated in war, such as Germany and Japan after World War II.

Naturally, the CFT makes a case for a “Labor Studies” elective. California is considering a lesson that would let students “participate in a collective bargaining simulation to examine the struggles of workers to be paid for the value of their labor and to work under safe conditions. They can examine legislation that gave workers the right to organize into unions, to improve working conditions, and to prohibit discrimination.” The Speaker’s Commission on Labor Education co-chairs, Fred Glass and Kent Wong, weighed in with a letter of their own urging the Instructional Quality Commission to establish the labor studies elective.

Will the unions advocate a full and fair treatment of labor’s history, including routine episodes of union violence and intimidation? Can students expect thorough exploration of labor economics, including how collective bargaining lowers the pay of many workers due to wage compression? Probably not. It’s even less likely that students will hear anything about the teachers’ unions twenty-first century political ventures—such as how the CTA spent more than $26 million in 2000 to defeat a school-voucher initiative that would have let families escape failing schools, or how, in 2012, it successfully lobbied to defeat SB 1530, which would have simplified the process of firing pedophile teachers.

The teachers’ unions are clearly lobbying for changes to a curriculum they believe presents a sanitized version of U.S. history, but they would simply replace disfavored “myths” with their own versions. As an American history teacher for much of the last decade of my career, I was faithful to the state framework and taught extensively about slavery and other injustices in our collective past. Most other history instructors I knew did the same. We didn’t browbeat the kids, however, into believing that American history was riddled with treachery and malevolence. If parents and citizens don’t take action, a bundle of America-bashing lessons, distorted history, and indoctrination into the glories of collective bargaining may become a part of the Golden State’s curriculum.

Larry Sand, a retired teacher, is president of the California Teachers Empowerment Network and a contributor to City Journal’s book, The Beholden State: California’s Lost Promise and How to Recapture It.

Civil Rights Racism: Democrats Controlled Everything But Would Not Pass Civil Rights! The History The Timeline of Democrat Racism

Civil Rights Racism: Democrats Controlled Everything But Would Not Pass Civil Rights! The History The Timeline of Democrat Racism