We need to empower education, teachers
We need to seek the best possible education for our children, and the teaching of the values that we hold dear to our heart. But, there is an agenda that is slithering through our educational system in the form of Common Core. Please educate yourself, and look beyond what the proponents of this plan say.
Idaho will no longer have direct control over the education standards in our state, with Common Core, nor will the districts, the schools, the teachers or the parents. Oversight of the development process is with the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, which now own a joint copyright on the standards.
Industries in technology, software, and curriculum have received hundreds of million in funding from the Gates Foundation. Pearson publishing has a partnership with Gates and is crafting complete, online curricula for those standards.
Expensive testing will follow with Common Core. The tests, called Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, will guide the curriculum. Teachers will be evaluated on how well their students do on these tests. Any concerns or objections will need to be authorized by the executive committee in a five-step process. The fifth step in this process is permission by the U.S. Department of Education. Do we really want this blending of big business and big government, and loss of local control taking over our children, teachers and schools?
With a master’s degree in education and 13-plus years of teaching, I would like to share some of my experiences in the public schools. I taught in many school districts in Colorado, Oregon and Idaho, and found that the student who excels is always on the short end. They are often utilized to help other students. But, far too often, the teaching task is assigned merely to relieve the workload of the teacher. During “cooperative learning” groups, these students often do all the work, yet the whole group gets the same grade.
An environment of “equity” is emphasized by the teacher. If they finish ahead of others, they are not working on more challenging problems and sharpening their skills in that subject.
Discovering a students’ level of knowledge in order to enrich their learning is the best way to challenge them. How many of us would like to be in a class where you already know everything that is going to be taught? But, in the name of social acceptance or “equity”, teachers are taught to relegate these students to their “age group” peers regardless of skill level.
The Common Core implementation guide continues down this path with emphasis on making sure the teacher is taking into account the student’s social economic background. When you apply for a job, do they ask you this? They want to hire those who have the best skills for the job, regardless of their social economic background.
A “book study” for teachers in the Priest River area was given with “Common Core Mathematics in the PLC Workforce.” It recommends mathematics educators “respond to equity as a meaningful process to address social justice issues of race, language, gender, and class bias.” What ever happened to responsibility, self-reliance and competing in the real world?
Parents and guardians, while you still have input, please ask the school district why the emphasis is not on “equal opportunity for all” rather than “equality of outcome.” Equity is a code word for the good of the collective. This is antithesis to the foundation of American freedom and individual liberty. You are the best guardians of your children and grandchildren. Please investigate and educate yourselves. The future of America is at stake.
MAUREEN PATERSON
Priest River