Origanalist
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Breitbart Texas recently exposed attacks against Texas parents, every day concerned moms and dads who were questioning why Common Core books and worksheets were showing up in Texas classrooms. Why was this happening at all? Texas said no to the Common Core.
It's a new and troubling trend in Texas that continues to spread across the rest of the country. Instead of getting answers, citizens wind up thrown out of school board meetings or treated as targets of ridicule. High-profile Common Core opponent Dr. Sandra Stotsky told grassroots activists that the push to suppress debate against the Common Core is real.
The latest incidences of Common Core critics coming under attack have come out of Missouri, land of the tin foil hat stunt by Missouri Representative Michael Lair, Chair of the Appropriations Education Committee, who added $8 into the state's K-12 budget. It got a lot of news coverage. It was also a deliberate swipe against lawmakers who opposed the Common Core standards. It may well have been an indirect slam at taxpayers and citizens who question the federal overreach into the classroom.
Gretchen Logue, a prominent voice in the Stop Common Core movement told Breitbart Texas, "I am troubled by this trend." Logue is the co-editor of the Missouri Education Watchdog and the Missouri Coalition Against the Common Core. She said it has been disturbing to see high profile people like US Department of Education chief Arne Duncan attacking suburban moms and Representative Lair going after what he calls black helicopter people just to silence citizen voices.
She said, "Common Core's proponents criticize constituents for speaking up in local communities but they have never ever been willing to say, what information do we have wrong?" Logue is concerned why asking questions is such a problem from Common Core proponents.
It's a fair question to ask. When Breitbart Texas asked a Common Core supporter why it was a problem for a parent to ask questions about Common Core materials being used in a Dallas area school district in the report "Common Core Critics Under Attack in Texas," that question was not answered.
In response, Logue asked, "Isn't it all about asking questions and getting answers?" According to Logue, getting transparent information is sketchy for most citizen activists.
Logue then shared other incidences of how this has been happening in the "Show Me" state, recalling a community meeting held on May 2, 2013. It was organized by the Missouri Department of Education (DOE). According to Logue, it was supposed to be a public forum where citizens could address questions or concerns about the Common Core. Logue noted that once the local DOE speakers arrived, they handed out presentations only to those 8th Congressional District members present.
"They would not answer questions. The only thing you could ask was 'what do like about Common Core?, What do not like about Common Core?'," she stated.
Logue also told Breitbart Texas about another incident between the Missouri grassroots "9-12 We the People of Monroe County" and Paris RII Superintendent of Schools Chris Johnson. The group, in a letter to Johnson, requested a meeting to discuss the Common Core State Standards.
"Three minutes is not nearly enough time to express our concerns of these standards. We would appreciate an opportunity to present facts concerning this program and have an open discussion concerning how adopting these standards will impact our students," the letter stated.
Three minutes is the standard allotted time per speaker for public comment and citizen concerns at school board meetings in and out of Missouri.
The letter also said: "We feel the taxpayers and parents have been taken out of the decisions in adopting this new teaching system. No vote was taken by Congress or the public." In a three line letter response, the superintendent denied the request.
Requests are not always denied. Sometimes they are ignored. Jill Carter is a Grundy, MO mom who Logue credits with moving a Stop Common Core resolution from a small rural school district to Missouri subcommittee hearings underway on a bill to remove Common Core from the state entirely.
Carter told Breitbart Texas that she was only looking for answers about this new education coming into her tiny R6 East Newton school district. She said she was never looking to stir things up. She explained that she was just a parent, one of many who wanted to learn more about the Common Core.
"I wanted to learn. I wanted them to teach me about Common Core," she insisted. However, no school district officials ever responded to her requests. Carter then took matters into her own hands by holding community meetings throughout 2013 to discuss education.
Carter added, "I had come to the conclusion that (Common Core) was being shoved down our throats but the people who are for it -- legislators, state board and education department representatives weren't even willing to 'sell it' to the public."
These meetings held by Carter got the school board's attention. She invited pro and con Common Core sides to speak. After five months, the school board passed a resolution against the standards. Carter then got permission from the school board president to send the resolution out to the state Department of Education (DOE) and the Speaker of the House to help it get traction around the state. According to Carter, all she got was a nasty letter from her Superintendent of Schools. Carter added, "They had no interest in answering our questions but isn't education about asking questions?"
continued....http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-...ommon-Core-Activists-Spreads-Outside-of-Texas
It's a new and troubling trend in Texas that continues to spread across the rest of the country. Instead of getting answers, citizens wind up thrown out of school board meetings or treated as targets of ridicule. High-profile Common Core opponent Dr. Sandra Stotsky told grassroots activists that the push to suppress debate against the Common Core is real.
The latest incidences of Common Core critics coming under attack have come out of Missouri, land of the tin foil hat stunt by Missouri Representative Michael Lair, Chair of the Appropriations Education Committee, who added $8 into the state's K-12 budget. It got a lot of news coverage. It was also a deliberate swipe against lawmakers who opposed the Common Core standards. It may well have been an indirect slam at taxpayers and citizens who question the federal overreach into the classroom.
Gretchen Logue, a prominent voice in the Stop Common Core movement told Breitbart Texas, "I am troubled by this trend." Logue is the co-editor of the Missouri Education Watchdog and the Missouri Coalition Against the Common Core. She said it has been disturbing to see high profile people like US Department of Education chief Arne Duncan attacking suburban moms and Representative Lair going after what he calls black helicopter people just to silence citizen voices.
She said, "Common Core's proponents criticize constituents for speaking up in local communities but they have never ever been willing to say, what information do we have wrong?" Logue is concerned why asking questions is such a problem from Common Core proponents.
It's a fair question to ask. When Breitbart Texas asked a Common Core supporter why it was a problem for a parent to ask questions about Common Core materials being used in a Dallas area school district in the report "Common Core Critics Under Attack in Texas," that question was not answered.
In response, Logue asked, "Isn't it all about asking questions and getting answers?" According to Logue, getting transparent information is sketchy for most citizen activists.
Logue then shared other incidences of how this has been happening in the "Show Me" state, recalling a community meeting held on May 2, 2013. It was organized by the Missouri Department of Education (DOE). According to Logue, it was supposed to be a public forum where citizens could address questions or concerns about the Common Core. Logue noted that once the local DOE speakers arrived, they handed out presentations only to those 8th Congressional District members present.
"They would not answer questions. The only thing you could ask was 'what do like about Common Core?, What do not like about Common Core?'," she stated.
Logue also told Breitbart Texas about another incident between the Missouri grassroots "9-12 We the People of Monroe County" and Paris RII Superintendent of Schools Chris Johnson. The group, in a letter to Johnson, requested a meeting to discuss the Common Core State Standards.
"Three minutes is not nearly enough time to express our concerns of these standards. We would appreciate an opportunity to present facts concerning this program and have an open discussion concerning how adopting these standards will impact our students," the letter stated.
Three minutes is the standard allotted time per speaker for public comment and citizen concerns at school board meetings in and out of Missouri.
The letter also said: "We feel the taxpayers and parents have been taken out of the decisions in adopting this new teaching system. No vote was taken by Congress or the public." In a three line letter response, the superintendent denied the request.
Requests are not always denied. Sometimes they are ignored. Jill Carter is a Grundy, MO mom who Logue credits with moving a Stop Common Core resolution from a small rural school district to Missouri subcommittee hearings underway on a bill to remove Common Core from the state entirely.
Carter told Breitbart Texas that she was only looking for answers about this new education coming into her tiny R6 East Newton school district. She said she was never looking to stir things up. She explained that she was just a parent, one of many who wanted to learn more about the Common Core.
"I wanted to learn. I wanted them to teach me about Common Core," she insisted. However, no school district officials ever responded to her requests. Carter then took matters into her own hands by holding community meetings throughout 2013 to discuss education.
Carter added, "I had come to the conclusion that (Common Core) was being shoved down our throats but the people who are for it -- legislators, state board and education department representatives weren't even willing to 'sell it' to the public."
These meetings held by Carter got the school board's attention. She invited pro and con Common Core sides to speak. After five months, the school board passed a resolution against the standards. Carter then got permission from the school board president to send the resolution out to the state Department of Education (DOE) and the Speaker of the House to help it get traction around the state. According to Carter, all she got was a nasty letter from her Superintendent of Schools. Carter added, "They had no interest in answering our questions but isn't education about asking questions?"
continued....http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-...ommon-Core-Activists-Spreads-Outside-of-Texas
