A bill is working its way through our state legislature that will turn over review, approval and selection of instructional materials to local school districts. Currently, instructional materials are reviewed and approved by the state and then districts must spend at least half of their instructional materials budgets on state approved materials. Districts can, of course, spend more on things from the state list but they can also spend money on other materials too.
If I understand correctly, this bill, if signed into law, would turn all of the responsibility for research into quality textbook and other materials over to all of the districts.
Right now we can keep an eye on what textbooks are being used in the classroom and raise the red flag if anything hinky is going on. We’ve done it before. But if every single district now does their own thing, what’s going to stop a strongly conservative district from deciding to approve supplemental materials for the science classroom that are woefully unscientific? We can watch what goes on in a centralized process. But can we watch what’s happening in every district? There haven’t been many stories about this bill, but even those few haven’t touched upon this potential problem.
Here’s a recent story that will help give you a feel for what this bill is about. School districts may gain control over instruction materials.
I invite you folks to help me keep an eye on this bill and give me your thoughts on whether my concerns are justified.
Brandon,
State-level textbook approval only makes sense if you have confidence in state educational policymaking. There is of course some risk in local approval processes, but you may want to look at Diane Ravitch’s “The Language Police” as a reality-check on the rationality of state processes.
Brandon
If (and that is a big IF) the FDOE adopt the NGSS,then would not that make this point mute?
‘confidence in state educational policymaking’
It gets worse. ‘Common Core State Standards Initiative’ has already successfully influenced most states. The organization’s purpose is control of all curriculum, public, private and home school. This pro communist organization portrays capitalist countries, like America, as undesirable, harmful and communist ideologies to be preferred. The institutional indoctrination of communism along with a assortment of perversions has accelerated the dumbing down of America.
The book ‘Training for Treason’ explains the harm being done and how our altered curriculum is being changed and used to impose a far left political agenda.
Chris,
You are so funny…as in HA HA HA…you make me laugh with every post but this might be the funniest one yet.
Common Core Standards…pro communist? OMFG…LOL forever…HA HA HA, funniest phrase ever.
Common Core is essentially a product of the following corporations (commonly known as Achieve.org). You could have looked at their website and found this out for yourself but apparently that is too many mouse clicks for you to be bothered with. To wit:
AT&T Foundation
The Battelle Foundation
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Boeing Company
Brookhill Foundation
Carnegie Corporation of New York
The Cisco Foundation
DuPont
The GE Foundation
IBM Corporation
Intel Foundation
JP Morgan Chase Foundation
The Joyce Foundation
The Leona & Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
Lumina Foundation
MetLife Foundation
Microsoft
Nationwide
Noyce Foundation
The Prudential Foundation
Sandler Foundation
State Farm Insurance Companies
Travelers Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Pro-communist?!!! Good luck telling Bill Gates to his face that he is a communist.
HEE HEE HEE…still laughing, thanks for the yukks.
What is the Common Core US education initiative?
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/11/core-a09.html
Chris,
Just wondered if you are aware of the new bill just signed by Gov. Scott.
It erases tougher graduation standards put in place in 2010, allowing students to graduate from high school without taking Algebra 2. Students could earn a “standard” diploma by taking Algebra 1 and biology, while university-bound students seeking a “scholar” diploma would have to take Algebra 2 as well as physics or chemistry.
It allows students to earn a “merit” diploma by passing industry-certified courses, in lieu of traditional math, science and English courses. Students could earn national industry certifications in remedial occupations, better positioning them for blue collar jobs after graduation.
Dumbing down an already failing system and making double standards, hardly progresses education in the state. Not so gifted or slow learning Students will opt for the easy path and I fear teachers will not push the students to do better.
Jonathan,
I was not aware of this new bill, interesting. Even though it removes many of the previous requirements, the bill’s requirements meet the minimum requirements for college entrance.
Alberto Carvalho, Miami-Dade School Superintendent, provided a philosophical argument by saying, “If students are involved in a program of study that they choose and that is thematically relevant, their chances of success are greatly enhanced and graduation rates increase. The legislation is a thoughtful, measured and balanced approach to ensuring accountability, while taking away the onus of high-stakes over testing”
It does makes scene, you could be right that many teachers won’t push slower students who might have the ability to excel. But there must be a number of students who don’t have the ability or resources to acquire the goals set by the state in 2010. Perhaps they have reassessed the former changes. There is certainly no incentive for players to fight if both teams can win in the same game, regardless. But this may be a little different. In our society the personal satisfaction of accomplishment one acquires with a high school diploma or even a GED can encourage that individual to pre sue even higher goals and education in the future. Failure on the other hand is a brand of inadequacy and can produce low self esteem lasting a lifetime. Time will tell if this is a good bill.
Education is important, but George Washington had no formal education.
The Common Core State Standards Initiative previously mentioned, has all the components which can produce great success or great deception. Apparently this one size fits all program has a lot of opposition as parents and teachers find out that the program is more about information gathering than education.
“Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.” Joseph Stalin”
George Washington attended Appleby School in England. But, then, facts aren’t really your strong suit.
Michael, you might be a little mixed up. George never made it to Appleby. But then facts aren’t really your strong suit.
“He didn’t get any formal education, but was educated by his father and older brother at home.”
http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/george-washington-18.php
2. He never attended college
In fact, Washington had no formal education at all. Just like their father, Washington’s two older brothers were sent across the Atlantic Ocean to attend school in England at Appleby School. But when his father died, the promise of George’s formal education ended. Instead, he received the equivalent of an elementary school education from a variety of tutors, and he also spent time at a school run by an Anglican clergyman in Virginia.Â
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/0220/Presidents-Day-five-facts-you-didn-t-know-about-George-Washington/He-never-attended-college
Well, that’s two mistakes for me. I misread something.
Michael, everybody does it.