Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston) told the state he will not make any effort to repeal the controversial education program Common Core. Governor Robert Bentley (R) and Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard (R-AL) support the repeal, which means Marsh’s decision is the only thing standing in the way. The tea party group Rainy Day Patriots (RDP) and parents are not happy with Marsh’s decision.
“Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh has become the “Harry Reid” of Alabama,” said Deanna K. Frankowski, coordinator for Alabama Legislative Watchdogs and member of RDP. “This is why the Alabama Legislative Watchdogs and Rainy Day Patriots as well as voters throughout his district and state are speaking out.
“The voters deserve to have their legislators take an up or down vote. Will they support this hostile takeover of our education system or will they stand with Alabama families? Senator Del Marsh is standing in the way of that vote. Rest assured, we will not back down until we have an answer as to who is pulling the strings and why!”
On November 12, Marsh announced he would not bring Common Core to the floor when the new session opens on January 14, 2014. He said the issue was controversial and too complicated to bring into the regular legislative session and it could only happen if Governor Robert Bentley (R) called a special session. He also tried to push the responsibility to the state Board of Education. According to Senator Marsh:
If you bring it up in this legislative session, it gets mixed in with everything else and you can’t focus totally on that issue. That issue is so complicated, in my opinion it takes total dedication to that specific issue. I do not buy the argument that there is this conspiracy theory out there. I’ve listened to different groups. I hear their concerns. But I feel like the school board is on top of this addressing those issues.
RDP did find a letter Marsh signed to Bentley, which requested the repeal of Common Core. Other state senators who now do not support the repeal also signed the letter. They want to know what happened to make them change their minds.
Other Republican senators are determined to bring up Common Core. Sen. Scott Beason (R-Gardendale) will lead the efforts to defund and repeal the program in the next session.
When we were kids and we read about cars in fifth grade it was about where they were made and how they were made and how they got people to and from work and the internal combustion and a little bit of how that works” Beason explained. “When I looked at my daughter’s reading lesson cars which I guess came from the Common Core is about that cars pollute and that they burn hydrocarbon and that they’re bad for the environment. That’s promoting a world view. We will look around one day and see what a mistake we made.
He is not the only parent who noticed something off about their child’s curriculum. Staci R. Tawbush is a single mother of three elementary children and a member of RDP. Her daughter is in the gifted program, but started to bring home Bs and Cs on her report card because she used a method not allowed for her age group.
“I taught her algorithms years ago, but the Common Core Curriculum does not allow a child to learn how to ‘carry a one’ before late elementary school,” said Tawbush. “On tests, students are instructed to find solutions using the method that works best for them. However, when my daughter uses algorithms on her test, the teacher marks her correct answers as incorrect for using the wrong methods.”
Unfortunately, these grades have caused major problems for Tawbush’s daughter. She told Breitbart News math has given her anxiety and the reading comprehension assignments are for standardized tests, which caused her to lose her love of reading. She decided to take matters into her own hands by teaching her kids at home, but she said teachers told her not to teach them certain things. To make matters worse for Tawbush, there is no way for her to know exactly what her children are taught.
My children do not have textbooks because they don’t have them. Therefore, I am unable to review what they’ve been taught. I’ve asked to review the material, but with no success. This has caused a significant break down of trust between parents and teachers/administrators. I am constantly being told by my friends that I should home school. Unfortunately, public education is my only option. Public education is the only option for MOST single moms. I am desperately searching for a solutions, but it doesn’t seem that there’s a way out aside from repealing this monstrosity.
Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard (R-Auburn) said the house will make Common Core a priority when the new session opens. Hubbard said in a statement:
The most logical and immediate way to resolve the issue is for the State School Board to intervene and address Common Core now, not later. My position that Alabamians, not Washington bureaucrats, should decide how to best educate our students remains unchanged.
Beason and Hubbard will appear at a Common Core Forum in Anniston, AL, which is Del Marsh’s district. The Calhoun County Rainy Day Patriots will hold the forum on January 10, just four days before the new legislative session starts.