South Carolina lawmakers have passed a bill that would review and replace the Common Core standards, but not immediately repeal them. H3893 passed the state Senate 42-0 and the House 80-26. It now heads to Gov. Nikki Haley (R), who
The Oklahoma legislature voted overwhelmingly Friday night to repeal the Common Core math and English standards for its state’s schools and to replace them with standards developed by the state. The bill now heads to Gov. Mary Fallin’s (R) desk
Boston Public Schools (BPS) has announced that it will be “improving and coordinating the use of instructional materials” by folding the subject area of History and Social Studies “under a Humanities umbrella,” along with English Language Arts (ELA) and World
This year’s college graduation exercises have seen an unusually high number of speakers who either were disinvited or withdrew after protests. The political issues differed from college to college. Brandeis disinvited defender of women’s rights Ayaan Hirsi Ali because she
DALLAS, Texas–Paris Independent School District Superintendent Paul Jones apparently had no idea that when he wrote an open online letter to parents slamming the Texas standardized STAAR test that it would go viral, end up on the local news and
A new study released by the Boston-based Pioneer Institute finds that new technology development that has been encouraged through the use of federal grants has served to threaten children’s privacy by allowing the collection of data on every child. Authors
As Common Core opponents increasingly gain ground, the initiative’s supporters are articulating more of the social engineering ideology that is at the heart of the nationalized standards. Kimberly Morin of Manchester Political Buzz Examiner reports that teacher David Pook, who
Today is a “time when college hasnever been more important,” according to the U.S. Department of Education(DOE) who announcedits latest $75 million competition–“First in the World (FITW).” It will create grants to “fund thedevelopment and testing of innovative approaches and
Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction last week compared Common Core opponents to “barbarians at the gate,” and vowed to fight them to defend the nationalized standards whose main agenda, it appears, is to invest taxpayer dollars into yet another social
New York State Education Commissioner John King used the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education to defend the Common Core standards and their stated purpose of ridding schools of inequality. King criticized Common Core opponents as supporting continued segregation
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s speech on Saturday to graduates of Grove City College in Pennsylvania may have been the first sign that he is developing an organization for a potential 2016 presidential run. His speech may have also given some
Having recently been endorsed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), Karen Handel hopes to be the Republican candidate for U.S. Senator from Georgia after the state’s primary on Tuesday. In February, Jack Staver caught up with Handel to ask
What’s an Iowa mom calling “Satan’s Handiwork?” What’s making moms in California break down in tears? Or causing parents in Pennsylvania to feel their “blood boil?” Why, it’s nothing less than Common Core math. Norman Rockwell-type scenes of parents patiently
“Creating opportunities for unlimited learning will require newtools, new mindsets and new ways of thinking,” said Greg Abbott, the GOPgubernatorial candidate and current Texas Attorney General, who has beentraveling the state with the third phase of his Educating Texans: High-Quality
The Missouri legislature handily passed a bill Thursday that would define a process in which state education experts will evaluate and recommend K-12 education standards in the state. HB1490, which passed the Missouri state House, 131-12, and the state Senate,
Results of the 2013 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), often called “The Nation’s Report Card,” indicate that high school seniors’ academic skills remain stagnant and lacking in proficiency and that a wide achievement gap still exists among student ethnic
Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) tweeted a congratulatory message to conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh who won the children’s author of the year award Wednesday. .@rushlimbaugh congrats on being named children’s book author of the year, I say we replace common
In a radio interview on the Tea Party News Network, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) explained how the federal government pressured states to adopt the Common Core standards with lures of money and waivers from the federal education restrictions associated with
TheEducation Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS) hascreated quite a stir in Houston ISD. It’sa teacher and principal job performance metric that the district has used previously to award bonuses. However, inthe 2012-13 school year, Houston ISD started using another one of the EVAAScomponents — “value
The conclusion of a recent GOP McLaughlin poll, funded by a grantee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was that there is only “anecdotal evidence” that the Common Core standards are a “red-hot” electoral issue. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN),
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush courted Wall Street donors on Monday, saying that he could not understand amnesty opponents who made no sense to him. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Bush addressed a Manhattan Institute crowd along with Rep.
Gov. Mike Pence (R) of Indiana is traveling around the country these days, likely because he’s testing out the waters for a presidential run in 2016. Mallory Factor interviewed Pence at the recent New York Meeting, during which the governor
Gov. Mike Pence (R-IN), touted Indiana’s success as a testing ground for conservative policies, and said that “the cure really, for what ails this country is going to come more from our nation’s state capitols than it ever will from
“My Child Is Not Common” are the words on the attention-getting signs carried by a group of white and African-American mothers protesting the adoption of the aggressively promoted Common Core standards. Common Core is scheduled to take over the testing
As I indicated in my article last week, I sent Governor Pence (R) of Indiana a report on April 8, 2014 containing the suggestions of four Indiana high school English teachers and over 20 literary scholars for improving Common Core’s
Allover Texas, the gloves came off and politicalparty lines were drawn for the May 10,2014 public school board elections. Incumbents backed by the Democratic Party cameout swinging to maintain the status quo against grassroots conservative candidateswho jumped into this year’s races.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has excoriated groups of parents, teachers, and other citizens who oppose the Common Core standards, claiming the grassroots campaigns are being fueled by “far-right propaganda that relies heavily on distortions, outright falsehoods, and demonizing
Digitalliteracy is the main push in 21st century classrooms – smart boards, smartphones, notebooks, Chromebooks and iPads – but now, it’s the teacher’sturn to go back to school and learn how to use all these tools. At PlaydateAustin that’s exactly what
Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana is being courted by some establishment GOP leaders who believe he can take their party to the White House, and Pence himself seems to be warming to a bid for president in 2016. Pence and
Two Indiana state House incumbents, endorsed by the administration of Gov. Mike Pence (R), fell to candidates supported by grassroots campaigns that stood firmly against the Common Core standards. The campaigns claimed Pence performed a deceptive maneuver in simply “rebranding”
From Media Trackers: Ohio Governor John Kasich wildly mischaracterized Common Core as “written by local school districts” and lied about how his Obamacare Medicaid expansion will be paid for during a May 5 appearance on The Mike Trivisonno Show on WTAM 1100 in Cleveland.
Two years ago I crafted an updated set of English language arts standards based on the set I helped develop in Massachusetts in 1997. This set of standards, copyright-free and cost-free, has been available for districts and states to use
The fact that more pollsters are providing surveys about the Common Core standards gives further validity to recent major news outlets’ claims that the controversial academic standards are a major political and electoral issue. A look behind a new poll,
Opposition to Common Core education policies is creating strange political bedfellows. Now, even the Chicago Teachers Union is joining conservatives in opposition to the top-down education standards. On its blog, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) published a new resolution announcing
An Indiana-based energy distribution group that operates in Ohio has informed the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) that the company will not hire homeschool graduates, a situation that may not only reflect discrimination, but also the possibility that, with
In an open letter to supporters filled with lofty 21st Century education rhetoric, Sen. Wendy Davis is back at it again, continuing her jab-fest directed at Greg Abbott, GOP nominee for governor who is also the current Texas Attorney General. This
A controversial assignment given to eighth-grade students in the Rialto Unified School District in San Bernadino County that asked them to evaluate whether the Holocaust actually happened or was a myth created for “political and monetary gain was designed in a
On Monday, Emmett McGroarty, Education Director of the American Principles Project, along with other concerned Americans, will be requesting in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the National Governors Association (NGA) an end to the Common Core education project.
Pearson, the largest education company in the world, has won a contract for a Common Core test administration project that has been described by the state leader who negotiated it as one of “unprecedented scale” in the realm of United
Breitbart News has learned that American Principles Project (APP), one of the nation’s leading organizations working to defeat the Common Core standards, will release a letter on Monday morning addressed to Gov. Mary Fallin (R-OK), chair of the National Governor’s