Written Remarks From The Common Core Chaos Debate With Michael Petrilli

For those that would like to see the entire debate, please see this link on our YouTube channel.

Following are my prepared remarks from the Common Core Chaos debate. I have not transcribed any of the 4 or so extemporaneous questions, but I wanted to make the answers to the first four available, along with my opening remarks in the event they would be helpful.

OPENING REMARKS:

Before I begin, as the wife and daughter of men who served in the Armed Forces, I’d like to thank all Veterans for their service on this Veteran’s Day.

Next – I want to thank Dr. Piper very much for his gracious hospitality in extending the use of the Lyon Performance Hall for this event. Thanks to you as well Mr. Dutcher for loaning us your very capable moderating skills. Thank you also to those here in attendance and those watching via internet.

Finally, I’d like to thank you Mr. Petrilli for coming all the way from Maryland to debate this ordinary Oklahoma mom on the state of chaos you assigned Oklahoma public education during the recent Intelligence Squared; Embrace the Common Core debate in New York, following Oklahoma’s repeal of the Common Core State Standards and the loss of our NCLB Waiver.  I’m hoping you’ll come away from your short stay in Bartlesville convinced that it’s not the loss of our waiver, but Common Core itself that’s quite an excellent example of the butterfly effect.

In a way, I agree; there has been much chaos surrounding the repeal of the Common Core from Oklahoma and the loss of our Waiver.

First, however, we must consider the general chaos resulting from the Oklahoma state department of education taking billions of dollars from the pockets of taxpaying Oklahomans for public education, only to focus zealously on meeting the desires of the federal department of education, though their monetary contribution hovers at somewhere around 10% of Oklahoma’s entire education budget. Why should Oklahoma –or any state for that matter – give up any part of their control over education to the federal government for such an insignificant investment? I seem to recall an adage about a silk purse and a sow’s ear…

Then, we must consider the specific chaos resulting from state policymakers remaking Oklahoma education – tailoring it to fit a federal government blueprint including Common Core State Standards, Teacher Accountability measures and a State Longitudinal Database System (all which reinforce the Standards) in order for school administrators to receive ‘flexibility’ from essentially meaningless 100% student proficiency standards in English and Math prescribed by a law Congress refuses to reauthorize. What about flexibility for students, parents and teachers to have standards and resulting curricula that works best for them? After all, is public education about serving administrators or kids?

Finally, there’s the orchestrated chaos designed to fit the narrative that schools will lose money as a result of the loss of our Waiver. In truth, Oklahoma lost no money at all as a result of losing the waiver. Once the waiver was lost, we moved back under NCLB regulations that prescribe the redirection – not removal – of 20% of Title 1 funds only IF the state fails to meet adequate yearly progress. Considering this amounts to a mere half a percent of the total state education budget why suggest chaos?

Of course, there is definitely more chaos to be found in the system;

• Legislation enacting Common Core in Oklahoma was completed before the standards were even ready to read in final draft. People don’t buy cars without a test drive or chaos is sure to ensue – states shouldn’t buy standards sight unseen for the same reason.
• Attempting to align all schools across the nation to one set of untested, unproven standards based upon unsubstantiated claims they’re higher or college ready has created testing and teacher training chaos for states.
• Emphasizing college readiness has created chaos for elementary kids who now struggle through developmentally inappropriate material all in the name of higher standards.
• Emphasizing college access is creating job market chaos as tens of thousands of skilled labor jobs in Oklahoma go unfilled because students are funneled toward college over job training.
• Writing, enacting and facilitating education policy on the back of checks written by a billionaire computer entrepreneur non-educator can do nothing but cause chaos as educators scramble to enact policies in actual classrooms that were written in a vacuum.
• Some Oklahoma administrators have created chaos in the lives of teachers by forcing them to teach Common Core under a different name though it’s against the law via mandate of the people, because students need to be taught to a Common Core-aligned SAT, ACT or AP, or because “we just bought Common Core-aligned books”, or “we’ve already spent too much money on Common Core teacher training”, etc.
• Because Common Core has been tied into a neat little ball with nearly every other federally-offered education ‘reform’, we’ll have to endure the chaos of resurrecting Heracles to cut off all its’ heads.
• Though national educational tests and standards are contrary to federal law, chaos has resulted from the federal government paying testing companies to write a national Common Core test which costs too much, is hard to grade, and takes too many days out of classroom instruction.
• The high stakes test and punish cycle meant to provide Common Core with its rigorous accountability has become chaos for parents, kids and district IT employees, many of whom would rather sit in the unemployment line than go to work on McGraw/Hill online test day.
• The definition of chaos is frustrated students who can’t understand overly complicated, confusing Common Core math lessons - and frustrated parents who can’t help because they don’t understand it either
• Parents and families reordering their lives – and budgets – to pull kids into private or homeschools because their neighborhood public school is no longer working for them, is obviously, chaotic.
• And finally, chaos is the result in countless families as countless mothers (and dads) in countless states have set aside their primary duties of children, home and office to spend countless hours researching why their kids suddenly hate school, or math, or reading, only then to spend countless hours educating fellow parents and government officials that enacted Common Core legislation, about the chaotic nightmare that is the Common Core.

So, in conclusion, yes Mr. Petrilli, there is chaos here in Oklahoma, but it’s chaos that arrived on the heels of Common Core – long before the loss of any federal carrot and stick mandate – and I’ll be happy when we’ve driven a stake through all its hearts and ensured it never comes back to cause chaos in the lives of Oklahoma parents, kids or taxpayers again.

QUESTION 1
One of the most effective arguments against Common Core is that it represents a “federalization” or a “nationalization” of education. (Indeed, once the phrase “ObamaCore” started making the rounds in Oklahoma, it was game over.) But are those concerns legitimate? Is it fair to characterize Common Core as “Fed Ed”?

It’s absolutely a fair cop. As I’ve written frequently, there were four separate but overlapping programs established under the Obama Administration’s Department of Education that make up what I like to call the FOUR PILLARS OF EDUCATION REFORM: These are Common Core State Standards, Teacher Accountability Measures, Turning Around Failing Schools and instituting a State Longitudinal Database System to track children across all ages and stages of the educational spectrum and into the workforce.

States had to sign on to all four of these foundational programs at some level in order to get State Fiscal Stabilization funds in 2009, be competitive for Race to the Top grant dollars and/or qualify for Waivers from provisions of the No Child Left Behind law.

Though states could substitute their own standards as long as they were deemed College and Career ready by state institutions of higher learning, it’s no secret that entropy favors the easy road – why would states reinvent the wheel when they could simply take what was offered and move on to the teller? Doesn’t the fact that a vast majority of states have signed on to Common Core since 2009 say something about the veracity of that statement?

Consequently, as state standards were cast aside in favor of standards favored at the federal level as part of a federal government extortion exchange rate for money or flexibility, the Common Core state standards predominated across the nation. If the standards predominate across the nation and were an integral part of federal government programming, what other definition for the Common Core State Standards can there be but ‘nationalized education standards’?

In the final analysis, it matters not whether the Standards were penned by a private source or inside the walls of the Department of Education if the federal government adopts them as their own and uses them as a fulcrum for moving education policy in America from a local endeavor to a more centralized locus.

QUESTION 2
Some people who choose nonpublic educational options worry that Common Core will limit options for students. They say that the alignment of certain exams ( SAT, ACT, GED, Advanced Placement, etc.) to the Common Core will increase the likelihood that private-school students and home-schooled students will have to follow the Common Core. Are these concerns legitimate? Will private schools and homeschooled students be compelled to accept national standards and tests?

Unfortunately, there are instances in which privately schooled students are being compelled to accept Common Core tests. In some states, private schools are required to administer state tests for accreditation purposes. These assessments require more than students being able to answer questions correctly to receive full credit. To get full credit students are required to show the Common Core instructional process used to arrive at their answer. In this way, private schools become coerced into teaching to the test to maintain accreditation and how does a school teach to the test without aligning their curricula – at least in part – to the Common Core? In a solid example of the overlap I mentioned among the four pillars, State Longitudinal Database Systems are used to collect private school test scores in order to provide verification to the accreditation board that the school is worthy of continued endorsement.

In states such as Indiana Ohio and Wisconsin, private schools can’t participate in voucher programs without a record of student outcomes on state tests.  If the private school wants to participate in a state voucher program, they must weigh the advantages of increased enrollment against the prospect of teaching to a Common Core-aligned state exam and possibly losing existing students.

Because homeschools most often use traditional educational methodology, the possibility for student success on Common Core-aligned college entrance exams doesn’t erode drastically due to a well-rounded educational foundation. The difficulty, however, comes when answering Common Core-aligned questions in math, for example, which utilize a confusing multi-step constructivist approach as opposed to the more straight forward traditional style. Consequently, homeschools – as private schools – must count the cost of attempting possibly confusing curricula in order to increase their chances of college admission.

In states requiring homeschool students to submit to state testing, parents have the option of either including Common Core-aligned curricula in order to increase their odds of providing the state a passing grade, or dealing with the fallout should their student be labeled less than proficient. Either way, the Common Core State Standards became impelled upon students via state testing policy.

QUESTION 3
The promotional materials for this debate were headlined “Common Core Chaos?” What is the state of play in Oklahoma now that we have rejected Common Core? Can the case be made that Oklahoma is actually worse off with all the uncertainty about standards and tests than if we had just stuck with the Common Core?

Can the case be made that there is anything certain about Common Core? What evidence is there that Common Core will improve student achievement? What data show Common Core will reduce college remediation rates? What students have graduated college following a steady diet of Common Core State Standards based curricula? None. There is no evidence, no data, no students because this whole experiment has been, well, experimental.

There is a case to be made for the converse, however. We know that the process of creating Common Core tests has been chaotic and the process of administering even the practice tests has created chaos in schools all across Oklahoma. We’ve seen the chaos created when parents with advanced degrees are unable to help even their elementary students with Common Core math homework, not because they are mathematically challenged, but because the problem solving methods make no sense. We’ve heard early childhood experts testify to the chaos in their classrooms created by the unhealthy levels of stress exhibited in younger kids as a result of classroom work based on developmentally inappropriate standards.

Additionally, states further along in the Common Core process than Oklahoma, like New York, are trying to get out of Common Core because of the chaos its causing in their state. Why would Oklahoma NOT want to avoid something that has become a colossal waste of money and frustration for others? Oklahoma needs to chart its own path – a successful one based upon excellent local standards that will build on the resiliency, tenacity and ingenuity of Oklahomans – traits that have created one of the most successful economies in the nation currently. We have a new State Superintendent and a springboard forward into educational freedom off the back of Common Core repeal – we need to take this opportunity and run with it.

QUESTION 4
A house editorial in the Washington Examiner made the point that “Common Core combatants likely agree on few things, but there is one point on which they do agree — America's public schools are failing and have been for many years.” Do you two agree on that point? If so, Jenni, what solutions do you propose in lieu of Common Core? And Mike, are there any solutions you favor in addition to Common Core?

Schools aren’t failing – public school policy is failing and taking education down with it. In fact, we’re seeing systemic failure as one ineffective/unproductive law is replaced or augmented by another and then another – in attempt to bring about results largely unattainable by legislative means. Education legislation and programming features a paucity of education history and research, focusing instead on the newest ‘trends’ in education such as ‘flipped classrooms’ where teachers basically help kids with their homework after they have been ‘taught’ the material via video at home.

Today’s education focus is entirely wrong-headed. Students should not be educated ‘for’ college or ‘for’ the workforce – they shouldn’t be subjected to the latest fads. Students should be educated broadly in the arts and sciences, history and classical literature – not subjected to restrictive curricula that emphasizes mainly math and English which are then taught as skills and not for the love and joy of learning and knowing.

Students are arm-twisted and mercilessly forced into education submission by a test and punish system that robs them of their personal responsibility for their own learning. Parents are held at arm’s length and often treated as adversaries by school administration instead of the responsible party for their child’s education.

The only way to solve the majority of these issues is educational freedom. Freedom that allows parents to choose the school with the curricula and set of standards best in line with their children’s unique and individual needs. Instead of funding flowing to the school, funds should flow from the parents to the school in the ultimate act of educational accountability.

For decades, public education has moved farther and farther away from the ones it directly serves – it’s time to put the responsibility for education back in the hands of parents. As Einstein said, Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.” It’s time for a paradigm shift toward personal responsibility and control of local education with parents at the helm.

Mary Fallin Wants Common Core Whether You Want It Or Not

Just so we are all clear, Governor Mary Fallin is absolutely Hell-bent on thrusting Common Core down the throats of Oklahomans through the legislature whether they want it or not.  Even in the face of a LETTER asking her to stop signed by many, many educational leaders and others all across the nation! Here's one of the latest articles being used to entice the legislature to stop bothering with us 'little people', aka 'parents'.

GOP Pollster: Republicans should be careful on Common Core. Basically this article makes the case that sampling of 'likely Republican voters' indicates that despite their votes on Common Core, all will keep their seats.  There are three things wrong with this notion:

1. Poling can say whatever pollsters want it to say - can anyone say 'skew the data'? 
2. 'Likely' Republican voters are more than not - NOT parents.  Sad to say, but most people today fall into two categories 1.  I'm too uninterested/lazy/busy to vote, and/or 2. I only vote at the last second based on commercials.  HOWEVER, you mess with kids, parents - especially moms - get furious.  Ask ex-Jeb-Bush-Cheif-For-Change Tony Bennet about that.  He lost his superintendency in Indiana over Common Core - among other 'Republican' 'reforms'.
3. You think Oklahomans aren't going to run to the Democrat saying, "No Common Core"?  If not, you're dead wrong.  Oklahoma can swing in Governorship from red to blue in a year - everyone knows that.  If you choose to ignore that here in Oklahoma, you definitely do so at your peril.

Again, voters may be at best agnostic over many issues that activists come out of their chairs over, but when you mess with their kids, the Grizzly comes out and those agnostics become activists too.

My gosh!  Even with the number of low-information-voters out there today, we managed to get HUNDREDS of people to the capitol to protest our Senate not hearing Common Core bills, blocking the will of the people and to ask our Senate to vote for the repeal of Common Core on St. Patrick's Day.  The only thing we DIDN'T do, was to get primary challengers for every seat in the House and the Senate where the legislator was firmly in the court of education 'reform' - including Common Core.  Legislators who legislate via polls and the Governor tells them to do, need to be reminded they are responsible to the people in their districts who elect them.  It's sad to acknowledge, but there are some legislators who hear the cry of those that fund their campaigns over those of the 'average voter'.

So, "WHY WON'T OUR GOVERNOR LISTEN TO HER PEOPLE?".  It is obvious that Common Core is an issue people do not want - overwhelmingly in Oklahoma. Polls show that - if you want to play the polling game - and there are candidates out there with whom I have had discussions that have gotten polling data to indicated such.

So why?  Clearly, as much as I've written on the topic of Common Core - the jury is out as to it's effectiveness as a college and career ready tool and the tests have been a nightmare.  There is NO WAY to collect enough data in the time we've had Common Core in Oklahoma because it wasn't mandated for use until 2014 and few schools have utilized it to 100%.  There is no way to cite accurate data - let alone ANY data - on whether or not kids are doing better under Common Core because there hasn't been any time to collect it.  Even if there had been, in order to be relevant at all, there would have to be a minimum of 6 years of test scores to even make any kind of comparison (kids would have to get through k-5 and the upper grades would have to fully matriculate through 4 years of high school).

Interestingly, there have been enough years of NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress - a national test given to a sampling of kids in each grade in each state and compared across states) data using PASS to make that determination.  Grades have continued to climb in mathematics particularly and also in reading, yet the Oklahoma Department of Education waives this data away by saying this data is do to "excellent teaching".  Are you kidding me?  Who could even write that with a straight face?  Isn't that what study after study after white paper have said for years - that standards don't really matter as long as teachers are doing a great job in the classroom?

Seriously, both the Oklahoma State Department of Education, and the office of the Governor seem to be simply switching the talking points on whatever facts and figures we find to argue against Common Core to their benefit - even if it makes no sense.  

So, again I ask, "WHY?"   Why, Governor?  Why Superintendent?  Why do you so desperately need to get all Oklahomans onto the Common Core even when Oklahomans do not want them? 

Every reason both these elected officials have given as Common Core necessity, we have debunked.  So, as I've asked a hundred times, is Common Core about parents and kids, or about political power and money?  I think we only need to acknowledge this fact:  If Common Core was about parents and kids, this nonsense would stop.

Does Common Core Repeal Stop Students From Participating in FFA and Prevent ACT/SAT/AP Testing?

I am not  an HB3399 apologist - the bill needs some changes and additions to be a workable solution for teachers (at least) from my perspective - but I also know Governor Fallin is Chairman of the NGA (one of the organizations that owns the copyright for the standards) and an obvious true believer in the Common Core and nationalized education.  I don't see her throwing herself and her NGA agenda under the bus, so I don't know where that leaves those of us that disagree with the Common Core and the hydra it's become within state law, school code and testing contracts.

Still and all, I am sick to death of the hysteria (LOVE that picture of the FFA kids, that look so sad as if their state government is set to rip away their beautiful blue jackets) the Daily Oklahoman continues to pump out about a Common Core repeal (Common Core Bills Impact Many Other Programs).  The FFA thing is simply nonsense.  The FFA is a chartered entity - not a federal entity.  I see no way HB3399 would harm the FFA.  Here is the public law on FFA, please read it yourself.  

All officers are members of a CORPORATION, not federal employees.  From the law:  (2) The board consists of the Secretary of Education, four staff members in the Department of education and, four State supervisors of agriculture education.  The Secretary is chairman of the board.  As said in the article, "Significant standards, assessments, and in some cases curriculum are dictated from the National FFA Organization".  So?  These are not state 'subject matter standards', they are standards specific to the program of FFA and as such would fall outside of the state 'subject matter standards' purview.  There is nothing in HB3399 that prevents any school or district from making ADDITIONS to the state standards.

Quite apparently, the editorial staff has simply overlooked the wonderful research engine that is the World Wide Web.  If you (Daily Oklahoman) believe this analysis to be incorrect, please feel free to educate us with FACTS, not mere speculation (likely, may, ).

I also read nothing in the bill that should lead anyone to the conclusion that ACT or SAT or AP testing will be prohibited.  Please, read the bill - you can find it here.

Page 19 line 1 begins, 

"The State Board of Education shall not enter into any agreement, memorandum of understanding or contract with any federal agency or private entity which in any way cedes or limits state discretion or control over the process of development, adoption or revision of subject matter standards and corresponding student assessments in the public school system, including, but not limited to, agreements, memoranda of understanding and contracts in exchange for funding for public schools and programs."  

Do the SAT, ACT or AP tests 'cede or limit state discretion or control' over 'subject matter standards'?  They have nothing to do with 'subject matter standards' (ie; any standards used for k-12 education).  Are SAT, ACT or AP tests related directly to the current "subject matter standards"?  No. They are independent general knowledge tests - becoming aligned to the Common Core, that's true - but they are not tests that correspond directly to the state standards.  Please, Daily Oklahoman, point to the place in this bill that identifies the evil plot to make Oklahoma's students stop taking nationally/internationally benchmarked tests?

I feel the need to point out here that Robert Sommers isn't from Oklahoma, he's from Ohio where he was an education policy adviser to Governor Kasich that helped institutionalize all the education 'reforms' we're institutionalizing here in Oklahoma.  He also worked  for a Charter School (Carpe Diem) that has ties to Jeb Bush and the Foundation for Excellence in Education - an organization that has spawned Chiefs For Change.  Janet Barresi is a Chief For Change.  

In fact, more and more of the upper management positions in the OSDE are becoming simply arms of the Common Core machine - John Kraman, the Student Information Officer (chief data gatherer on students) comes from Achieve, the newest Superintendent over TESTING comes from PEARSON.  Oklahoma has no people skilled enough for these jobs - people that might desire to keep the best interests of Oklahomans in mind?

It seems to me that this entire Education 'Reform' pile of nonsense, is exactly that.  It's not about what's best for students or parents or teachers, it's about what's best for the careers of those involved in the never-ending, revolving door, money-making scheme, Bill Gates grant-receiving, echo chamber that is COMMON CORE.  It has to be, or the Chamber of Commerce would not misrepresent data to push the Common Core and Stand For Children wouldn't present a petition of 7000 names claiming to be FOR the Common Core to the State legislature that appears to be fraudulent. Why does the Pro-Common Core side need to misrepresent itself to press their side of the issue?  It's an important question to ask.

NOTE:  When you read an editorial in the Daily Oklahoman about Common Core, please remember that one of their editorial writers is Ray Carter, husband of Jennifer Carter, former Chief of Staff to the State Superintendent Janet Barresi (http://www.koco.com/Barresi-s-Chief-Of-Staff-Issues-Statement-Regarding-Tweet/10738470). I believe this to be a conflict of interest. Certainly, as the DO mentioned in another Common Core repeal hit piece recently, Stand For Children has met with their editorial board. Restore Oklahoma Public Education has NEVER been asked to meet with their editorial board. I think that says quite a bit as well. (Ray Carter Editorial Writer rcarter@opubco.com ) http://newsok.com/home/nic

What is the Senate GOP Caucus Saying About Education for the 2014 Session?

Today, the Oklahoma Republican Caucus released their Legislative Agenda for 2014.  Following is the portion on Education:

In education, it will be important in 2014 to protect and fund existing education reforms in order to improve student achievement and accountability through high standards and expectations. Workforce development continues to be a problem in the state, and Senate Republicans will work to pass legislation to increase the number of students obtaining critical post-secondary degrees and industry certifications.

Finally, the caucus will work to empower parents, educators and communities as they help every Oklahoma student achieve his or her potential. 

“For too long, our state’s education system has not kept pace with the changing times, hurting our students’ ability to compete for jobs in the 21st Century economy. In recent years, we have passed bold reforms that have increased standards and expectations to ensure every student—regardless of socio-economic or regional factors—can reach his or her true potential,” said Sen. John Ford, R-Bartlesville, and Senate Education chairman. “We owe it to our children, their parents and all Oklahoma citizens to continue to press for higher standards and accountability and expect more.”

After reading this, I have no choice but to determine that AGAIN this year, the Oklahoma Senate Republicans will push Governor Mary Fallin's vision of children either trained to work a job or pushed along a career path like the Europeans our country now seems to covet.  

In fact, the caucus said as much in the first sentence when the word PROTECT was used in the same sentence with "existing education reforms".  Of course, the "existing education reforms" are the Four Pillars of Education 'Reform'; Common Core (national standards), Turning Around Low Performing Schools, Teacher Accountability and the liberty-sucking, privacy-killing, State Longitudinal Database System - all of which tie Oklahoma directly to the federal government.

In a letter to Senators Brian Bingman and John Ford yesterday, I asked the question, "How can you be a Republican who supports Common Core when BOTH the RNC and the OKGOP have come out against the Common Core?"  I hope to have the answer to that very soon, but it can't be perplexing to only me that Mary Fallin solicited my vote in 2010 as a Republican by promising to protect me from the federal government - as did Janet Barresi - yet BOTH women went on to KEEP every single Brad Henry-adopted Obama-driven education reform.  They even went on to apply for a failed (thank goodness!) Race To The Top Early Learning Challenge grant and ADD a No Child Left Behind Waiver and a 5 million dollar State Longitudinal Database System grant.  How in the world can that make sense?  

Well, one has only to look at this page on the White House website detailing the Clinton/Gore Educational plan to find the answer.  Let's see how far off the mark Oklahoma's Republicans are from the Clinton/Gore plan;

1. Raising Standards and Holding Schools Accountable for Results
2. Improving the Quality of Education with High Quality Teachers
3. Expanding Access to Technology in Schools
4. Keeping Young People on the Path to Success

Now let's look at the Oklahoma Republican plan:

1. High Standards and Expectations (Common Core/national educational standards + A-F grading)
2. Teacher/Leader Effectiveness (here is the TLE page on the OSDE website)
3. All schools have had to add broadband in order to take the new Common Core tests.  Recently, schools were mandated by the OSDE (more like threatened) to perform a 'stress test' on their computers to make sure they were ready for all the testing to be done on computers (in order to teach children critical thinking).  
4. Engaging education, business and government leaders in a dialogue about what governors can do to more closely align K-12, universities, community and technical colleges and workforce training providers with future labor demands. (A direct quote from Governor Fallin's National Governor's Association Education Initiative)

In fact, why is no one asking these questions, "Excuse me Education 'Reformers', why do you think YOUR program is better than Clinton/Gore's - or any of the other near exact copies that have come before?  Simply because you're doing it under the Republican banner?  Are you trying to tell me that failed programs somehow work better if there is an 'R' after them?"  

Frankly, it matters not whether a Democrat or a Republican introduced these education 'reforms'.  What is important, however, is that they've never worked.  NEVER.  If these ideas produced such excellent results for Clinton/Gore, why are states still banging their heads against the wall wondering how to get their students to succeed?

Why, instead of doubling down on the arbitrary HIGH STANDARDS hogwash, aren't we looking at factors like;

1. Discipline.  In this Politically Correct environment where every student has a perceived RIGHT to do whatever he feels to do at any given moment, is there really any wonder kids are learning anything anywhere? Self-discipline must be taught consistently, valued and modeled where kids spend a huge part of their day - school.
2. The breakdown of the family.  When kids can't be sure if there's food at home because mom might have used the money for drugs, or when mom's having to work three jobs just to keep food on the table, kids could care less about the future - all they know is that the here and now stinks. How are schools meeting these individual needs?
3. Real school leadership.  Lecturing kids about consequences that never come tell them there are no consequences for their actions.  If there are no consequences, there is little reason to do anything you don't want to do.
4. Unfunded mandates.  Schools don't need as much money as they think they do to adequately educate a child, but that fact doesn't matter when they're not getting half enough to do even a poor job because administrative costs suck money out of the classroom.  There should be MASSIVE and widespread audits at the OSDE to find and yank back money better spent ON KIDS rather than FOR KIDS.
5. A love of America.  Whatever the circumstances in the world, students in past decades could at least agree on that ideal.  An ideal broad enough to include everyone.  An ideal that brought students together under a banner of agreement and pride.  Today's children are chopped into little groups under the banner of 'diversity' in order to make it easier for them to march over others while marching toward equality.

Yet, instead of looking at these very real, very important issues, our Republican leaders choose to run education in Oklahoma wielding a punitive STICK made of tired, 'new' education 'reform' wood - attempting to create consensus by force where individuality should be lauded instead.

Recycled programs forcing uniformity and micromanagement will NEVER provide students a well-rounded education.  

Don't forget; we put men on the moon while engineers still used slide rules. But then, these men and women were products of a broad-based classical style education, doled out in classrooms with discipline instead of political correctness, where real leadership was provided on a local basis and recognized the sovereignty of parents over their child's education.  How in the world can we recreate these individuals today using a one-size-fits-all, narrow-in-scope, standardized-test-based  machination created by private organizations whose interest in profit-bearing educational products far outweighs their concern for individual students and families, or the propagation of the American way?  The answer is simple; we can't, and we won't.

Garbage. Seriously, just garbage.

The new exciting article for today that made me crazy..."CareerTech director wants to link education, workforce to strengthen Oklahoma's economy.  Oklahoma's CareerTech Director Robert Sommers wants education and business officials to work together to create good jobs in the state and to prepare Oklahomans to fill them".

Not long ago, I wrote a blog entitled, "Made in the USA? Why Common Core Standards Will Never Produce A Stronger America". If you didn't read it (and if you didn't, shame on you ! LOL), my thesis was this,

our current education 'reform' nonsense is not going to prepare any kids for the current, non-technical, public service jobs available today and they shouldn't anyway as that is the job of the hiring company

This interview with Robert Sommers, Governor Fallin's current appointment to a newly created secretary position, "Secretary of Education AND THE WORKFORCE", explains how public schools (taxpayers) should be training kids for jobs (as though they are automatons) and to attend the four year college of their choice (to put more and more kids into the real world in debt without a job in Women's Studies, the major from the college of their choice).

“High school diplomas without any career technical instruction or additional well-rounded technical training really leaves you with an opportunity to continue education, but not very many living-wage job options,” Sommers said. 
“You have to have high academic, plus technical skills, foundation skills — those manifest themselves in CareerTech credentials or college degrees — and that's become the new minimum,” he said.

Gosh, I guess Sommers isn't acquainted with the way it used to be done (and often still is in rural America).  Kids left school at 8th grade (rather than being housed in an educational detention facility until the construct now called 12th grade), went out and found either a tutor (if they were wealthy enough) or a skilled tradesman under whom to apprentice until he could go out and open his own shop.

Even after America became mired in the Industrial Revolution and the notion that machines could do much of the work a set of matched mules or 2 guys on a saw could do, businesses - even those that became enormous industrial giants (FORD for example) - trained those that came to work for them ON THEIR OWN DIME.  These businesses didn't go to the local taxpayer with their hand out and say, "Pardon me ma'am, spare a farthing so I can train my line crew?"

When did American business become encumbered by the idea that it was the duty of the PUBLIC to pay a good portion of their business expense for them?  When did the head of IBM decide it was perfectly fine to join the Chamber of Commerce, give them a big fat check and get them to break the arms of taxpayers to fund their corporate expenses?  Have we ALL become idiots?

If so, SNAP OUT OF IT!

The only voice of reason in this whole article is Oklahoma Businessman Bob Funk, who says,

“Because of the emphasis that has been placed on our students to get a college degree, we've seen a dramatic decline in the number of qualified workers needed for skilled labor jobs,” said Bob Funk, chairman and CEO of Oklahoma City-based Express Employment Professionals.
“We have good-paying jobs that are ready for people, but it's not easy to find the workers to fill jobs in industries like welding, CNC machine programming, CDL truck driving, accounting and IT.”
Funk said educators and leaders should emphasize the opportunities available to young people looking for work in fields that are too often overlooked.
“My advice to job seekers, especially to those without college degrees, is to be sure you learn a skill or a trade, otherwise this economy is very tough,” he said. “Keep applying yourself to the opportunities you do have and work toward the career you want no matter what it takes.”

Well, YES!  Nowhere did Bob say, "Go out and spend your parents money on a useless degree at a college that will warp your world view simply because American education elitists are trying to turn America into a culture of simmering wimps in order to make big bucks and you're too ignorant to see it", but he probably would have driven the point home a lot quicker had he!

I've said it once and I'm sure I'll say it again another hundred times - AMERICANS SHOULD NEVER USE PUBLIC EDUCATION TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR JOBS!  Public education is to provide basic skills and a set of basic knowledge to those unable to have that provided for them in their homes.  It is not to build a skilled workforce for big business.  Period.

Janet Barresi Believes You're a Liberal If You Disagree With Her?

I watched the excellent video made of the 2nd District GOP meeting with Linda Murphy and Janet Barresi (Thank you for sharing Don Krumme). I came away with several thoughts, not the least of which is the meme:

1. So businesses are SCARED they can't find workers for their jobs and that is why we must push School to Work and Common Core? What happened to On The Job Training provided by the company? Did you know that even early engineers were trained OJT? But then, that would be expensive for the company. Wouldn't it be better for them if the state paid the cost of their OJT and they just got the 'trained' worker? Gosh, how can I get someone trained for free to start my farm?

2. At 54:00 into the video Dr. Barresi tells the crowd that "Governor Fallin is directing me" to work closely with Robert Sommers, Secretary of Education and THE WORKFORCE (hired in from Ohio after Phyllis Hudecki resigned - which is also when the job title was changed to add THE WORKFORCE) to make sure - in essence - Oklahoma's children are trained for jobs. So it's Governor Fallin - intent upon pushing her School To Work initiative for the National Governor's Association - a national organization that does not promote initiatives good for specific states but initiatives that expect to get states on COMMON ground. Is that what America is about? Common? I thought it was EXCEPTIONAL!

3. "Rigorous Standards will transform communities" Dr. Barresi says after speaking with great affection for US Grant High School in Oklahoma who has - according to her - made leaps and bounds of improvement. Of course we are ALL ecstatic when students and schools do well, but here's the question; how do we know they are doing well? The A-F grading system is SO flawed that there is really no way of knowing exactly what it means for schools to get either an A or an F. Not only that, but isn't it the job of the COMMUNITY to grade the schools and NOT the state?

4. Finally, ROPE is liberal? We disagree with Dr. Barresi vehemently. We're liberal? ROPE's board is populated with mothers who are all registered Republican voters. I can't count the number of people who have unfriended ROPE's Facebook page because of our level of CONSERVATISM. Is education about Republican or Democrat or is it about what's best for Oklahoma kids? Superintendent Barresi's seeming necessity to reduce all of Oklahoma education policy to the point of PARTISAN POLITICS shows me she really has little idea about the concept of education policy in any substantive form and has no business being elected for a second term.

Part 2 of the video has not yet been released. We look forward to hearing the kinds of questions Dr. Barresi entertains from this even - and her answers...

*I would like it understood that we do not intend this to be a personal attack on Joel Robison.  We have no disagreement with Joel as a person.  We merely intended to point out the inconsistencies in Dr. Barresi's statements versus her actions.

Governor Fallin says, "Stop whining or you'll get no more education funds."

I simply must say that I seem to be never-endlessly stymied by the course of Republican leadership in Oklahoma today. 

Here is the latest antic by Governor Mary Fallin, covered in an article in the Tulsa World; Gov. Fallin Counters Critics of A-F Grading System For Schools.  The article begins;

Gov. Mary Fallin is warning educators that continuing public criticism of the state's A-F school grading system may affect whether common education gets additional funding next fiscal year.

"It's not helpful to anyone's cause. It seems to be some opponents are absolutely bent on undermining the credibility of the entire system," said Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz. "The fact of the matter is this grading system, regardless of whether or not you believe it should have been put together differently, is the law."

Last week state Superintendent Janet Barresi unveiled her education budget request for fiscal year 2015, in which she is asking for an additional $174.9 million for a total of $2.5 billion. On the same day, the governor's office spoke out on the A-F issue, urging education supporters to get behind the grading system and stop endorsing a report that criticizes it.

I think we should all ask ourselves why our Republican governor is backing the 'reforms' instituted by a Republican State Superintendent who has so little support for re-election at this point - due in large part to her "my way or the highway attitude" I might add - that a Republican challenger has vastly out-paced her in campaign contributions. 

To hear our Governor literally THREATEN, not only educators in Oklahoma, but PARENTS and TAXPAYERS is completely out of bounds. She may be threatening educators in this article - and make no mistake, this is a threat (because who apparently steers legislation through the capitol?) - but she is also threatening parents who are against her education 'reforms' as well. 

As I recounted several weeks ago, State Troopers were called during our peaceful, quiet demonstration against Common Core at the Oklahoma History Center - the middle of three "whistle stops" in the state where Governor Fallin announced her intention to run again for Governor. 

Republican or Democrat makes no difference, this is a clear violation of FIRST AMENDMENT rights to dissent. Why should we re-elect someone who is NOT an educator, yet will back a NON-EDUCATOR Superintendent who has implemented national education reform consistently and to the detriment of the LOCAL CONTROL so prized by so many in our state - and proven to be the best method for decades. 

PLEASE SHARE THIS ARTICLE FAR AND WIDE! Please comment to this article and the Tulsa World and let everyone know - especially if you're a Republican - that you do not approve.   

Our only hope is that our Governor will understand well that TONY BENNETT - A REPUBLICAN - was BEATEN in INDIANA over Common Core and education 'reforms' such as A-F grading. 

We can do the exact same thing here in Oklahoma with our own governor. 

Parents are the ones that know best for their children, not non-educator politicians who institute educational policies that limit our children and who threaten before they listen to their constituencies. 

I urge you to read this EXCELLENT article by Pat McGuigan, "The Good News Is That The Bad News About Kansas Was Wrong."  In it, he SHOWS USING SPECIFICS how the REPUBLICAN party in Oklahoma has fallen down on their job - certainly of fiscal conservatism.  Fortunately, there is an election for many of them looming in 2014.

Parents, now is the time to stand! Make your voices CLEAR - you will not be threatened or silenced!  You will not continue to prop up POOR STATE LEADERSHIP!  

There are a lot of really great Republicans in the House and the Senate, but let's make very clear that we will simply not tolerate those that want to tax and spend their way into oblivion - or those that want to force public school districts to do it their way (a way not tried nor tested, a way that doesn't appear to work, but that makes our children guinea pigs every day!) when they don't even have the training to identify the "right" way if it jumped into their lap and bit them on the thigh! 

 

I love this picture!  Yes, this is then Congresswoman Mary Fallin at the Nation's Capitol holding up a sign during the health care debacle.   Yes, she did listen to the people and RETURN the 45 MILLION federal dollars SHE TOOK to attach Oklahoma further to the purse strings of the feds and healthcare reform, but that ear has apparently gone deaf!

Let's let our governor know NOW that she is clearly on the wrong track and must stop immediately, or face the real possibility of losing a gubernatorial re-election bid.

Teacher EFFECTIVENESS or CONFORMITY?

This was sent to me by Christy Hooley, a teacher in Wyoming who is part of our Truth in American Education Network.  She gave me permission to post the information she sent me in a blog format.

ROPE has long been concerned about the Teacher Leader Effectiveness program in Oklahoma.  Of course, this legislation was part of the larger - nationwide push through Race to the Top - to hold teachers 'accountable' for the grades of their students.  

We've never been on board with this particular aspect primarily because, as a former teacher, I know for a fact that a whole lot of the grades kids get have nothing to do with me.  They could've been out late the night before, their parents could have had an argument and it was causing the child to be preoccupied, they're thinking about the girl in the next row over and not their test...

What Christy explains here should make teachers cringe.  I truly believe that the idea is to get teachers unwilling to follow the 'program' to leave, allowing younger, more inexperienced, more worldly teachers - primarily through Teach For America - to come into the classroom and push the current Presidential administration's philosophical agenda.

Christy did an interview with Joy Pullman of the Heartland Institute.  It is not long.  I wish you would take the time to listen, it is very enlightening.

In the meantime, Oklahoma has apparently gone with Battelle for Kids version of a teacher evaluation system.  This is interesting for three reasons:

1.  Our new  "Secretary of Education and Workforce Development" - Robert Sommers is from Ohio, the home of Battelle.  It makes me wonder how Battelle was picked.

2.  They have something on their website called the "Student Experience Survey".  When I asked Battelle if I could see the survey, they replied that I could for $230.00 - the cost of the survey.  I am VERY concerned what kind of student behavioral data will be plucked from this particular 'survey'.

3.  They say this on the "Human Capital" portion of their website, "Human capital in education must be comprehensive and aligned with education-improvement goals."  WHAT?  Please tell me people remember that Human Capital was the catch-phrase used to describe the workers in the Communist system?

4.  They also push the Common Core.


At any rate, you get the idea...Here is Christy's story:

The state of Wyoming uses McREL's Teacher Evaluation System.

It assesses a teacher's performance as it relates to the Professional Teaching Standards.  These Professional Teaching Standards are the basis for teacher preparation, teacher evaluation, and professional development.  Each standard includes the skills and knowledge needed for 21st century teaching and learning.

Here is what is stated on their page:

A NEW VISION OF TEACHING

The different demands on 21st century education dictates new roles for teachers in their classrooms an schools.  These new roles reflect a deeper understanding about the content knowledge, skills, competencies, and outcomes that define a successful student in the 21st century.  Teachers must understand what comprises a 21st century education and how their practice must reflect the demands of the education in order to realize a new vision of teaching. 

These are the standards:

1. Teachers Demonstrate Leadership
2. Teachers Establish a Respectful Environment for a diverse population of students
3. Teachers Know the Content They Teach
4. Teachers Facilitate Learning for Their Students
5. Teachers Reflect on their practice

These are broken down with very detailed information for each. 

Teachers are rated as either: Developing, Proficient, Accomplished,or Distinguished

I found it extremely concerning at my end of the year evaluation, that my administrator chose not to give me a distinguished verses accomplished rating on the sub section of standard 4: 

Here is section f:

Standard 4 Section f states "Teachers help students work in teams and develop leadership qualities.  Teachers teach the importance of cooperation and collaboration. They organize learning teams in order to help students define roles, strengthen social ties, improve communication and collaborative skills, interact with people from different cultures and backgrounds, and develop leadership qualities."

My administrator mentioned she felt I needed to attend a particular training about collaborative teams she felt strongly about, before I could be marked higher.  We debated It back and forth a bit but of course it was her ultimate choice where to rate me. 

My concern after reflecting on this process,  is that this is truly about control, control of how and even what a teacher teaches.  Eventually, had I decided I would need to have a higher rating to keep my job I would need to take the training my administrator suggested, even if it was against my personal philosophy as a teacher. 

The fact that my administrator can come into my classroom a handful of times, if I'm lucky, even in a very small district and be able to give a TRUE evaluation of my teaching is ludicrous  .The majority of the teachers I speak with roll their eyes and just "jump through the hoops".  Test scores being tied into this is something that should wake more of us up!!  I am trying but teachers truly are either apathetic, or afraid of losing their job or see it as "just talk". 

Christy Hooley

Educational Cronyism - in Oklahoma?

Who's Really Responsible for 
Oklahoma's Educational Policies 
- Dr. Barresi or the 
Foundation for Educational Excellence? 

Last month, an article was written in the Washington Post by Valerie Strauss entitled, E-mails link Bush foundation, corporations and education officials. 

An organization called In The Public Interest, submitted Freedom of Information requests for emails between State Superintendents who are members of the Chiefs for Change and Jeb Bush's Foundation for Educational Excellence (FEE) out of Florida - the organization which developed and FUNDS the Chiefs.  Yes, I'm certain this was an effort for a liberal paper to grind their ax on conservatives and free enterprise and yes, ROPE has very little in common with the liberal perspective.  It is important to note, however, that there is a difference between 'free enterprise' and 'cronyism'.  NO taxpaying citizen should sit still for government by cronyism. 

Why do we bring this information to you?  Our state superintendent, Janet Barresi, is a Chief for Change.  Consequently, her emails were part of the FOI request.  This article and the associated emails make a clear and resounding case that our State Department of Education is being run by method of 'educational cronyism'.

There are a number of very interesting emails - some of them described here by this blogger - but all of them show how the run-of-the-mill voter/taxpayer has been cut out of educational policy in Oklahoma.

Unfortunately, the Governor's office is implicit in the described situation.  Here is an email in which Dr. Barresi is communicating directly with Katie Altschuler (a policy analyst in the Governor's office whom I have seen attend state education board meetings) about the key priorities of the C4C (parallel to Dr. Barresi's C3 initiative) policy produced by the Chiefs.  This indicates with little doubt that the Governor's interest also lies in creating education policy outside her state. 

Not only that, but please note the category on the C4C chart labeled, "Human Capital".  What?  We're now a Communist country where we turn school children into a proletariat - workers that represent only the capital their work can provide the ruling class and bourgeoisie?  Does that language not trouble anyone?  Frankly, this does fit into the current educational meme - that of Common Standards and leveling the playing field for every child.

Here is another email where Dr. Barresi's Assistant Superintendent Kari White is asking the Foundation for assistance in writing their NCLB Waiver (which ROPE and MANY others asked Dr. Barresi and Governor Fallin not to take - knowing the federal strings it would attach to Oklahoma).  She also mentions the C4C initiative (C3).

I could go continue obviously, but I needn't.  It is clear.  Dr. Barresi and Governor Fallin are quite apparently ushering federal control into Oklahoma schools through an organization working arm and arm with the Obama administration in order to capitalize on the federal level education reform being pushed through to states with money from the Stimulus.  Go figure.  We're being told these reforms - completely untested and NEVER studied by Oklahoma legislators like Senator Clark Jolley (also associated with this organization as noted in the story) who placed them into state law in order to get Race To the Top (stimulus) money, are necessary for education accountability, yet can't accountability be met at the local level by boards of education?

If you ever believed our State Superintendent and Governor had the best interests of Oklahoma school children in mind, I do hope you will read the story in the Post, the associated emails and other links provided here.  No, we will never know the hearts and minds of these elected officials and as such, can not ascribe motive, however, there is a large body of evidence now available that provides great insight into the impetus of their behaviors.

I will remind our readers here that ROPE approached Dr. Barresi a number of times early on in her tenure - after endorsing her for her post - with research we had completed on the Common Core.  We were summarily dismissed.  Sad isn't it?  Legitimate researcher/parents/taxpayers given ZERO time by either the Governor's office or the State Superintendent's office, because these elected officials prefer to get their marching orders from Jeb Bush?

If this information upsets you, ROPE URGES you to contact your legislator, your STATE school board member and your LOCAL school board member.  Let them know you do not appreciate the educational cronyism inherent in our state's educational system.  Let them know that Republicans stand for local control of education - not educational takeover of schools by the federal government through regulations to which we sign on in order to use programs developed by organizations in which the parties involved have some form of personal interest.

It is VERY important to seek out your STATE BOARD MEMBER.  It is interesting to ROPE that early on in her tenure, Dr. Barresi had the State Board members sign a 'contract' stating that they would not go against 'her' education 'reform' measures.  Why is this?  Because we would lose the NCLB Waiver Chiefs for Change helped her write.  So what?  Because inside the Waiver is the A-F grading system - again, which the FEE helped her write - that calls on State Superintendents to take over 'underperforming' schools.  Take school management away from a district?  Yes.  This is an excellent way for organizations benefiting from Race to the Top school 'reform' (such as FEE, Pearson and Achieve) to sell the state programs developed outside of the state to use on local schools.  How is this LOCAL?  How can this be good for Oklahoma children? 

It isn't, but it's great for private industry and makes perfect sense actually.  The business model goes something like this:  Will promote the current Presidential administration's educational policy through a non-profit entity dedicated to assisting state school superintendents in writing parallel educational policy and training them how to convince lawmakers to write this policy into state law, all while investing money in private sector companies that develop programs to be sold to the states to meet the educational programming needs generated by implementing state education policy law.  Wow.  Way to work out a revenue stream!  Too bad the fallout for all this happens to be local school boards and children.

Ohhh, but wait!  An organization inside Oklahoma is suggesting Oklahoma do away with local school boards entirely in order to make this transition to national education policy more seamless!  The Oklahoma Academy - a conglomeration of local elites/dignitaries (including Brian Bush of OCPA, Amy Ford of the State School Board, State Representatives Leslie Osborn and Scott Martin and former Representative Chris Benge) and the hand-picked 'regular' Oklahoman, have determined to "Abolish or Consolidate Current County Structure by 2032" (page 6).  For anyone who understands Agenda 21 and the push to globalize education, this is not hard to believe, but certainly a frustrating situation for anyone who lives in the REDDEST STATE IN THE UNION.

Though we will always believe in local control of education, we might not have been so resistant to Dr. Barresi's plans for Oklahoma education if red flags hadn't gone up immediately due to the fact that the law instituting the Race to the Top reforms she is using (SB2033) - teacher/leader effectiveness, Common Core, data collection, turnaround schools - was put into place in Oklahoma (like in other states) long before any of the reforms had been written, tested or peer-reviewed.  How do you create educational policy for an entire state without results from other states that you can use to extrapolate onto yours?  It's hard to get behind initiatives that reduce children to guinea pigs.  

It seems commonsensical then to wonder what came first - the ideas of how to make money off education reform, or the education reforms themselves?  Unfortunately for Oklahoma, the reforms Dr. Barresi has been embracing through the Obama administration and the FEE are failing all across the nation.  You have but to search "what's wrong with the Common Core State Standards" to see how rife with problems this initiative has become, as more and more states find the expense doesn't warrant the mediocrity of the standards.  Then there's the turnaround of failing schools that didn't even work in Chicago - birth place of our nation's superintendent Arne Duncan. The state databases have found to be overreaching and interfering with family privacy in large ways and here in Oklahoma (as in other states) the A-F grading system has been found to be completely invalid.

Often, those of us who pay attention to politics and governance are frustrated by our inability to effect change in the system.  Now we know why.  He with the gold makes the rules.  The only thing that can stop this situation is to wake up other citizens to the fact that their liberties - THEIR CHOICES - are being threatened daily by those who have self-interest at heart.  Please, don't take us at our word - go to the links, study the documents for yourselves.  If you agree with our position, TELL EVERYONE YOU CAN about what is going on right here in Oklahoma.  Our children - OUR STATE AND INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY - is much too precious to waste!



QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION: 

• Why would Republicans sign on to a Democratic education program so readily?  Many states with Republican governors have been fighting the Obama Administrations health care and immigration policies.
• Why would Republicans commit to such a program without knowing the costs to their state for such a program?
• Why would Republicans sign on to a program that ratchets up the national debt by redistributing stimulus funds to states that sign on?
• Why would Oklahoma continue to implement these education reforms when the state was not granted a Race to the Top grant to do so?  That automatically placed the burden of cost on the backs of the Oklahoma taxpayer.
• Why lock Oklahomans into educational programming (the Common Core and associated PARCC tests) similar to Medicare that, once established, will be extremely hard to dismantle?  Once state and local taxpayers (through bond issues) have paid millions of dollars to set up these programs, they're not going to want to pay more just to undo it all.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Washington Post.  E-mails link Bush foundation, corporations and education officials - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/30/e-mails-link-bush-foundation-corporations-and-education-officials/

Chiefs for Change - http://chiefsforchange.org/

Foundation for Educational Excellence - http://excelined.org/

Oklahoma Education Truths.  Jeb, FEE, and the SDE:  Why Enanglements Matter (Part Two)  Oklahoma Education Truths - http://okeducationtruths.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/jeb-fee-and-the-sde-why-entanglements-matter-part-two/

DocumentCloud.org - http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/560792-fwd-working-document-for-esea-waiver-call.html

C3 Initiative - http://www.ok.gov/sde/about/janet-barresi

Common Core State Standards - http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards

AFT.  Common Core Standards Will Level the Playing Field - http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/at/page4commoncoreqa.cfm 

DocumentCloud.org - http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/560838-re-esea-flexibility.html

Restore Oklahoma Public Education.  ESEA Reauthorization:  Does It Even Matter? http://restoreoklahomapubliceducation.blogspot.com/2012/01/esea-reauthorizationdoes-it-even-matter.html 

Oklahoma Education Truths. Jeb, FEE, and the SDE:  Why Enanglements Matter (Part One)  Oklahoma Education Truths - http://okeducationtruths.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/jeb-fee-and-the-sde-why-entanglements-matter-part-one

Restore Oklahoma Public Education.  Common Core State Standards and Race To The Top Flowchart.    http://www.scribd.com/doc/61537521/Common-Core-State-Standards-and-Race-To-The-Top-Flowchart

Restore Oklahoma Public Education. Common Core State Standards Presentation - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsNVv_iQDMM&feature=share&list=UUffrnW6WlGtduw0C7NXNWKg

OSDE.  Oklahoma State Board Members - http://ok.gov/sde/about/stateboard 

OSDE.  State Board Signs Resolution to Keep Education Reforms - http://www.scribd.com/doc/80408209/State-Board-Meeting-Passing-Resolution-To-Keep-Education-Reforms 

In The Public Interest.  NCLB Waiver Communications - http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/node/2745

Achieve.  Race to the Top - Low Performing Schools - http://www.achieve.org/files/RTTT-Low-PerformingSchools.pdf 

Foundation For Educational Excellence.  Foundation Center - http://foundationcenter.org/educationexcellence/kftf_schools.jhtml

Pearson.  Common Core Products - http://commoncore.pearsoned.com/

Achieve.  College and Career Ready Agenda -  http://achieve.org/college-and-career-ready-agenda

Oklahoma Academy - http://okacademy.org/ 

Oklahoma Academy - Abolish or Consolidate Current County Structure by 2032 - http://okacademy.org/PDFs/2012-IssueBriefs.pdf

Agenda 21 - Grinding Down America - http://www.amazon.com/Agenda-Grinding-America-Curtis-Bowers/dp/B003Z3CZGG 

UNESCO.  Education and Globalization.  http://www.iiep.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/apre98.pdf 

Restore Oklahoma Public Education. Education Accountabilty Must Originate Locally.  http://restoreoklahomapubliceducation.blogspot.com/2012/05/education-accountability-must-originate.html 

SB2033.  http://www.scribd.com/doc/93232739/Sb2033-Engrossed-Version-of-School-Reform-Bill

The Columbian.  Common Core Standards Aren't Really Very Common - http://www.columbian.com/weblogs/bob-dean-says/2010/oct/19/common-core-standards-arent-really-very-common/ 

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.  Smart Brief.  http://www.smartbrief.com/news/ascd/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=5F7A6C67-6CC8-4036-97F1-A5EF6ED15D49&copyid=6B53DF3A-6E23-49B9-B580-2B77D61637E9&brief=ascd&sb_code=rss&&campaign=rss&i=5F7A6C67-6CC8-4036-97F1-A5EF6ED15D49

Restore Oklahoma Public Education.  Government Cheese. School Bonds to Pay for Common Core Expenses.   http://restoreoklahomapubliceducation.blogspot.com/2013/01/government-cheese-school-bonds-to-pay.html 

EdWeek.  Spinning The Numbers on Turnaround Schools. http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/03/spinning_the_numbers_on_turnar.html?qs=chicago+schools+turnaround 

Restore Oklahoma Public Education.  How Much Data Is Enough Data.  http://www.scribd.com/doc/110458572/How-Much-Data-is-Enough-Data-What-happens-to-privacy-when-bureaucracies-exceed-their-scope 

Restore Oklahoma Public Education.  Oklahoma's A-F Grading System Gets an F.  http://restoreoklahomapubliceducation.blogspot.com/2013/01/oklahomas-f-grading-system-gets-f.htm