Is Your Private School Now A 'Non-Public' School? Sarah DeNeui - ROPE Report Short

Wednesday, June 5th, Broken Arrow resident and homeschooling mom, Sarah DeNeui, spoke with Michael and Jenni about the new "Office Of School Choice" that's been advertised in a press release by State Superintendent Ryan Walters. This is a sticky wicket. 

Mr. Walters worked for a privately-funded organization that championed school choice options. Why increase the size of government by taking over the job of a non-profit? Why can't that non-profit continue to do that job? 

That's one question. The next question came after Mrs. DeNeui spoke with her contact in Walter's office regarding the concerns she had about this office. The response she received, mentioned a new word - "non-public" education. 

Really, there are only two forms of education - private (paid for privately by parents) and public (any school that receives an appropriation from the state for education) - so where does "non-public" come in. We ask - and answer - that question in this video clip from the live video which can be found under the heading of "live" videos on our YouTube channel or on our Rumble channel.

You'll want to watch this video whether or not you have your child/children in private schools - especially if you're concerned about government overreach and federal intervention in local education.

Is SB1647 (Education Voucher) Now Only For Homeschooling Families? An Analysis.

 

Often, it takes hours to really read a bill because it's important to look up associated laws and terms that may not be obvious to the reader. Then it requires reading passages over and over and comparing them to other passages to make sure of context. Truly, to do it right, each bill requires a substantial time investment to read properly. And to think - legislators must read hundreds of bills during just one half  of session alone...

Government Take-Over in Invented Emergencies (SB1647 - The Oklahoma Empowerment Account Program)

A guest post by Emily Hladik (bio below)

The Problems With "School Choice"

Every legislative session in Oklahoma, the topic of "School Choice" rears its head. People become "School Choice" advocates because they believe the concept will put parents back in the driver's seat for their children's education. But what does the term "School Choice" actually mean?

ROPE - Restore Oklahoma Public Education Becomes ROPE 2.0 - Reclaim Oklahoma Parent Empowerment Effective 11/2/15

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

11/2/15

Effective immediately, ROPE - Restore Oklahoma Public Education - will become ROPE2.0 - Reclaiming Oklahoma Parent Empowerment.

Though Restore Oklahoma Public Education has worked diligently to tutor Oklahoma parents and taxpayers about how issues such as the Common Core State Standards and threats to Student Privacy effect students using public education since its inception in 2010, its mission field has shifted markedly in the last several years.

Under The Influence: Your private school could be using Common Core!

Perhaps you didn't know that many Catholic dioceses adopted Common Core as the standards for their schools.  It's true.  It's also true there has been significant push back among Catholic school parents against this initiative.

This is happening in Oklahoma to be sure, but what about other private schools?

One of the most insidious things about Common Core is the change in the way mathematics is taught.  This particular issue has been addressed to the nth degree among bloggers and mainstream journalists alike.  All one has to do is internet search the term "Common Core math" to get pages of dialogue on the topic.  In addition, I researched the genesis of the Common Core math and found that there is definitely a reason for concern.

One of the most concerning arguments about this particular situation was expressed recently by Erick Erickson of RedState.  He says:

The math does not make sense to the children and the math does not make sense to the parent. Kids are taught multiple ways to add totals together, must still add the totals correctly, but then must explain their answers — often having to write essays for math problems.

The best answer common core supporters have is to literally produce studies claiming that kids whose parents do not help them with homework will, over the long term, out perform kids whose parents do help them.

I am not kidding. That is their defense.

So imagine I was NOT surprised when I received the following letter from a friend whose child is in a private school here in Oklahoma.

I am unfortunately colored by my experience as an unwilling participant in some Everyday Math adoptions where it is being used exactly as envisioned by the authors... As I am wont to say, "one-size fits 60 million."

OKCPS, for example, ended up spending more in supplemental curriculum to support Everyday Math than it did on the original material and teacher training, not including the tutoring support OKSDE bought in bulk for frontline support (a $400k no-bid contract). I saw that repeated at a lot of other places too, plus one of the country's pioneering elementary STEM programs essentially re-silo-izing math out of its superb integrated curriculum. Tragic. Bottom line, though, is that I have yet to see any institution with outcomes even approaching the level of investment made in Common Core-aligned instruction! Exponentially tragic. I understand and support the goal of developing deeper understanding of concepts, particularly the "why" behind an algorithm. Youth coaching rule #1: You can teach a kid how to block and who to block, but until he understands why it's important and how it fits in the overall play, he's probably not going to be very good at it.

My bone with Everyday Math is that it's not very good at that approach. Generally speaking, it has a tendency to introduce the underlying logic of a algorithm in a vacuum, before the concept is covered, and only tenuously tie the underlying logic back to the applied algorithm. It's something akin to teaching a kid the Magnus effect before you train him how to throw a ball. 

Because of the way Everyday Math is written, it dovetails beautifully with the Common Core.  McGraw Hill is even proud to point that out.  In fact, they have a page on their website devoted to detailing how well Everyday Math performs with Common Core for each state - including Oklahoma.  To understand this connection fully, you'll probably need to see the video linked above detailing the document that founded Common Core math, but trust me, the connection is quite brilliant.

Here are the biggest problems:

1. Everyday Math stinks on ice.  Reviewer after reviewer will tell you this, outlining in specifics Erick Erickson's portrayal of the dismal reality at dining room tables all over the nation.
2. Because Everyday Math dovetails so well with the ridiculous Common Core math standards, it has been adopted by school after school after school in order to support the Common Core State Standards - including PRIVATE SCHOOLS.

So, if you thought, "Heck, my kids go to a private school, I don't need to worry about Common Core", you'd be wrong.  Please get in the fight and help us kill Common Core in Oklahoma today!  Contact your House and Senate member and tell them 1.  No Common Core while we're re-writing standards and 2.  No Common Core testing ever.

Jeb Bush's Common Core Valentine

I received an email forward from an Oklahoma legislator today that took me aback a bit I must say.  This email was apparently sent to at least some Oklahoma legislators from the Foundation for Educational Excellence (FEE) - established and run by Jeb Bush out of Florida - in support of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), called "Debunking Common Core State Standards Myths". 

Recent evidence shows our State Superintendent, Janet Barresi (a member of the Chiefs for Change, an offshoot of the FEE) and Governor Fallin have been utilizing the FEE to write educational 'reform' measures for use here in Oklahoma.  I just recently wrote about that phenomena and the ramifications for our state. 

It's a bit disconcerting to realize that Oklahoma taxpayers are paying to have Florida reforms instituted in Oklahoma, wresting control away from local school boards.  I didn't know our states were enough alike to be able to sustain the same education policies.  Does that mean Oklahoma will get beachfront property too?

Although ROPE has been working for years to educate Oklahomans about the Common Core State Standards, and welcomes any chance to discuss them, I wondered why in the world this email would come out today.  A Common Core Valentine perhaps? 

Then I was sent this story, "Lawmakers, commissioner sow seeds to delay Common Core in Florida", written this morning (2/14).  The article expounds on the growing fears states are having about the Common Core - particularly the expense.  It even mentions the growing number of states attempting to jump ship on the CCSS (Indiana, Utah, Alabama, Missouri, Idaho, Colorado, Kansas...).  In fact, Indiana's State Superintendent, Tony Bennett - a Chief for Change - could not win re-election last November and was ousted from his post by a relative unknown due specifically to the contentious FEE education 'reforms' (including Common Core) being attempted there.  It appears the FEE "doth protest too much".

There was no trackback link to the email, so there's no way to post the email here.  I did, however, copy and paste the body into a Word document that I was able to PDF.  I posted that on our Scribd account so you could see it for yourself.

Here are some thoughts on the email:

- The first 'article' is an opinion piece from, you guessed it, The FEE.  Take a look at the comments - none of which are in favor of CCSS.

- The second is an article from EdWeek and reports the numbers of schools expecting to roll out the CCSS in 2014 based upon a survey.  The survey was provided by the Council of Great City Schools, a private membership organization housing a 'Common Core State Standards Project' funded by the Bill Gates Foundation (a consistent underwriter of CCSS and other RTT reforms).  Thirty-six urban schools completed the survey.  This is called, "Fallacy of Small Sample".  It sounds great that 87% of schools are ready to roll out the CCSS in 2014 until you find out that only 36 schools out of the 45 states adopting the CCSS were sampled.

- The next article is from the blog of an endowed professor of 'education reform' at the University of Arkansas, Jay Greene.  The guest-poster here is Matthew Ladner, a Senior Advisor of Policy and Research for the FEE!  (PS:  I found this out because many of the emails between the FEE and Barresi had Mr. Ladner included as a recipient).  I'm certain this is the reason he absolutely excoriates Michelle Malkin for daring to link the standards to President Obama (The CCSS were instituted across the nation through his Race to the Top grant, so how do you not do just that?).  You know us conservative types, though, we're EXTREMISTS! 

Wasn't it Saul Alinsky that invented the tactic of marginalizing the enemy through name-calling?  So Ladner's calling plays from the quintessential Communist playbook?  Of note as well, Ladner tries to cite Kentucky NAEP scores as indicative of the increased effectiveness of the CCSS in the state of Kentucky but then gets educated in the comments section by Richard Innes, Staff Education Analyst, Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions in Kentucky, that he's using the wrong figures, thereby reducing Matt's so called CCSS 'effects'. 

- Why they included the next article from EdWeek, I have no idea because it talks about the confusion inherent in the CCSS English Standards.  Though they don't talk about the standards themselves - just the confusion over how much fiction vs non-fiction reading will be required - the simple acknowledgement of the confusion surrounding the CCSS is less than a ringing endorsement of the Core.  Again in this instance, the comments are all over the place with very few camped out in the CCSS field.

- The next article discusses the Common Core tests.  It takes the time to cover both views, so I will give that one to the FEE.  I do think it important to note that one of the issues of concern in the article surround the costs of the tests.  This has been a concern for us as well.  Sadly, the powers that be in Oklahoma have not found it necessary to worry about that, I guess.  There has yet to be even a single hearing on the possible costs relating to testing of the CCSS.

- Next come two comments from teachers in Florida speaking well of the CCSS.  Funny, but there are two Oklahoma teachers right now I could call who would say exactly the opposite.  In fact, we've talked to teachers across the state (few of whom will come out of the shadows to be identified for fear of reprisal and loss of their jobs) who have told us they are going to retire just to get away from the recent 'education reforms' including the Core.  It's just too hard for them to teach effectively anymore and it's definitely no fun.

- Next comes a whole section of business leaders who are supporting the Common Core.  This always perplexes me.  How in the world have Republicans come to the conclusion that children should be educated for the 'workforce'?  How do you even begin to think of calling CHILDREN Human Capital?  Are we now a Communist country where we turn school children into a proletariat - workers that represent only the capital their future work can provide the ruling class and bourgeoisie?  In fact, the greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce says, "Strong public schools provide quality educations for our children, as well as prepare a qualified workforce for our city's future."  No.  The object of education is not to prepare a child for the workforce, but to prepare a child to do anything they desire in life because they are prepared for anything.  That's the job of a classical education model and we're national debt miles away from that with our current Jeb Bush plan.

In closing:

The CCSS have never been state-led.  The initiative was designed from the outset to be a set of national standards that would not be directly labeled as such to avoid violating federal law.  Individual private groups (the NGA and the CCSSO) facilitated the writing of the standards, and the Obama Administration pushed them to cash-strapped states by offering buckets of stimulus funds (RTT).  The NGA and CCSSO developed alliances with gigantic book publishers (Pearson), suppliers of CCSS materials (Achieve) to cover the needs of states for CCSS materials and the Gates Foundation to provide software and bribe money to organizations (ALEC) to help facilitate their use and moved one of the architects of the standards into position to become president of the college board where he could align the most widely-used college admissions test (ACT) to the CCSS.  Finally, the Obama Administration offered NCLB Waivers for states implementing the CCSS and their idea of an A-F system of 'accountability' specifically for the CCSS.  C'est voila!  All Oklahoma schools (including charter schools) must now teach the CCSS because they must take the expensive PARCC (state) tests that assess them.  If students make poor grades on the PARCC tests, school A-F scores could drop to the D or F category, causing the State Department of Ed to take over the school.  Smaller textbook companies must align with the CCSS or lose market share, causing the textbook market for home schools to contract.  Even private schools are now beginning to use the CCSS in order to keep their student's ACT scores from falling.

Where's the choice in education Republicans keep touting?  Where's the ability to excel above "common"?  What about local control?

We can argue about 20 ways to Sunday about the CCSS and do it all day long, but in the end, Oklahomans want to control the destinies of their children through their own local public school boards, home or private schools.  The CCSS is not Oklahoman.  The CCSS is not local.  The CCSS does not provide choice in education to Oklahoma families.

The following national organizations agree with this assessment and have come out against the Common Core State Standards:

The Heritage Foundation

The Goldwater Institute

The Friedman Foundation

The Pioneer Institute

The Eagle Forum

CATO Institute

Home School Legal Defense Association

Reclaiming America for Christ

The Truth in American Education website has a very long list of organizations against the Common Core.

Another long list of organizations and individuals (including Michael Carnuccio and Brandon Dutcher of OCPA) signed a statement entitled Closing the Door on Innovation.

In Oklahoma:

Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC)

Edmond Republican Women

Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ

Patriot Pastors

OK-SAFE

Sons and Daughters of Liberty

OKC912Project

Osage County Republicans

Canadian County Republicans
Tulsa912Project

among others; as well as individual signers.

Every Oklahoman wants our children to excel in their educations.  Every Oklahoman wants educational standards to allow them to do just that.  Oklahomans are a smart lot - we can create those locally, here in Oklahoma, with Oklahoma talent and Oklahoma creativity!  We just need to be free to do it!

ROPE fervently hopes and prays our Superintendent and others would begin to immediately think logically and seriously about getting Oklahoma out of the CCSS - before it becomes Oklahoma's own version of MediCare. 

 


PS:  For another good article on the Common Core, see - Five Questions To Ask About The Common Core by Yong Zhao

School Choice? What's That?

This week is School Choice Week across the nation.  For a number of years now, Republican-based organizations from Heritage Foundation to Friedman Foundation to our own OCPA, have been calling for School Choice. 

We here at ROPE believe that parental choice is of ULTIMATE importance in the creation of education that works for students and families.  Gone should be the days in which children are locked into districts whose Board of Educations are NOT responsive to the needs of their students and parents.

After much study, however, we also believe that until the COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS (CCSS) are removed from the states that have adopted them (including OKLAHOMA) THERE CAN BE NO CHOICE IN EDUCATION!  In fact, there is no way Choice and the CCSS can exist simultaneously. 

Why would you, as a parent, move your child from one school to another when the same COMMON standards shape the curriculum at EVERY school in the district or city?  Yes, one school may have a better teaching staff, or one might be perceived to be 'safer', but if the teaching curricula of all schools are derived from the same COMMON standards, how can one school produce a more exceptional student than another?  How can schools in states who have adopted the CCSS really differentiate themselves one from another when the basis of all educational knowledge is derived from the same COMMON standards?  Where is the ability for any school to create a student that excels beyond what is "common"?

Sadly, it's not simply government schools that are effected by the COMMON CORE phenomena.

Did you know that private schools and charter schools are turning to Common Core so they will have books to use that contain "COMMON" curricula developed for the standards so private school students will have the same advantage as government school kids on tests such as ACT - which are being shaped to match the standards?  

Many large textbook companies like Pearson, threw their lot in with the Council of Chief State School Officers (a private national association) and the National Governor's Association (also a private association to which NOT all governors belong) to create and insinuate the CCSS in American government schools.  The free market is wonderful, but in this case, textbook companies with smaller market share are forced to mold their materials to the CCSS or lose business to those companies producing CCSS-aligned texts.

This also works with education retailers.  Did you know that companies who sell to the home school market, like Mardel, are selling Common Core materials?

Not only that, but what if home school students are forced to test to the Common Core as they are implemented across states?  What if universities will no longer take transcripts of home school students if they haven't been taught using the COMMON standards or they haven't taken the CCSS standardized tests?  In fact, the Home School Legal Defense Association has condemned the CCSS for these and other reasons.

In closing, why follow blindly behind School Choice advocates when there is really NO CHOICE in education as long as states are perpetuating the CCSS? 

It is important - no necessary - to make sure Republicans pushing these Obama/Duncan overreaching education reforms understand that parents understand the issue of Core vs Choice.  Let's let legislators, the media and School Choice advocates know we will NOT raise COMMON children here in Oklahoma and that Common Core is NOT OK!

 

Every child deserves better than a COMMON education!