Setting the Record Straight On Janet Barresi - OK Supt. Of Public Schools

During the local KFOR-TV show, FlashPoint (approx. minute 2) which aired on Father's Day, Dr. Barresi clearly uses me personally (Jenni White) as a pawn in her political game of tall tale telling by explaining to the audience that she has met with me/us (ROPE) to hear our concerns.  This made me angry enough to respond.  In the following blog, you will find the history of Jenni/ROPE and Superintendent Janet Barresi.  I hope you will come away with a clear understanding of why ROPE could never support her as State Superintendent again.

In the spring of 1999, I accepted a job at Independence Charter Middle school teaching 7th grade science on the same team where my mother taught 7th grade English.  Dr. Barresi had created the school and maintained a supervisory capacity, having worked very hard to create an environment where students (including her two sons) would be provided a rigorous curricula (we used E.D. Hirsch's Core Knowledge curriculum - not Common Core) and parents would be accountable for their children's behavior.

By the time we left in 2002 (my mother formally retired after decades of teaching and I left to stay home with our first son), we believed our voices no longer appreciated in the present and future plans of Independence.  Nevertheless, I was impressed Dr. Barresi could work so hard and organize so well as to create an entire school.  ROPE fully backed Dr. Barresi believing she could provide the accountability our former Superintendent had not seemed to do.  I personally staked out campaign signs, wrote blogs, marched in parades and spoke across the state to help Dr. Barresi's campaign for election.

My thought process changed immediately after Dr. Barresi won her election and by December 2011, I had written the following blog,  Marveling at The Nuclear Fallout Of Partisan Politics.  I urge you to read this post.  It details how Dr. Barresi used partisan politics and her friendship with Governor Mary Fallin to create a situation in which she could gain complete control over the Department of Education - neutering the State Board.  

Here are specific reasons ROPE will NOT support Dr. Barresi again:

1. The week (or so) after her election in November 2010, I was granted an appointment with Dr. Barresi at her campaign headquarters.  At that time, I told we needed her help to stop Common Core.  In a very domineering tone, she told me she was moving forward with Common Core (begun under DEMOCRAT Brad Henry).  I shouldn't worry because she could "control it".  She would control the Feds.
2. Though I tried to engage her via email, continuing to make my case against Common Core - even after she took office - I got the same 'assurances' for a few exchanges and then no further correspondence.
3. In 2011, Representative Sally Kern wrote the first bill to stop Common Core in Oklahoma, which was blocked by both the Senate and House Education Committees.  ROPE engaged in a letter writing campaign to Dr. Barresi asking her to help give the bill a hearing.  In attempt to solicit the superintendent's aid, Representative Kern made an appointment to see Dr. Barresi and took me along because she had not responded to my requests for a meeting.  I clearly remember sitting across her desk from her as she gestured to her computer screen and said with great exasperation, "Why are you having these people email me? You are not even giving them correct information. They don't even know what they're talking about."  That was followed by further assurances she had it covered - she knew what she was doing when it came to implementing Common Core.
4. That fall (2011) Representative Kern was allowed an Interim Study on the Common Core.  She asked ROPE and Lindsay Burke of the Heritage Foundation to speak.  Dr. Barresi and a Senator from Arizona were allowed to speak following our presentations.  As she took the microphone, the first words out of her mouth were, "We are all entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts."  A clear insult aimed at moms - moms with advanced degrees there on their own dime and their own time.
5. Dr. Barresi was asked to refute our comments to the Interim Committee after the 2011 study.  Representative Kern had to ask repeatedly for the response. 

Since that time, there have been continuing efforts to belittle our organization and demean mothers and others interested in public education, making nearly every battle partisan - as though she personally represents every Republican in the state and we all want exactly what she wants.  While Joel Robison, Barresi's Chief of Staff, has made several attempts to stay in contact over the last several years, Dr. Barresi herself has gone out of her way NOT to.

1. During the March 2013 Board Meeting, several of us went to speak against the A-F grading system. I was cut off rudely though I was finishing a sentence.
2. During the June 2013 Board Meeting, we were told we couldn't speak at all - we were not even allowed our 3 minutes because we wanted to address the board on Common Core and it wasn't on the agenda - though Common Core testing was addressed in the meeting.
3. During the July 2013 Board Meeting, I began to give my thoughts on Common Core and Dr. Barresi left the room.
4. During the August 2013 Common Core Forum in Tulsa, Dr. Barresi stopped taking questions as soon as I got to the mic. 
5. Dr. Barresi has had any number of times made available to her in which to debate me if she had really wanted to 'listen' or engage our concerns.  She has never taken one.   True, there are scheduling issues, but if she really wanted to debate me, she could have made time in four years to do it.

In closing I would like to create a list of reasons why ROPE asks you to vote AGAINST Dr. Barresi June 24th.*

• Though seemingly determined to frame every argument about education in a partisan issue where she is a "conservative" and everyone who does not agree with her is a "liberal":

• Barresi determined to push the CCSS - originally enacted by Democrat Governor Brad Henry, embraced by Sandy Garret, the previous Democratic Superintendent and utilized by the Obama Administration via no less than three separate federal programs

• Hires John Kraman - a previous employee of Achieve (the offspring organization of parent National Centers on Education and the Economy started by known liberal Marc Tucker - which produced "Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring US Students Receive a World-class Education" - the precursor to the CCSS), further cementing into place a 'liberal' agenda

• Hires Joel Robison, former chief lobbyist for the Oklahoma Education Association - the organization Barresi touts as "liberal"

• Actively, personally fought allowing parents to voluntarily put their kids into kindergarten two months later in the year. Barresi fought such a change based on the perennial liberal argument that such legislation, "would discriminate against low-income families 

• Chose to remove a $5,000 per year stipend for teachers with National Board Certification while allotting 10 million dollars for pre-k programming to be matched with a grant from the very liberal Kaiser Family Foundation 

• Though telling voters she wants the federal government out of education, Barresi has applied for no less than 3 major (and administers many others such as the 21st Century Skills grants) federal programs including, No Child Left Behind Waiver, Race To The Top Early Childhood Grant and State Longitudinal Database Grant.

• Joins Jeb Bush's group Chiefs For Change from his Foundation for Educational Excellence. The Chiefs for Change has published their manifesto of what they want seen in the re-authorization of the ESEA. Please note how it is nearly exclusively dictating MORE federal control.

• Instead of working with parents, has fought parents

• Fought changes to the Reading Sufficiency Act that would bring parents into the graduation decision from 3rd to 4th grady by saying,  "It is unconscionable that anyone would think it’s too much to ask that a school teach a child to read", implying that government knew better than parents as to whether a child was prepared to read. 

• During the End of Instruction Exam appeals in 2012, Dr. Barresi opened the private records of those students requesting an appeal to public scrutiny over the State Department of Education's website.  In addition, the entire EOI process - Dr. Barresi's requested legislation - cuts out the role of parent, reducing graduation from high school to a series of tests.

• Made excuses for her Chief of Staff, Jennifer Carter, calling superintendents in Union and Jenks, "dirtbags". Carter, though possessing no experience in classroom education on any level, was instrumental in state Department of Education budgetary issues such as the removal of National Board Certification as alleged by the Oklahoma Truth Council.

Honestly and sadly, I could go on.  I feel like one of the Founding Fathers enumerating the various acts of tyranny by King George.  No public official is 'perfect'.  That's not the issue.  The issue here is, does the candidate respect the authority of those she serves?  In this case, I believe the facts show the answer to be NO.  

*Though ROPE can not endorse candidates for public office or support their campaigns, I personally will be voting for Joy Hoffmeister for State Superintendent on June 24th.

Oklahoma Politics and The Common Core - Part 1

As we approach this upcoming legislative season, we must have a basic understanding of the Oklahoma political waters if we are to understand the possibility of repealing Common Core.


First, let's review the political landscape:
Saturday, January 18, 2014, the Oklahoma GOP State Committee adopted a resolution against Common Core, which included a direction to Floor Leaders of both the House and Senate to schedule any Common Core bills that pass committee for legislative hearing.  Though the National Republican Committee passed a similar resolution and the Oklahoma GOP includes their disdain of the Common Core in their platform, grassroots Republicans, tired of having their protestations appear to fall on deaf ears, packed the Committee meeting until there was standing room only, simply for a chance to make their voices heard on the issue by the majority party.

GOVERNOR FALLIN

• Governor Fallin is head of the National Governor's Association (NGA).  The NGA is partnered with every other private organization funded by the Bill Gates Foundation (CCSSO, Achieve, The National Chamber of Commerce).

• Governor Fallin has her OWN initiative as the NGA Chairman - America Works: Education and Training for Tomorrow's Jobs - which resurrects the School-to-Work model of educating children for jobs.

• Though Fallin produced an Executive Order (2013-40) which addressed Common Core, the document merely served to notify Oklahomans of her resolve to continue use of the Common Core, while offering little more than platitudes to constituents concerned about protection from Federal strings and student data collection.

• According to Pat McGuigan, longtime Oklahoma journalist, Mary Fallin has a 70% approval rating.

• According to Follow The Money, Fallin raised over 4 million dollars for her campaign against Jeri Askins in 2010 and has a bit over 2 million now.  With her new powerful out of state friends (not including her top in state donors, Chesapeake and Devon), her war chest will be amazing.

• Fallin has no Democratic challenger currently, but she does have a PRIMARY Challenger in Randy Brogdon who fought her in 2010, leaving Fallin with 55% of the vote.

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE T.W. SHANNON

• T.W. Shannon has been the go-to cover boy of nearly every Oklahoma organizational magazine since his election by the House last year, lauded by FOX news and Red State as Oklahoma's "Rising Political Star".

• Landing a speaker birth at CPAC in 2013, fairly well cast in stone T.W.'s meteoric rise as a public figure.

• Though Representative Gus Blackwell had every reason to believe T.W. Shannon would allow a hearing of his early-in-session-2013 bill requesting a task force to study the costs of the Common Core after it sailed through Committee without a single 'no' vote, the bill was not allowed to move to the Floor Calendar Committee.  Later, Shannon allowed Representative Blackwell a House Interim Study that took on all aspects of the Common Core.

• Though early in his tenure Speaker Shannon appeared to ride the rapids of Common Core, he suddenly overturned his kayak and began to swim upstream, Tweeting out and Facebooking messages that pointed to 'federal intrusion' with Common Core and the idea that he was not very comfortable with the initiative after all.

• Late in the session (2013), Shannon worked with Representative Dennis Casey to add anti-Common Core language to a House bill headed for the Senate Budget Committee, over which State Senator Clark Jolley presides. Unfortunately, the actual language of this addition was never made public, and there was some confusion regarding the actual bill to which it was attached.  

SENATE PRESIDENT PRO TEMP BRIAN BINGMAN

• Senator Bingman makes his living in oil and gas.

• Senator Bingman was elected in 2006.  This means he was a senator under the leadership of a Democratic governor while part of a Republican legislative majority.  One could possibly assume a posture of loyalty to current Republican leadership

• Last year, Bingman told Pat McGuigan at Capitol Beat - when asked about the intensity of the fight in the House against the initiative, "The discussion on Common Core has been more ‘elevated’ than in the Senate.” Bingman noted that Senate Education Chairman John Ford supports the Common Core. However, he added, “There are some concerns about implementation and costs.” 

• Recently, at a Chamber of Commerce sponsored legislative breakfast (1/13/2013) Senator Bingman told the crowd that, although he was for Common Core, he didn't want the federal government intervening in the standards.

THE OKLAHOMA HOUSE

• We have worked with House members since 2010 and have some good relationships there.

• Many House members - after initially knowing little to nothing about Common Core like an overwhelming majority of legislators all over the country that passed them into law or school code - have become very well-educated on the topic over the years.

• Currently, there appears to be significant support for overturning the measure within this body.

• Representative Ann Coody is still the head of the Common Education Committee.  A bill to repeal the Common Core was filed in the House by Representative Sally Kern in 2011.  Chairman Coody refused to hear it in Common Ed.  Since it wasn't heard, Rep. Kern re-filed the bill in 2012.  AGAIN Rep. Coody refused to allow the bill a hearing, this time saying that since Senator John Ford wouldn't hear it in the Senate Education Committee, there was no reason for her to hear the bill either.

• We can only hope Coody has been enlightened by the number of phone calls this past summer/fall telling her exactly what we've told her the past 3 years.  Will she have been 'enlightened' enough to be willing to at least grant Common Core bills a hearing in her committee?

THE OKLAHOMA SENATE

• We have not worked with members of the Senate as we have with members of the House.  We know most all senators at some level, but we have really good relationships with a much smaller percentage.

• Several Senators can be key here this year.  Senator David Holt (he used to be my senator but is still Lynn's) has always been good to hear us on this issue and take time to discuss our thoughts.  He is on the Education Committee.  Senator Ron Sharp (now my Senator) is also on the Education Committee and, as a former educator, is very much against the Common Core.

• Several influential senators can also be key for proponents.  Though both are term limited, Senator Clark Jolley (head of the Senate Appropriations Committee) and Senator John Ford (head of the Senate Education Committee) are both extremely loyal to both Governor Fallin and State Superintendent Janet Barresi and have both echoed their support for the Common Core on a regular basis - no matter constituent calls to the contrary.  

• Senator Jolley has been heard saying that anyone opposed to Common Core is "smoking crack" and Common Core opponents believe "Obama wrote the Common Core on the grassy knoll".  

• Senator Ford has been credited with saying - even before start of the 2014 session - that he will refuse a hearing for any Common Core bills in the Education Committee.  This is nothing new.  He was extremely vocal about Kern's bill in both 2011 and 2012, saying that, even if the bill should pass a floor vote, he would NEVER hear them in his Committee.

• Dr. Everett Piper, President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University (ranked as #8 by US News and World Report for western regional colleges) has been extremely vocal about his desire to see Common Core go the way of the Dodo.  Oklahoma Wesleyan sits directly in Senator Ford's back yard. 

STATE SUPERINTENDENT JANET BARRESI

• After a first term marked by obfuscation of facts, name-calling, finger-pointing, and an administrative style to rival that of Ho Chi Minh, Dr. Barresi has frustrated, angered and disappointed administrators, teachers and parents alike.  

• Currently, Dr. Barresi has at least 2 primary challenges and 5 or so Democratic opponents.

• Many of the legislators that saw her (the first REPUBLICAN to sit in the Superintendent's seat for 20 years) as the Perseus of the education community, have been so disappointed in her 'reign' that 20 of them have thrown their support behind Republican challenger Joy Hoffmeister.

• Though frequently flaunting her position as a Chief For Change in Jeb Bush's Foundation for Educational Excellence (FEE), an investigation by the Washington Post revealed that Dr. Barresi stamped her name to numerous Oklahoma education 'reform' measures actually written within the FEE in Florida.

So, what does all this mean?  How can we make sense of all this information? I'll get down to brass tacks in Part 2! 

Mary Fallin is 100% Behind Common Core and "it is here to stay!" What Say YOU?

Julia and Lynn and I have often complained of the number of times we have sought a meeting with OUR Governor - Mary Fallin - in order to speak to her about Common Core.  In nearly four years, we've never been 'granted audience'.  We're the only non-profit, mom-centered, education watchdog in the entire state.  You'd think that would mean something, but no.  It seems as though parents who disagree with our Governor (and several other of our elected Republicans) are simply ignored - until election time - that certainly has been my personal experience with our Governor.

It appears, however, that we're not the only ones to find this out.  Following, is the re-telling of an experience one woman had with the Governor's office.  The daughter goes to my church (Fairview Baptist in Edmond - probably another reason we're not heard!) and shared this with me last Sunday:

Jenni, As I was telling you yesterday (10/27/13), my mother called Mary Fallin's office on Wednesday about Common Core & was told she would have to talk to a man named Shawn.  She left a message for him to call her back. He had not called back by Thursday afternoon, & again told them she was calling about Common Core, again the lady told her that she would have to talk to Shawn, that he was in his office & that she would put my mother through to his office, again he did not answer his phone, she left another message, appx 1 hour later he had not called back, so my mom called again, & ask the lady, I thought you said Shawn was in his office, the lady said he was, put my mother on hold, came back in a little bit and told her that Shawn would be calling her back in the next 30 min. Shawn did call back and jumped all over my mother about jumping on the lady at the front desk, when all my mother had done was (ask her if) Shawn was in his office. Then he proceeded to tell my mother that nothing had changed since her call in April, that Common Core had been voted on by the Oklahoma Legislature, that they had been putting it in for the last 2 years, & that Mary Fallin was behind it 100%, that she wanted it and it was here to stay. And that he didn't care who my mother told what Mary Fallin was all for , that it was here to stay, that that information was out there all over the network. I think that once they get Common Core fully into all the schools, next they will start coming into Homeschooler's to demand testing those students, if they don't meet the requirements then they will have to go to governments schools. They DO NOT want any children to to independent or Christian. Thank you, Sandra Vallance.

Here's another accounting from one of my great friends in the Enid area, Mark Irwin of the Sons and Daughters of Liberty:

Governor Fallin held a “meet and greet” here in Enid last Thursday(Oct 24^th) prior to a fundraiser event.  The Governor made 10-15 minutes of remarks on the successes of her administration and recruited for assistance with her re-election campaign.  This was followed by an impromptu questions and answers session.  Here are my recollections of the session:

The first question asked of the Governor was regarding Nullification Bills in the last session of the Legislature.  The questioner pointed out that significant money was raised in the Enid area in support of Nullification ,  primarily from the Governor’s donor base and the effort hit a stone wall in the Senate due to the Chairmen of several committees refusing to hear the bills.  The questioner said she was concerned about the country and felt that the States were the only hope for reigning in Washington.  The Governor replied that the State had petitioned for and received a waiver on one of the Federal grants for education as I recollect and that she was working to gain more latitude for the State to run or comply with Federal programs, but at the end of the day “Federal law is superior to State law”.

The second questioner thanked Governor Fallin for not implementing the State Health Care Exchange, pointed out that the Federal Government was out of control, broke beyond any hope of honestly meeting its obligations, militant abroad and becoming increasing tyrannical at home and that it did not have authority for most of its actions.   In regards to the Governor’s statement about Federal law being superior to State law the questioner challenged that assumption on the grounds that only those Federal laws made in “pursuance to the Constitution” were the law of the land and that we can’t  count on the Federal courts to enforce the Constitution.  He said that it was his opinion that the primary job of the Governor was to protect the Liberties of the citizens of Oklahoma and asked for her thoughts on the subject.   The Governor’s response was fairly long, but basically she said she is a supporter of States Rights and that the State was taking action against Federal overreach and referenced AG Pruitt’s work in the Federal courts.  Governor Fallin acknowledged that the Federal courts don’t always get it right, but we would have to wait and see what the Federal courts decided.

The third questioner asked about reducing State overhead and expenditures, the Governor’s commitment to not expand Medicaid,  and emphasized that the Governor was the only protection the individual citizen has between them and the Federal government.  The questioner also stated that he felt the State should be very wary of taking Federal Funds due to the regulations that always seem to come with them.  Governor Fallin outlined her administrations streamlining of its agencies, inventorying of State property and structures with the idea of selling off excess, and the conversion of State vehicles to CNG fuel as well as a reduction in the number of those vehicles.  The Governor said unequivocally that she would not expand Medicaid.

The fourth questioner asked the Governor if she thought  a State could Nullify an unconstitutional law.  She answered yes, if it was approved by the SCOTUS.  The questioner then asked where in the Constitution does it say that SCOTUS is the final authority on which laws are constitutional.  Governor Fallin replied that she didn’t have her copy of the Constitution with her.  The questioner said that was ok because nowhere in the Constitution does it grant this authority to SCOTUS.  The Governor said she wanted to make sure any actions of the State were legal and that it was her job to enforce the laws.  The questioner replied “exactly”.

At this point the Governor’s aid jumped in and said that it was time to go to their next event which was the fundraiser.  The Governor said her goodbyes, shook hands with most of those in attendance and departed.  I did not attend the fundraiser, but talked with someone that I personally know who did.  He said that a question regarding Nullification/State resistance to Federal laws was asked of the Governor during the event and she replied with words to the effect that the people asking these types of questions are on the “Libertarian faction of the party”.

So, anyone who happens to maintain a Republican voter registration, but actually wants to move the party back to the Reagan Republican years is a LIBERTARIAN?  Really, who cares whether you're a Libertarian or a registered Republican - my kids have a better grasp on the Constitution than our own governor.  I'd rather be a Libertarian than a Republican if all I have for role models are Janet Barresi and Mary Fallin.

The day that we picketed the Governor's opening day of her campaign (10/24/13) at the Oklahoma History center, I gave the blow-by-blow of having the state troopers on standby to haul us off, then, as we were ready to disperse, Mr. Goeas (a man from Maryland who comes to Oklahoma to work Fallin's campaigns for her every year apparently) came over and spoke with Tracey Montgomery, Julia and myself. He told us that he worked for a number of governors and that he understood about the Common Core as it was shaping up to be a factor in some of the races on which he was working (Scott Walker and John Kasich among them). He also told us that the Common Core would have been fine, in his opinion, if it had not been 'hijacked' by the federal government.

After some further back and forth, Mr. Goeas told us that he would set up a meeting for us with Gov. Fallin, but also made sure to tell us to be prepared, that it might not change anything!


Guess what!?!?  I know, big shocker here!  WE DIDN'T GET AN INVITATION TO COME TALK TO OUR GOVERNOR!


I have very little confidence that Common Core will NOT get the same treatment this year as last - the "good cop, bad cop" bit straight out of B police movies.  The House will pass a bill to kill the Common Core and everyone will be so excited only to find out that Clark Jolley and/or John Ford will kill it in the Senate.  I'm sure this is not shocking to you, but it should be INFURIATING!  I can even see Ford or Jolley come off their position (Yes!  I'm against Common Core - but then the other one keeps his - that way, again, good cop/bad cop - and again the elitists win and the grassroots gets the shaft) You are the hardworking people who pay their taxes and DO their fair share - only to be treated like second class citizens by those we elect once the election is over!


DO NOT allow this to happen again!  Stay vigilant - we will come up with a solution, it's just a matter of time!  We MUST get our governor on the record about Common Core as many times as we possibly can.  If she's going to be somewhere, show up and ask her questions about it - tweet to her - post on her Facebook page - whatever gets others to notice.  Fallin was asked by an AP reporter about Common Core that Thursday.  She spun her answer and didn't use the words Common Core!  The more we make her have to talk about it, the more toxic it will get for her!

The more people that learn about Common Core, the more they don't like it!  Continue to spread the word!

Are the Common Core Conservative? An Answer to Mike Huckabee's Common Core Support Letter

Maybe he mixed up Common Core with common sense?

The Okie Blaze asked me to pen a response to Mike Huckabee's Common Core support letter sent to Oklahoma legislators June 3, 2013.  I have permission to post it here as well.

Is Common Core Conservative?

An answer to Mike Huckabee’s letter to legislators, June 3, 2013.

Jenni White, President, Restore Oklahoma Public Education

July 24, 2013

First, let us define; What is a “Conservative”?

Readers may feel this to be a rhetorical question – something not unlike “What is the measure of a man?”  I assure you, it is not.

In fact, through countless political races I have heard, and on the pages of immeasurable numbers of articles of journalistic intent I have read, words to the effect of, “I am a Conservative.”  

Our Governor said it during her campaign.  Governor Fallin would have gone on to collect millions of dollars to implement a health care exchange here in Oklahoma on the way to a full blown implementation of ObamaCare – a notion thoroughly dispelled by vote of the people in 2012 – had she not been stopped in her tracks by angry citizens.

Our State Superintendent said it during her campaign.  Dr. Barresi – with help from the Governor – has gone on to accept, or apply for, one federal education grant after another to instill yet more controls over the way Oklahomans educate their children.

Though we can hardly say with a straight face that the Common Core State Standards, pushed endlessly, illegitimately, needlessly, deceitfully, by Dr. Baressi and Governor Fallin are federally promulgated, are they a Conservative notion?

What is Conservative?  The word has many different meanings, but the political meaning, as copied from the Merriam/Webster online dictionary is:

a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing established institutions, and preferring gradual development to abrupt change; specifically : such a philosophy calling for lower taxes, limited government regulation of business and investing, a strong national defense, and individual financial responsibility for personal needs (as retirement income or health-care coverage)

I’d actually call that fair, as I self-identify as a Conservative.

What about Mike Huckabee?

Governor Huckabee penned a letter to Oklahoma’s “Conservative” legislators last month to,

“encourage you to resist any attempt to delay implementation of the improved standards adopted by your State Board of Education in 2010.”

In the first sentence, he self-identifies as a “Conservative, so let’s put Common Core to the “Conservative” test.

1.    Will it lower taxes: NO.  Schools all over Oklahoma have had (will have) to either raise money through school bonds or apply for ERate grants to be able to afford the upgrades to their broadband systems necessary to take the ‘next generation’ tests necessary to appropriately assess the behavior, thoughts and ideas of students related to Common Core.  Taxpayers pay for school bonds.  Citizens pay taxes on their cell phones to fund ERate.  In addition, the state education budget has increased by 74 million dollars (and even that’s still not enough) – does that grow on one of the trees on the Capitol Complex?  No, those are taxpayer derived funds.

2.    Will it limit government?  NO.  As noted by the increase in the education budget, the Department of Education grows, hiring 4.3 million dollars of REAC3H coaches to train teachers in the Common Core – oops, sorry, the Oklahoma Academic Standards – oops, sorry, the C3 standards…

3.    Will it strengthen individual responsibility?  NO.  Schools will soon fall under the A-F grading scale.  Right now, no teacher, administrator, or school janitor has any idea of the manner in which students will be tested on the Common Core standards next year, but we are quite sure state test scores will be rolled up into the A-F grade.  If a school gets a D or an F (according to our NCLB waiver document), the school can be taken over by the State Department of Education or one of its contractors.  So how can administrators maintain individual responsibility for their schools?  How can teachers? 

Governor Huckabee says a number of other things to which I take umbrage.

1.    “Many of you voted in favor of these standards in 2010.”

Strange, but many of the legislators we have spoken to over the years were either not in their legislative seat in 2010, or knew much – if anything – about the standards themselves (encompassing 1 paragraph in a 35 page bill) when the bill that codified the standards into law finally passed on the second try (SB2033 – 2010)

2.     “These standards, known as Common Core State Standards, have been near and dear to my heart since I served as Governor of your neighboring state of Arkansas.”  

Governor Huckabee was Arkansas’s governor from 1996-2007.  The Common Core weren’t even finished for review during the time he was in office.  Was he with Achieve?  How did he know about the Standards?  I thought they were ‘state led’.

3.    “And it’s disturbing to me there have been criticisms of these standards directed by other conservatives including the RNC.”

In other words, “Republicans should stick together and present a united front!  To heck with whether we’re wrong or right or following Conservative principals!”  That concept doesn’t work for me.  Many of us self-identifying, Oklahoma Conservatives still operate on the “right is right and wrong is wrong” principal not the “go along to get along” principal.  PS: he’s referring to the NATIONAL Republican Committee voting unanimously for a resolution against the Common Core.  Unanimously.

4.     “Speaking from one conservative to another”

Okay, that one’s easy.

5.    “I’ve heard the argument these standards “threaten local control” of what’s being taught in Oklahoma classrooms…and this just isn’t true.”

Wow, Governor, how do you come to that conclusion?  The standards impose what children are expected to “know and do” in each grade.  Yes, teachers may have latitude to determine how that is to be taught, however, all books and ancillary materials will be aligned to the Common Core.  In fact, in order to make a buck, many ‘education’ companies are creating curriculum packages so teachers can easily just pick one up and follow the dots.  Why would they do this?  REAC3H coaches have been providing spotty instruction in teaching to the Core all across Oklahoma.  You gotta teach to get a check and you gotta have the check to live.  One more thing…even states that adopted the standards completely, as did Oklahoma, have to abide by the 15% rule – we can’t add more than 15% to the standards – like cursive.  I guess I don’t follow where Common Core ‘local control’ is akin to the amount of local control present in the  previous PASS standards.

6.    “From an economic and workforce development perspective, these standards are critical. Innovation driving the successful companies in Oklahoma…These standards ensure Oklahoma remains competitive in the race to attract companies with the highest paying jobs for Oklahomans…”

Two questions in answer:  1. When did America begin educating their children for the workforce?  When did we educate children in America in order to fulfill an economic imperative?  The Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce wants little automatons that can be expected to churn out iPhone contracts like China?   2. When did INNOVATION spontaneously erupt from homogeneity?  How can one be ‘innovative’ and uniform at the same time?  Uniformity does NOT drive successful companies and innovation springs from choice and depth in education, not an “inch wide and a mile deep” standards (as opposed to the hated and disparaged “inch deep and a mile wide” standards of traditional elementary and mid high education).

7.    “Children of military families will not fall behind when their parents, who've chosen to defend our freedom, are asked to move from Fort Benning, Georgia to Fort Sill in Lawton or Vance Air force base in Enid.”

The Department of Defense has their own educational arm.  If they chose the Common Core path after consultation with military families, so be it.  That does not translate into a need for a set of national-level standards as military families make up a small overall percentage of most public schools.  Many military families also home school.  Why don’t we use homeschooling as our yardstick for a national education model?

In closing, the idea of a nationally uniform set of standards may seem righteous on first inspection.  Closer inspection finds it lacking on a number of fronts.  Please take the time to inspect the arguments for yourself.  Ask questions.  Seek answers.  Common Core isn’t “Conservative” nor is it appropriate for American students and the American way of life.

Education and Party Unity - A Jumbo Shrimp Oximoron?

Well guys, the challengers for Janet Barresi's State Superintendent perch are already out of the gate!  In a very sad state of affairs, Oklahoma's own OCPA at once cast a very hard line on the candidacy of newly-announced State Superintendent challenger Donna Anderson, calling her the "Status Quo" educator.  I can only assume this is in part because not only is she, well…uh… a 'democrat', but also because she is not an acolyte of the coveted Lindsey Nicole Henry scholarship. 

It doesn't seem obvious to me how we can find the best person for the job of producing education policy for all Oklahoma children by distilling that office down to a single-issue party-line, created and promoted in part, by the same folks that signed the Common Core State Standards into Oklahoma law without reading them.  

Unfortunately, ROPE learned the hard way after supporting Janet Barresi in her bid as State Superintendent - EDUCATION IS NOT A PARTISAN MATTER!  We voted with our party registrations and got slapped hard enough on the face to make us cry - for four whole years!

ROPE's Board is populated with very conservative, God-fearing, Republican women.  None of us could conceive of ever becoming card-carrying Democrats ourselves - especially after last year's Democratic convention when attendees voted to throw God under the bus and continue to embrace the killing of unborn babies en mass.  Clearly, it would seem we have nothing of substance in common with these kinds of ideals. 

I think I speak for the entire board, however, when I say that we wouldn't hesitate to vote for a Democrat for State Superintendent if we thought he or she would actually put education first in in their commission of this office in Oklahoma - and not the Foundation for Educational Excellence out of Florida.  

Pat McGuigan, in his article on Anderson's candidacy says, "Anderson believes the ACT would be a preferable method for evaluating students leaving high schools, rather than the End-of-Instruction tests that have been controversial in recent years. In response to a question from CapitolBeatOK, Anderson said she believes – even without a legislative mandate – counselors should encourage more students to take the ACT. She said the ACT would make a good exit test for all students." 

ROPE has been saying this for years!  This simply makes good policy and fiscal sense since we already pay to administer the tests! 

Why pick a candidate apart for not supporting the Henry scholarship when that doesn't apparently fully characterize her thoughts on choice in education?

McGuigan reports, "In response to another question from CapitolBeatOK, Anderson said she that although she opposes the Henry Scholarships and use of “public dollars for private schools” she did not agree with targeting parents of special needs children in a lawsuit seeking to strike down the scholarships.  Although she opposes recent moves toward choice that includes private schools, she said “there is a place” for private schools, home schools and online education in the educational system".  

Anderson’s website contains the following quote, “Currently in Oklahoma, we are trying to make our schools and students into something they are not,” Anderson said. “The methods currently being promoted have no research based success. We do not need to model education after any other state. We need to be Oklahomans who do the hard work to find our path to success, not run frantically toward unproven methods because of a political agenda.”  

Seriously, how do you oppose that thought? That's a point taken from fact (Janet Barresi's association with Jeb Bush's Foundation for Educational Excellence) and something we actively would support - as we oppose Dr. Barresi's desire to craft Oklahoma education policy from outside the state's borders.  Neither the Common Core nor the PARCC tests they are supposed to assess were tested or studied prior to implementation in Oklahoma.  

Every year, Oklahoma Republicans reinforce the concept of LOCAL CONTROL of education in the state platform.  Every year Janet Barresi has been employed as our State Superintendent, she has forced this concept farther and farther out toward the margins of the Oklahoma Republican political fabric.  Why have a platform for Republicans to stand on if elected Republicans aren’t going to govern on that foundation – and beyond that, why support Republicans if they do not personify Republican ideals just because they have an “R” behind their name?

ROPE knows nothing about Donna Anderson and certainly this is not a campaign endorsement of any kind, just a missive to make us think.  

Why would conservative Republicans even be drawn to voting for a Democrat?  How broken is the system when we can't agree with our Republican State Superintendent on education policy, but the party that was taken over by the hard left Progressives can spawn a candidate with ideals more Republican than those our own Republicans espouse?  

What is education really about?  What's best for adults, or what's best for kids?