ROPE Report Short - Public Meeting Agendas Don't Cover Meeting Items

What happens when you go to a meeting and you look at the agenda, but you know that SOMETHING that's either been said or done by the Board you're following ISN'T ON THE AGENDA?

Unfortunately, it happens more often than the public might want to believe. This type of activity is against the Oklahoma Open Meeting Law, but what do you do? 

Municipal attorney Beth Anne Childs explains that - especially if the neglected item is a contract - the public can confront the Board with a Qui Tam action. Ms. Childs explains that here.

https://www.whistleblowers.org/faq/false-claims-act-qui-tam/

How To Stop Common Core in Your Oklahoma School

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR SCHOOL IS USING COMMON CORE

ROPE has received many email and Facebook queries concerning the use of Common Core in schools this year.  Many parents, after sending countless emails, making phone calls and lobbying their legislators to stop Common Core in Oklahoma, are upset and angry over the fact that their school will use Common Core this year despite the passage of HB3399.

Though we've heard the objections, this is really a slap in the face of all the parents and grandparents who took the time out of their schedules to endlessly call their state senators and representatives.

Of course we here at ROPE are upset about this situation as well.  As soon as we began hearing these concerns, I inquired with HB3399 author, Representative Jason Nelson.  He told me that if schools were using PASS and Common Core, there wasn't really much anyone could do.  He also said that if schools were using CC only, they were, of course, breaking the law, but again, it would be hard to do much about it other than to go directly to that schools' board and complain.

After another several messages today, I asked the attorneys that prepared ROPE's Amicus brief for the state school board lawsuit against HB3399, Don and G.K. Powers. Here is what they said:

Parents should call and write to the President of their local school board, and copy the Attorney General, and local District Attorney.  They should state clearly that the Local School Board and the Superintendent, principles and teachers should all follow the law, and in Oklahoma, that is not Common Core, {PASS is}.  Those who choose not to follow the law should resign immediately, or be fired. 

A school board that does not follow the law should be recalled. Law suits in this matter aren't of much use.  But reporting the breaking of the law, firing law breakers  and recalling board members is the right call on this issue.  If board members are not going to support the law, they should not be on the Board.  

In the letter to the Attorney General, parents should identify who is leading the movement to maintain common core, and say that Mr.or Ms. soandso is conspiring with the teachers to break the laws of Oklahoma by keeping common core. Conspiracy to break the law is a crime itself.  If you can get anything in writing that says, so and so school district is going to follow common core, than that is proof of a conspiracy to break the law and should be given to the Attorney General, and the local District Attorney.

I think this is excellent advice.  Here is the complaint form for the AG's office.  You may download it, fill it out and send it in.  District Attorneys listed by county and district can be found on this webpage.  You can click through to get the contact information for your respective DA.

ROPE would also suggest organizing a group of as many parents as possible to attend the school's next Board meeting and speak to the members in person, explaining their anger at having their children subjected to the Common Core AGAINST State law.  Have parents wear the same color shirts and fill the room with as many people as can attend. Make it clear the Board's actions will have consequences come elections in February.  If your school board member is not helpful, find out when their term will expire and recruit someone to run against them.  

FILE AS A LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE

This would help!  So many parents don't understand that school boards are really for the PARENTS to help direct the education of their children.  Knowing that, we need PARENTS TO RUN FOR SCHOOL BOARDS and return them to a parent center, not a Superintendent-centered conglomeration of 'yes' men/women that sign off on anything the Superintendent says - including their salary!  GET INVOLVED at the district level in your school system and work to make it work for you!  Make this the start!  Here you will find all the information you will need to know about filing for school board.  Please download and read it and be prepared come filing DECEMBER 2nd through the 4th.

Lobbying Group - National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) - Says HB3399 Unconstitutional?

As hysteria about one state in the union breaking away from the hold of the federal government increases to fevered pitch, NASBE weighs in by sending Governor Fallin a letter detailing how the law (HB3399) is unconstitutional.  Seriously, this is rich.

Here in Oklahoma, I know at least two school board members (one a school board President) that do NOT want Common Core.  Travis Sallee, the President of the Guthrie School Board made news recently with the Board's very public resolution AGAINST Common Core.  Thompson Spier an Oklahoma school board member, recently made post history for views on our Facebook (over 7000) page with a heartfelt letter he penned about his school board's declining role in the education of his community's children in view of the ever-increasing mandates caused by dictates from Washington, D.C.  He is also not a Common Core fan.

In fact, several school board members have told me that they have NEVER been surveyed as to their opinion about Common Core before the state school board association (OSSBA) and NASBE decided to lobby FOR Common Core and against HB3399.  So why is it that Governor Fallin should listen to an organization that gets its lobbying power from the tens of thousands of dollars it collects in dues, over the cries of parents with anguished kids at their kitchen table?

To finish off this post, here is the comment I made to the article just because I simply had to.

Wow. Not surprising however, with all the backing NASBE has gotten from Bill Gates to shove Common Core down the throats of school board members whether they liked it or not. 

Amount: $450,675; to convene regional meetings of policymakers and leaders to increase member knowledge around the common core standards 

Amount: $1,077,960 ;to build the capacity of State Boards of Education to better position them to achieve full implementation of the Common Core standards 

Amount: $800,000; Purpose: to support a development plan for the organization and its efforts to provide training and information to implement Common Core State Standards 

Hmmm...isn't that conflict of interest? NASBE complaining about Oklahoma trying to stop Common Core when it's been paid to implement it?

Additionally, NASBE has no standing to do anything in Oklahoma other than draw attention to their complaint - and by the way, why do they care what Oklahoma does anyway?  Consequently, there is zero reason for Oklahoma to kowtow to NASBE.

It seems only slightly ridiculous that the idea of 'unconstitutionality' is even being broached here considering Oklahoma wouldn't have had need of HB3399 if the federal government didn't keep stomping on the United States Constitution via the unconstitutional nature of the DOE in the first place and the equally unconstitutional nature of the NCLB waivers handed out to states inconsistently, rather than constitutionally modifying existing law.

Wonder if I should have my lawyer write the president?

NASBE - Against HB3399 And Parental Control - What About CCOSSA? Who Are Our Friends?

The April newsletter from NASBE was sent to my by a friend who is a seated school board member.  NASBE is the National Association of State Boards of Education.  Please note the following:

SBE 911: That’s what I am calling a new issue that keeps cropping up in state after state: legislators who also want to be state board of education members. The most recent example came in Oklahoma. I wrote to Governor Mary Fallin expressing NASBE’s concern about the policy implications of HB 3399. This past weekend, the Oklahoman, which is the largest newspaper in the state, offered up this advice:

House Bill 3399, the Legislature’s effort to toss Common Core and replace it with other standards, has drawn the attention of the National Association of State Boards of Education. Although Oklahoma isn’t a part of the group, its executive director sent a letter to Gov. Mary Fallin urging her to give the bill a close look. Kristen Amundson says the state constitution specifies that supervision of public school instruction is the duty of the state Board of Education. The constitution also dictates which state officials are ex-officio members of the board, and “the members of the state Legislature are not included in this list.” Amundson says that by mandating legislative review of decisions made by the board under the Administrative Procedures Act, the Legislature has established itself as “a super board.” The Legislature plays an important role in education – approving the common ed budget is one example – but “this provision moves legislative involvement with education policy well beyond those levels.” Fallin should take Amundson’s concerns to heart.

Does this make it sound as though NASBE is for parents? (NASBE - the organization to which local school board members join and from which they must receive regular training in order to stay seated on a state school board)  I don't believe so.  In fact, I question how much they are "for" teachers as well.

NASBE doesn't want the legislature to decide Oklahoma's standards, but instead want this decision to rest on the state school board.  Maybe they should read Oklahoma statute a little more clearly.  State school board members are appointed and serve at the pleasure of the Governor of the state.  Parents have no control in this process.  Any parent who has been to a state school board meeting to speak on a topic finds it abundantly clear how little our voices matter to this body - we are only allowed 3 minutes to speak and then we're told to sit down - period.  In fact, the only way parents - or even teachers - would have a voice in the standards developmemt process would be for the legislature to approve the standards. That way, we could contact our representatives - as we have this year for HB3399 - and plead our case.  At least our representatives are accountable to us via election.

Please remember the blog I wrote recently about CCOSSA:

CCOSSA not only makes their money from membership dues paid by administrators (individually, or collectively out of the school budget?), but they also have corporate sponsorships available.

Who are these corporations?  Many of the same ones benefiting from Common Core and other national school 'reform' measures - CTB/McGraw Hill and Scholastic of course - but also a company called Barlow Education Management Services.  What do they do?  They provide schools with 'expertise' in the area of collective bargaining, teacher/leader effectiveness and federal program management.  So, schools are taking money out of the classroom to pay these consultants for issues that are sucking more money out of the classroom?

Also in the NASBE newsletter it says,

Be sure to sign up for NASBE’s next webinar on April 9. Experts will break down requirements in the new Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, which gives all students, regardless of income, free school meals in qualifying schools and takes effect next school year.

Isn't it important to ask here - especially in this economy - where is all this FREE money coming from?  Why is NASBE supporting a government program when a community program would be far better - a program through a non-profit or a church?  How many school resources will this divert from the classroom?

Quite apparently, parents and teachers need to start looking into the groups that indicate they support schools. What do they REALLY support?  Not everything is as it appears.  Not every brand name is worth the money.  Not every major news outlet tells the truth - or even the whole story.  We must begin to critically think on MANY things we have taken for granted previously. Until we all decide to come into the light, we will all remain in the dark.