These pro-common core guys like
Bush, Chartrand and Csar of the JPEF screamed from the rooftops we need Common
Core so we can see how we are doing compared to other states, strangely at
least for the first two (not sure about Csar) the same accountability comparison
was unnecessary between voucher and public school kids.
Well now that we have spent
hundreds of millions of dollars and are likely to spend hundreds of millions more
and friends this is money diverted from schools and classrooms, it turns out
common core in Florida won’t be all that common after all.
You see not only has Florida
tweaked the standards but also they have chosen a different test than most of
the states will use, to use as well. A test that by the way hasn’t been written
or field-tested yet; I know what could go wrong.
I have maintained all along, like
may people in the field who aren’t trying to get rich off of education that we
have a poverty problem not a standards problem and now with this move we can
see that common core won’t be all that common after all and since that is the
case then why are we doing it? Well to no ones surprise it is about making
friends of Jeb Bush money.
From Florida
Today: It’s no surprise that Florida Secretary of Education Pam Stewart chose
the American Institute of Research (AIR) to produce the next high-stakes test
for Florida’s children.
This research
company has long partnered with Jeb Bush’s Education Foundation in the former
governor’s misguided quest to reform our schools. Just as FCAT was a test
printed by a company with financial ties to the Bush family, the new test has
Bush fingerprints all over it. AIR produces raw teacher value-added model (VAM)
scores, with little explanation to educators. These unreliable and invalid
measures are part of the public frustration leading to the public’s lack of
trust in public school accountability.
Meanwhile, Bush’s
foundation pushes forward. Its website offers model legislation for state
legislators looking to gut public school funding. This includes the recipe for
corporate tax scholarships that divert money away from neighborhood schools,
and personal funding accounts to bait parents of disabled children to keep
their children home. The Foundation honors its top reformers, including the
legislators who have carried the Jeb Bush agenda, as well as Stewart and her
disgraced predecessor Tony Bennett.
It’s time to end
the era of high-stakes testing and reject Bush’s reform movement.
Friends the bottom line is Florida
rarely makes decisions based on what’s good for children preferring instead to
make decisions based on what is good for Jeb Bush and his friends.
To read more click the links:
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