# School district out of control



## fixitguy (Nov 2, 2010)

I launched my self into a riff with the school board, over a new school and spending.
Now I'm on a learning curve, about common core and school politics.

My school board has a open comment time at the meetings, and that's it. The people get a "thank you for coming to the meeting", The board does not respond to any of the comments. Its all one sided, just unbelievable, what happen to parents having a word in the child's education. 
I thank you-tube for some great video's, because its happening all across the country. 
If you haven't seen your local school district in action, take a close look


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

I sub. I've gotten to run, literally, every classroom in our district.


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## Cookie2 (Feb 21, 2014)

I've been anti-CC for ... well, I guess for a year now. Not that it has done any good.


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## Michael W. Smith (Jun 2, 2002)

fixitguy said:


> My school board has a open comment time at the meetings, and that's it. The people get a "thank you for coming to the meeting", The board does not respond to any of the comments. Its all one sided, just unbelievable, what happen to parents having a word in the child's education.
> 
> If you haven't seen your local school district in action, take a close look


Our local school board has public comment when the meeting first starts and shortly before the meeting ends. Most boards do not respond to questions - because many times it just turns into a fight. Common procedure is to get your name and address and answer your question by phone or letter.

If you request time to speak with the board - as in you are there to let the board know about a problem - it's common for the Principals or Superintendent to update the board about what the person is going to talk about - usually slanting the story so the board sides with the Administration. Unless you have board members who actually think for themselves - you will get no where.

Many times there are - behind the scenes, executive sessions - that the public never knows about or hears about - that determines what a board does - spending money / a remodeling or building project.

I will say, school board positions are fairly easy positions to get elected in. Since it's a time consuming "job" that includes lots of reading and study - one that is thankless and is NOT compensated - I'll just say if you think you have some good ideas and can make a difference, run for school board yourself and get elected.

At most of our board meetings, the board and administration are there along with a few teachers. The public usually consists of a about 2 - 5 community members - the rest of the public could care less what goes on. (Unless a problem develops with a sport - than the board room will be crowded with outraged parents.)


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

I will say, before you get all bent out of shape about Common Core, just make sure you actually know what you're talking about.

I can't even _guess_ how many people I've talked to in the last year or so who think it has something to do with curriculum, text books, "new math" or required literature books.


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

.................Several years back the community where I resided received the news that the SBd. was planning a New $48 million High School bond issue ! All kinds of stats were published , logical reasons why it couldn't be any smaller , etc . It was obvious to all in the community that the planners thought that every student needed their own parking spot , the athletic portion was was oversized , the main building faÃ§ade facing the interstate was over done and it was just TOO expensive . The bond issue passed by 52 votes so now , everyone's taxes will be raised for years into the future paying for this school whether they had kids attending or not . , fordy


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## topofmountain (Nov 1, 2013)

My wife is a SPED teacher & she is not a fan in anyway of Core Curriculum. Not to get into it but I would home school my children before I would expose them to CC. It is a brainwashing of our children into Progressive Liberalism. Just in case no one noticed that agenda ONLY HAS ONE SIDE & WELCOMES NO COMMENTS.
Arizona has lead the fight against CC.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Precisely my point. 

Common Core is a list of standards. Most states have had something very similar for decades. It's not a curriculum... There are _dozens_ of different texts/series that can be used to implement it, as well as something completely teacher-invented. 
The real problem with it is the massive amount of testing usually required to ensure the _meeting_ of those standards, as well as what the testing is used for. 
But the standards themselves are fairly innocuous, same as their state-version predecessors were.


> Arizona has lead the fight against CC.


 How so? Arizona is one of the states that adopted it several years ago... 
On the other hand, there are five that have yet to adopt it: Alaska, Virginia, Minnesota, Texas and Nebraska (we were also the last holdout against Bush's crappy education policy too, No Child Left Behind. lol)


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## teachermom44 (Feb 8, 2012)

I'm a full time teacher in NC. CC is NOT the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is not a curriculum you're right there. The trouble comes when teachers/schools/districts put their own political bias into what they are teaching. However, the standards aren't the greatest, they are inappropriate for younger kids and they are not any better than what we had before. I don't like that Pearson has so much money invested in it.


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

teachermom44 said:


> I'm a full time teacher in NC. CC is NOT the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is not a curriculum you're right there. The trouble comes when teachers/schools/districts put their own political bias into what they are teaching. However, the standards aren't the greatest, they are inappropriate for younger kids and they are not any better than what we had before. I don't like that *Pearson *has so much money invested in it.


This is my complaint! Publishers pay close attention to the latest movements or fads and work overtime to produce products that allow easy implementation. It is a race, and the first publisher to provide the workable product wins the prize. And it is a BIG prize. But publishers are not educators - they are in business to make money. Pearson also now has Connections Academy online k-12 schools across the US. More and more, curriculum is not driven by students, parents or teachers - rather it is driven by the ease of using publisher's ready-made interactive products.

To the OP - I would suggest you get a text book or books and syllabi and take it to a few of your local college instructors that teach calculus to see what they think - if they think it is inadequate, they will certainly let you know. That kind of information will carry a bit of weight with your school district. Perhaps the school could offer both CC and traditional instruction.


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## Cookie2 (Feb 21, 2014)

Wait a minute ... Erin is pro-CC but doesn't have to live under it? Apparently the lack of up-close-and-personal experience with it may be why a person would think CC was so okay.

Since I do live in a state that has to deal with CC, my real life experience has been anything but okay. As a matter of fact, CC down-right sucks. People who argue that CC is only a standard are wrong. It most definitely IS a curriculum since the few curriculum manufacturers have a very specific point of view.

My complaints about CC:

1) It is unconstitutional. The founders of this country purposely didn't establish a public education system in the US Constitution. They thought to establish a post office system but not an education system. I'll remind you that writers of the US Constitution firmly believed that a well educated public was the only way to make a democratic republic work. The lack of addressing a public education system was hardly an over-sight. The reason they didn't establish a public education system is because the education of the children was left to the states, localities and parents. Having the federal givernment force Common Core on states in the form of a bribe (if you want Race to the Top money, you have to accept CC), over-rides the "left to the states" nature of public education. Even more so, once CC is adopted by a state, the state is not allowed to modify the standards in any form.

2) As horrible as No Child Left Behind is (and it IS horrible), at least there are provisions to opt out of some of the requirements depending on your child's abilities. For instance, children who are learning disabled might have test scores that are reported separately from their other classmates. There is no such provision in CC - your child meets the standards or they don't. I'm not sure yet how that is going to work.

3) My DD is advanced in math. Frankly, she is a flippin' genius (yes, we had her tested). She has waited for years to be able to take an advanced (AP) math class. Guess what? Next year CC will be fully implemented in this state - which eliminates all the advanced classes. Great! She is already bored and we've had to buy and send her to school with her own course work just to keep her motivated. I can't imagine what we'll do for the rest of her school career. CC doesn't even address Algebra in middle school and calculus is not addressed in high school at all.

4) Sending my child to private school or home schooling her won't help. She'll have to be able to do the college entrance exams - based on CC principals - in order to get into a college. The SAT and ACT tests are being changed to align with the CC "standards".

I DO invite people to educate themselves about Common Core.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

> Erin is pro-CC


Where on earth are you getting that? 
_I_ think it's dumb. I think the states should continue to set their own standards. I think we were saddled with enough "education reform" when Bush's fiasco rolled out, we sure don't need a new miracle cure. 

But that doesn't somehow shut off my brain and make me incapable of understanding what it IS. It's nothing more than a set of standards. Most states have had something very similar for DECADES. :shrug:

1. States are allowed to adopt it or not, as they choose. (That's why there are 5 that _haven't_) Of course they're bribed, but it's still up to the states.
2. No one is entirely sure how it's going to work... Like I said, the standards themselves aren't the problem, the testing and usage of those results, are the real issue. 
3. Regarding algebra:


> CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.A.1 Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.1


 That's from the first grade... Ie, 7+___=12 
Algebra 
(Now, whether the average first grader SHOULD be able to do this is debateable, but you're completely mistaken if you think algebra isn't "addressed" until high school)
4. So what? If your homeschooler is planning to attend college, they probably _should_ be hitting those benchmarks...


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## LearningLife (Aug 11, 2010)

Cookie2 said:


> 3) My DD is advanced in math. Frankly, she is a flippin' genius (yes, we had her tested). She has waited for years to be able to take an advanced (AP) math class. Guess what? Next year CC will be fully implemented in this state - which eliminates all the advanced classes. Great! She is already bored and we've had to buy and send her to school with her own course work just to keep her motivated. I can't imagine what we'll do for the rest of her school career. CC doesn't even address Algebra in middle school and calculus is not addressed in high school at all.


I'm not trying to sound snarky at all, but I'm confused about where in the CC advanced and AP classes are eliminated. This part of your comment caught my attention because I teach AP courses (not math) at the high school level, and I haven't seen or heard anything about their elimination. The standards outline what content is to be mastered, not where the learning stops. The content is divided into categories that represent the basic knowledge that all students are expected to know, but I haven't found anything that says that higher level courses must be eliminated. According to the Common Core documents at corestandards.org, "The pathways and courses are models, not mandates. They illustrate possible approaches to organizing the content of the CCSS into coherent and rigorous courses that lead to college and career readiness. States and districts are not expected to adopt these courses as is; rather, they are encouraged to use these pathways and courses as a starting point for developing their own."

Please don't think that I'm on board with Common Core. I have many issues with it and its implementation. However, I think it is important to look closely at what shortcomings result from CC, and what comes from within a state or local education agency. The interpretation and implementation of CC vary from system to system, and that is causing more of an issue than the standards themselves.


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