Recent Articles

Emmett McGroarty onThe Austin Hill Show

Filed in Uncategorized by on June 19, 2013 0 Comments

Austin Hill has spent a lot of time  talking about Common Core representing both sides of the issue. This morning he had Emmett McGroarty from The American Principles Project on his radio program.  The interview is a great brief overview of this “bucket of junk” and how it was initiated. Emmett also briefly explains how data collection is tied to […]

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Why is Common Core Bad For Idaho Children?

Filed in Uncategorized by on June 17, 2013 1 Comment

Common Core with it’s other federally mandated reforms does not improve education in Idaho.  It is about increasing federal oversight, commonality among students and states, and extensive testing.  All fueled by a federally mandated data base. Statewide Data System. Idaho, to meet the requirements of several federal mandates and grants, has significantly changed the way […]

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That pesky 15%

Filed in Uncategorized by on June 15, 2013 0 Comments

At one point Superintendent Tom Luna referenced a letter Utah got from Secretary Arne Duncan as evidence that states, including Idaho, had not lost control of their standards.  He was trying to obtain a similar letter for Idaho. However, timing is everything.  It needs to be noted Utah’s letter was received after  Race To The Top but before […]

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A Mom-Led Movement

Filed in Uncategorized by on June 13, 2013 1 Comment
A Mom-Led Movement

The last month in our house has been amazing, there is nothing quite like having a new baby in the home.  As I have mentioned before I love being a mother. I wanted to share the following because it says so well why I think so many mothers have gotten involved in fighting Common Core. The […]

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5 People Wrote ‘State-Led’ Common Core

Filed in Uncategorized by on June 13, 2013 0 Comments

Joy Pullman, research fellow at Heartland Institute, writes this awesome article exposing how the Common Core standards were created in a shroud of secrecy while states claim they were state-led. Unless there was an Idahoan on any of the mentioned committees, I’d say we were pretty much not involved in writing them at all. http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2013/06/07/five-people-wrote-state-led-common-core

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Lies, Damned Lies and the Common Core

Filed in Uncategorized by on June 12, 2013 0 Comments
Lies, Damned Lies and the Common Core

This Comes from R.O.P.E.  It sounded so familiar I thought I would share with everyone.  We’re not alone in Idaho. http://restoreoklahomapubliceducation.blogspot.com/2013/06/lies-damned-lies-and-common-core.html   Hopefully, as a writer who frequently enjoyed ‘inheriting’ ideas from others, Mr. Twain won’t despise me too deeply for my turn of phrase.  I even hope to think he’d agree!  I can’t imagine […]

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Crayola’s Gone Bad

Filed in Uncategorized by on June 8, 2013 0 Comments

A few months ago I used an analogy with a red Crayola crayon to talk about the choice we had in curriculum.  At the time I wrote the post I apologized to Crayola saying that they had very nice crayons.  I’m here now to retract that apology, it seems that Crayola has jumped on the […]

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Jamie Gass on Common Core

Filed in Uncategorized by on June 7, 2013 0 Comments

Once again thank you to Austin Hill for tackling this humongous subject.  As usual, Austin’s not afraid to learn about a tough issue and then take it head on. And thank you to Jamie Gass from the Pioneer Institute for taking the time to briefly explain Common Core. http://www.idahoreporter.com/2013/jamie-gass-with-the-pioneer-institute-of-boston-ma-discusses-inadequacies-of-the-common-core-academic-standards-on-the-austin-hill-show/

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Wyoming to Stop Common Core

Filed in Uncategorized by on May 31, 2013 0 Comments

This is from Christel Swasey’s website, (which is a great resource for all things Common Core.) Thanks Christel for letting me share this great and enviable news. This week Alisa and I spoke in Star Valley, Wyoming at the Afton Civic Center. The event was filmed and I’ll post it when receive it. What I […]

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This Is Your Child’s Brain on Common Core

Filed in Uncategorized by on May 28, 2013 0 Comments

It’s important to remember that Common Core is not curriculum, (not yet any way,) and Idaho can use any curriculum we want, (see previous post.)  But if a state has adopted a set of standards that are going to be assessed via high stakes testing  it only makes sense to use a  curriculum that aligns with that standard. Here […]

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