Reminder: Big Common Core Debate Tonight
For the approximately 2,200 Pennsylvanians Against Common Core (PACC) members located in western PA, they have an opportunity tonight to see a face-off between some of top Pro and Anti Common Core proponents. More than 450 people are expected. To learn more see our website posting here. PACC will be there with buttons and flyers, please visit our table and introduce yourselves.
Of interest, the three pro-Common Core speakers have all accepted huge “donations” from the Gates Foundation, how can they be considered neutral observers, when they have each received hundreds of thousands of dollars?
Common Core: The Curse or The Cure?
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Franklin Regional High School
3200 School Road
Murrysville, PA 15668
Admission is Free!
Host & Emcee: Rose Tennent
Co-host of the popular Quinn & Rose nationally syndicated radio show
Moderator: Matt Brouillette
CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation
Pro Common Core Panelists:
· Joan Benso, President and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC).
· David Patti, President and CEO of Pennsylvania Business Council (PBC)
· Carolyn Dumaresq, Executive Deputy Secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Education
Anti Common Core Panelists:
· Ze’ev Wurman, Co-author of “Common Core’s Standards Still Don’t Make the Grade”
· Sandra Stotsky, Author of “The Death and Resurrection of a Coherent Literature Curriculum”
· Peg Luksik, Chair “Founded on Truth,” former consultant to U.S. Dept of Education
Doors Open 6:00 PM — Event Begins 7:00 PM
RSVP required, click here
Dollars received by Pro-Common Core speakers:
I. Joan Benso, CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC) :
3 separate grants from the Gates Foundation for a total of $935,859
II. David Patti, CEO Pennsylvania Business Council (PBC)
One Grant From Gates Foundation $257,391
III. Carolyn Dumaresq, Executive Deputy Secretary of PA Dept. of Education
One Grant From Gates Foundation $526,960 to PA Department of Education
Several of the anti-Common speakers for tonight’s meeting were part of an all day Common Core event held at Notre Dame on Monday. Please read the comments from our friends in the Hoosier state who are fighting tooth and nail to stop its implementation:
Impressions from Monday’s Common Core event held at Notre Dame:
Dr. Williamson Evers of the Hoover Institution told me during one of the breaks that proponents of Common Core have absolutely no grass roots on this issue, and are terrified of our numbers and energy among activists.
Dr. Sandra Stotsky of the University of Arkansas noted that state boards of education around the U.S. adopted the Common Core standards before the standards were actually written, and that this breach of procedure might open up these actions by state boards to a legal challenge through the office of a state’s Inspector General, or the equivalent office. Dr. Stotsky also noted that CCSS emphasizes writing over reading, when decades of experience tell us this should be the other way around.
Andrew Kern of the CiRCE Institute noted that it is stories that help children develop their minds, not the informational texts favored by Common Core.
Dr. James Milgram of Stanford University stated that CCSS embraces the teaching of Geometry without proofs, and the teaching of Algebra without conics and logarithms, even though these are the effective methods for teaching this material.
Ze’ev Wurman of the Hoover Institution noted that success in college mathematics, and achieving a STEM degree, depends more on taking challenging mathematics courses in high school than any other single factor. Common Core abandons the idea of having students take the gateway course of Algebra I in grade 8, which is critical to the students reaching Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus in high school. Mr. Wurman also stated that CCSS expects students in grades 1-2 to master difficult concepts, then slows to almost no progress in learning expectations in grades 3-6. As a result, by grade 8, students are one or two complete grade levels behind the expectations of previous Indiana standards. Students do not close this achievement gap during high school.
Dr. Megan Koschnick, a clinical child psychologist from Indianapolis, described how Common Core pushes certain abstract learning concepts down to kindergarten and first grade, even though many children at these ages have not yet reached the reasoning stages required for this learning. This will likely cause stress and discord for students, teachers, and parents.
William Estrada of the Home School Legal Defense Association and Jane Robbins of the American Principles Project both raised excellent points regarding the depth and scope of the data collection and sharing that is planned as part of CCSS.
(A video of the Indiana event will be available shortly and we will pass on the link)