Warriors Against the Core, above you see a screen shot I created to be used in a previous Twitter campaign to protest the confirmation of Dr. John King, as Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Ed. But that’s NOT why I shared the image again. Look at the plates. Look at the apples.
ESSA was never written to be any different that its predecessors. Tons of evidence is out there to dispel the CCSS Machine’s (including the b.s. from Congress) lies about how different ESSA is.
There’s so much chatter about President-elect Trump’s plans since the election. It concerns me. Why? The majority of various anti CCSS national groups I belong to appear to be scrambling to mount campaigns to openly attack the CCSS Machine. Some are beginning to contact Mr. Trump, but we are so short on time to make a difference.
Meanwhile, the CCSS Machine has wasted no time in strategically mounting influential people or information to offer Mr. Trump. One such group, The Center for Education Reform, is one you read about in my Weekend News. They are hardly alone.
As you’ve heard from not only myself, but other dedicated anti CCSS Warriors, when the Vice President-elect was still a Governor, he was heralded as a CTE Champion. As far as we know, he still has the CTE love with him. As leader of the Trump Transition Team, we need to remember this.
If you’ve not seen the 28 Point Trump Platform, you can find it: http://patriotjournal.com/trump-releases-28-point-plan-for-his-presidency/
Below is a screen shot, where emphasis has been added:
When I looked on Mr. Trump’s President-elect website, and clicked on ‘education’ (can be found under the tab “Getting America Back to Work Again”, there was no information.(Access the website: https://www.greatagain.gov/news.html)
So, we really do not know if these pro CCSS items will actually survive and be placed into action as Trump Policies and/or Initiatives. His positions from the campaign are available to see: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/education/
We need to be not only be ‘ever ready’ to dispel and debunk the fallacies in his positions, we need to be SWIFTLY about it NOW, before these efforts survive!
If you’ d like to submit ideas to share with Mr. Trump: https://apply.ptt.gov/yourstory/
All The While, CCSS Machine’s Churning Out:
So, while it seems we are trying to get ourselves organized, here are just a few CCSS Machine ‘business as usual’ alignment updates. As long as we stay silent, these moves will continue.
1) Never one to miss a CCSS Machine gear, is Michael Petrelli (Fordham Institute) and an ‘objective’ look at charter schools. Between the ESSA’s mandates to increase charters; have low performing public schools turned into privately managed charters, AND, the push from the private parts of the CCSS Machine, we MUST be ‘ever ready’ on this issue.
See: https://edexcellence.net/publications/charter-schools-at-the-crossroads
2) A parting shot at Mrs. Clinton’s famous slogan? I’m not sure. Regardless, look beyond that sarcasm to the real point, community based education is not only embedded in ESSA, it is meant to encompass every citizen into a federally led life. See EdSurge’s, “It Takes A Village” article: http://gettingsmart.com/2016/11/it-takes-a-village-rebuilding-education-in-nola/ (*Note: EdSurge includes the original source for where this article comes from and tells you it has a longer version. To see the longer, original version:
https://medium.com/@RosieClayton/it-takes-a-village-25b76532322e#.vbe3th4vg)
2a) Why should we be ‘ever ready’ with community schools? In New Orleans, charter schools, ‘micro schools’ are the norm. They’ve proven to be both a model and a disaster. KnowledgeWorks (works with the CCSSO, Council of Chief State School Officers) has total community alignment geared for student outcomes of school/work. The Community School mantra lives on in other CCSS Machine groups as well.
2b) My “Micro Schools” research:
a) https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/05/30/ed-with-no-boundaries/
b) https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/02/09/ftf-a-chip-off-the-education-block/
2c) My “Clinton Foundation” article where it ties to the digital technology and will also tie to ESSA: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/09/06/your-home-or-bust/
My “Coalition for Community Schools” research:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/06/19/fom-a-new-ccs-coalition-for-community-schools/
2d) My latest KnowledgeWorks research:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/07/03/hitting-the-books-part-2/
(*Note: this one combines ESSA in its Promise Neighborhoods mandates and other connecting dots. Promise Neighborhoods began as a President Obama created Initiative and is now codified into an education law.)
3) Being ‘ever ready’ to fight the business intrusion into education is an area we MUST double up our efforts, Warriors. The CCSS Machine is up to its neck in technology replacing teachers. Check out the digital rhetoric about ‘machine driven teaching’ and how it’s a great fit for our businesses. Remember, thanks to ESSA, more and more businesses will not only overstep their boundaries in the classroom, they’ll be a part of a team which decides if your student has learned enough to advance to the next grade. The article: http://readwrite.com/2016/11/09/machine-learning-used-pl1/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_content=meet-edgar
3a) If you’d like to see how the businesses fit into your local classrooms:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/02/23/essa-in-a-nutshell/
3b) If you’d like to see how businesses in education is hiding in plain sight already and will only increase with ESSA’s mandates:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/05/22/ed-for-sale/
4) Completely related to #3 is the ‘adaptive learning’ push from the CCSS Machine. It too, will replace our physical teaching with computer teachers. Sold out CCSS Machine member organization, McGraw-Hill has a series of brief videos of why computer teaching is preferred, at least from their profit-mongering view. To see all of them:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb2UcU-aVjN2aPSmGKILK2GHh6MgGswM9
(*Note: The first video reveals the company loves the practice/fail system for students. The third video reveals how teachers are being reduced to facilitators.)
5) “Adaptive Learning” cannot survive without data mining. We’ve been ‘ever ready’ with all kinds of great, anti CCSS Warrior research into this aspect of education. The danger with Mr. Trump’s plans and the influence he’s getting to keep the data flowing, should have us extremely well poised into how to counter act this overreach of privacy. Below is an obvious reason why.
Yes, you see “EdSurge” and the Gates Foundation have a complete guide on using MORE data against our education system.
To see all the ‘positive’ workout plans for data in your schools (the screen shot):
https://www.edsurge.com/research/guides/the-data-workout-how-it-s-impacting-teaching-and-learning#%23Your-Workout-Plan
(*Note: Social Emotional Learning, assessments, and tons of ‘adaptive’ (aka: personalized) learning are key elements.)
To get the rest of the Guide: https://www.edsurge.com/research/guides/the-data-workout-how-it-s-impacting-teaching-and-learning
Closing:
Warriors, now is our time to shine for our kids! Let’s get organized and get out there. Time isn’t waiting for us. The CCSS Machine is certainly discounting us. We will not let them be victorious. Our mission is to fight back with a vengeance. It’s time to let is show.
2 thoughts on “Meanwhile, Alignment As Usual”