By Bob Kellogg | OneNewsNow.com An observer from a conservative think tank says the president's call for stronger student privacy protections is "bogus."
This week President Barack Obama proposed a new Student Digital Privacy Act aimed at preventing companies from selling sensitive student information. But Jane Robbins of the American Principles Project tells OneNewsNow it's really his reaction to a backlash from concerned parents.
“It’s interesting that his administration is the one that is really driving the effort to record every conceivable data point on every child and track it forever - and then when people start to object to that, he comes out with this essentially bogus student privacy act,” she says. - Read More
Jeffco Public Schools’ board didn’t wait long to seek a waiver from a portion of the state’s new standardized assessments after the State Board of Education cracked open the door on that option last week. The suburban school board voted 3-1 Thursday night to direct Superintendent Dan McMinimee to seek a waiver from the Colorado Department of Education, knowing that the waiver might not be legal. - Read More
The common core's designers have taken the existing bureaucracy and increased its centralization and uniformity. By creating the common-core content standards behind closed doors, the authors increased the alienation of the public from schools as institutions worthy of loyalty. The general public had no voice in creating or adopting the common core. The other approach in times of a deteriorating public service is offering better exit options. But the common core's proponents have created an almost inescapable national cartel. - Read Full Story
Gov. Phil Bryant reiterated Tuesday that Mississippi should stop using the Common Core academic standards, but just what legislative leaders plan remains unclear.
Bryant spoke to more than 100 people who gathered on the Capitol steps to oppose the standards, saying they're a loss of state control and academically flawed.
"What we must begin to do is begin to erase that chalkboard and begin to write a plan upon it that will be of benefit to every child in every school in Mississippi," Bryant said. - Read More
It's no secret that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funds the Colorado Education Initiative (CEI), aka Colorado Legacy Foundation. The Gates Foundation has given over $22 million to CEI to make sure its mission to implement Common Core standards, teacher accountability, and annual standardized testing is fulfilled.
It's also no secret that CEI has a two-way entrée into the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). CDE passes projects to CEI to fund with "gifts, grants, and donations" and CEI passes "gifts, grants, and donations" to CDE.
What was a secret, until a Joint Budget Committee meeting in December 2014, is that Colorado Education Initiative has one of its paid employees managing CDE's most important and controversial initiative, the implementation of Common Core standards and instruction.
Compiled by Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director, FairTest
View this timeline showing a range of testing problems for Pearson from the late 90s to the present. Pearson is one of the three largest educational resource companies in the U.S. and the company has also been tasked with creating and in some places administering Common Core tests for the PARCC consortium. View Timeline