By now you have probably heard that 5 Republican senators joined the Democrat Bloc and voted down both SB1395 and SB1396. They are the same 5 senators who voted FOR Medicaid Expansion: Adam Driggs (LD28), John McComish (LD18), Steve Pierce (LD1), Michele Reagan (LD23), Bob Worsley (LD25).
John McComish decided not to run for re-election about 5 minutes after Tom Morrissey entered the race. Tom is a clear conservative choice. HERE is the link to his website. HERE is the link to his Facebook page.
Michele Reagan won’t be running for re-election, because she is running for Secretary of State. Obviously, we do NOT support that effort.
Bob Worsley has an excellent challenger, Dr. Ralph Heap. Please read more about Dr. Heap and support his candidacy. His website is getting a face lift. In the meantime, HERE is his Facebook page. Also HERE is his donations page! There is a Comedy Night Fundraiser coming up in April.
PLEASE SUPPORT HB2316.
This bill will be heard in the Senate Committee on Education tomorrow, March 20 at 9 am. There are 9 senators on this committee, 6 of whom are Republicans. If you are registered on the RTS system, please offer your comments of support for this bill. You can find the email addresses of the 6 Republican senators (Chester Crandell, David Farnsworth, Al Melvin, Rick Murphy, Kelli Ward, Kimberly Yee) HERE.
The summary of this bill doesn’t do it justice. Check Provisions #1 through #10.
Here is Provision #3: “Prohibits ADE from requiring the adoption of specific curricula or instructional approaches.” How many times have you heard the constant chant from John Huppenthal and the entire Arizona Department of Education “Team" stating that ACCS is a set of "standards." “It isn’t curriculum. It isn’t curriculum. It isn’t curriculum.”
Now take a look at these statements made by Ze’ev Wurman (an expert on mathematics standards and assessment) in this March 19, 2014 article titled The Education of Mr. Gates:
I wish Mr. Gates would actually read the standards rather than rely on what others tell him. Common Core standards are more than just content standards, they also dictate pedagogy and hence curriculum.
These standards do not require students to understand and prove triangle congruence, which is what content standards would. These, instead, require the study of triangle congruence using a very particular pedagogical approach (which, incidentally, is experimental and has a track record of failure).
In ELA, Common Core requires to split teaching time between informational and literary texts to about 50%-50% in K-8 and 70%-30% in 9-12. This is a pedagogical/curricular directive par excellence.
Mr. Wurman counters many other statements made by Bill Gates. See The Education of Mr. Gates.
Click HERE to see and print out a flyer titled "Top Ten Things You Need to Know About Common Core." Moms and Dads need to educate themselves on Common Core State Standards (aka Arizona College and Career Ready Standards).
See Also:
What’s Wrong with Common Core Standards (aka ACCS)?
Child Psychologist Dr. Megan Koschnick Explains why Common Core Standards are Inappropriate for K-3.