Julie Smith, Gilbert School Board member, recently sent the following email to the Arizona State Senators.
Dear Senator,
Good afternoon. I am requesting that you please vote NAY on HB 2047 which will transition the state of Arizona away from the AIMS test to the national PAPCC test.
As a member of the Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board, I have personally witnessed a sky rocketing cost to my school district with the implementation of Common Core Standards. Standards which were pushed through by circumventing multiple layers of our government and which have no empirical data or references to support the claims of “increased rigor.” Common Core Standards implementation will remove local control from our education system. Our local districts and teachers know best how to meet the academic needs of our students, not Washington DC.
As a parent, I am dismayed by the loss of parental rights with the implementation of Common Core Standards. My children are being exposed to movie clips, music lyrics, advertisements and social media through the new Common Core Standards curriculum that are not allowed in my house. This contradicts the Parental Rights Bill that was implemented in the state of Arizona a few years ago.
The fiscal cost will be great if our state stays with Common Core standards. The moral cost is too high. I am asking you to please stand, show some courage and vote NAY on HB 2047.
Respectfully,
Julie Smith
Gilbert, AZ
Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board Member