January 29, 2014

Opt Out Meetings
Douglas County
Wednesday, January 29th 6:30-8:30PM
Northridge Recreation Center
8801 S. Broadway, Highlands Ranch, CO 80126

Denver
Thursday, February 20th 6:30-8:00 PM
Location TBA

United Opt Out Denver Conference, March 28-30th

http://unitedoptout.com/united-opt-out-game-on-denver-march-28-30th/

A Bill in the Colorado Legislature to delay Common Core

Read about the Mom’s Bill:
http://co.chalkbeat.org/2014/01/23/get-ready-for-common-core-data-privacy-bills/

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2014/01/colorado_moms_push_bill_to_del.html

https://www.google.com/#q=washington+post+diane+ravitch+common+core

http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=657

Write to the Representatives in the House Education Committee:
millie.hamner.house@state.co.us
cherylin.peniston.house@state.co.us
john.buckner.house@state.co.us
lois.court.house@state.co.us
justin.everett.house@state.co.us
rhonda.fields.house@state.co.us
chris.holbert.house@state.co.us
murrayhouse45@gmail.com
brittany.pettersen.house@state.co.us
kpriola@gmail.com
james.wilson.house@state.co.us
dave.young.house@state.co.us

Sample letters to legislators:

Dear Senator
In the past 10 years the state of Colorado has adopted three curriculums. Yes, three. Still my daughters math text book is dated 1998. Many districts are even further behind. The legislature is out of control with costly testing and reporting mandates including, SB08-212, SB09-163, SB10-191, and SB12-1238, while simultaneously cutting school funding. Cost alone is one of the most compelling reasons to oppose Common Core. Why wasn’t a cost impact study completed before the state school board was allowed to vote on state-wide implementation requiring billions of dollars?
Information is advancing rapidly and the technology with it.  Our children are all different and they learn differently. This approach to prescribing learning outcomes ignores neuroscience and evidenced based proven research. The best education is process oriented, learner driven, personalized and purposeful for the learner. Common Core is none of these. Common Core is prescriptive to teachers and students, limits skills and knowledge, and completely denies important elements of human development.
I hope you will exercise your leadership in opposing Common Core and I ask you to co-sponsor the Mom’s Bill that will be introduced by Senator Vicki Marble. You will not only be saving Colorado Citizens millions of dollars but this will be a first step in restoring educational integrity to our public school children and families.
Sincerely,
Angela Engel

Dear Representative,
I want to share this profoundly true statement with you in hopes that you will heed what the real experts (also opposed to Common Core) have to say. (See: www.allianceforchildhood)
“What is happening in the United States today is truly astonishing. In a society that prides itself on its preference for facts over hearsay, on its openness to research, and its respect for “expert” opinion, parents, educators, administrators, and legislators are ignoring the fact, the research, and the expert opinion about how young children learn and how best to teach them….When we instruct children in academic subjects…at too early an age, we miseducate them; we put them at risk for short-term stress and long-term personality damage for no useful purpose. There is no evidence that such early instruction has lasting benefits, and considerable evidence that it can do lasting harm” ~ Dr. David Elkind.
Please view the following 2.32 min clip about the effects of Common Core on children: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQbjvy1iSH0

And lastly, please read what Diane Ravitch has to say about Common Core
“President Obama and Secretary Duncan often say that the Common Core standards were developed by the states and voluntarily adopted by them. This is not true. They were developed by an organization called Achieve and the National Governors Association, both of which were generously funded by the Gates Foundation. There was minimal public engagement in the development of the Common Core. Their creation was neither grassroots nor did it emanate from the states.
In fact, it was well understood by states that they would not be eligible for Race to the Top funding ($4.35 billion) unless they adopted the Common Core standards. Federal law prohibits the U.S. Department of Education from prescribing any curriculum, but in this case the Department figured out a clever way to evade the letter of the law. Forty-six states and the District of Columbia signed on, not because the Common Core standards were better than their own, but because they wanted a share of the federal cash.” http://dianeravitch.net/2013/02/26/why-i-cannot-support-the-common-core-standards/
Sincerely,
Conny Jensen