Judah Nativio: The Political Chameleon

Recently, candidate Judah Nativio announced his plans to run for the Arizona Legislature representing LD16.

Now, where have we heard that name before?

Ah, yes.

He was a Democrat before he was a Republican.

Nativio was the democratic opponent of Russell Pearce during the 2008 general election in LD18.  An election which saw a fierce primary battle between Mr. Pearce and Jeff Flake's brother-in-law, Kevin Gibbons.  

Nativio won the endorsement that year of the AEA:

the AFL-CIO:

the East Valley Tribune:

and the Arizona Republic who claimed this "bright, articulate young man with a background in law enforcement and civic involvement" had priorities which included "creating a work-visa program to aid businesses hurt by Pearce's employer-sanctions law."

 He went on to spout the same, stale leftist line:

"Pearce's enforcement-only approach has hurt business, and hence the entire state.  His hard-line opposition to bonding to build badly needed educational facilities during the recession stymied progress on a workable budget.  His extremism has alienated the Republican party's business base in this state, sparking a destructive and needless internal battle that threatens to tear the party apart."

This was the same year that Mr. Nativio espoused the following views:

And here are the political donations Mr. Nativio and his wife, Amy, made in 2008 and 2010:

 (Democrat)

We noticed that Mr. Nativio enjoys highlighting his experience as a police officer.  We felt it was important to point out that according to his Linkedin page, his experience as a police officer totaled eleven months when he was twenty years old, in the village of  Washingtonville, OH:  population 800.

Finally, one can tell rather quickly which side of the fence a candidate resides just by looking at who they follow on their social media accounts.

AZ Senate Democrats, AZ House Democrats, AZ democratic Party, AZ Chamber of Commerce, Mesa Chamber of Commerce, Alfredo Gutierrez (D), Felicia Rotellini (D), Andrew Sherwood (D), Dennis Kavanaugh (D), GEMDEMS, Chad Campbell (D), John Giles, Scott Smith, Rich Crandall, Greg Stanton (D), Bob Worsley, Jeb Bush, George Pataki, Chad Heywood, Thomas Grier, Glenn Hamer, Jerry Lewis, George Khalaf, Ryan Anderson, Jill Humpherys.

You decide.

How To Tell Which Candidates Support Common Core Tutorial

Just find out where former Intel CEO, Craig Barrett, donated his money.

Barrett is the Chairman of Achieve who was charged with developing the Common Core Standards.

Barrett is also the Chairman of Governor Brewer's Arizona Ready Council who has been marketing and promoting the new (sub) standards.

Obviously, he and his wife donated to John Huppenthal.  Although, it was only a measly $320.  Based on Huppenthal's recent debate performance, he probably won't be seeing any more financial help from the Barretts.

However, the biggest jackpot has gone to LD 16's Chamber of Commerce employee-newcomer, Taylor McArthur. Mr. and Mrs. Barrett have donated $4000 to Taylor's campaign.  

LD16 is home of the former Arizona State Senator, Medicaid sellout, Wyoming State Superintendent,  Rich Crandall.

McArthur has received over $24k in primary Independent Expenditure support from the "Stand for Children" PAC and the Chamber of Commerce.

According to the 2013 annual report, Stand for Children receives over $1M annually from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as donations from the Broad Foundation, Bashas Grocery Stores, Arizona Community Fund (whose board members include Paul Luna - President of the Helios Foundation who also donates to Stand for Children, and Lisa Arias with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce), and the Arizona Chamber's Greater Phoenix Leadership Council.

Accomplishments in the annual report state:

"We educated and engaged more than 66,000 parents and community members on Common Core, fighting misguided attacks against improved academic standards that will help more students succeed."

Also that they helped pass HB2425 "replacing the existing AIMS test with an improved performance assessment aligned with the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards.  In addition, Stand Arizona partnered with the Arizona School Boards Association to train over 125 school board members and other education leaders across the state on these standards."

The Chamber of Commerce, of course, has been actively marketing the Common Core standards.

STAY VIGILANT, MY FRIENDS!

LD16 Primary Candidate Works For The Chamber Of Commerce.

So what else is new?

Legislative District 16 spent a great deal of time last year finding a good candidate who would replace the mess that Rich Crandall left behind. 

Of course the Rich Crandall Republicans can't have incumbent David Farnsworth run unopposed.  So, enter a young, recent college graduate, never bothered to even gather signatures to be an elected precinct committeeman, no-name candidate, Taylor McArthur.   

McArthur's bio is rather telling.

INTERN
Office of U.S. Senator Jon Kyl
January 2011- May 2011

(A failed start-up)
FOUNDER and CEO
Abel Foods
May 2011- April 2012

PRESS AIDE AND OFFICE MANAGER
Office of U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar
April 2011 - July 2013

and of course our favorite:

DIRECTOR OF EVENTS
Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry
March 2013 - Present

One of McArthur's first campaign propaganda hit pieces was to actually attack his challenger for drafting legislation which would protect a person's property rights!  These were bills which were created because Mr. Farnsworth listened to his constituents who approached him with their concerns.  Remember, Thomas Jefferson originally wrote in the Declaration of Independence that we have a right to "life, liberty, and PROPERTY."  

Not a good start to a campaign, Mr. "Republican Conservative" McArthur.

Mr. McArthur patted himself on his back recently when he announced that he out-raised his opponent by 8-1 in his first finance report.

What he failed to point out?  Who his donors were including:

Wendy Briggs with Veridas (whose majority of donations went to Coleman, Ducey, Pierce, Brophy-Mcgee, Campbell, Meyer, McComiish, Hobbes, Huppenthal, Shope, Driggs, Reagan)

Jay Kaprosy with Veridas and chief lobbyist for the Chamber of Commerce (see list above for donations)

Michael Mansour (Legislative Assistant to Paul Gosar)

Jeremy Harrell (another Legislative Assistant to Paul Gosar)

Steve Twist (lobbyist with the Chamber of Commerce)

Tom Van Flein (Chief of Staff for Paul Gosar)

James Keating

Thomas Grier (former LD16 candidate and also with the Keating Group)

So, where does Mr. McArthur actually stand on the issues?

Let's look at his brief statement on education since that was Rich Crandall's pet issue.   

I believe that education is truly an investment in our future. As a State Senator, I will promote quality education that prepares students for the workforce.


These are the same vague buzzwords used by proponents of Common Core.  "Quality Education" and "prepare for the workforce" were the excuses that led to the Federal Department of Education power grab to transform our educational system. 

And who has been actively campaigning for Common Core?

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber's push for Common Core falls right in line with their support for other cheap labor issues like amnesty. They often use the word "skills" when referring to the needs of area businesses.  That is exactly what Common Core does.  It teaches "skills" not "standards."  Driving a truck is a "skill."  Coding repetitive computer codes is a "skill."  What better way is there to suppress wages and saturate a labor market with low skilled workers than to dumb down the educational system and create more (un)educated cheap "skilled" labor. 

Proponents of Common Core including the Chamber of Commerce, have spent the last couple of years trying to coerce companies to endorse the new "higher" standards  skills.

The Arizona Chamber has worked closely with the Arizona Ready Council to help market Common Core.  Just last month, the U.S. Chamber held a Common Core Strategy Session meeting in Phoenix where attendees learned how to "tailor your messaging to make the biggest impact in your community." The Arizona Chamber has helped to coordinate a Common Core "toolkit" which is provided to companies to make it easier for them to promote the new "higher" skills.  This kit is complete with tag lines, talking points, pre-written letters to the editor, email samples for employees, media contact information, and an elevator speech.  

The non-profit Achieve has also been working closely with the Chamber to coordinate efforts.  In fact, Craig Barrett, former CEO of Intel is the Chairman of Achieve and strangely enough, Barrett also chairs the Arizona Ready Council.

Recently, the Arizona Chamber was actively involved in defeating bills in the state legislature which would have brought back state and local control of education. Todd Sanders, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Chamber said, "We are going to need a world-class educational system to compete regionally and globally."  

Maybe the Chamber hasn't read the recent study which found that 81% of U.S. engineers are qualified to work in multinational corporations compared to only 10% of Chinese engineering graduates and 25% of Indian engineers who are prepared to work in multinational corporations outside of China or India. 

Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber stated that his organization intended to make sure that none of the bills get to the Governor's desk.

Why?

Cheap labor.

We have serious reservations about a candidate who comes out of no where, is barely old enough to run for office, didn't bother to make the effort to be an elected PC, works for an organization that is actively working to create amnesty for illegals and ram Common Core down our throats, and will be nothing but a clone of Rich Crandall, Bob Worsley, John McComish, Michelle Reagan, Adam Driggs, and Steve Pierce.

Haven't we had enough?  

Rich Crandall Is Heading To Wyoming

for a new job.  Destroying the Wyoming State Schools. 

Crandall will have the opportunity to oversee a $1B budget in Wyoming.  It's a good thing he's had lots of practice wasting other people's money.

It's just too bad he won't be around to enjoy the fruits of his labor here in Arizona.  From the multi millions our state will spend implementing the federal mandate of Common Core to his final finger in our face when he voted to expand Medicaid and fund abortions which will add millions in new, unsustainable taxes on the state. 

Figures Crandall would move to a state that has no personal income tax.

Such a shame that the "Republican" Victory Fund spent over $100,000 on Crandall in a primary election to defeat John Fillmore considering he knew he was only going to stick around for one session. 


We just wonder if Crandall's family in Utah will join him.


Don't let the door hit you on the way out....

Senator Rich Crandall Is Job Hunting...In Wyoming

Interviews Begin For

Wyoming Education Director

 

Look who's trying to high-tail it out of Arizona?

 

 

 

 

He's hoping to spread the Common Core poison in Wyoming.

 

"CHEYENNE – Candidates vying to be the next Wyoming Department of Education director shared their visions for accountability standards, the common core curriculum and other reforms during the first day of interviews for the position."

 

 

Crandall's Bio:

"Crandall, a Republican state senator in Arizona, said he wouldn’t shy away from “wholesale changes” that incorporate technology and other innovative learning methods into the classroom.

“This is not a Wyoming problem, this is nationwide problem,” he said. “We are very, very used to the way we have done it ... and I could walk into almost any school and it wouldn’t look that much different from the schools I’ve attended back in the ’70s and ’80s.”

Crandall said he is most passionate about “personalized learning” that customizes lessons to the specific needs of individual students.

“It is the future of K-12 because we are no longer restricted to teaching the same thing on the same day and moving at the same pace,” he said. “Technology allows us to do a complete overhaul of all of that.”

Crandall has been a past chairman of the Arizona Senate and House education committees. He also is the president and chief financial officer of a dietician firm that provides consulting services to nursing homes.

He said he announced earlier this year that he is retiring his state Senate seat so he can pursue his “dream job” of leading a school system.

“Things are such in Arizona right now that with all these crazy bills that come through, there are about six of us that kill them because they don’t do anything for education and they are just a distraction,” he said. “So I said I don’t want, at the end of 10, 12, 14 years (of being a legislator), to be known as the best ‘no’ voter Arizona has ever had.

“So I decided to retire midterm to pursue my passion, which is education.”


The arrogance is thick.  If only those in Wyoming knew about Crandall's REAL track record here in Arizona....

Cheyenne Office (307) 777-7690

Board Contact: Chelsie Bailey (307) 777-6213

Board Members:

Ron Micheli, Chairman

Scotty Ratliff, Vice Chair

Pete Gosar, Treasurer

Sue Belish

Kathy Coon

Matt Garland

Hugh Hageman

Ken Rathbun

Gerald Reichardt

Walt Wilcox

Belenda Willson

 

Rich Crandall's Arrogance Is Showing

 

 Or should we say.....ignorance?

Our State Senator, Rich Crandall, responded to a constituents concern about the Common Core State Standards by emailing the following:

It is unfortunate that a few crazy folks have twisted so much what this bill did. There are four instigators (three in Arizona and one in Colorado) who are determined to undo the progress we have made the past five years on higher standards and a replacement for AIMS. I have met with them, so has John Huppenthal, and everyone else associated with Arizona education. No matter what we tell them they will not believe anything we say. They know the United Nations, Intel and Agenda 21 are brainwashing our children, all in the name of corporate profits. We have decided not to waste any more time since their minds are already made up. It doesn’t do any good to engage them because they are so filled with conspiracy theories. Not much more I can tell you. Sorry. If we are going to move to a new exam, whether it is Common Core, ACT, SAT or any other exam, we cannot have a requirement that it be required for high school graduation in its first few years of administration. That is all this bill did was eliminate the requirement that it be a high school graduation requirement and that we do not have to take a national norm referenced exam. It is not related to Common Core but the tin foil crowd will not believe anything John or I tell them.

Rich

 

Bill Gates and fellow billionaire Eli Broad spent $25M to put education front and center during the 2008 presidential election. When people were more interested in making fun of Sarah Palin than focusing on issues, their education effort was sidelined.

"Now Gates and Broad knew they were going to have to engage more directly with the school systems they hoped to change, by either influencing the elected officials and policymakers who ran them or getting their own people seats at the tables where the systemwide decisions were being made."

 

 

It's not a conspiracy if it's spelled out in black and white.  These same companies have already partnered with the United Nations to create a common core in Arab countries and the EU.  Just like they did in the United States.  Does Crandall think that corporations like Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco are developing the massive takeover of our education system for free?

 

But, what does Crandall care?  He did what he was supposed to do in the legislature to ensure that CCSS and the necessary testing was signed, sealed and delivered.

And like a true coward, is now retiring.

 

 

 

 

Alinsky's 5th Rule for Radicals: 

 

"Ridicule is man's most potent weapon."

 

There is no defense.  It's irrational.  It's infuriating.  It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.

 

Our Education Leaders Received "Gifts" From Groups Pushing CCSS

Some of our elected leaders have received some very generous "gifts" over the last few years from the very groups who have been shoving the CCSS mess down our throats.  These generous donors have been involved with writing the standards, coordinating for common testing and establishing a data collection system.  They also provide scholarship programs for low income and disadvantaged students and everything else in between.

For example, here is Rich Crandall's 2010 financial disclosure statement where he received over $2000:

Who are these donors?

National Conference of State Legislatures is the group allowing themselves to be used in an effort to make Common Core appear to be "state-led."  Our own Rep. Doris Goodale is also a member of the NCSL and who sponsored HB2047 to replace the AIMS testing with PARCC. When that bill failed, Rich Crandall was prepared to come up from behind and pick up the slack with his Crandall Amendment in HB2425. 

The Foundation for Excellence in Education is a "nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, focused on education reform, state-by-state."  A partner of the Foundation for Excellence in Education is Jeb Bush and Joel Klein's Digital Learning Council which Rich Crandall is a member.

Achieve, Inc was the organization tasked with writing the Common Core State Standards.  In fact, the Chairman of the Board is Dr. Craig Barrett, former CEO of Intel who Governor Brewer tapped to head her Arizona Ready Council in Arizona to push for the implementation of the CCSS.   Achieve's biggest donor is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation along with other leftist donors such as the Hewlett Foundation, Lumina Foundation, and Carnegie Corporation, just to name a few.

College Board facilitates the common college entrance exams and focuses on aide to low income and disadvantaged students.  College Board is also pushing for the CCSS to go along with their "common" college exams and receive hefty donations from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

Rich Crandall's 2011 "gifts"

(1) National Conference of State Legislatures

(2) Lumina Foundation who donates to groups such as the Center for American Progress, Brookings Institute and Aspen Institute.

(4)  West Ed whose Board of Directors include John Huppenthal and several Arizona School Superintendents.  Their funding comes from groups such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Foundation, and the Hewlett Foundation (who donates to the Soros' Tides Foundation and the United Nations).

(5) National Center on Education and the Economy  funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie, Lumina, Annie Casey Foundation, etc.  It was the NCEE who produced the international education benchmark piece called Tough Choices or Tough Times funded almost exclusively by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Arizona's AIMS Task Force was introduced to this piece in March 2009. 


(6) Education Commission of the States.  Rep. Doris Goodale is a member of the ECS Committee and receives funding from many of the same organizations listed above.

(7)  Data Quality Campaign  who has been organizing the data collection for CCSS and assessments.  Major funding comes from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

(8)  American Diploma Project launched by Achieve in 2005.

(9)  Foundation for Excellence in Education  (see above)

 

Rich Crandall's 2012 "gifts"

 

 



Same groups as 2011 plus McGraw Hill, another company ready to implement CCSS.


How incredibly convenient that after the mess regarding the Republican Victory Fund, Crandall decides to quit.  Right after he helps push through the final important pieces of legislation to fully implement the  state-led  United Nations led CCSS.

Who else received "gifts"?

Newly elected State Superintendent, John Huppenthal in 2011: Trips to China, Brazil and Japan with the Pearson Foundation, a British education publishing company and partner of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pushing for digital learning programs. Pearson donates to Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education.  Why did Huppenthal have to travel to China, Brazil and Japan? 

Representative Doris Goodale in 2011 from Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education.

Senator Kimberly Yee in 2012 for her participation as a judge at a Microsoft Partners in Learning Forum.  Partners in Learning is Bill Gates' global technology and digital learning initiative to basically encourage educators around the world to use his products.

Speaker of the House Kirk Adams in 2010 who attended meetings paid for by the Lumina Foundation and that Aspen-Rodel Fellowship.  Aspen's goals are to 
 

Continue to grow the leadership initiatives globally and expand public programs.

Provide opportunities for more horizontal integration across programs by linking public programs, leadership initiatives and policy programs. Environment, education, and health are the initial areas for cross- fertilization.

Representative Steve Court in 2010 received gifts from the NCSL and the Foundation for Excellence in Education.

Representative Heather Carter attended a meeting in 2011 for the Data Quality Campaign.

Senator Linda Gray who attended a bunch of education conferences in 2011 for the NCSL, Education Commission of the States, and the Casey Foundation who donates to the NCEE and other groups supporting the CCSS.

Crandall, Goodale, Yee, Carter, Gray and Court were all members of the legislature's Education Committee at the time of the "gifts." Huppenthal, of course, had just been elected as the new State Superintendent.  Our Governor and Superintendent Horne had just signed the Memo of Understanding (MOU) to implement the CCSS in June 2010.  It would appear that our legislators were being schmoozed into supporting the necessary legislation in order to fully implement not only the CCSS but the important PARCC exams and data collection as well.

 

Feeling a little taken advantage of yet?

Common Core State Standards: Science Curriculum

Being rolled out to a State near you this month...

Suppose Senator Crandall and the State Board of Education have seen it yet?

Oh wait.  They probably have, considering Arizona is a lead state in developing the standards.  Feel free to leave feedback, although it's probably too late.

Next Generation Science Standards

 

"The way to change a system of equalibrium is to create a stress on the system.  These standards have an opportunity to do that....We have an opportunity, and we kinda need to make sure we don't screw this up."

 - Stephen Pruit/ Achieve

 

"States Developing Next Generation Science Standards In a process managed by Achieve, states will lead the development of K–12 science standards, rich in content and practice, arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally-benchmarked science education. The NGSS will be based on the Framework and will prepare students for college and careers. The NGSS will be developed collaboratively with states and other stakeholders in science, science education, higher education and industry. Additional review and guidance will be provided by advisory committees composed of nationally-recognized leaders in science and science education as well as business and industry. As part of the development process, the standards will undergo multiple reviews from many stakeholders including two public drafts, allowing all who have a stake in science education an opportunity to inform the development of the standards. This process will produce a set of high quality, college- and career-ready K–12 Next Generation Science Standards ready for state adoption. The standards will be published on this website when they are completed, in late 2012 or early 2013."

 

 

The Partners:  If you have been following our previous entries, a few of these names should sound familiar to you.

 

National Research Council

National Science Teacher Association

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Achieve

 

 

The Sponsors:

 

Carnegie Corporation of New York  (The irony isn't lost on the fact that this organization is based in a city where 80% of the high school graduates are illiterate and can't even read Bloomberg's mandated  nutrition information on restaurant menus.)

 

Carnegie Corporation has donated millions to groups like:

Center for American Progress

Migration Policy Institute

Tides Foundation

Achieve

PARCC

Council of Chief State School Officers-  in 2012 and 2009 to implement CCSS

American Association for the Advancement of Science - for the Global Knowledge Initiative's Science, Technology and Innovation Collaboration.

Arizona State University- for a symposium on the social, educational and economic impact of Arizona immigration laws 

ACT - 2009 For an initiative to increase the number of students graduating high school who are college and career ready (See previous entries)

 

 

The Noyce Foundation whose board member, Phil Daro,  happens to have been on the committee to write the Math Standards, donates to groups like

 

Achieve

National Governors Association

 

 

The number one concern from the feedback received on the first draft of the "rigorous" standards was that it covered too much material.  This resulted in the removal of some content and other content shifted grade levels in elementary school.

 

 

Curriculum:

 

Things people do can affect the environment but they can make choices to reduce their impacts

Societal activities have had major effects on the land, ocean, atmosphere and even outer space; Students describe things society does to protect Earth’s resources and environments

Human activities have altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging it, although changes to environments can have different impacts for different living things; Activities and technologies can be engineered to reduce people’s impacts on Earth

Resource availability has guided the development of human society and use of natural resources has associated costs, risks and benefits

Sustainability of human societies and the biodiversity that supports them requires responsible management of natural resources, including the development of technologies and regulations

Global climate models used to predict changes continue to be improved, although discoveries about the global climate system are ongoing and continually needed

Humans depend on biodiversity but also have adverse impacts on it, including the potential of major extinctions that may be harmful to humans and other organisms; Sustaining biodiversity is essential to supporting life on Earth.

If a biological or physical disturbance to an ecosystem occurs, including one induced by human activity, the ecosystem may return to its more or less original state or become a very different ecosystem, depending on the complex set of interactions within the ecosystem.

Humans and other organisms will be affected in many different ways if Earth’s global mean temperature continues to rise

Human activities affect global warming; Decisions to reduce the impact of global warming depend on understanding climate science, engineering capabilities, and social dynamics

Natural hazards and other geological events have shaped the course of human history at local, regional and global scales; in turn, human activities contribute to the frequency and intensity of some natural hazards



CCSS Partner: The Lumina Foundation

The Lumina Foundation is a Partner of the National Governor's Association and the National Council of State Legislators, Achieve and the Council of Chief State School Officers who have been pushing for the implementation of the CCSS.  Including our own Senator Rich Crandall and Rep. Goodale.  They also donate millions to leftist groups such as Soros' Tides Foundation, New America Foundation, The Brookings Institute, The Center for American Progress, and the Aspen Institute.

Arizona is a recipient of grants from the Lumina Foundation.
Phoenix College | Phoenix, AZ

$600,000 to support efforts by phoenix college to increase the number of latino students earning high quality postsecondary degrees and credentials by strengthening seamless pathways to college and tracking educational and career success of high need youth in the greater phoenix metropolitan area of Arizona.  10/01/2011 through 09/30/2015

 

University of Arizona Office of Community Relations

$280,250 to support participation of higher education institutions in southern arizona in an oecd-organized initiative.  This grant will allow personnel from higher education institutions, government, business and community-based organizations to come together to identify opportunities for productive partnerships and to understand how to develop and assess the effectiveness of those partnerships that will result in a regional action plan for moving the work forward.  7/1/09 - 6/30/11 (Coincidentally, Dr. McCallum, a professor from the UofA was working on creating the Math portion of the Common Core Curriculum during this same time.)

 

The third annual Grad Nation Summit was held at the end of February.  Grad Nation was formed after Obama announced his National Equity Goal of attaining a 90% graduation rate by 2020 in order to "significantly reduce the achievement gap for all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, disability, language, sex, and socioeconomic status." In attendance was the VP of Strategic Impact for the Lumina Foundation, Dr. James Applegate.  Dr. Applegate made statements such as:

"A 1980 a college graduate earned 40% more over a lifetime than a high school graduate....the current rate will be about 100% by 2025.  Now, that might be great for the few, the wealthy, and the S.A.T. gifted who get to GO to college and GET that 100% premium..."

 

"We do a darn good job educating the wealthy people....."

 

"There is a class-based denial of opportunity."

 

The reality: Common Core Standards has nothing to do with implementing "rigorous" standards and everything to do with class warfare.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, about those "rigorous" standards....

 

How does a country attain Obama's goal of a 90% graduation rate by 2020 without lowering the bar through the elimination of half of the material and slowing the pace that it is taught?

 

How is waiting until 9th grade to teach algebra instead of 7th or 8th considered "rigorous?"

 

According to the Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, there are currently 1500 failing schools in the U.S. out of a total of 100,000. It is anticipated that by 2020, there will be approximately 1000 failing schools.

 

So, once again, the federal government is imposing new regulations and funding to overhaul and disrupt a system that will help less than 2% of the involved population.

 

We've seen this story before.