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?

So, It Seems Worsley's "Grassroots Fundraising" Didn't Work Out So Well

Speaking of everything in politics costing money...


The most recent campaign finance report for Arizona Senate candidate Bob Worsley shows that he has injected over $195,000 of his own money or in-kind contributions into his campaign.

Which is strange considering when he first announced his candidacy, he said that he would not use his "personal wealth to bankroll his campaign."

 

The candidate said he won’t use his personal wealth to bankroll his campaign. He said he will focus on grassroots fundraising as a way to build support for the campaign. He estimated many legislative races cost about $150,000 (not unless you're Rich Crandall), but envisions this campaign will cost significantly more because of the attention — and funds — that Pearce will bring.

Worsley has only managed to raise $45,000 from individual donors of which over half are either from out of state or outside of Mesa.  Randy Parraz's group Moving Mesa Forward has helped pick up some of the slack.

His opponent, Russell Pearce, has out-raised Worsley with $63,000 coming from individual donors.


Some of the Worsley donor names stood out from the crowd such as:

Kirk Adams  $250 

Bill Konopnicki  $400  Mr. Konopnicki was ousted in 2010 for his big government positions and for being all too eager to work with liberals.

H. Michael Wright  $200  A registered Democrat and Precinct Committeeman in the same precinct as Parraz's puppet Carmen Guerrero (seen in the picture with Jerry Lewis).  As the owner of The Wright House in Mesa, he hosted a slew of events for Randy Parraz's Citizens for a Better Arizona during the recall election.  Wright also signed off on the Arizona Accord and donated $424 to Jerry Lewis' campaign plus another $250 to CBA during the recall.

 

Randy Parraz 8-28 "Mike has been with us since the beginning...."

 

Seen at a recall strategy meeting with Randy Parraz:

 

At the courthouse with Chad Snow:

Numerous recall fundraisers and celebrations were held at the Wright House:

 

Saul Solis  $50    (Seen on left in picture)  He started a group with Randy Parraz called the East Valley Patriots for American Values.  He also was a part of the Parraz Parade who tried to get the Mesa City Council to sign off on the Mesa Compact (similar to Arizona Accord).  He also donated $50 to Jerry Lewis' campaign along with a $400 contribution to CBA.  

Nathan Sproul  $250  A political consultant who was investigated for voter fraud allegations in Oregon in 2004.
 

Teresa Brice  $100   Ms. Brice is a program director for a liberal organization called the LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation).  Collaborators for the LISC include The Raza Development Fund, Sonoran Institute, Liveable Communities Coalition, Phoenix Public Market, Arizona PIRG and the Mesa Chamber of Commerce.  LISC is also a major sponsor of AmeriCorp which has been linked to the ACORN scandal.

Bob Worsley's "Grassroots" Campaign

It's not exactly what you might think...

Just updating our readers on how much Randy Parraz, Citizens for a Better Arizona and his latest organization called Moving Mesa Forward have invested in Bob Worsley's campaign.

You can find the Moving Mesa Forward campaign finance forms here.

The Chairman of Moving Mesa Forward is Chad Snow.  The Treasurer is Paul Castanada.   Castanada is a typical "grassroots" guy who has a day job that just happens to be a member of the board for the Arizona AFL-CIO. 

MMF filed a report on August 14th which showed that they spent upwards of $22,000 on their "grassroots" canvassing campaign to "oppose Pearce for Arizona". 

On August 23rd, they filed a report showing another $4000 spent advocating defeat for Pearce for Arizona.

But wait!  There's MORE!

On June 27th, Citizens for a Better Arizona gave MMF $40,000.  So far, over $26,000 of that $40,000 has been spent encouraging voters in LD25 to vote for Bob Worsley.


Here's the latest count:

Bob Worsley raised $16,000 from individual donors according to his last campaign finance report in July.  Most of his expenses went to pay his political consultants.  Worsley's lacking of contributions may be the reason he started doing joint fundraisers with Kirk Adams in hopes that they might both be able to benefit from one another since Adams has been lacking in his fundraising efforts as well.  So much so that Adams recently injected $88,000 of his own money into his campaign.

Randy Parraz has spent over $26,000 campaigning for Worlsey.  Most of his expenses went towards paying for canvassers to go door to door and do the actual work.

 

So, who is beholden to whom?

Kirk Adams Wants To Keep Playing The Lying Game.

Here we go again. 


Matt Salmon's wife, Nancy, sent out a statement the other day refuting the false and deceptive claims from Kirk Adams and his surrogates.

Today, because Adams doesn't ever have an original thought of his own, Adams' wife sent out a rebuttal.

Once again, they are the same tired, desperate, over-used lies.  How many times does a CEO of the company they are claiming Salmon lobbied on behalf of, have to come out and say that Salmon did NOT lobby for them?

We won't even give them the satisfaction of yet another response to those false accusations.


We will, however, point out a few interesting statements made by Adams' wife, JaNae.

1.  Gilbert Watch's "tone and tenor....would make many blush if they read some of its mean spirited claims". 

And then she claims that blogs such as the politcomafioso is "objective and researched"?  Just take a look at who the politicomafioso endorses and it is pretty clear how "objective and researched" he is.

We think it is interesting to point out that someone else likes to use the words "tone and tenor" a lot.  His name is Jeff Flake.

Did JaNae think it was funny when her husband's campaign manager, Chad Heywood, said "DUDE, you have no clue how many older ladies just mailed Kirk Adams their panties ... mail box was full today," 


How about when an Adams/Flake/Worsley supporter (who incidentally, attempted to run for a Vice-Chair position in the Arizona Republican Party this last year) thought it was appropriate to write rude and juvenile comments on his ballot before posting it on Facebook? (In the same Facebook group where the campaign manager made the rude comment above).


What was that about "tone and tenor" again?


2.  "The site also claims SkyMall Founder Bob Worsley is owned by the left". 

What would you call it when radical leftist, Randy Parraz, spends $22,000 on Worsley's behalf which is more than what Worsley has raised for his campaign outside of his personal $50,000 loan?

So, yes, famed "I-ran-SkyMall-into-the-ground" founder Bob Worsley IS owned by the left.


3.  "former LDS leader Jerry Lewis is a liberal."

Certainly Ms. Adams isn't using the LDS church in a political campaign?  Implying that Lewis is a "former LDS leader" in a political statement is not only inappropriate but it is irresponsible.  Of course, we heard throughout the recall that it was Russell Pearce who used the LDS church (although we never once saw any evidence to prove that claim).  We do know that Jerry Lewis and his supporters DID.  We also know that Bob Worsley and his surrogates have been using the LDS church during the campaign as well.

Like here.

Here.

Here.

If/when we see Jerry Lewis

A-  campaign on behalf of a fellow "Republican" (and not a "lewsley" Republican)
B-  decides not to have liberal Democrats on his "endorsements" list
C-  stops showing up at the bottom of the Republican list for his voting record

MAYBE we'll change our mind about the "former LDS leader" being a liberal.













4.  "Jeff Flake is a fake conservative."

-Jeff Flake may be fiscally conservative, but then again, so was Bill Clinton and 52 Democrats in the House.
-Jeff Flake conveniently missed the vote on "Cap and Trade" and then responded by offering his own "Cap and Trade" bill. 
-Jeff Flake's Libertarian view of open borders results in his working with Democrats and Leftist think-tanks on Comprehensive Immigration legislation. 
-Jeff Flake first ran on the platform that he would term limit himself to three terms yet is still running 12 years later.  


That would mean that he is a fake Conservative. 


We can keep playing this game if you would like Mr. Adams.  In the meantime, the voters STILL don't know anything about you other than the fact that you are endorsed by the establishment, take credit for things you didn't do and like to play lame Jr. High games.

Not exactly the qualities of what we need in Washington.

Kirk Adams: Lying, Deceiving, Manipulating And Distracting..

While Matt Salmon is campaigning on issues and presenting actual solutions, Kirk Adams is doing only what Adams knows best.  Lying, deceiving, manipulating and distracting.  We never did find a budget or pension bill that Adams claimed he "authored". 

We don't see that he has even clarified his deceptive statement that he "opted out of the state pension system" knowing that option only applied to that specific term.  The same term that he only served 4 months.

We also noticed that Adams conveniently leaves out the fact that he, himself, was a registered lobbyist.

Some things never change.  


So, Adams has chosen to use what little capital he had left by propagating Obama-style tactics and forcing Salmon to respond over and over again to his baseless and ignorant claims.  

Adams knows that he MUST distract from his own incompetence if he has any shot of winning the election. 

The following is another statement from the Salmon campaign refuting Adams' tired lie.








Friends/Voters,


As the Republican primary election for Congressional District 5 enters the final week, Kirk Adams and his campaign continues to make dishonest accusations about my husband Matt Salmon and his professional record. The most untruthful of these accusations concerns the allegation that Matt  lobbied for and supported the passage and expansion of ObamaCare.

Simply put, this is 100% false and a complete distortion of the truth.


To clear any confusion you might have about this untruthful accusation, I wanted to send you an email to set the record straight and demonstrate Kirk Adams’ dishonesty about his claim that Matt Salmon lobbied for and supported ObamaCare. Please observe this information carefully, and if you have further questions, I am certain that Matt would be willing to answer them truthfully just as he has done throughout his career.


First, here are the facts.


1)      Matt Salmon has NEVER lobbied for the passage of ObamaCare, the expansion of ObamaCare, or supported ObamaCare in any way, shape or form.

2)      Matt Salmon has NEVER lobbied for or against any legislation pertaining to ObamaCare.

3)      Matt Salmon’s former business partner, John Haddow, was the consultant who represented Lundbeck and Millennium pharmaceutical companies

4)      John Haddow actually lobbied AGAINST ObamaCare, NOT for the passage of it NOR for the expansion of it.  



Second, here is the evidence to back up the facts:



1)      Below is a link to a press release from Matt’s campaign with a quote from Matt himself stating that neither he or his former firms were ever compensated to support or lobby for ObamaCare.

http://www.salmonforcongress.com/article/salmon-responds-to-false-attacks



2)      Below is a link to a FACT CHECK story by ABC 15 News regarding Kirk Adams’ accusations that Matt lobbied for and supported ObamaCare. Here is the last line of the FACT CHECK by ABC 15 News: “ABC15's FACT CHECK determines Adams claims in the TV ad are inconclusive.”

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/mesa/fact-check-kirk-adams-attack-ad-on-matt-salmon#ixzz23yQbKsEC



3)      Below is a link to a blog that provides independent 3rd party research on Kirk Adams’ accusation. As you will find, it is thoroughly researched and Kirk’s claim that Matt Salmon lobbied for and supported ObamaCare is found to be baseless point by point. 

http://www.gilbertwatch.com/gilbertwatch/index.cfm/blog/gilbertwatch-responds-to-a-kirk-adams-supporter/



4)      Finally, below is a statement from Mike Eging, who headed up the Washington office for one of the pharmaceutical companies that Kirk Adams references to in his accusations:

“I was the head of the Washington office from 2009-2012 for Lundbeck Pharmaceutical company, which retained Policy Impact Communications and later Upstream Consulting in Washington, DC.  John Haddow was our consultant from this firm. His background in health care while serving as a staff member of the key health committee was the driving force in our retaining him.  Our first goal was to allow the health reform bill to fail but absent that we had to make a critical change.  John was tasked to assist in changing the onerous language pertaining to Section 340B, particularly as it applied to Orphan products.  Our team was successful in reversing the changes negotiated by the hospitals and the Obama administration.  Matt Salmon did not work on our account. Michael Eging”


One more thing to note about this matter. After Kirk Adams initially launched this deceitful attack, Matt mailed a certified letter to his campaign office stating the facts and informing Kirk that his accusations were distorted and untruthful and politely asking him to refrain from continuing to spread this false attack. Days later, Matt received the same letter he had sent to Kirk Adams’ office with a hand written note that said “refused.” Needless to say, this action speaks volumes about Kirk’s refusal to listen to the truth and his willingness to campaign using misleading accusations.


I hope you better understand why I feel that Matt is the best man to represent us in Washington.  He has taken the positive high road in this campaign to talk about those issues most important to this nation.   Not only is Matt the more experienced and better candidate, but he has proven to always keep his word (just like when he kept his term limits pledge) and demonstrate the highest levels of integrity in both his personal and professional lives.

I encourage you to review this material and choose wisely when voting for Congress.


Please cast your vote for Matt and share the truth about this deceitful attack with all of your friends.



With appreciation for your friendship,

Nancy Salmon

You can view another copy of the email from Michael Eging at Gilbert Watch.

One-Note Worsley's Latest Mark Up

Mr. Worsley seems to put a 100% mark up on just about

every st8ment he makes these days.  Anything for a vote.

Take this one for example.  On his Facebook page he st8ed: 

We conservatives believe that less government or smaller government is one of the basic planks of our Republic. My favorite State Senator Stan Turley has been gracious to spend several hours with me tutoring me on State Government. 

Tutoring?  Well, what should we expect from someone who has never even so much as signed up to be a Precinct Committeeman until this year?  And he's getting tutoring help from Stan Turley?  We suspect that many on Worsley's campaign weren't even BORN during Turley's 22 year legislative career.

Were they also aware that Mr. Turley admits he started out as a Democrat before running as a Republican? 

Pg 14:

As a matter of fact, I was a Democrat I guess to start
but I kind of turned Republican.

Yeah I changed. It wasn’t any big deal to change.  Republicans just didn’t run much. You had Democrats running against each other for office but you didn’t have Republicans run so really your election would be in the primary to decide who the Democrat was going to be that ran. So then I changed and I don’t remember exactly when or why. I just changed.

Worsley continues:

Stan told me that he introduced just 15 Bills TOTAL in 22 years at the Capitol (CAP Water Allocation, No Smoking in Restaurants were 2 notable laws of the 15). My opponent has introduced 1,000 Bills in 11 years!! Each bill costs $1K just to introduce... cool $ Million wasted. Last session there were over 1,600 new bills proposed at the Capitol... A RECORD. Where did the smaller government idea get lost in the decade between Stan and my opponent? 

Mr. Turley st8ed about his time in the legislature:

pg 15:

...you had the sixty-three day sessions... you got paid $200 a week for nine weeks and you went home. You didn’t have to mess around with constituents like they do now. You’d have a few things and then you tried to do a few things to help people...but I've always looked at the legislature as an opportunity for public service, that is, should never become a job.  It just should not become a job, a lifetime job that somebody would try to get and just stay there.  Even though I stayed for twenty-two years..."Well gee, I got to...".  Oh I got involved but I didn't really sponsor a lot of stuff.  I'm just kind of a status quo...."

Where to start?

1.  Mr. Turley sponsored a bill that banned smoking in restaurants?  We thought the smoking ban in restaurants didn't happen until 2006 with the passage of Prop 201.  Unless elevators are the same as restaurants? 

According to Mr. Turley, one of the good things he did while in the legislature was the Groundwater Act of '82.  And then he said:  (pg 25)

Well, we did another.  We did outlaw smoking in elevators.  It took us four years...We were laughed off the floor.  It took us four years to outlaw smoking in elevators.  Mr. Pratt and I sponsored that bill....now you're outlawed in the whole town.

(We're not sure that smoking ban laws would be considered conservative or "small government" when you impose regulations on local businesses and tell them what they can and can't do.  Especially when Prop 201 was supported by groups such as NOW and the Sierra Club.  He sounds more like a Progressive.  You have to start out small by banning smoking in elevators knowing eventually it will be "outlawed in the whole town".)

2.  If Mr. Turley feels that public service shouldn't be a lifetime job, why would he endorse Jeff Flake and Kirk Adams?

3.  We also have to wonder why the Worsley and Adams campaign aren't pointing out the public pension that Mr. Turley has enjoyed since his 22 year career in the legislature.  Afterall, they love to criticize Russell Pearce for daring to draw from his MCSO pension. 

4.  We thought it was interesting to read that the reason Mr. Turley "didn't really sponsor a lot of stuff" wasn't because he was being fiscally responsible as the Worsley campaign would like us to believe.  No, in fact, Mr. Turley admits to being "status quo".

He also admits  (pg 42-43)

I think it's too bad when one party is in too long and the Republicans for example in Arizona now have had the House and the legislature for too long.  They had it now since....1967 and they have got it by quite a majority.  I think it would be better if it was either evener,  or in the Senate they have gone back and forth a few times.

When you have a real right wing and a real left wing if you're going to get a solution.... are not going to be in either perimeter.  They are going to be shaken kind of toward the center someway.  If you're going to have a solution, a partial solution, it's usually not going to be an extreme position.  And I see where you have a Republican Senator from Oklahoma just got elected to go to the United States Senate.  And here's a guy that has some very extreme positions. 

 I don't know how he even got elected.

He was referring to Senator Tom Coburn.  Those darn fiscal and social conservatives.

(With views like these, it isn't hard to see why he would endorse Jeff Flake, Kirk Adams and Bob Worsley)

Let's go back to Mr. Worsley's claim:

My opponent has introduced 1,000 Bills in 11 years!! 

Last session there were over 1,600 new bills

proposed at the Capitol...

 A RECORD.

First of all, Senator Pearce wasn't there in the last session.  Therefore, the "1600 new bills" proposed have absolutely NOTHING to do with Mr. Pearce.  (Perhaps more tutoring on what constitutes a "session" might be in order?  Also, by our count, there were actually 1450 bills introduced not counting resolutions.  900 in the House and 550 in the Senate.) 

Now let's take a look at the ACTUAL number of bills that Russell Pearce introduced as a Prime Sponsor (P*) during his 11 years in the legislature.  (As we have learned from our research trying to find the infamous Adams budget and pension bills, the person listed as the Prime Prime Sponsor indicated by P* is the one responsible for introducing the bill.  Again, maybe more tutoring on the bill making process might be in order?)

Total number of bills Pearce introduced:  339

Of those bills, 69 were "technical corrections"

Another 26 were in reference to budget bills 

(see, when you actually AUTHOR a budget, your name appears as a Prime Sponsor)

In the first session of 2011, there were a total of 1400 bills introduced in both the House and the Senate, not including the various resolutions. Russell Pearce was the Prime Sponsor (P*) on 14 of them and nine of those were "technical corrections". On the list of bills where Pearce is listed as a Prime Sponsor (P), 14 are HOUSE bills.  Another 13 of the (P) bills listed are budget reconciliation bills.  Because, remember, contrary to what Mr. Adams claims, the budget bills in 2011 came from the SENATE.  Does Mr. Worsley have a problem with the six death resolution bills Mr. Pearce was a (P) sponsor for the victims of the tragic shooting in Tucson involving Gabby Giffords?  


The reality is that Mr. Pearce was one of the legislators who introduced the LEAST number of bills in the first session of 2011.

Throughout his 11 years in the legislature, Senator Pearce introduced multiple pieces of legislation concerning concealed carry, strengthening school choice, military family relief, taxpayer bill of rights, multiple abortion bills (partial birth abortion bans and parental consent), protecting the secret ballot and protecting marriage.  Just to name a few.

 

The only sour note we hear is coming from the Worsley campaign when they attempt to saddle Mr. Pearce with only introducing illegal immigration bills.

As one can see from the other bills listed above, Mr. Pearce was far from a "one note" legislator but rather, he was "instrumental" in showing true leadership and strength when it came to the best interests of the state.

Photo Of The Day

Because sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words...

And not necessarily in a good way....