I introduced a new program called Civil Conversations Fayette on Jan. 30. So many people are tarred with special interest judgments or political biases that they simply cannot enjoy the world around them. This was an attempt to create civil discourse over a nice dinner.
I am pleased to say the program was a success with both parents and teachers were taking lots of notes and asking questions. The conversation went a full two hours, which means we will probably have to edit the video into two different segments.
With the new state School Superintendent Richard Woods — who opposes Common Core standards — taking office, I thought this was an opportune time for parents to get involved in civil conversations about their children’s education and attempt to understand exactly what is happening, so I solicited local minds to explore the educational standard.
The conversation included Dr. Duke Pesta from the University of Wisconsin and state Senator Josh McKoon. I attempted to get someone to appear as a pro-Common Core voice, but could not land one.
The dinner conversation delivered some interesting arguments.
A 2014 PDK/Gallup Poll revealed three-quarters of the respondents had heard about Common Core with 60 percent saying they oppose the standards. Until recently, Common Core was generally a stealth process, but the more people find out, the less they like the standard.
Dr. Pesta suggested that the Republican leadership at the federal and state levels had let us down. There were many indications that Common Core was and is more about getting a financial fix than creating solid standards.
Indeed, most states agreed to use Common Core Standards, sight unseen, because they needed a cash infusion in midst of a depressed economy and significant budget cutting. Georgia gained $400 million in the deal.
Likewise, former state School Superintendent John Barge campaigned on pulling Georgia out of the President Obama’s Race to the Top, but the state leadership did not have the willpower to give the funding back.
When you “follow the money” on Common Core, nearly all arrows overwhelmingly point to the Gates Foundation. It was noted there is some danger in having a multi-billion-dollar goliath to both pay to create and promote the standards. When considerable money is being doled out, few offer conflicting opinions.
Jeb Bush supports Common Core and his foundations received $5.2 million. Former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett was paid to publicly endorse the standards and Chambers of Commerce like the Georgia Chamber Foundation were paid and so on. The entity most cited as verifying the worth of Common Core, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, received $959,116 from Gates.
Quite a few notable Gates Foundation staffers work for Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Overconfidence is the downfall of experts and boundless funding. There is a feeling that Bill Gates might be leading us off a cliff.
The question arose, “Does any standard work?” Tom Loveless, a former Harvard professor who is an education policy expert at the Brookings Institution, said the Common Core was “built on a shaky theory.” He said he has found no correlation between quality standards and higher student achievement.
“Everyone who developed standards in the past has had a theory that standards will raise achievement, and that’s not happened.” Truly, the once vaunted No Child Left Behind is now detested and exemptions to it were used as bait to accept Common Core.
We have all been conditioned to lament our nation’s inability to compete internationally in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Additionally, to attain STEM degrees at the university level, you need calculus exposure in high school.
Both sides of the Common Core debate seem to concede the unfortunate scenario that the school districts most likely to maintain the high level math courses in the Common Core era are the wealthiest districts. On the other hand, we have depressed urban areas plagued with low scores accompanied by cheating on standardized tests.
Considerable concern was expressed over the Race to the Top mandate of sharing minors’ school records without parental consent. We already know the federal government collects information on us without our permission, but what are the consequences for our future adults from having their personal and educational data collected?
States are passing legislation blocking the transfer of student data with Georgia doing so by a provisional executive order.
Dr. Pesta disclosed that Bill Gates said it would take 10 years to determine whether Common Core would succeed. There was little in the way of pilot testing and the three states who have conducted the annual testing saw scores plummet.
According to Sen. McKoon, the state government is under no obligation from Race to the Top regulations to keep Common Core, opening the door to a possible hybrid that performs the way local officials want it to without the federal intrusion.
I can tell you that the parents and teachers present at our Civil Conversations Fayette dinner share the concerns of the respondents of the PDK/Gallup Poll.
Once the video of the event is complete, the news media will be alerted. We hope you can get in on the discussion too.
Steve Brown, District 3
Fayette County Board of Commissioners
Peachtree City, Ga.
