FLDOE Common Core Standards changes to be revealed on January 14th

Over fifty leaders of groups from all over Florida met Saturday, January 11th, the same day of the RPOF annual meeting of Committeemen and Committeewomen from Florida’s 67 county Republican Executive Committees. At the RPOF meeting these grassroots leaders voted overwhelmingly to oppose Common Core. The executive committee of the RPOF voted against allowing that to go forward. “At least 27 of those counties have resolutions opposing Common Core so far,” said Chris Quackenbush, co-Founder of Stop Common Core Florida. 

“We are upset and concerned that our leaders are not listening and this will have great consequences at the ballot box this election year.” She said. “Our new radio ad campaign will serve to alert the public, still largely unaware of the massive takeover of education.” “This issue has something to hate for just about everyone, including students, teachers, parents, grandparents, and business leaders everywhere.” If you want higher costs, lower results and loss of freedom, Common Core delivers,” writes Quackenbush

Quackenbush warns, “The FL Department of Education is rolling out changes to standards on Tuesday January 14, 2013 without adequate notice and with no advance information on the changes proposed.”

Pressure from rising numbers of grassroots opponents of Common Core forced Governor Scott to hold three hearings last October 15-17. As a result, over 19,000+ comments were taken. A vast majority oppose the implementation of Common Core which has already been a disaster in other states (NY and KY) which adopted the unconstitutional national education program earlier.

“Coerced into accepting Common Core as a condition of receiving waivers from No Child Left Behind, another failed national program, 45 states blindly signed on before Common Core standards were ever revealed to them just to escape problems and costs caused by past federal intervention and usurpation of control over education,” notes Quackenbush.

Quackenbush states, “These Common Core standards were not developed in or by Florida, but by two lobbying groups in Washington DC paid by the federal government, and they are copyrighted by them, meaning we must buy them and matching curriculum and have no control over content, nor can we change or alter them. The same corporations creating and supporting Common Core stand to gain billions from implementation and ongoing contracts. Those include Microsoft, the Gates Foundation, Jeb Bush’s foundations and Pearson, a British company whose 3rd largest shareholder is the government of Libya.”

Commissioner Stewart, the 5th Commissioner of Education in just 3 years, met with experts and leaders of the opponents of Common Core and promised the results would be posted for their review and proposed changes would be open for public review and comment soon. Three months later, there is a superficial report categorizing comments. There is no published list of changes available as you see at the end of the notice below, and yet public comment is to be on January 14th. No notice was posted other than this in a sub-page of the FL DOE web site.

Only one half hour of a conference call will be held twice that day and comments can be posted.

Here is the obscure notice in the www.FLDOE.org website:

Notice of Development of Rulemaking

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
State Board of Education
RULE NO.: 6A-1.09401
RULE TITLE: Student Performance Standards

PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The purpose of this rule development is to revise Next Generation Sunshine State Standards in Mathematics, English Language Arts, Social Studies, The Arts, Health Education, Physical Education, Gifted Education and Special Skills, including core content connectors. The effect will be the proposed adoption of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards in Mathematics, English Language Arts, Social Studies, The Arts, Health Education, Physical Education, Gifted Education and Special Skills, and Next Generation Sunshine State Standards, including core content connectors.

SUBJECT AREA TO BE ADDRESSED: Standards for Mathematics, English Language Arts, Social Studies, The Arts, Health Education, Physical Education, Gifted Education, and Special Skills.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY: 1001.02, 1003.41 FS.

LAW IMPLEMENTED: 1001.03, 1003.41 FS.

IF REQUESTED IN WRITING AND NOT DEEMED UNNECESSARY BY THE AGENCY HEAD, A RULE DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP WILL BE HELD AT THE DATE, TIME AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW:

DATE AND TIMES: January14, 2014, 10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

PLACE: Via Conference call #: 1(888)670-3525, Passcode: 6865599751# or in person at the Florida Department of Education, 325 West Gaines St., Suite 1703, Tallahassee, Florida 32399. Instructions for joining the webinar will be posted at https://app1.fldoe.org/rules/default.aspx.

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT AND A COPY OF THE PRELIMINARY DRAFT, IF AVAILABLE, IS: Mary Jane Tappen, Deputy Chancellor, Curriculum, Instruction and Student Services, Department of Education, 325 West Gaines Street, Room 1502, Tallahassee, FL, (850)245-0818, Mary.Tappen@fldoe.org. To request a rule development workshop, please contact: Cathy Schroeder, Agency Clerk, (850)245-9661 or e-mail: cathy.schroeder@fldoe.org or go to https://app1.fldoe.org/rules/default.aspx

THE PRELIMINARY TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT IS NOT AVAILABLE.