By Ann Marie Banfield
Governor Hassan is running a political commercial praising herself on the issue of education. Sadly she’s misleading the public.
Governor Hassan has walked lockstep behind the Obama Administration as they wage war on teachers and students. By adopting the Common Core Standards (CCSS), NH has given up local control in educaion in favor of dumbed down academic standards. If our students are to compete nationally or internationally, Common Core is NOT the plan for that.
Not only does the Obama Administration seek to make the problem of over testing worse, teachers have now become the scapegoat in this bureaucratic reform.
The U.S. Department of Education has denied States a waiver from No Child Left Behind if they do not target teachers by tying their evaluations to the standarized test scores. Governor Hassan’s approach to education seems to be, throw the teachers under the bus and comply with their outrageous demands.
Dr. James Milgram who sat on the Common Core Validation Committee and refused to sign off on the CCSS said, “Common Core puts them at least two years behind their peers in high-performing countries, and leaves them ill-prepared for authentic college course work.”
Jason Zimba: the chief drafter of the math standards said:
• Common Core college readiness is a minimal definition of college readiness
• Common Core is not for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)
• Common Core is not for selective colleges
• Common Core does not prepare students to take College calculus (source: http://www.restorecaeducation.com/)
If parents want something better than this for their children, I’d suggest supporting candidates like Walt Havenstein who has publicly stated his opposition to Common Core.
It takes leadership to say NO to the U.S. Department of Education’s over-reach that harms our teachers, students and legacy of local control It’s obvious Governor Hassan does not have that important quality we need in this state.
