One Way To End Common Core In North Carolina

I have been to most of the Academic Standard Review Commission (ASRC) meetings in the past year. I have listened as the committee went over the same territory multiple times and unsuccessfully attempted to reinvent the wheel. It is a shame that they are wasting so much effort when the wheel has already been invented and is pretty much free for the asking. The North Carolina Education Coalition has created the North Carolina Education Plan  (NCEP) based on successful standards used in other states. The standards in the North Carolina Education Plan have been endorsed by Dr. Sandra Stotsky and Dr. James Milgram, two people who worked on the Common Core standards but were so unhappy with the final product that they refused to endorse it. While the ASRC is reinventing the wheel in Raleigh, other states are examining the NCEP with a view toward implementing the plan. The NCEP is based on standards with proven results. We won’t truly know the results of Common Core for another ten years; and frankly, the initial test results are not encouraging.

Meanwhile, in North Carolina, the head of the Department of Public Instruction is an elected position. That position is currently held by Dr. June Atkinson, a very nice southern lady who strongly supports Common Core. It is assumed that Dr. Atkinson will run for another four-year term. However, there is another, very interesting candidate in the race.

Yesterday The Daily Haymaker reported:

To extend her stay in Raleigh, ol’ June (Atkinson) will have to slip past Dr. Rosemary Stein of Burlington.   Stein, a Republican, has been a vocal opponent of Common Core AND ObamaCare.     (She starred in a national advertisement critical of ObamaCare.)   Her issue positions include support for phonics education, for increased parental involvement, and for classical education.

Her position  on English as a Second Language courses (ESL) will surely play into the current debate about immigration and amnesty.  She traveled as a child to Canada to enroll in a French-only school.  She mastered the language via immersion, and believes this is a much better route than the current policy of yanking kids out of regular classrooms for special ESL sessions.

Dr. Stein comes from a long line of teachers and school administrators, and is a trustee at Alamance Community College.  She and her husband run a pediatric practice in Burlington.

Dr. Stein is what we need to ensure that the children of North Carolina get a good education. As a pediatrician, she is involved with children and parents on a regular basis. This gives her a clear understanding of the issues in our schools. It also allows her to understand some of the problems in Common Core related to age-appropriateness of the material.

If you live in North Carolina and are concerned about your children’s education, Dr. Stein is a good choice to bring a new vision into the Department of Public Instruction.