If you read this blog on a regular basis, you are probably aware that I am strongly opposed to Common Core. There are many reasons for this, and I need to review a few before I get to the current article regarding Common Core.<\/p>\n
Reported here<\/a> in November 2015:<\/p>\n Bill Gates<\/a> himself has stated, \u201cIt would be great if our education stuff worked, but that we won\u2019t know for probably a<\/strong><\/em> decade.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Reported here<\/a> in July 2014:<\/p>\n On the Microsoft Web site<\/a>, a webpage dated April 22, 2014 entitled \u201cTech Essentials for Testing Success\u201d describes in considerable detail how schools<\/a> using computer-based, Common Core-aligned tests will now need to spend a bunch of money \u2014 on Microsoft products.<\/strong><\/p>\n …Microsoft additionally advises schools to upgrade \u201call units\u201d \u201cto a minimum of 1 GB<\/a> of internal memory\u201d and to make sure their screens and processors<\/span><\/span><\/a> are up to snuff. (Wouldn\u2019t you know it: in some cases, \u201cPower Macs<\/a> are not supported.\u201d) Schools<\/a> might also need to outlay tax dollars on Internet connections and hardware such as headphones.<\/strong><\/p>\n The primary purpose of Common Core is not to educate our children–it’s to force schools to buy Microsoft technology. There are billions of dollars at stake here, which brings me to my current story. When schools originally began buying computer products, most schools bought (or were given) Apple products. The students trained on Apple products went on to buy Apple products as adult consumers. That lesson was not lost on Bill Gates at Microsoft.<\/p>\n On February 12, 2016, the New Boston Post <\/a>reported:<\/p>\n A lawsuit that aims to prevent Massachusetts<\/a> voters from weighing in on\u00a0the controversial Common Core educational standards has backing from people connected to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation<\/a>, a major sponsor of Common Core.<\/strong><\/p>\n Since 2010, the year the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education<\/a> voted to implement Common Core, through last year, the Gates Foundation\u00a0donated<\/a> $776,431 to the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education.\u00a0The Alliance, a strong supporter of Common Core, is currently coordinating the lawsuit, filed last month, to block a citizen initiative that would allow Massachusetts voters in November to decide whether the state continues to use the federally approved Common Core standards<\/a> or revert to its own\u00a0pre-Common Core standards.<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2007, prior to the implementation of Common Core, Massachusetts was the highest-achieving state in the country. \u00a0Opponents of Common Core, an unusually bi-partisan group of parents, teachers, education specialists, conservative activists, and anti-testing activists, say that after the state adopted the federally backed standards in 2010, Massachusetts achievement levels started to decline<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n End Common Core Massachusetts, the citizens group behind the ballot question, earlier this year garnered enough signatures to advance the measure. \u00a0But on Jan. 22, ten plaintiffs sued to stop the question<\/a>\u00a0from reaching the voters. Plaintiffs include William Walczak who is a director<\/a> of the Alliance, and Jack Dill, who is on its advisory council.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you read this blog on a regular basis, you are probably aware that I am strongly opposed to Common Core. There are many reasons for this, and I need to review a few before I get to the current … Continue reading