OCPAC e-mail - Common Core stopped or just smoke & mirrors?

[Charlie Meadows]

Members and friends of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC)

++  AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

++  RUSSELL WIN’S OCPAC NOD - AVERTS RUN-OFF VOTE

++  ANNOUNCEMENTS

++  COMMON CORE STOPPED OR JUST SMOKE & MIRRORS?

++  AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, April 2nd will be held at Olivet Baptist Church, 1201 Northwest 10th street in OKC. This week’s program will be dedicated to the candidates for the Corporation Commission seat, soon to be vacated by Patrice Douglas as she is running for the 5th Congressional District. Invited to speak will be former Speaker of the House, Todd Hiett and current State Senator Cliff Brannan. 

++  RUSSELL WIN’S OCPAC NOD - AVERTS RUN-OFF VOTE

This past Wednesday, our members voted to endorse former State Senator Steve Russell for the 5th District Congressional race. Russell received 51.2% of the vote, No Endorsement was second at 26.8%, Harvey Sparks garnered 17.2% of the votes and former Representative Shane Jett only acquired 04.8% of the vote.

When asked why some people vote for “No Endorsement”, I suggest there are several possible reasons. On some occasions, there simply does not appear to be much difference between candidates and some folks may simply prefer OCPAC not get involved in such a race. In other cases, some members may not like any of the candidates or perhaps some of those voting for no endorsement may have already decided to support one of the other candidates in the race that did not attend our forum? Regardless, to win without a run-off vote with 4 choices on the ballot is impressive.

Representative Turner called me the night before to apologize for not being able to attend as he had a business appointment for lunch of which he could not avoid. Commissioner Douglas contacted me to let me know she would not be able to attend as a family member had a serious health problem which required her presence and Senator Clark Jolley did not attend, I don‘t know why. 

I personally was impressed with just how well qualified Harvey Sparks, a former aid to Congressman Jim Bridenstine, came across during the forum. However, I believe former Senator Steve Russell probably got the nod due to his experience, proven conservative credentials (his final year in the Senate he won OCPAC’s Senate Lawmaker of the Year Award), and a certain amount of gravitas on a wide array of issues.

I would urge folks in the 5th District to try and attend other forums to help in making up their minds. However, if that is not possible, folks would do well following the endorsement of OCPAC in voting for Steve Russell.

++  ANNOUNCEMENTS

*  NOTICE  -  Two weeks from this Wednesday, on April 16th we will have our candidate forum for the 3 viable candidates for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Tom Coburn. In alphabetical order, former Senator Randy Brogdon, Congressman James Lankford and former House Speaker T.W. Shannon are all confirmed to be present. If you want to cast a vote to determine if or who OCPAC will endorse for that race, you will need to be present on April 16th and have your dues paid by this Wednesday, April 2nd. You may pay your dues at tomorrow’s meeting or mail them by this Wednesday. Instructions on how to join will follow my sign off at the end of this e-mail.

*  TUESDAY EVENING  -  MUSKOGEE AREA  -  The Muskogee Patriot Townhall will host their monthly meeting, tonight, April 1st, 6:30 p.m. at the Muskogee library. The program tonight will feature the DVDs, BRINGING BACK THE BLACK ROBED REGIMENT and SEVEN LIES THAT WE ARE TOLD, both by pastor and State Representative Dan Fisher. 

*  SENIOR WORLD RADIO IS BACK  -  Our good friend Glen Howard is back on air again, now with 2 shows each week. On Saturday mornings the program is aired on KZLS 1640 AM broadcasting from Enid and Northwest Oklahoma. 1640 is a new “Talk Radio” station featuring Earnest Istook head to head with Rush Limbaugh and then Reid Mullins doing his morning show every weekday. Glen is also back on KTOK 1000 AM at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoons. While the focus is on the growing population of senior citizens, Glen always has some very good guests on air, many of which are speakers at OCPAC at one time or another.     

++  COMMON CORE STOPPED OR JUST SMOKE & MIRRORS?

Last week, HB 3399 passed out of a Senate Committee and may soon be voted on in the full Senate where it is expected to pass. Proponents of Common Core acted as if the world was coming to an end while at the same time, some Republican lawmakers were thumping their chests as if they had given heed to public opposition and were in fact going to repeal Common Core. The mantra was that we are going to develop unique standards that would be known as Oklahoma standards, rigorous standards to put in place of Common Core.

Well, well, well, that all sounds good to the activists, parents and teachers all across the state that have been working to repeal Common Core, but hold your guns folks, is there real substance to this rhetoric or is it just a bunch of BS (Blue Smoke-and-mirrors)?

Both Jenni White of ROPE (Restore Oklahoma Public Education) and Linda Murphy, former Education Secretary under Frank Keating, agree, what was passed in the Senate is a deception and falls far short of repealing Common Core. Every person in Oklahoma that cares one little whit about education, should be receiving the timely e-mails from Jenni White through ROPE. In the e-mail sent out a couple of days ago, Jenni does an extensive analysis of HB 3399, giving good credit to Representative Jason Nelson (R-OKC) and Senator Josh Brecheen (R-Colgate) for their efforts to repeal Common Core, but she notes their efforts have been hi-jacked.

Following is a letter by Linda Murphy, which is right to the point: 

“Dear Friend,

This is a letter that I have sent to all of our State Senators. It explains that in order to truly stop Common Core, we need to amend HB 3399, which will probably be heard this week in the State Senate. I urge you to read the letter yourself and then to contact your State Senator and ask them to amend HB 3399. Together, I know we can truly stop Common Core! 

Linda Murphy

March 30, 2014

Dear Senator  

I am writing to urge you to closely consider the details in the Education Bill HB 3399 which is being called a “Common Core repeal bill”. Many parents and educators across the state are not deceived into believing the version passed by the Senate Education Committee actually repeals Common Core. The new language added to the bill late on 3-21-14 has changed the bill to an unacceptable version. I will list seven specific recommendations below. These have been read and agreed upon by several teachers and administrators in Oklahoma Schools right now.

I have spent the last year speaking to many groups around the state, writing articles and communicating non-stop through the internet and by phone with people all over our state. I have heard from teachers, parents and administrators about what is really happening in schools as a result of our current laws. My focus has been on helping to inform the public about education reform and the details involved with Common Core State Standards, high stakes testing and the curriculum changes that they dictate. In July I also began to speak about “America Works”, which is all too familiar to me from past experience.

I am an educator, certified over 25 years by the State Department of Education, served in Governor Keating’s office and gained 10 years of experience on the political side of education during a similar education reform movement, which came through the Clinton Administration to put Outcomes Based Education and School to Work Federal programs in Oklahoma Schools.

Today I must speak up about the current version of HB 3399. I celebrate the repeal of the wording from our state law which was added in 2010 mandating the National Governors Association’s Common Core State Standards. At the same time, I am very concerned that while this bill removes the language it also removes PASS-Priority Academic Students Skills from classrooms this fall (2014-15) to replace them with only the Common Core Standards renamed as OAS-Oklahoma Academic Standards.

OAS are “adopted standards” that are being transitioned into classrooms this year for ELA-English Language Arts and Math. On Tuesday March 25th the State Board “adopted standards” in Science. Principle Rob Miller’s analysis of the standards is accurate. He says they are Common Core… cut and pasted 98.9%. These Science Standards are the NGSS Next Generation Science Standards, from ACHIEVE, which wrote the Common Core Standards. Teachers all over the state know this is true.

HB 3399 says that the State Board will “revise adopted standards” (The only adopted standards are Common Core/OAS.) by 2015. No matter how many parents, teachers, or others have input into that process, it starts with Common Core and then because they will have to “line up” with our Common Core Assessments which are already contracted through Measured Progress and McGraw Hill, the State Board (entirely appointed by the Governor) will end up with Common Core Standards not new standards. Here is the wording copied from the bill, page 18 of the Senate Floor Version: “adopt revisions to the subject matter standards adopted by the State Board”.

Unfortunately a number of people who have been working to get Common core out of our schools believe the current HB 3399 is going to repeal Common Core and provide a process to “work on” the standards due to the press release issued by the Senators who amended it and the following coverage. This is a deception due to the facts that exist, as I have just described. 

Please AMEND HB 3399

1. Allow Schools to keep PASS until REAL NEW STANDARDS are delivered to them.

2. Give the revision of our standards a longer period of time than 1 year. A minimal amount of time to produce a good Oklahoma product would be 2 years.

3. Establish a Task Force representing Oklahomans to revise our PASS Standards. One suggestion is to allow each Senator to appoint a parent and a teacher from their Senate district to serve on a task force, not just a representative of PTA which has received Gates money for Common Core or a representative from OEA an affiliate of NEA which also received Gates money and supports Common Core.

4. Stop the Common Core Tests/Assessments from Measured Progress and McGraw Hill (Measured Progress works with McREL and PARCC according to their own documents. They are both federally funded and REQUIRED to create Federal Compliant testing and teacher training to teach to the test. Their contract is 34.5 Million for 5 years, 3-8th grade common core assessments.) (McGraw Hill is contracted for common core aligned EOI testing and 8th grade writing tests. McGraw’s contract was 22 million dollars at one point. I do not know if that is covering next year’s cost or not. We must get these huge multi-million dollar contracts under control and put that money to better use for educating students.)

5. Give our teachers and students a test that aligns with PASS next year (2014-15), like we are expecting to have this year, to give time to find “new testing” which is not Common Core aligned. (One suggestion is Riverside publishing company which has been in business 90 years and still produces validated tests that can be compared with other states. They can also produce tests that are “criterion referenced” based on the new standards we produce.

6. Remove “American Diploma Project” and it’s benchmarks from law, found copied in pages 31-32 of HB-3399 Senate Floor Version. (American Diploma Project is another program from ACHIEVE.)

7. Remove ACT found on the above named page. The ACT test is now being Common Core aligned according to the company. Representatives from ACT sat on the panel writing Common Core Standards. The Plan and Explore tests from ACT are being dropped and replaced by Aspire which is a Common Core Assessment and the platform designed by Pearson global which is the largest curriculum and assessment producer in the world and is Common Core aligned. This is all according to ACT documents.

In closing, my hope is to see public education preserved in Oklahoma. I want high academic standards and equal opportunities for all students to be educated to the best of their individual ability. My special education training and experience increases my concern for those students who need professional teachers prepared with the knowledge and skill to help them to succeed. We have vast amounts of research about learning that is being thrown out the window in the current environment that has been created with the layers of reforms being imposed on schools. Teachers must be allowed to teach once again! Please help students and teachers have an environment where the joy and love of teaching and learning can flourish again even as we work to establish true higher academic standards.

Thank you for your service to our state and for all of the time it takes to closely examine this issue while we still have time to amend what is yet another major change in Oklahoma Education through HB 3399

Sincerely  

Linda Murphy

918 403-9930

Linda...@yahoo.com 

There you have it folks, the scam is in. However, it was the grass roots that brought the issue this far and we must keep the pressure on to get it right.

I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.

Charlie Meadows

Charlie...@gmail.com 

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