Common Core Standards: Fact vs. Myth (vs. Propaganda)

As you may or may not be aware, Minooka CCSD 201 (along with every other public elementary or secondary school in Illinois and forty-four other states) will be changing its curriculum to align with something called the "Common Core standards."  You can read about the Common Core State Standards Initiative at their website.

I could go on for pages about the problems with the Common Core standards: how they mark the end of local control over what children are taught in public schools, how it is a remarkable display of hubris to think that somehow a handful of people can dictate educational standards to a multitude as if no one in the multitude might have any good ideas about educational standards, how they are a misguided top-down effort at management that won't work any better than the top-down management of "command and control" economies such as the old Soviet Union, or how they will become a straight-jacket to experimentation and ingenuity much like the once-vaunted No Child Left Behind.  (Others have also pointed out problems with the Common Core, which may or may not be the ones I have pointed out.  See here and here.)

Well, it appears that there are more than a few people (other than myself) who are not too excited about Illinois signing on to implement the Common Core standards.  So much so that the Illinois State Superintendent Christopher Koch included the following in his weekly message:  "I know some of you are receiving pushback (sic) on the Common Core standards that we are implementing in Illinois. The criticism is based on a misguided perception that the Common Core is an attempt by the federal government to take over education. We've put together a couple of documents you may access at [link].  Among the documents are responses to several questions that seem to be at the root of a coordinated campaign as well as a general overview of the Common Core based on facts."  If you click the link above (which I recommend), you are treated to something that purports to be the "Facts vs Myth" of the Common Core standards.  Now, it becomes clear to me early on that what purports to be the "Facts vs Myth" is really nothing more than a "coordinated campaign" of propaganda.  You can usually spot propaganda by the use of very general language that no one in their right mind would disagree with.  For example, we are told in "Facts vs Myth" that "Common Core Standards are benchmarks developed by teachers, administrators and other education experts through a national consortium."  Well, who could argue with that?  Everyone agrees that we need "benchmarks" in education.  But, wait.  I thought that one of the hallmarks of the American public education system was local control.  The Illinois School Code even states that one of the primary duties of the local school board is to approve the curriculum.  I guess voters at the local level don't get to decide that anymore.  In another sentence, we are told that the Common Core standards "aim to bring more consistency and uniformity . . . from one state to another . . . ."  Again, who could argue with "consistency and uniformity?"  Where is the problem there?  I sure hope they don't get the Common Core standards wrong, otherwise the educational system of virtually the entire nation will have standards that are consistently and uniformly wrong.

I have merely scratched the surface in terms of picking apart "Facts vs Myth" for the monumental exercise in propaganda that it represents.  Be sure to read through it, but don't take it at face value.  Someone is trying to sell you a "bill of goods."

Another question that this raises is, whether the local voters get any input into these Common Core standards?  According to "Facts vs Myth," "Illinoisans had the opportunity to provide feedback on the Common Core State Standards during two public comment periods."  So, now that those two comment periods are over, we no longer get a say in the matter.  Oh, and don't give us any "push back," or we'll come out with another "Facts vs Myths" website to convince you that we are right and you, the voter, don't get to speak to us about this anymore.

Physical Education and Academics

According to a recent report, physical education is so important that it should be a "core academic subject." (see here)  So, why is it that Illinois schools are constantly trying to get waivers from the state to remove physical education from the school day?

This idea that physical education is closely tied to intellectual education is nothing new.  The Latin phrase "mens sana in corpore sano" ("a sound mind in a sound body") expressed the same idea.  The ancient Romans were well acquainted with this idea.  Why do we insist on having to relearn things that have been known for centuries?

Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, June 26, 2013. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7 p.m. Both meetings are open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here. In addition, for those who are interested, click here and here for information regarding issues that will be discussed at the Committee of the Whole Meeting and the Board Meeting.

Testing Gone Wild . . . Part 2

Just when you thought that our students couldn't be subjected to more tests, the State of Illinois decides to replace the ISAT (Illinois Standard Achievement Test) with PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers).  PARCC consists of four separate tests during the school year (see here).  So, on top of all of the current testing (including DRA testing, Discovery testing and CRT testing), our students will have PARCC testing (educators are beginning to give the Army some stiff competition in the acronym department).  One might wonder, with all of this testing and only 180 days in the school year, exactly when are the teachers going to teach?  And are they merely going to be expected to teach to the tests?

Ostensibly, all of this testing is being done in order to gather "data" so that teachers can differentiate instruction for each student. But, teachers do this each and every day through observing their students in the classroom.

And what is going to happen to the students who do not perform well on standardized tests but who perform well on less formal evaluations?  I suspect that those students are going to suffer since the test scores will become the "end all and be all" of education (if they aren't already).

Get Ready for the Largest Municipal Bankruptcy in U.S. History

In his book The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway penned a classic exchange regarding bankruptcy.  "How did you go bankrupt?," asked one character.  "Two ways.  Gradually, then suddenly." was the reply.

Well, the same can certainly be said of Detroit, Michigan.  Detroit is getting ever closer to declaring bankruptcy (see here).  If Detroit does declare bankruptcy, it would be the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the United States.

What does this have to do with Minooka CCSD 201?  Well, most of us know that the State of Illinois has financial trouble of its own, including the worst underfunded pensions in the nation and pension contributions that are increasingly eating into current services.  Well, if you follow the link above and read the article, you will notice that the Detroit emergency financial manager, Mr. Orr, is contemplating a plan where, among other things, retirees will receive less than 10% of their promised benefits under the current pension plan.  I am quite sure that this is going to cause a great deal of financial hardship for those retirees.  One lesson that we can learn from Detroit's example is that when a municipality (or perhaps a state, in the case of Illinois) gets into serious financial trouble (and by all accounts Illinois is already there), the "promises" that were made pursuant to a pension plan become negotiable.

Now a state is different in at least one important respect: under current law, states cannot file for bankruptcy protection.  They can, however, renegotiate "promises," and you can be sure that they will.  States after all go bankrupt (or become insolvent) just like any other entity . . . "[g]radually, then suddenly."

Why I Oppose a Sales Tax Increase for Grundy County

At a recent joint school board meeting of Grundy County school boards, the possibility of asking voters to approve a School Facility Occupation Tax for Grundy County was discussed.  For more background on this tax, see here.

As a member of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board and as a voter, I will be voting "NO" on the question of the tax increase.  Here is why:

1.  I have two children, currently attending Minooka CCSD 201 schools, who will one day be taxpayers.  I would like them to be able to afford to live in Grundy County if they so choose.  I am therefore opposed to increasing their future tax burden.  This is not a one time referendum for issuing bonds to build a school or two.  This is a permanent tax increase.  There is no provision in the statute for a county to decide that this tax is no longer needed (if it ever truly was).  So, on top of a recent 67% increase in the state income tax (from 3% to 5%), we would be piling on a 16% increase in our sales tax (from 6.25% to 7.25%).  I know many people are going to say that "this is for the children" (in fact, I have already heard this), but we should be careful what we do "for the children."  The people that are children right now are going to be taxpayers one day.  We should do everything in our power not to burden them with additional taxes.  Otherwise, they may find that it is too expensive to live in the communities in which they were raised.

2.  This would be a pure tax increase no matter what anyone would lead you to believe.  This is not swapping one form of tax for another.  It has been argued that school districts could lower their property tax levies to offset the impact of this tax.   Even if they could, that does not mean that they will.  There is no provision which requires them to lower property taxes in response to increased revenue from a sales tax.  If you think that some or even any school districts would lower their property tax levies in response to an increased sales tax, you are putting a lot of faith in school boards to look out for the interests of taxpayers.  A school board may promise to do this in order to get the voters to support the sales tax increase, but such a school board would have no legal obligation to fulfill the promise and, in any event, cannot bind a future school board (remember, the tax increase would be permanent).

3.  Voters will be giving up an enormous amount of control over spending on school facilities.  As it stands right now, school districts must come to the voters for approval to issue bonds for capital projects such as building new facilities or improving old facilities.  With this tax increase in place, the voters will be giving up the ability to control such spending.  School boards will no longer need to "sell" projects to the voters.

4.  This money will burn a hole in the pockets of many school boards.  Governments, even more than individuals, have a tendency to burn through any money that they can get their hands on.  If there is no pressing need to spend and they have money, they spend on what are arguably wasteful projects.  Right now, many school districts are feeling the pain of the recession (which brought about falling property tax revenues) and are looking for a way to raise more money.  Rather than cutting back on spending to make it through the rough patch, they want to increase revenue.  Once we get through this rough patch, however, they will still be collecting money through this tax, even though they will no longer need the revenue.  Again, this tax is permanent.  You will be paying the tax whether the school districts need it or not.  And it can only be spent on school facilities.

5.  The revenue from any potential tax increase can only be spent on school facilities.  It can not be spent "in the classroom."  Some school districts in Grundy County may need new facilities now or in the future.  This tax would be collected on behalf of all the school districts in Grundy County whether they need new facilities or not.  Let those school districts that have a need for new or improved facilities ask the voters of their districts for approval to issue bonds to fund such projects.  That way, taxpayers in those districts that don't have such a need will not have an additional tax burden.

6.  A sales tax is the most regressive form of taxation.  That is, it has the most impact on those who are least able to pay the tax.  Everyone who buys goods in the county will see their sales taxes increase.

7.  There has been some talk about how many people who are not residents of Grundy County will pay this sales tax.  Well, I doubt that the percentage of such people is very high compared to those of us that live and shop in Grundy County.  So, I doubt that there will be much of a subsidy from non-residents.  But, even if there were, how is it fair to try to shift the financial burden of educating our children to others?

 

Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, May 22, 2013. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7 p.m. Both meetings are open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here. In addition, for those who are interested, click here and here for information regarding issues that will be discussed at the Committee of the Whole Meeting and the Board Meeting.