Great news for Georgia parents, students, teachers and taxpayers! S.B. 167, sponsored by Sen. William Ligon (R-Brunswick), was introduced in the Georgia legislature this past week. S.B. 167 gives Georgia a path out of the Common Core State Standards(CCSS).
Your voice and action are critical to the passage of S.B. 167.Click here to download action sheet.
Background on the Common Core in Georgia
Because Georgia applied for and is the recipient of Race to the Top grant money and because Georgia received a waiver for No Child Left Behind, school districts across the state must now begin implementing the Common Core standards for math and language arts.
If you’ve never heard of Common Core (relabeled the “Common Core Georgia Performance Standards” in Georgia), it’s a nationwide initiative designed to herd states into national K-12 standards and national tests which ultimately will lead to a national curriculum and silence curriculum input from local parents, taxpayers, and educators.
Why CWA of Georgia supports the withdrawal from the Common Core State Standards
Under the Constitution, the education of every child lies primarily with parents, supported by elected local and state officials. However, under the Common Core, Georgia can no longer control what is taught in its schools in English/language arts and math. Georgia parents and teachers will have no recourse if they see that the standards are not working in the classroom. None of the Common Core standards have been piloted anywhere. Because Georgia adopted the standards sight unseen, Georgia students are participating in a pure experiment. The Common Core standards are mediocre at best and will “dumb down” instruction in our schools. Georgia will likely have no control over future standards (in science, social studies, and health/sex education) that will be imposed just as Common Core was through the power of the federal purse. The CCSS system requires the state to turn over massive amounts of private family and student information via Georgia’s State Longitudinal Data System (SLDS). The SLDS has the potential to track over 400 data points on Georgia children, kindergarten through college and career with the likelihood that data sharing with the federal government will occur. Georgia taxpayers are going to be handed a multimillion dollar tax bill over the next several years. Georgia’s Race to the Top grant totaled $400 million over four years much less than the cost of CCSS implementation and testing. Unfunded mandates and long-term maintenance will cost Georgia taxpayers far more than the grant money received. Georgia’s taxpayers already pay $13 billion in state and local taxes for K-12 education every year. A mere $400 million federal grant, over four-years, should not usurp state and local control.
CWA of Georgia believes that educational solutions for Georgia children should be made in the state of Georgia. We reject nationalized standards and centralized educational control not only in Georgia but across this nation.
Georgians should demand world-class, state-directed standards through a transparent, democratic process. We do not have to settle for a “one-size fits all” Common Core developed behind closed doors.
If passed, this will be a huge victory for Georgia’s parents and children. CWA of Georgia needs your help to make this happen. S.B. 167 has been introduced in the state legislature and it will do four things:
Withdraw Georgia from the Common Core Standards. Withdraw Georgia from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) national testing consortium. Prohibit the adoption of any future curriculum standards, such as the Next Generation Science Standards, the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, the National Health Education Standards, and the National Sexuality Education Standards, unless approved by the General Assembly. Prohibit the sharing of any personally identifiable information compiled on students or teachers with any entity outside the State of Georgia.
Would you please do the following?
Educate yourself on the Common Core
Download the Quick Fact Sheet and educate yourself on the dangers of the Common Core Standards. Watch the Stop Common Core YouTube video (30 minutes in length). Visit the stopcommoncore.com website for an extensive list of articles and multimedia on the Common Core Standards, nationalized testing and intrusive student data tracking.
Take Action
Your voice and action are critical to the passage of S.B. 167. The bill is currently in the Senate Education and Youth Committee. We need for you to contact ALL the senators on the committee and urge them to support S.B. 167. Additionally, we need for you to contact Gov. Nathan Deal, Erin Hames, policy adviser to the Governor, and State Superintendent John Barge. Urge them to support the bill.
Click here for the list of names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
Pray
Pray that the eyes of our elected officials will be opened to the dangers of the Common Core Standards. Pray that our elected officials will understand that parents should have the ultimate authority on how their children are educated. Pray for the passage of S.B. 167.