To the House Standing Committee on Education
In Support of HB 2292
February 20, 2015
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee,
My name is Barbara Saldivar. I am the State Director of Concerned Women for America (CWA) of Kansas. CWA is the largest public policy women’s organization in the nation. Thank you for letting me share my concerns on the issue of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) on behalf of the CWA of Kansas members. We strongly support HB 2292. Below are broad statements of the concerns that we have.
CWA of Kansas is committed to the U.S. and Kansas Constitutions. CCSS is a repackaging of failed policies and practices. It causes loss of local control for parents, local school boards and the Kansas State School Board of Education. Under Common Core, we have sacrificed our sovereignty. We did this because in 2009 we made the mistake of taking advantage of competing for Race to the Top grant. We used this “carrot” for getting funds, and now we are in a pickle because the stick was the adoption of the CCSS and its accompanying assessments scheme – sight unseen.
CCSS is a lowering of educational standards. Dr. Sandra Stotsky, Professor Emerita at the University of Arkansas served on the Common Core Validation Committee and refused to sign off on the English language arts standards. She cited poor quality, empty skill sets, the de-emphasis on literature and low reading levels. Dr. James Milgram of Stanford University the only mathematician on the Common Core Validation Committee refused to sign off on the math standards. Dr. Milgram maintains that the math standards will, by eighth grade, leave American students two years behind their peers in high performing countries.
CCSS threatens student and family privacy. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in June 8, 2009 speech, “Hopefully, some day, we can track children from preschool to high school and from high school to college and college to career.”
CWA of Kansas is deeply concerned about the impact of CCSS on children, parents, teachers, local school boards and the Kansas Department of Education. Please vote to keep local control by saying yes to HB 2292.
[1] Statement of Dr. Sandra Stotsky, “Controlling Education from the Top, Why Common Core is Bad for America”, May 2012, page 21. http://americanprinciplesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Controlling-Education-From-the-Top.pdf [2] Written testimony of R James Milgram, Professor Emeritus, Stanford University, member of the Common Core Standards Validation Committee http://mathexperts-qa.blogspot.com/2011/04/prof-r-james-milgram-rejects-adoption.html (last accessed April 25, 2013)