On February 18, four bills, aimed at repealing and replacing Common Core in Montana, were heard by the House Education Committee. All of the individuals who spoke in support of Common Core and in opposition to HB 377 were part of the educational establishment except for two. Interestingly, two specific groups which spoke against the bills on behalf of their members were the Montana PTA represented by Dee Hensley-Maclean and the Billings Chamber of Commerce represented by John Brewer.
CWA of Montana presenting testimony on your behalf at that committee hearing.
Good news, it passed out of committee, and then on February 26, HB 377 passed out of the House! It is now time to tell the members of the Senate Education Committee to support HB 377 and HB 501. View action items and prayer focus below. Click here to read HB 377 and click here to read HB 501 as well as view their status.
Billings Chamber of Commerce’s Stance on Common Core:
Their website states:
“The Common Core State Standards are K–12 academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy. They were developed by states, and states voluntarily choose to adopt them.
Standards are a critical first step in improving America’s education system. They provide the necessary foundation for local decisions around curriculum, assessments and instruction. The Billings Chamber supports the Common Core initiative.”
Clearly the chamber is taking a stance on an issue it has not thoroughly researched. The standards are national standards by the Montana Board of Public Education’s admission (page 7).
You can read more about the chamber’s stance on education by clicking here and then clicking on either local, state or federal issues.
Nation PTA’s Stance on Common Core:
Their website states:
“Supports nationally agreed upon voluntary standards if they are derived by consensus at the state and local levels. Parents must be involved in this process.”
Parents were not involved in the process of adopting Common Core on any level. It is insulting to all the parent members of the PTA for their Advocacy Chair to speak for their members in support of educational standards in which the parents had no say! You can read more about the PTA’s stance on educational issues by clicking here.
Montana PTA’s Stance on Common Core:
The Montana PTA also sent out an e-mail asking their membership to call and oppose the four bills aimed at repealing Common Core in Montana.
Time is of the essence! Act and Pray TODAY!
Take Action:
- Please contact the members of the Senate Education and Cultural Resources Committee at 406-444-4800 and tell them to support HB 377 and HB 501. If you are told you can only leave messages for five members of the committee, please leave a message for the following: Taylor Brown (R-SD 28), Llew Jones (R-SD 9), Mary Sheehy Moe (D-SD 12), Sharon Stewart-Peregoy (D-SD 21) and Bob Keenan (R-SD 5).
- If you are a member of the Billings Chamber of Commerce, please e-mail John Brewer at john@billingschamber.com as well as the Chamber board president Ron Yates at RYates@eidebailly.com. Tell them you do NOT support Common Core or the Billings’ Chamber speaking for you.
- If you are a member of the Montana PTA, please e-mail ptamontana@rbbmt.org and tell them you are against Common Core and for local control of education. Let them know that as a member you do not appreciate the Montana PTA speaking for you.
- If you are a member of either the Billings Chamber of Commerce or the Montana PTA, please contact the board leadership and tell them you do not support Common Core. Send a letter to the editor of your local paper stating your concerns with Common Core and the stance these organizations have taken.
- If you know someone who is a member of either of these organizations, please encourage them to act.
- Pass this e-mail onto like-minded friends, family, pastors, etc. and ask then to pray and take action on this important issue.
Pray for the legislators who have not yet seen the cracks within Common Core. Pray they will see truth and will speak up in support of HB 377 and HB 501. Pray that those legislators, regardless of political party affiliation, who do not support Common Core, would speak truth and would speak boldly. Pray for John Brewer and Dee Hensley-Maclean, as well as their organizations and board of directors, that they would realize the dangers of Common Core and oppose it.
View Testimonies: You can view a video of all the testimonies here. Go to 00:59:47 to view CWA of Montana State Co-Director Kari Zeier’s testimony. John Brewer testifies at approximately 1:17:00 and then is questioned by Rep. Jeff Essmann (R-District 54) at 2:38:00. Dee Hensley-Maclean testifies at 1:43:00.
The cracks within Common Core are beginning to show. You are speaking up and making a difference! The time to speak loudly is now! Keep up the good work!