Voters Guide – Election 2016

Don’t be drawn into the spin!
Seek the facts!
Consider carefully!
November 8th determines our future as a country!

voters-guide

Hernando fourth-grader speaks out against new FSA testing

BROOKSVILLE —

A Brooksville Elementary student isn’t happy with the new statewide testing in schools, and she’s making her opinion known.

Sydney Smoot, 9, spoke Tuesday in front of the Hernando County School Board. She told school leaders that she’s not happy with the new Florida Standards Assessments.

“I do not feel that all this FSA testing is accurate to tell how successful I am,” she said in her speech.

WATCH: Sydney Smoot speaks out against standardized testing

The fourth-grader says the testing causes way too much anxiety for students.

“I just don’t think it’s fair because one test defines you as either a success or failure,” Sydney said.

She also says she had to sign a form telling her not to talk about the testing with her parents. She felt the need to speak up. (Click to continue reading)

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Hernando fourth-grader speaks out against new FSA testing

HS English Teacher Slams Common Core Standards in Resignation Letter


In a viral blog post, a Colorado public school teacher resigned from her position as a high school English teacher in protest to Common Core standards. Pauline Hawkins wrote in part:

“I can no longer be a part of a system that continues to do the exact opposite of what I am supposed to do as a teacher – I am supposed to help them think for themselves, help them find solutions to problems, help them become productive members of society. Instead, the emphasis on Common Core Standards and high-stakes testing is creating a teach-to-the-test mentality for our teachers and stress and anxiety for our students. Students have increasingly become hesitant to think for themselves because they have been programmed to believe that there is one right answer that they may or may not have been given yet. That is what school has become: A place where teachers must give students “right” answers, so students can prove (on tests riddled with problems, by the way) that teachers have taught students what the standards have deemed are a proper education.”

Full Article & Source:
HS English Teacher Slams Common Core Standards in Resignation Letter

Frustrated Father Writes Note in Response to Common Core Assignment ‘On Steroids’


Full Article, Video & Source:
Frustrated Father Writes Note in Response to Common Core Assignment ‘On Steroids’

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In my opinion: Complicated, when unnecessary, is about as stupid as driving clear across town & back to a store a few blocks away because the directions on the internet are from a starting point on the other side of town.

Open the floodgates? Indiana becomes first state to scrap Common Core

Common core IndianaINDIANAPOLIS – Indiana has become the first of 45 states to opt out of the national education standard known as Common Core, and critics of the controversial K-12 program say the move could “open the floodgates” for others to follow.

Growing criticism over costs imposed by the program, as well as fears that by setting a national education standard, the program has already begun dictating curriculum, has made Common Core an increasingly polarizing issue. Although the program has both Republican and Democrat supporters, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence predicted his state will be the first of many to rethink participation.

“I believe when we reach the end of this process there are going to be many other states around the country that will take a hard look at the way Indiana has taken a step back, designed our own standards and done it in a way where we drew on educators, we drew on citizens, we drew on parents and developed standards that meet the needs of our people,” Pence said.

The Common Core State Standards Initiative, originally drafted by state education superintendents working with the National Governors Association, and since embraced by the Obama administration, seeks to impose a national standard for achievement among K-12 students. Some states began implementation this year, with the majority slated to begin in the fall.

But several states are seeing a backlash against participation, which was typically approved as long as five years ago. Jim Stergios, executive director of the nonpartisan, Boston-based think tank Pioneer Institute, said the Hoosier State’s move could “open the floodgates.”

“Indiana, under [Republican Gov.] Mitch Daniels, was one of the early proponents of Common Core, even the poster child,” Stergios told FoxNews.com. “By pulling out, it sends a strong signal to other states, particularly red states, that, ‘Hey, if they can do this, then why can’t we?'”

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Open the floodgates? Indiana becomes first state to scrap Common Core

The Truth About Common Core

Video by: Julie Borowski

This video brings Common Core down to a level even the government-educated should be able to understand!

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Carrie’s Take of Common Core:

Give kids back to their parents!

Let the government officials go have their “own” kids and make decisions for them, rather than ours!

Yes, let the parents have some choices in education and raising their “own” children!

What a concept!

Common core for the common bore!