Warriors Against ESSA, the continuance of CCSS, and all related to BOTH:
This is for you.
In some places, school for the new year (2016-17) has begun. In others, it is getting ready to begin. Still others will begin later in the month, or even wait until September.
This time last year (2015-16), we saw all kinds of BTS (Back to School) images about getting rid of CCSS. ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) hadn’t yet been passed into Law.
Recently, I exposed how the very first tentacles of ESSA are showing up NOW. Alot of the CCSS Machine rhetoric is that ESSA won’t be fully implemented (and thus, felt by the States) until 2017-18. However, as we Warriors know, the pains of CCSS and ESSA are felt on a daily basis.
As a wise anti CCSS Warrior/NC (North Carolina) teacher told us back when we thought our State had repealed CCSS, ‘Everyday classes are taught, will be another day CCSS is embedded in them.’
Fast forward to today and we can apply the same sentiment to the ESSA and its ‘college and career readiness’/’challenging State academic standards’.
Since so many of those in leadership across our States are still in need of some ‘in-your-face’ truthfulness about ESSA, I created the screen shot you see above. Use it, if you wish; create one of your own. While the research is out there and points to the truth, it sometimes is too time consuming for the ‘in-your-face’ impact. The old tried and true, ‘a picture is worth a 1,000 words’ is a great tool.
Think of it this way, for every day our State leaders do nothing (as in listening to ‘we the people’), is another day they are helping continue the problems in education, NOT being a part of the solution.
So, what IS the solution? From my research of the CCSS Machine, it is a multi-pronged solution. a) Disbanding the U.S. Dept. of Education; b) refusing federal grants, incentives, awards; c) ending the public-private-partnerships in education (where business folks pretend to know what education should be); d) severing the ties on education between the U.S. Dept. of Labor, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, and all the other federal level Departments involved.
America deserves education to be conducted by qualified* American educators, not politicians, business owners with the ‘educator-wannabe’ attitudes, or a computer. ESSA does nothing to end the overreach, it does everything to continue the CCSS Machine’s track for reformed, workforce based education!
*qualified (for traditional educators, the proper and meaningful training; for non-traditional educators, the freedom to teach/lead as per their State’s laws.) That stated, the States would need bold leaders who know and respect education (of all choices); not pretend to know education or throw money at it and hope it is conducted properly.
Warriors, another reason to be of the mind to share ‘in-your-face’ truthfulness with your leaders: November 2016! Leaders of ALL (or mostly all) political roles are up to the people to decide. Do you want the ‘status-quo leader’, whom the CCSS Machine loves to thrive on?
If education is NOT on the candidates radar, is should be! YOU can be the one to place education in their campaign. Even if the candidates are NOT in the running for education related offices, we still need to put education on the political landscape they will have power over. WHY? ESSA embeds WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) and the HEA (Higher Education Act). As such, entire communities, regions, and States will find programs where education blends with city/county government in ways it has not been before. You don’t have to wait until 2017-18 school year for this ‘union’, it is already happening.
As an example, I am providing the link to the county I reside in and their Workforce/Education program. http://centralinaworks.com/NCWorksCareerCenters.asp
When you open the link, consider these facts:
1) the citizens tax dollars fund this
2) the program exists due to WIOA and JDGs (Job Development Grants)
3) the goal of the program is geared for 16-24 year old people
ESSA will bolster this type of program, nation wide and globally!
Closing:
To inspire your anti CCSS/ESSA creativity, here is a meme which circulated last school year and has been updated to reflect all we are standing against. Share it; create new awareness to the recycled agenda. We’re gonna need it!
Hear, hear!