Warriors, it’s hard to believe that 2 Decembers ago, I was writing my first Christmas themed anti CCSS article. That’s right, Dec. 2014 was when I first wrote “Monday Musings” CCSS’s Twelve Pains of Christmas”.
This time last year (2015) we, as anti CCSS Warriors, were still reeling from the passage of ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) as the ‘new’ education law of the land.
The irony? Between that 2014 version and the 2015 version, not a whole heck of a lot had changed, as far as federal overreach in education and/or the grasp the CCSS Machine had on education.
So, here we are approaching Christmas 2016 as anti CCSS/ESSA Warriors. Are the 12 Pains of Common Core the same?! Let’s see:
2014’s first Pain was “Illegality”, meaning the CCSS wasn’t based on proper vetting or legislation. In 2015, we saw the ‘illegality’ continue with the passage of ESSA. It simply extended the criminal-worthy actions. In 2016, we’ve begun to see just HOW those illegally based education laws are harming our nation.
The 2nd pain? “Deception”. How have we seen that play out in 2016? I just published an article detailing the deceptions.
See: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/12/14/the-delusion-games/
Coming in at #3? “Sacrificing quality for conformity”. This particular pain has only increased in the amount of agony it is causing everyone opposed to the federally led overreaches in education. Quality education is continually being laid upon an altar to be sacrificed. The replacement? Conformed workforce based skills.
Back in 2014, I stated that the 4th pain was ‘facts that lie’. Thanks to the powerful CCSS Machine members and the organizations, subjective research (aka: best practices) has been churned out at record speed. This one pain by itself is enough to keep any researcher busy for years. In 2016, we’ve seen many true facts surface about how painful the CCSS education is. We’ve also seen these ‘true facts’ pretty much ignored. So, in 2017, we need to make this pain an area of focus.
Pains 5 through 8 are largely due to the 9th pain of CCSS.
Pain #5 was “Profits” made by undeserving groups/people; related are high (6th pain) stakes (7th) assessments (8th). In 2016, those profits made with anything related to Common Core were enormous. High Stakes Assessments are NOT going away with ESSA!
Therefore, profits are going to be made. Researching the education law as I have, I know that ESSA increases the opportunities for not only the assessments to be even more high stakes, but the companies associated with the assessments to be more involved in education. So, what is the 9th pain?! “Public-private partnerships”!
In 2014, I shared with you that Pains 10, 11, and 12 were the most tragic of all.
Killing (10th) Great (11th) Minds (12th). “No matter if it is the student in the school, the staff at the school, or the community at large, we all lose greatness when CCSS is allowed to continue. We lose valuable minds by continuing to see CCSS and all that goes with it grow. We’ve literally seen how the outcomes can kill some kids. Throw in how CCSS has killed a love for learning; killed the importance of reading for fun; killed the rich and storied history of not just our world, but of our nation.” In 2016, we’ve seen great minds killed with ESSA.
The biggest painful factor of all (to me) is that only the names of what harms our nation in education have changed, NOT the agenda.
If you’d like to see the original 2014 Pains with the updated 2015 introduction:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2014/12/15/monday-musings-ccsss-twelve-pains-of-christmas/
Closing:
Warriors, as I did in 2015, I will be taking a break from writing, but NOT researching. From Dec. 16th to Jan. 6th, no new articles will appear here. I can still be reached via Facebook (Common Core Diva page or U.S. Parent Call to Action), Twitter (@commoncorediva), or MeWe (Lynne M Taylor).
I wish each and every one of you a blessed time with your families in whatever celebrations or festivities you partake of. Here, at my house, we will celebrating Christmas. As always, I am so honored to be a part of your lives. See you in 2017.
