News
Coalition Statement on the End of Education Accountability Summit
August, 2013While appreciative that Governor Scott convened this summit on critical education issues and hopeful that some meaningful discussion and airing of concerns about the Common Core standards system would ensue, The Florida Stop Common Core Coalition (FSCCC) is deeply disappointed in the results.
"The outcome on the issue of the Common Core standards themselves was pre-determined," said Dr. Karen Effrem, president of Education Liberty Watch and co-founder of FSCCC. "Continued implementation of the standards was assumed. No meaningful discussion of the merits or lack thereof of the standards themselves was allowed to take place. Any attempt to discuss concerns about rigor, content of the federally funded and supervised model curriculum and text examples aligned with these standards, psychological manipulation and testing as described in federal documents, or any other concern was immediately shut down. Lacking the ability or desire to meaningfully and respectfully discuss and work towards solutions to these critical concerns, prominent officials at this summit resorted to ad hominem attacks calling the citizens and taxpayers of this state with concerns 'crazies' and 'radicals.' Sadly this whole exercise was a massive waste of time and taxpayer funds."
A more detailed list of concerns will be forthcoming. Our recommendations for dealing with this issue are available in the article titled "Our Children's Future"