News
Florida Superintendents' Organization Asks SBOE for Three Year Common Core Pause
November, 2013There was a lot of discussiion around the process and time line for both potential changes in the Common Core standards and for choosing a new aligned statewide test at the November State Board of Education (SBOE) meeting held yesterday in Gaineville. In our opinion, however, the most important part of the meeting was the call by the state association of district superintentdents to pause implementation of Common Core along with the accountability systems and the continued arrogant lack of concern for local control by the appointed SBOE and commissioner.
As reported by Travis Pillow of the Tallahassee Democrat, Volusia County Superintendent Margaret Smith, speaking on behalf of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, said:
"It is not realistic to expect that we can have a full and quality implementation in all K-12 grade levels by next year," she said. "Teachers are under a tremendous stress, because they're being trained while being expected to teach the new standards at the same time."
This is analogous to the frequently used but seemingly true in this instance remark about building the plane while flying it. That does not bode well for our children. Both outgoing board member and Jeb Bush ally, Kathleen Shanahan, and Commissioner Pam Stewart quickly dismissed the concerns of these local officials, both elected and appointed, that are trying to deal with the forced imposition of these untried standards and unwritten tests:
"It sounds like those are adults that we are trying to take care of in the system," Shanahan said of the call to push back the timetable.
...After the state board's meeting in Gainesville, expected to be its last of the year, Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said that rather than looking to "pause" before applying the new standards, the state should focus on helping districts prepare for them."Our teachers are going to need support," she said. "Our students are going to need support, and the way we provide that to the districts, and the districts down to the school level, is going to be key as we make this transition."
So now we have the entire state association of superintendents in addition to hundreds of thousands of parents and citizens, dozens of state and national groups in our coalition and across the country, Governor Scott, Representative Mayfield and several co-sponsors in the Florida House, both Republican National Committee members from Florida, two dozen Republican Executive Committees, the Democratic Progrssive Caucus of Florida, and the Florida Constitution and Libertarian Parties all opposing, questioning, or seeking a pause on some part of the Common Core system. Yet, the appointed bureaucrats seem to want to do everything in their power to continue to implement this boondoggle no matter what.
Something is very wrong with this picture.
