GUEST POST by Valerie Candelaria (President, The 9-12 Project of Idaho, Inc.) —
The 9-12 Project of Idaho has joined forces with Idahoans For Local Education to organize an informational forum where those who oppose the Common Core State Standards program will finally have an opportunity to deliver the full detail of our concerns, uninterrupted.
To date, we have been at a disadvantage when confronting Supt. Luna in the public arena because the media views him as "credible" while we are considered "misinformed and emotional" (as expected). So while we may be rusty in spots, we continue to deliver our punches... then the media allows Mr. Luna to come out and smooth everything over with "the truth". We believe that Mr. Luna lacks the ability to remain impartial when listening to our concerns because he has too much political capital already invested in this program, yet we must allow him an opportunity to back away. The good news is that we are making noise and drawing attention to this important issue, which opens the door to greater federal influence over public education in Idaho. Now that we have some public attention, we are bringing together national education experts who have been engaged with the Common Core initiative since its inception. They will explain to all who will listen why they believe Common Core is bad for America, and bad for Idaho.
We have confirmed presentations from Jane Robbins of the American Principles Project (attorney, researcher, and co-author of the widely referenced white paper), Sandra Stotsky (ELA standards expert and dissenting member of the CC validation committee), and Ze'ev Wurman (math standards expert and dissenting reviewer of the draft standards for CA). In addition, Michelle Malkin has offered to make an Idaho specific video message for us. These are experienced and credible sources of information for those of us who believe that big government, together with big business, have crossed the line by exercising their considerable influence over local education decisions.
We've booked the Boise Centre on the Grove (Auditorium) from 9:00am to 1:00pm on Saturday, July 27th, following the Idaho Freedom Foundation's annual banquet the evening before (hoping there may be some straggling attendees from elsewhere in the state!). One purpose for this event is to invite state legislators to better their own understanding of our concerns since we will be calling on them to intervene on our behalf in the next session. It will be necessary to confirm that we have sponsors for desired legislation by this fall. Every state senator and representative has received an invitation to attend this event free of charge; however we must ask the general public to help us cover costs by charging a $10 admission fee. Governor Otter and Supt. Luna have also received a free invitation. Please ask your senators and representatives to attend.
Every citizen needs a good understanding of this program which comes with an increased federal footprint in Idaho education. Please consider sharing this information with your family, friends, neighbors, group and church members and encourage them to attend as well. Even print it and post in stores, etc. It can also be useful to communities that border our state, as Common Core is a national problem.
The website with full event details and online ticket purchase is available here. All the necessary details (including speaker bios and contact information) are contained in this flyer. Your help in distributing this information would be greatly appreciated!
The 9-12 Project of Idaho has joined forces with Idahoans For Local Education to organize an informational forum where those who oppose the Common Core State Standards program will finally have an opportunity to deliver the full detail of our concerns, uninterrupted.
To date, we have been at a disadvantage when confronting Supt. Luna in the public arena because the media views him as "credible" while we are considered "misinformed and emotional" (as expected). So while we may be rusty in spots, we continue to deliver our punches... then the media allows Mr. Luna to come out and smooth everything over with "the truth". We believe that Mr. Luna lacks the ability to remain impartial when listening to our concerns because he has too much political capital already invested in this program, yet we must allow him an opportunity to back away. The good news is that we are making noise and drawing attention to this important issue, which opens the door to greater federal influence over public education in Idaho. Now that we have some public attention, we are bringing together national education experts who have been engaged with the Common Core initiative since its inception. They will explain to all who will listen why they believe Common Core is bad for America, and bad for Idaho.
We have confirmed presentations from Jane Robbins of the American Principles Project (attorney, researcher, and co-author of the widely referenced white paper), Sandra Stotsky (ELA standards expert and dissenting member of the CC validation committee), and Ze'ev Wurman (math standards expert and dissenting reviewer of the draft standards for CA). In addition, Michelle Malkin has offered to make an Idaho specific video message for us. These are experienced and credible sources of information for those of us who believe that big government, together with big business, have crossed the line by exercising their considerable influence over local education decisions.
We've booked the Boise Centre on the Grove (Auditorium) from 9:00am to 1:00pm on Saturday, July 27th, following the Idaho Freedom Foundation's annual banquet the evening before (hoping there may be some straggling attendees from elsewhere in the state!). One purpose for this event is to invite state legislators to better their own understanding of our concerns since we will be calling on them to intervene on our behalf in the next session. It will be necessary to confirm that we have sponsors for desired legislation by this fall. Every state senator and representative has received an invitation to attend this event free of charge; however we must ask the general public to help us cover costs by charging a $10 admission fee. Governor Otter and Supt. Luna have also received a free invitation. Please ask your senators and representatives to attend.
Every citizen needs a good understanding of this program which comes with an increased federal footprint in Idaho education. Please consider sharing this information with your family, friends, neighbors, group and church members and encourage them to attend as well. Even print it and post in stores, etc. It can also be useful to communities that border our state, as Common Core is a national problem.
The website with full event details and online ticket purchase is available here. All the necessary details (including speaker bios and contact information) are contained in this flyer. Your help in distributing this information would be greatly appreciated!
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