California: Districts Object to $1 Billion for Common Core Testing

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1. educator says:

   January 31, 2015 at 3:34 pm

   This OP ED is dated yesterday. I wish LAUSD’s Deasy was still around to address these two issues, cost and usefulness of technology. He sold the iPad project as a “civil rights” issue that would close the digital divide. But, there is no evidence to prove that will happen. In fact, this OP ED seems to indicate that putting a child exclusively in front of a computer will actually increase the achievement gap compared to more affluent students who are exposed to more enrichment throughout their whole lives as tech giants Gates and Jobs demand for their children.

   The public does”t seem to realize that we, the public, pay for all the costs relating to K-12 education, whether through property, state and federal taxes. Also, we are paying for local and state-wide school construction bonds. So, no matter where the money comes from, the public and elected officials should demand an accounting for all this wasteful and unsubstantiated spending of billions of dollars.

   It was be sad if it took a massive measles outbreak to draw attention to the lack of resources such as school nurses and district staff to track unvaccinated children to bring attention to the negative effects of misplaced priorities.

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2. En B. Cee says:

   January 31, 2015 at 3:50 pm

   Ironically, this may prove to be the undoing of the tests. Whatever works. Remember that Capone was brought down not by crime, but by tax evasion. If districts refuse to pony up the funds, and if Gov. Brown says the state does not have the money either, then Arne will have to cough up the dough if he wants a testing regime badly enough. With the GOP in control, that’s a non-starter.

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   • noRefornNeeded says:

     February 1, 2015 at 2:04 am

     Don’t bet on it. If it drives the GOPs private sector goals, they’ll spend public funds. The GOP is not a conservative party. They like spend just as much as the left, they just like to claim they don’t.

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3. KrazyTA says:

   January 31, 2015 at 4:06 pm

   Whatever happened to the mantra “you can’t solve a problem by throwing money at it”?

   Apparently if it’s someone else’s money, and the people they’re throwing it at are your backers and enablers and patrons, then it’s ok with the rheephormistas.

   After all, you can’t control what you can’t measure and then label, sort and rank.

   Even if it hampers and displaces genuine teaching and learning.

   As even Sandy Kress [?!?!?!] says: “If you spend all your time weighing your pig, when it comes time to sell the pig, you’re going to find out you haven’t spent enough time feeding the pig.”

   I can’t believe I just quoted one of the godfathers of NCLB…

   😎

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   • Laura says:

     February 1, 2015 at 9:45 am

     Ha…they aren’t even using the right tool to weigh the pig! Or calibration tools…they are measuring what farm the pig came from then applying a weight.

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4. artseagal says:

   January 31, 2015 at 4:11 pm

   I think CA’s issue is the same issue around the country for each and every state. NCLB/RTTT got a foothold as states were desperate for funds to support public education so they would say yes to about anything and so they accepting all of Duncan’s “rules” for taking the Fed money. Testing via internet is about control of public education as well as profit for all the corporate sharks circling the waters. Corporate sharks like the publishing industry that was facing its demise in the age of the internet and the kindle. Taking over the mandated high stakes testing is profitable beyond Pearson’s dreams! Meanwhile, the upkeep of the computers – the purchasing of computer equipment that breaks down or simply needs replacement and the tech support is overwhelming school budgets that have already used federal funds just to begin the mandated common core/PARCC or Smart Balance implementation. Is Bill Gates going to singe-handedly pay for the upkeep of internet equipment at each and every public school in the nation? Do his pockets run that deep??? Perhaps he should go onto another interest and look at his “education experiment” as failed (and the Broads and Waltons too). It would benefit an entire nation of public school students and the professionals who administer and teach in them!

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   • SomeDAM Poet says:

     January 31, 2015 at 6:25 pm

     Is Bill Gates going to singe-handedly pay for the upkeep of internet equipment at each and every public school in the nation?

     I realize that’s a rhetorical question.

     Of course, Bill Gates never planned to pay anything beyond the start-up money to get the gravy train moving out of the station

     That was the glory of the plan. He’d pay a pittance and states and local districts would have to pick up the multiple tens of billions for testing and curriculum, which companies like Microsoft and Pearson would cash in on (and continue to cash in on for years to come)

     The only hitch is that the passengers are already jumping off the train , which will eventually leave only Engineer Billy, Lt. Coleman (to shovel the coal, of course) and Caboose-man Duncan (to hold the lantern to show where they have been)

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5. L. Evanko says:

   January 31, 2015 at 6:56 pm

   The problem with all of this is that the funding eventually will come out of the individual schools. As a former middle school principal in new york city, last year we spent a lot of money and time on all the measures of student learning testing that we did. The training, grading, and purchasing of tests is a monumental task and drain on all schools budget and instructional time.

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6. SomeDAM Poet says:

   January 31, 2015 at 10:31 pm

   “Billy Gates” parody of Casey Jones (The Grateful Dead)

   Driving that train, high on your brain,
   Billy Gates you better, watch your greed.
   Parents ahead, teachers behind,
   And you know that testing just crossed their mind.

   This Common Core makes it on time,
   Leaves Gates Foundation ’bout a quarter to nine,
   Hits DOE Junction at seventeen to,
   At a quarter to ten you know it’s travelin’ again.

   Driving that train, high on your brain,
   Billy Gates you better, watch your greed.
   Parents ahead, teachers behind,
   And you know that testing just crossed their mind.

   Trouble ahead, states are in red,
   Take my advice, fund libraries instead.
   Coleman’s sleeping, the Common Core’s poo, it’s
   Gone off the rails and it’s done-for, that’s true.

   Driving that train, high on your brain,
   Billy Gates you better, watch your greed.
   Parents ahead, teachers behind,
   And you know that testing just crossed their mind.

   Trouble with you is the trouble with Rhee,
   Got two good eyes but you still don’t see.
   Come round the bend, you know it’s the end,
   Pearson schemes and manure just steams

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7. Chiara says:

   February 1, 2015 at 7:49 am

   This is from the “parent FAQ” section of PARCC NJ:

   “How much is this new test costing our town?

   There is no local cost involved in developing or scoring
   the PARCC exam. The state pays for all PARCC exams. None of the costs for PARCC comes directly from the local school budget. ”

   So there you have it. NO local costs 🙂

   This test really IS miraculous!

   Click to access PARCCFAQ.pdf

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8. amerigus says:

   February 1, 2015 at 9:28 am

   My suburban NY county pays $2 million per year for Common Core compliance. The demand for refunds should be paired with a strong push for refusing the tests (are you posting flyers in your local supermarkets yet?).

   My school has had laptops in use for two years now and it’s been a struggle keeping them working. Kids know all the tricks to getting on Facebook and YouTube, download malware or just abuse them through rough handling.

   We finally got LANschool, software to remote monitor or control laptop use , but more than half are in for repair by now and some of them might not be fixable. It takes a lot of resources to keep them working.

   The only way to guarantee every student has a working laptop to take standardized tests all at the same time on the same day is to not use them for anything until testing time.

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9. Chiara says:

   February 1, 2015 at 10:06 am

   I think this is a really important point on the Common Core tests:

   “Two years ago, it was stated directly by then-Education Commissioner John King that test scores would be low because the bar was being raised. When the first set of scores were released, less than two years ago, Commissioner King wrote in his August 2013 “News and Notes,” “…the new proficiency rates must not be used to criticize our schools, principals, and teachers.”
   Now, magically, 18 months later, those same test scores are being declared a sign of poor teaching rather than an indication of higher standards. ”

   The public was assured these scores wouldn’t be used by political actors in the ed reform movement to bash public schools, yet Cuomo is now using them to do just that, and media are blindly repeating his claims that 70% of students are failing with no context.

   When politicians use these lower scores to promote their own careers, continue to pull funding from our schools and pile on more unfunded mandates, who will be held accountable for breaking the promise that was made? Teachers and students took these tests in good faith, with the assurance they wouldn’t be punished for the lower scores. Was that a lie?

   http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-opinion/article/Letter-Don-t-judge-a-teacher-by-a-student-s-test-6053807.php

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   • Mom from District 2 says:

     February 1, 2015 at 11:05 am

     Yes! Thank you for sharing this example. I was thinking my memory of the original rhetoric was messed up.

     I would forward this article to my Assembly representative, but he’s kinda busy (Sheldon Silver.) I will say something to my state senator and maybe Cathy Nolan (not sure how she feels about contact from non-constituents, but she seemed pretty great during the “InBloom hearings.”

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     • Donna says:

       February 1, 2015 at 7:20 pm

       Won’t it be nice when Silver and Cuomo have adjoining cells?

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   • Linda says:

     February 2, 2015 at 9:31 am

     Chiara,
     The points you’ve made need to be heard by the naïve Ohio public teachers promoting Common Core, from their Gates-funded Ohio
     Educator Leader Cadre pulpit. One of them cited the PTA as proof
     of community support and legitimacy, the same PTA that received Gates funding of $1,000,000, earmarked for Common Core.

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