On September 17, 2013, the Miami-Dade County Republican Party Executive Committee voted almost unanimously, one vote short, to approve a resolution against Common Core Curriculum State Standards. It was most appropriate that this resolution was passed on Constitutional Day since Common Core violates the Fourth and the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution. Our Constitution was signed by our Founders on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Before the meeting began, a table was placed at the entrance showing various textbooks with Common Core standards that are already being used in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools and other school districts across the nation. A fourth-grade textbook had a story about a little girl learning about unions and how important and valuable they are. Another 11th grade English textbook had an exercise with the name “From a Marxist perspective.” All the major publishers throughout the United States are coming out with textbooks that incorporate Common Core State Standards.
“From a Marxist perspective.” This writer, who is an alternate committeeman of the Republican Party in Miami-Dade, spoke first on the importance of approving the anti-Common Core resolution. He was followed by Pat Evans, a committeewoman who was largely responsible for drafting the resolution for the Rules Committee of the Republican Party of Miami-Dade. One committeeman spoke against the resolution, and he casted the only nay vote. Below is the complete language of the resolution.
The Resolution of the Miami-Dade County Republican Party Executive Committee Expressing Opposition to Common Core State Standards for Florida Schools
WHEREAS, on April 11, 2013, the Republican National Committee (RNC), in a special meeting in Los Angeles, California, released their “Resolution Concerning Common Core Education Standards” and the members of this committee herein express to the people of Florida their full and unequivocal support for the position taken by the RNC, and
WHEREAS, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a set of academic standards, promoted and supported by two private membership organizations, the National Governors’ Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) as a method for conforming American students to a uniform (“one size fits all”) achievement goals to make them more competitive in a global marketplace, and
WHEREAS, the NGA and CCSSO, received tens of millions of dollars from private third parties to advocate for and develop the CCSS strategy, subsequently created the CCSS through a process that was not subject to any freedom of information acts or other sunshine laws, and never was piloted the CCSS, and
WHEREAS, even though Federal Law prohibits the federalizing of curriculum, the Obama administration accepted the CCSS plan and used 2009 Stimulus Bill money to reward the states that were most committed to the President’s CCSS agenda; but, they failed to give states, their legislatures and their citizens time to evaluate the CCSS before having to commit to them, and
WHEREAS, the NGA and CCSSO in concert with the same corporations developing the CCSS assessments have created new textbooks, digital media and other teaching materials aligned to the standards which must be purchased and adopted by local school districts in order that students may effectively compete on CCSS assessment, and
WHEREAS, the CCSS program includes federally funded testing and the collection and sharing of massive amounts of personal student and teacher data, and
WHEREAS, the CCSS effectively removes educational choice and competition since all schools and all districts must use Common Core assessments based on the Common Core Standards to allow all students to advance in the school system and to advance to higher education pursuits; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, the Republican National Committee and the Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee, as stated in the 2012 Republican Party Platform, “do not believe in one size fits all approach to education and support providing broad education choices to parents and children at the State and the local level,” (p 35), which is best based on a free market approach to education for students to achieve individual excellence; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Republican National Committee and the Miami Dade County Republican Executive Committee recognize the CCSS for what it is, an inappropriate overreach to standardize and control the education of our children so they will conform to a preconceived “normal”, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Republican National Committee and the Miami-Dade County Republican Executive Committee reject the collection of personal student data for any non-educational purpose without the prior written consent of an adult student or a child student’s parent and that it rejects the sharing of such personal data, without the prior written consent of an adult student or a child student’s parent, with any person or entity other than schools or education agencies within the states, and finally,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the 2012 Republican Party Platform specifically states the need to repeal the numerous federal regulations which interfere with State and local control of public schools, (p 36); and therefore, the Republican National Committee and the Miami-Dade County Republican Executive Committee rejects this CCSS plan which creates and fits the country with a nationwide undo restriction of academic freedom and achievement.
Approved and adopted this September 17, 2013, at a meeting of the members in Miami-Dade, Florida.
I, the undersigned Chairman representing the entire membership, hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was adopted by the Miami-Dade County Republican Executive Committee.
Similar resolutions against Common Core are being approved by the Republican Party Executive Committees of different counties in Florida. There is growing opposition throughout the nation to the Obama administration’s federal takeover of education in most of the states in violation of our Constitution.
The governor of Maine signed an executive order against Common Core
Trisha Marczak wrote an article entitled “Conservatives Fear Brainwashing of Children by Common Core Learning Standards” which was published by Mint Press News on September 12, 2013. The reporter explained that the conservative movement against the federal Common Core learning standards received a boost when the governor of Maine, Paul LePage, signed an executive order against the implementation of the Common Core standards. There are now six states that have rejected the federally imposed Common Core Standards and Curriculum.
Governor LePage stated in his executive order the following: “The federal government has no constitutional authority to set learning standards in Maine or any other state, nor determine how children in the State of Maine or any other state will be educated. The Maine Constitution specifically grants to local governments responsibility for the support and maintenance of public schools. It is therefore, the right of local school units, not the state, to develop and or adopt curricula and instructional approaches consistent with the state learning standards.”
Governor LePage was also concerned with the data mining component of Common Core. He included the following in his executive order: “That the collection of student data by school districts and the state Department of Education must be done in a manner consistent with state and federal laws intended to protect student privacy. No personally identifiable data on students and/or their families’ religion, political party affiliation, psychometric data, biometric information, and/or voting history shall be collected, tracked, housed or shared with the federal government, nor provided to private vendors for the purpose of marketing or business development.”
Teachers, school administrators, parents and concerned citizens in the state of Maine, as well as in the nation, have spoken out against the intrusive data mining of Common Core that violates several federal laws as well as the privacy provision protected by the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.
Common Core opposition
There is a growing national campaign against Common Core led by conservatives and some progressives. They are many Republicans as well as Democrats who are opposed to the federal unconstitutional takeover of education. Meanwhile, the Coalition Against Common Core in Florida planned a demonstration at Tallahassee, the capital of the state of Florida, on September 25, 2013. The gathering will take place at the Capitol Building to impress upon the members of the Florida legislature the dangers of adopting Obama administration’s Common Core State Standards and Curriculum.
Opponents of Common Core are also concerned about the costs involved in the implementation of these standards and curricula. Many believe that Common Core is a cash cow for the corporations who plan to implement new testing, new curriculum, new professional development, new textbooks, collection of data, and so forth, in order to adhere to Obama’s education policy.
Additionally, there is great concern as to the appropriateness of some of the books that are being included in the recommended list of Common Core. One such book is, The Bluest Eye, by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, which is included in the 11th grade reading list. This novel is an account of a black girl growing up in Ohio and the molestation, rape and incest she endures. Conservatives feel that this book has pornography and therefore, should not be used in secondary schools.
The opponents of Common Core feel strongly that they have just begun to fight. They do not want President Barack Obama to fundamentally transform the schools to match his socialist vision of America.
