Please let us know, if you are planning to attend the March for the Children Event on March 5th in Tallahassee to support the Florida Education Stakeholders Education Empowerment Act(FESEEA) . This is a good bill! The Draft summary is HERE, but I suggest that everyone read the full bill, you may well be appalled by how we have gone in losing control of our children’s education. Also check out two bills introduced by Representative Debbie Mayfield, HB 743, and HB 877, which attempt to put the State mandated assessments on hold
If nothing is done the State mandated assessments created by the American Institutes for research (A.I.R.) are forced on our children. The psychological data collected by (A.I.R.) will become a tool to control them for the rest of their lives.
More information about the legislation and the dangers of the assessments is enclosed or available below, but in order to make any impact we need to let our voices be heard before the Legislative calendar is closed. This is why the March for the Children event must be a success.
Chris Quackenbush, State Education Chair for Florida Citizens Alliance, and one of the event’s organizers, has posted a short video that gives an overview explaining the event and why we need to show up. Chris says ” We are looking for you to volunteer as bus captains, organizers, team leaders, and thinkers, and media control people … to make this event successful.
She also suggests that “We need everyone to join forces organizing in their local areas, a group of three, four, five people, who will call in advance to their legislators, to make appointments for March 5th” That we “go to Tallahassee arriving on the fifth before 10 or 11, in the morning, or the day earlier, …to see more legislators than your own.”
She goes on to say “This is going to be it an essential part for us to get this bill [(FESEEA] passed. Showing them how much we care as individual parents’ grandparents & citizens on the state of Florida.”
Please, let us get together with your friends and arrange transportation to Tallahassee, There may be buses from Northeast Florida, and I will try to find out. Check out the video or on the Event Flyer the Schedule for the 5th. If no buses are available, registrar for the event HERE and car pool to Tallahassee. Contact Chris Quackenbush at 239-823-2980 for how to organize transportation or for how to volunteer for this event.
Before the March for the children event, make appointments with a small group of your friends to your Legislators for March 5th. The Florida Citizens Alliance who has organizing the event has provided a portal to email representatives. This portal will also provide some talking points about the Florida Education Stakeholders Education Empowerment Act.
Please try to attend, the best contact information on the event is Chris Quackenbush at 239-823-2980, but you can call me at 904-540-3438 or email me at jjryan2000@gmail.com about transportation from St. Augustine. I have enclosed a list of groups that may be interested in this event as well as additional information and links on the proposed bills and the (A.I.R) assessments
Eventbrite listing with map
March for the Children
Capital Rotunda in Tallahassee
Monroe St
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Thursday, March 5, 2015 from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM (EST)
Contact Chris Quackenbush at 239-823-2980, email her rquack4131@aol.com
Proposed Florida Legislation
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The Details of The “Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act” moves much of the responsibility and accountability back to our local school districts where it belongs. Summary here
Here is the message about the Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act that will be emailed to your representatives from the Florida Citizens alliance. These make excellent talking points.
To the Honorable _______________;
Dear Representative___________,
Too often the growing opposition to high stakes testing and Common Core presents a fragmented and emotional message which may leave you confused about how you can actually help with legislation. Nearly 100% of the parents and teachers who learn the realities of Common Core oppose it, but what can we do about it together?
Other states have already led the way with many differing approaches and we can learn by their success and failures. We have learned that by increasing testing frequency and punishments, scores have not increased, but costs have soared.
We have learned that re-branding Common Core increases anger and frustration, while children suffer and test scores plummet. Pausing Common Core only delays the steamroller, and children need help now…not 3 years down the road.
We have drafted legislation for your consideration that will accomplish our mutual goals to improve education, and we encourage you to join in support of this urgently needed change.
The “Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act” moves much of the responsibility and accountability back to our local school districts where it belongs.
The Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act will:
1. Restore accountability of curriculum content and materials to local districts and parents.
2. Dramatically reduce costs and complexity of testing.
3. Increase learning time and increase choices for students.
4. Eliminate the risk of data mining.
Key Features of the Act:
– Gives school districts the choice to select from legislature-approved, pre-2009, best state standards for ELA and math. All other standards are chosen by the district.
– Districts choose just one nationally normed test per year from a list approved by the education commissioner and legislature, administered to grades 3 through 10 at the end of the year. All other testing is the responsibility of the district.
– Requires that all student data be aggregated, anonymized and de-identified when leaving the school district.
– Bases 50% of accountability scoring for schools and administrators on testing results of a nationally normed test chosen by the district, and 50% on constructive learning environments of each school.
– Does not require computerized testing.
– Gives legal authority for parents to opt out of testing and requires an “opt in” for sex education, family definition, or family values material taught in schools.
Bottom Line: The Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act continues to allow the Florida legislature to measure the quality of education throughout Florida schools and School Districts, but enables each school and school teacher the flexibility to unleash the creative potential of each child!
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HB 743 Filed by Representative Debbie Mayfield (R-Indian River) on educational sovereignty for Florida
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HB 877 Representative Debbie Mayfield filed a bill in the Florida House member files bill to allow testing opt-out …..[read article] http://goo.gl/wynq63
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SB 616 Bill analysis: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2015/0616
From an Email from Chris Quackenbush Feb 4, 2015
Greetings Grassroots! It is no surprise that leadership opposes our efforts to help restore local control, end common core and high stakes testing. Here’s the latest and I hope you will spread this around and urge our groups to oppose his bill. Our kids need real reform….and NOW! Attached is a sign up for the March for the Children 3/5/2105.
Bill analysis: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2015/0616
John Legg has presented a new bill February 2, 2015 with much fanfare, SB 616.
Like most other efforts by those who created the problem, this one creates more questions than answers. His bill attempts to solve the problem of too much testing by simply demanding that schools should limit testing to 5% of the school year while it doesn’t reduce testing requirements by the State.
If schools can only use standardized tests 5% of class time, (9 of 180 days) does that mean just the time they are sitting and filling in the blanks? Who measures this and tracks it? What about the time they are sitting in their classroom with no teacher while she proctors the makeup tests or retests? This is what creates most of the 40% estimated lost class time. We don’t have a computer for every student and the “musical chairs” problem is a huge and expensive complexity!
Who will notify parents when the 5% threshold is reached? Is that 5% collectively by school, by class, or individually? If only “permission” is required over 5%, why would parents deny this and under what penalty? I just saw a “permission” slip in Lee County which penalized parents $15 for a standardized test or $55 for refusing an alternate exam and asked for the student’s phone number as well as parent info and IDs.
This “edict” is no better than just raising the bar and demanding better performance, a strategy they are using for testing overall. And by the way, most have agreed the tests used to measure success are unreliable at best.
Schools must test because they are mandated to do so in statutes Senator John Legg helped create. The existing mandated tests fit nicely into the 9 day window if you don’t account for the lack of testing computers, space and proctors, retests and makeup tests, and this would not provide any relief for students, teachers and schools.
Here’s a link to the bill https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2015/0616/BillText/Filed/HTML and article about it: http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/senate-bill-aims-limit-standardized-testing#comments
This bill prescribes how teachers and schools must be evaluated in detail, removing all local control from local districts and providing unworkable and formulaic measures with no evidence of successful use. What makes 40% test score weight in teacher evaluation the right number? Why not 70% or 10% or 50% as it was? No one has explained or scientifically justified these arbitrary numbers which have high stakes consequences for students and teachers. The same goes for the 5% number on the amount of time for testing. Why not 1%, or 10%?
This bill does not mention the main issue for many, and that is the content that is being “taught” to our children does not measure up, and is NOT rigorous, but crippling our children’s future. Common sense and empirical data shows the children of Florida are being short changed. We have recently dropped to number 28th in the Nation as shown by the ACT scores. Our scores were better in 1995 than they are today, yet we are constantly being fed misleading statistics on “student growth” showing otherwise. The tortured use of made up measures is just unseemly to disguise the fact that Florida’s vaunted education system is a massive failure.
The underlying question is why the Legislature micromanages the education process at all when nearly all of them have no teaching expertise? We can use “off the shelf” Nationally Normed tests to measure how our students compare and save billions in the process. Using pencil and paper tests equalizes the districts and eliminates the musical chair complexity, costs and fears of computer failures. No explanation has ever been provided as to why pencil and paper tests should be replaced by computer only testing. Why not let certified teachers teach and accredited schools monitor the teachers?
The answer is simple, POWER AND MONEY. Billions must be spent to purchase, maintain and upgrade computers, software and networks to prepare for computer testing. No estimate has been provided to the taxpayers and voters of Florida, but judging by the pilot project in Orange County reported Feb 18, 2104 at the State Board of Education meeting, this cost was estimated at over $2 Billion by Chair, Gary Chartran.
We do know, however, that the companies promoting this, Pearson, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, GE and others are the selfsame companies which receive this money. They are also making large donations to the politicians who push for computerized testing and Common Core. The Superintendents Association and State School Boards Association both list the same group of supporting corporate cronies who are benefactors in this incestuous scheme. Here are links: Gary Chartran and the KIPP Schools: http://www.kipp.org/about-kipp/the-kipp-foundation/national-partners
Florida School Boards Assoc: http://www.fsba.org/sponsors/ Superintendents Association: http://www.fadss.org/businessPartners/ourPartners
Chris Quackenbush 239-823-2980
LINKS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Common Core and the March For the Children Links
March For the children Event
March for the Children- Eventbrite
Eventbrite – Chris Quackenbush-239-823-2980, rquack4131@aol.com presents March for the Children – Thursday, March 5, 2015 at March for the Children, Tallahassee, FL. Find event and ticket information.
March-for-the-Children-flyer-meme-4.png (PNG Image, 1272 × 1654 pixels)
March for The Children Flyer
March for the Children- Capitol RontundaTallahassee March 5 – Florida Citizens’ Alliance
Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act
March 5, 2015 / The Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act – YouTube
March 5, 2015 gathering to support The Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act
Stop Common Core Initiative Home Page – Florida Citizens’ Alliance
final-draft-with-testing-language-change.pdf
Finial Draft of the “Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment act
VIDEO: Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act Explained – Dr. Rich Swier
Chris Quackenbush from the Florida Citizens’ Alliance explains the Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act
“Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act” Video Overview – Florida Citizens Alliance
Education ‘stakeholders’ plan March for the Children | Navarre Press
Local activist Debbie Gunnoe is a member of the Florida Citizens Alliance (FLCA), a group that opposes Florida Standards in education.
Draft Summary of the Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act
Draft Summary of the Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act – Free download as PDF File (.pdf), Text file (.txt) or read online for free. Draft Summary of the Florida Education Stakeholders Empowerment Act
HB 743
2015-02 News | Rep. Mayfield Files Educational Sovereignty Bill Even Jeb Bush Should Like
The Florida Stop Common Core Coalition is very grateful and happy to announce that Representative Debbie Mayfield (R-Indian River) has filed HB 743 on educational sovereignty for Florida. The bill has two main components
HB 877
Text of HB 877
Florida House member files bill to allow testing opt-out – Florida Citizens’ Alliance
SB 616 (False test relief)
Scott outlines plan to reduce school testing | Post On Politics
Gov. Rick Scott and state education leaders outlined a plan Wednesday to scale-back standardized testing in Florida schools, responding to continued frustration from both the political right and left.
Senate Bill 0616 (2015) – The Florida Senate
FLORIDA GROUPS ACTIVE IN THE EFFORT TO STOP COMMON CORE
Facebook page
Florida Stop Common Core Coalition
Florida Stop Common Core Coalition was created to fight for the complete removal of Common Core from the state of Florida and to restore parent and locally controlled education.
The Florida Stop Common Core Coalition
The Florida Stop Common Core Coalition, Port Charlotte, Florida. 2,689 likes · 610 talking about this. A state coalition of Florida citizens and citizen…
Florida Stop Common Core Coalition, Inc. | Florida Stop Common Core Coalition
Florida Stop Common Core Coalition, Inc.
Stop Common Core in Florida
Stop Common Core in Florida. 4,968 likes · 206 talking about this. We are Moms against Common Core and the indoctrination of our children! Please share…
Florida Catholics Against Common Core
Petition to Florida Bishops, articles and videos against Common Core
Truth in American Education
Preview of Common Core Battle in Florida LegislaturePreview of Common Core Battle in Florida Legislature
FLORIDIANS AGAINST COMMON CORE EDUCATION – HOME
TO SHOW PARENTS AND ALL INTERESTED PERSON THE EFFECTS OF COMMON CORE STANDARDS
Facebook page
EDUCATION CENTRAL | Bear Witness Central
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EDUCATION IN AMERICA Latest Articles Can be Found Below the Video – THE SAD STATE OF EDUCATION – What is Common Core
Facebook page
Parents and Educators Against Common Core Standards
Facebook page
Facebook page
Tracking and Action Center | Nullify Common Core
Florida Citizens’ Alliance Stop Common Core Initiative Home Page –
The Florida Citizens’ Alliance (FLCA) is a coalition of citizens and grassroots groups working together through education, outreach and community involvement to advance the ideals and principles of liberty.
Floridas TACtion Center – Take Action Now Stop Common Core
Contact your elected officials to support and sponsor the legislation to Stop Common Core in Florida’s Education system. Help nullify unconstitutional federal intrusion.
A.I.R. ASSESSMENTS
2015-02 News | FSCCC Releases Major Paper on the Psychological Manipulation in Common Core and AIR/SBAC Tests
As states and the federal government deal with issues of testing and data privacy, Dr. Karen Effrem, executive director of the Florida Stop Common Core Coalition and president of Education Liberty Watch, has just released a major new paper on the Psychological Manipulation in Common Core.
2015-01 News | AIR Founder Involved in Racial Eugenics Experiments
Karen R. Effrem, MD – Executive Director As we honor the memory of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. who parents and policy makers should be aware of the sordid eugenics past of John Flanagan, the founder of the American Institutes of Research (AIR). AIR is the organization that is doing the computer adaptive testing platform for the Florida’s Common Core aligned statewide assessment at the cost of $220 million over six years plus another $15 million over three years to rent test questions from Utah where they were field tested.
SAGE Test results indicate majority of Utah students not on track for college | fox13now.com
SALT LAKE CITY — The numbers are in and they aren’t pretty. A new statewide testing system indicates the majority of public school students in Utah are not on track for a college education.
Teacher tells on Common Core Tests – YouTube
A variety of physiological and psychological effects have been reported after the test. These include: Anxiety, anger, emotional outbursts, lowered confidenc…
In criticizing Florida’s new testing system, many educators and parents have complained that the materials got their trial run in Utah, a state very unlike Florida. Utahns, though, aren’t too thrilled with the test, either. In fact, lawmakers in the Beehive State last week discussed getting rid of the test they call SAGE.
Dr. Gary Thompson Presents Clear Picture of Dangers of AIR Test | Florida Stop Common Core Coalition
Florida Stop Common Core Coalition was created to fight for the complete removal of Common Core from the state of Florida and to restore parent and locally controlled education.
OPTING OUT
Florida education commissioner says testing opt-out isn’t an option | Tampa Bay Times
Thinking about opting out of Florida’s annual state testing system? Think again.
Webinar on how to Opt out of assessments by Conversation Ed
Opt Out presentation by Conversation Ed
