COMMON CORE: BACKLASH SPREADING FURTHER~PEOPLE WAKING UP TO THREATS

Senators to King: 

Delay Common Core or We Will:

See: http://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/spin-cycle-1.812042/senators-to-king-delay-common-core-or-we-will-1.6863605

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NY State Senator George Latimer addresses 

Commissioner John King (1-23-14):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phnbWyc-2x4

Senator Martins Comments on the Common Core Curriculum at the Education Committee Meeting 01/23/14:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lXh5TpFSPg

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Common Core Critics Decry 

School Reforms in Forum 

at Ardsley Middle School

See:

http://www.lohud.com/article/20140123/NEWS/301230085/?gcheck=1&nclick_check=1

Common Core College & Career Readiness?

Published on Jan 25, 2014

Dr. Carol Burris (above) speaks at the state of public education forum -- Will the Common Core Learning Standards & Cut Scores Prepare New York Students for College & Careers?--Ardsley, New York. January 23, 2014

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-D2_PnqdwQ

inBloom and the Threat to Student Privacy:

Published on Jan 25, 2014

Leonie Haimson (above) speaks at the state of public education forum -- inBloom and the threat to student privacy.--Ardsley, New York. January 23, 2014

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Mike Flanagan, Other State Superintendents 

Tell Federal Officials 

Common Core Test Data Won't Be Shared:

See: 

http://www.mlive.com/education/index.ssf/2014/01/mike_flanagan_other_state_supe.html

EXCERPTS:

"State Superintendent Mike Flanagan was one of 34 chief school officers who signed a letter to the U.S. Department of Education confirming that individual student data from Common Core-aligned exams will not be disclosed to federal officials."

SEE LETTER BELOW TO ARNE DUNCAN, SIGNED BY 34 CHIEF SCHOOL OFFICERS,

REPRINTED IN FULL, UNEDITED, FOR INFORMATIONAL, EDUCATIONAL, & RESEARCH PURPOSES:

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/USED%2520Letter_FINAL_01-23-14-3.pdf

January 23, 2014 

The Honorable Arne Duncan 

Secretary 

United States Department of Education 

400 Maryland Avenue SW 

Washington, DC 20202 

Secretary Duncan: 

As chief state school officers in states participating in the two common assessment consortia, we 

appreciate your continued leadership and collaboration with states as we work to raise our standards, 

improve our assessments, and strengthen our accountability systems. 

Our states have been collaborating for the last three years to design and develop next generation, 

computer-based assessment systems that will give students, parents and educators better information 

about children’s progress toward preparation for college and careers. This work is critically important, 

and we are committed to the success of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and 

Careers and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. 

Over the last several months, some concerns have been raised about whether states’ transition to the 

consortia assessments will create new requirements for states to provide student information to the 

U.S. Department of Education (USED) or any agency of the federal government. 

We are writing today to confirm that the consortia will not share any personally identifiable 

information about K–12 students with USED or any federal agency. Our states have not submitted 

student-level assessment data in the past; the transition to the new assessments should not cause 

anyone to worry that federal reporting requirements will change when, in fact, the federal government 

is prohibited from establishing a student-level database that would contain assessment data for every 

student. As we have historically done, our states will continue to provide USED with school-level data 

from our state assessments as required under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as 

amended in 2002. Our states and local education agencies will continue to retain control over student 

assessment data and will continue to comply with all state and federal laws and regulations with regard 

to the protection of student privacy. 

We understand that it has long been USED’s practice not to require states to provide information from 

assessments about individual K-12 students. We are confirming that our states will not provide such 

information to USED and that everything we have said here is consistent with our understanding of the 

cooperative agreement between the consortia and USED. 

Thank you for your consideration and your continued commitment to our states’ success. 

Sincerely, 

June St. Clair Atkinson 

State Superintendent 

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 

 Kirsten Baesler 

State Superintendent 

North Dakota Department of Public Instruction 

Virginia M. Barry, Ph.D. 

Commissioner of Education 

New Hampshire Department of Education 

 Brad A. Buck 

Director 

Iowa Department of Education 

Chris Cerf 

Commissioner 

New Jersey Department of Education 

Mitchell Chester 

Commissioner 

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and 

Secondary Education 

Richard Crandall 

Director 

Wyoming Department of Education 

 Randy I. Dorn 

Washington State Superintendent 

of Public Instruction 

 Dale Erquiaga 

Superintendent of Public Instruction 

Nevada Department of Education 

Tony Evers 

State Superintendent 

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction 

 Michael P. Flanagan 

State Superintendent 

Michigan Department of Education 

Deborah Gist 

Commissioner 

Rhode Island Department of Elementary and 

Secondary Education  Robert K. Hammond 

Commissioner 

Colorado Department of Education 

 Rebecca Holcombe 

Secretary of Education 

Vermont Agency of Education 

 Kevin Huffman 

Commissioner 

Tennessee Department of Education 

John Huppenthal 

State Superintendent 

Arizona Department of Education 

 Denise Juneau 

Superintendent 

Montana Office of Public Instruction 

 Tom Kimbrell 

Commissioner 

Arkansas Department of Education 

John B. King, Jr. 

Commissioner 

New York State Education Department 

Christopher Koch 

State Superintendent 

Illinois State Board of Education 

 Lillian Lowery 

Superintendent of Schools 

Maryland State Department of Education 

 Tom Luna 

Superintendent of Public Instruction 

Idaho State Department of Education 

 Kathryn Matayoshi 

Superintendent 

Hawaii State Department of Education 

Mark T. Murphy 

Secretary of Education 

Delaware Department of Education  

Chris L. Nicastro 

Commissioner 

Missouri Department of Elementary and 

Secondary Education 

 James P. Phares 

Superintendent 

West Virginia Department of Education 

 Stefan Pryor 

Commissioner 

Connecticut State Department of Education 

 Richard Ross 

Superintendent of Public Instruction 

Ohio Department of Education 

 Rob Saxton 

Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction 

Oregon Department of Education 

 Melody Schopp 

Secretary of Education 

South Dakota Department of Education 

 Hanna Skandera 

Secretary Designate 

New Mexico Public Education Department 

Pam Stewart 

Commissioner of Education 

Florida Department of Education 

John White 

State Superintendent 

Louisiana Department of Education 

 Carey Wright 

State Superintendent of Education 

Mississippi Department of Education