Compromise Legislation Keeps Common Core Academic Standards for now.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey said an agreement has been reached on legislation that would keep the state's current academic standards intact. .... included the controversial Common Core standards for English and math. (link)

My Comment:
I know some conservative political activist will be incensed that Common Core was not overturned immediately, but I am pleased to see common sense prevail. Many on the right, including organizations I normally ally with such as Americans for Prosperity, Eagle Forum, and Heritage Foundation, have been active in a campaign to repeal and abandon Common Core.  I have heard and know their arguments; I am just not convinced by the arguments.

In the last few years, since Haslam has been Governor, Tennessee has ranked as the state showing the greatest improvement in education. This year's edition of the Report Card on American Education ranks Tennessee as the 24th best state in educational performance. Education Week's Quality Counts gives Tennessee a grade that puts our state in 40th place. U.S. News and World Reports ranking of states with the best high schools, ranks Tennessee in 41st place.

I know being in 40th or 41st place is nothing to brag about, but for as long as anyone as been doing any ranking, about all we could say was "thank God of Mississippi."  Tennessee has for generations ranked second or third place from the bottom in ranking of the state's educational systems. While Tennessee has ranked very low, nationally America's education ranking in the world has been falling. For a long time America was at the top as having a good educational system. Now, America's ranks in the middle. China and India are producing better educated citizens than America. For more on how our educational ranking is slipping as a nation, follow this link.

There are many things contributing to America's falling position in the world including a $18 trillion national debt, cultural changes such as the demise of the family, a social safety net that has zapped initiative and motivation, a burdensome bureaucracy that stifles growth and innovation, and anemic and inept leadership in the White House.  One of those things contributing to our decline as a nation however is that while other nations have been improving their education system, ours has been falling. A failing education system that does not produce a capable workforce and scientist to compete on the world stage puts our future economic standing and our national security at risk.

Maybe Common Core is not the answer to adequately improving American education but it is the best thing to happen so far. It appears to be part of the answer. Maybe we can come up with "Tennessee standards" that are as good as common core, but in the mean time we should not abandon what is causing Tennessee to show rapid improvement. In my view, our educational standards as a nation are too low. Also, our nations citizens are so mobile that there needs to be a minimum common core of knowledge that students across the nation are mastering in the same grade. If a family leaves Tennessee with a fifth grader who is excelling here and moves to Massachusetts or New Hampshire that fifth grader should not be performing at a third grade level in their new home state. I do not accept that a Tennessee child is not as smart as a child in Massachusetts or new Hampshire. I am not content to be ranked second to only Mississippi as having the least educated kids in America.  I am pleased that for now we are sticking with Common Core.

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Candice McQueen named new Tennessee education commissioner

Candice McQueen named new Tennessee education commissioner

www.tennessean.com

Lipscomb University Senior Vice President Candice McQueen will be named Tennessee's new education co...past experience as a classroom teacher....an authority on Tennessee's two most contested education reforms — the state's shift to more rigorous Common Core academic standards and a teacher evaluation system that takes into account student test scores.....from Tennessee....strong grasp of Common Core academic standards...

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Tn GOP Executive Committee Unanimously Adopts Resolution on Common Core State Standards

Adopted unanimously by the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee on December 6, 2014:

RESOLUTION COMMENDING TENNESSEE’S PARENT ACTIVISTS ON ANTI-COMMON-CORE VICTORIES

WHEREAS, The Republican National Committee passed a resolution on August 8, 2014, commending parents and other citizens in efforts to influence state legislatures to “resist federal intrusion into education policy via the “Common Core State Standards; and

WHEREAS, the RNC also commends parents for “reclaiming our heritage of citizen-directed government and inspiring others to enter the public square”; and,

WHEREAS, The Honorable Tennessee State Senators Dolores Gresham and Mike Bell are sponsoring Senate Bill 4, which establishes a Tennessee Standards Commission and cancels Tennessee’s current memorandum of understanding concerning the Common Core Standards.

RESOLVED, that the Tennessee Republican State Executive Committee, as the policy-making body of the Republican Party, recognizes the RNC’s resolution commending activist parents and other citizens on their anti-Common Core victories.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that Tennessee Senators Delores Gresham and Mike Bell are to be commended for sponsoring State Senate Bill 4 in response to citizen concerns about Common Core Standards and federal intrusion into Tennessee education policy.
The Republican National Committee, our leadership organization has set an example for the Tennessee SEC to follow. The RNC Resolution was passed August 8, 2014 and is attached.
Respectfully submitted,
Rebecca Ann Burke
Republican State Executive Committee Woman
Tennessee Senatorial District 23

The above is a repost from Tennessee Eagle Forum. 

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The Weekly Standard examines Common Core

I knew about Tennessee's Race to the Top education reform effort before I knew it was part of the implementation of Common Core. As a close observer of current events I have known that education has being reformed as long as I can remember. I remember Governor Alexander's reform effort called "Teacher's Career latter" or something like that, that encouraged teachers to go back to school and get more education. I remember when phonics was dropped and the prevailing wisdom was that students should learn to read before they learned the alphabet. I remember an experiment with open class rooms where students from different grades and classrooms were in one very big room without walls dividing the class rooms. I thought that was one of the dumbest ideas of which I ever heard. And, of course, we all know about George W. Bush's "No Child Left Behind." Despite constant education reform, American education has continued to decline. While at one time America was near the top as one of the countries with the most educated population, our educational ranking in the world has continued to drop. 

When Common Core came alone I was all on board early.  Maybe it is because of my own experience as a child. In my first five years of school, I was in five different schools.  On my first day of school in the fourth grade, the teacher handed out a math work sheet.  This is easy, I thought. I completed it but did not know that it was multiplication instead of addition.  In this south Knoxville school, they had learned multiplication in the third grade; in the school I had attended in the third grade we had not been exposed to multiplication. It was a humiliating and a scary experience for a nine year old boy.

We are a very mobile society.  It seems to make sense to me that their should be some standard that says, in this grade you should learn this. Also, the standard should be high so that America's place in the world does not continue to slip. We need an educated work force. Our standards are too low and many do not graduate ready for a career or college. Common Core seem to me to beef up the standards and requires a uniform minimum standard so that a student in Alabama is learning pretty much the same thing that a child in Massachusetts is leaning in a specific grade.  The standards also require critical thinking.  I also liked that the standard was voluntary and that it originated with the states and not the federal government.

When the political campaign against Common Core started, at first it seemed that it was being led by the populist conspiracy-theory-prone right wing fringe and I did not take the criticism seriously.  After the Heritage Foundation and other more mainstream conservative groups began campaigning against Common Core however, I took a second look.  I have read the criticisms bit still do not find a legitimate reason to oppose common core. So much of the criticism of Common Core appears misplaced. An inappropriate reading selection or a teaching method is discovered and opponents of Common Core point to that and offer it as an example of what is wrong with Common Core. Often it has nothing to do with Common Core.

The populist right united with teachers unions appear to be gaining ground in defeating Common Core and Tennessee seems to be on the verge of abandoning Common Core as have several other states.  While most on the populist right are waging the war on Common Core, the mainstream conservatives are, for the most part, acquiescing, and not defending it.

I was pleased to find this article by Andrew Ferguson who is a senior editor at the Weakly Standard that defends Common Core and explains the battle against it.  The Weekly Standard is a major conservative publication. Below are excerpts. I encourage you to follow the link and read the full article.

The Common Core Commotion 

Most of the criticism of the Standards has come from the populist right, and the revolt of conservative parents against the pet project of a national educationist elite is genuine, spontaneous, and probably inevitable. But if you move beyond the clouds of jargon, and the compulsory gestures toward “critical thinking” and “metacognitive skills,” you will begin to spy something more interesting. There’s much in the Standards to reassure an educational traditionalist—a vein of subversion. At several points, Common Core is clearly intended as a stay against the runaway enthusiasms of educationist dogma.

The Standards insist schools’ (unspecified) curriculums be “content-rich”—meaning that they should teach something rather than nothing. They even go so far as to require students to read Shakespeare, the Preamble and First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and works of Greek mythology. Phonics is the chief means of teaching reading in Common Core, rejecting the notorious “whole language” method first taken up in the 1970s and—research shows!—a likely culprit in the decline in reading scores. The Standards discourage the use of calculators, particularly in early grades where it has become a popular substitute for acquiring basic math. The Standards require memorization of multiplication tables as an important step in learning arithmetic, striking a blow against “fuzzy math.” Faddish notions like “visual literacy” are nowhere to be found.

Perhaps most impressively, at least in language arts, the Standards require students to read and write ever larger amounts of nonfiction as they move toward their high school diploma. Anyone familiar with the soupy “young adult” novels fed to middle- and high-school students should be delighted. Writing assignments, in tandem with more rigorous reading, move away from mere self-expression—commonly the focus of writing all the way through high school—to the accumulation of evidence and detail in the service of arguments. The architect of the Language Arts Standards, an educationist called David Coleman, explained this shift in a speech in 2011. He lamented that the most common form of writing in high school these days is “personal writing.”

......The populist campaign against the Standards has been scattershot: Sometimes they are criticized for being unrealistically demanding, at other times for being too soft. Even Common Core’s insistence on making the Constitution part of any sound curriculum has been attacked as insidious. Recall that students will be required to read only the Preamble and the First Amendment. That is, they will stop reading before they reach the Second Amendment and the guarantee of gun rights.

Coincidence? Many activists think not.

The conservative case, as seen in videos and blogs posted on countless websites, relies heavily on misinformation—tall tales and urban legends advanced by people who should know better. Revulsion at the educationist project predates Common Core by many decades. It is grounded in countless genuine examples of faddish textbooks and politicized curriculums. For the last few years, however, Common Core has been blamed for all of them. Textbook marketers and lesson-plan designers are happy to help. Their market, after all, isn’t parents but fellow educationists on state and local school boards that control purchasing budgets. Once Common Core was established as the future (for now) of education, the marketers knew the phrase was catnip. Every educational product imaginable now bears the label “common core,” whether it’s inspired by the Standards or not. A search of books for sale on Amazon.com shows more than 12,000 bearing the words “common core” in their titles. Many were produced long before the Standards were even a twinkle in an educationist’s eye.

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Education Summit could offer taste of Common Core fight, Sept 18

Education Summit could offer taste of Common Core fight

The Tennessean

Gov. Bill Haslam has billed a special-called Education Summit next week as a wide-ranging review of the “past, present and future” of Tennessee’s public schools.
Some, though, are looking squarely at Common Core....Ron Ramsey and House Speaker Beth Harwell are co-hosts for the summit, set for Sept. 18 at Nashville's downtown Sheraton Hotel.... “Let’s give them all an ear full,” reads a flier from a group that calls itself Tennessee Against Common Core, which plans to stage the rally.

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Caffeinated Conservatives June Meeting - Common Core Edition

From Stephen Clements, the original Caffeinated Conservative:

Hi everybody,

Saturday June 21st from Noon - 2 PM at Bagelface Bakery (700 Main Street in East

Nashville), come talk with David Mansouri, Executive Vice President of SCORE (State Collaborative on Reforming Education), a non-profit education think tank founded by former Senator Bill Frist, and a member of the Board of Directors of Nashville Classical Charter School. I asked him to come tell us why Common Core is a great idea, so bring your questions about education and Common Core, a friend, and your appetite for great bagels and coffee!

Stephen Clements

Caffeinated Conservatives

Check out the SCORE website for more information on this advocacy group:
http://tnscore.org/about/
The Davidson County Republican Party Annual Picnic is June 14th, so get your tickets here!
http://gopnashville.org/
Our friends at the Nashville TEA Party have Senator Ted Cruz's dad, Rafael Cruz, coming to deliver a barn-burner of a speach! It's free to attend, but I plan on buying one of the VIP seats. See you there on July 19th!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/we-the-people-rally-featuring-pastor-rafael-cruz-father-of-sen-ted-cruz-tickets-11790512741

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Pollster: Common Core bashing not a winner

The Tennessean - With Common Core already emerging as a wedge issue in Republican primary races in Tennessee and elsewhere, a GOP pollster has a surprising message: supporting the education standards might not hurt Republican candidates.

In fact, exploiting the issue for political gain could actually backfire during midterm elections. (link)

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Dr. Register to answer questions about Common Core at series of public meetings

Dr. Register speaks directly with parents about the facts and answers their questions 

MNPS Press Release - Parent Meetings Will Answer Common Core Questions

WHAT: Parents have plenty of questions about the Common Core State Standards and how they affect their kids in Metro Schools. To help keep them informed about this very important topic, Dr. Register and his staff are hosting a series of parent meetings designed to share the facts and dispel the rumors about Common Core. The district is now in its third year of implementation, with full adoption of the standards for reading/language arts and mathematics across all grades K -­‐ 12. These meetings will help parents learn more about how the standards are used in Metro Schools, the curriculum used to support them and the assessments needed to measure them. There will be an opportunity at each meeting for Q&A with district officials. 

WHO: Director of Schools Dr. Jesse Register, teachers, parents, district administrators

WHEN:  Thursday, April 24 at John Overton High School
                Monday, April 28 at Gower Elementary School
                Thurs day, May 1 at Madison Middle School
                Wednesday, May 7 at Apollo Middle School

               All meetings will start at 5:30 PM.

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Common Core slowed but not killed in Tennessee

The House reached agreement with the Senate and passed a bill that delays for a year the testing tied to Common Core and  requires that if Common Core standards are expanded beyond the current math and language arts standards in Tennessee, that the State Department of Education give the State Legislature a 60 day notice.

The vote on the final version of the bill, HB1549, was 85 voting "aye", and 8 voting "no."  The eight no's were: Carr J, Coley, Cooper, Keisling, Stewart, Towns, Windle, and Womick.

To follow the history of the bill and read the final version, follow this link. 

Here are other reports on the issue:

House goes along with one-year PARCC delay 

Published April 17, 2014 by Andrea Zelinski - Critics of a new student exam linked to controversial education standards won a small victory Wednesday when the House adopted a compromise putting off testing for one year. The House of Representatives voted 86-8 in favor of a deal hammered out largely by leadership behind closed doors, although members acknowledge the agreement left open loopholes.

“Today is an example of the art of the possible,” said Rep. Matthew Hill, R-Jonesborough, who helped assemble the bill’s hijacking last month. “I know you don’t like this, but this is a win.”

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A Common Core compromise is in the works

A great Common Core compromise coming?

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Senate sponsor of a contentious proposal to delay further implementation of Tennessee's Common Core education standards for two years said Tuesday that a compromise is close on the legislation. 

Earlier this month, a broad coalition of Republican and Democratic House members passed a bill seeking to delay implementation of the new standards, as well as the testing component for the standards for the same amount of time. 

The Senate would have to agree to those provisions before the measure would head to the desk of Republican Gov. Bill Haslam, who has said he's against delaying the standards. (link)

Common Core delay would cost Tennessee millions of dollars

 
NASHVILLE — Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey says efforts by fellow Republicans to put off Tennessee's Common Core standards face problems because of money: a two-year delay is estimated to cost $10 million, atop a looming budget shortfall that could hit $275 million.

Still, the powerful speaker said that doesn't mean he isn't interested in finding some remedy to address concerns raised by Common Core critics.

"I think we can reach a compromise on this somewhere," Ramsey said. (link)

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Common Core is not dead yet

by Chas Sisk, The Tennessean, March 20, 2014 - Efforts to roll back Common Core have begun to stall in the week since opponents scored a surprise victory in the state House of Representatives.

The Senate has declined to take up a measure that would delay the tests that go with Common Core for two years, and a House subcommittee has killed legislation that would repeal the national education standards in Tennessee. The Senate Education Committee also has quietly dropped another bill that would have repealed Common Core. (link)

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Video of the derailment of Common Core

NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather

Knoxblog.com-The House voted Thursday to delay further implementation of Common Core standards and related testing for two years in a display of unity between conservative Republicans and Democrats that marked a sound defeat for Gov. Bill Haslam and his education allies.

The votes emerged from a convoluted and heated House floor fight – the terms “fiasco” and “shenanigans” were hurled by critics during debate – that bypassed committees where anti-Common Core bills have been corralled for weeks without a hearing. (link)

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TN bill to dial back Common Core standards fails

TN bill to dial back Common Core standards fails 

(AP) A proposal to dial back the implementation of Tennessee's Common Core standards has failed this session. The measure sponsored by Republican Sen. Stacey Campfield of Knoxville was defeated 7-2 in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday.

 The standards are intended to provide students with the critical thinking, problem solving and writing skills needed for college and the workforce. They have been voluntarily adopted by 45 states. Tennessee adopted them in 2010 and began a three-year phase-in the following year. The standards were fully implemented this year. (link)

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Why I will not be atttending the anti-Common Core Rally 1:30 - 3 pm Wednesday at Legislative Plaza

There will be an anti-Common Core Rally 1:30 - 3 pm Wednesday at Legislative Plaza. I will not be attending. Many on the right including Eagle Forum, The Heritage Foundation,and  Americans for Prosperity are opposing Common Core, but I support it. I hate to be on the opposite side of  an issue with these groups with whom I am usually in alignment, but I think they are simply wrong on this issue and their arguments are weak. While I have had some concerns about common core they are primarily privacy concerns. A law working its way through the state legislature addresses those concerns. An argument against Common Core is that a national standard somehow violates a state's sovereignty and any standardization is suspect. I think some conservative would be happier if a foot was 13 inches in some states but only eleven inches in other states and we didn't all drive on the right hand side of the road.

On balance I think Common Core is a needed reform. Today, only a quarter of U.S. students who graduate from high school are ready for college.  U.S. students have fallen to 14th in the world in reading and 25th in math. Over $3 billion is spent annually on remedial education to teach college kids what they should have learned in high school.  Thirty percent of high school graduates can’t pass the U.S. military entrance exam.

Common Core will provide a more rigorous objective standard and we can truly see how students are  performing.  America is too mobile of a country not to have an education system that is not similar from state to state. An "A" student in Tennessee should not be a "D" student in Indiana. Military families move about every 18 months. It would be nice if the same common core of knowledge that was being taught in the fourth grade in one school was the same common core of knowledge being taught in another school.

I was in five different schools in the first five years of grammar school. I remember when I entered the fourth grade in South Knoxville we were given a math work sheet and I thought this is easy and I finished quickly. The problem was that the worksheet was multiplication problems, not addition problems.  In the fourth grade I entered, the students had learned multiplication in the third grade. In the third grade I had attended it was not even introduced. I think it is reasonable that nationwide there be a standard of when children are taught multiplication and other subject matter.

If you are a conservative activist, you have been inundated with arguments against Common Core.  Some of them are points of view about which reasonable people may disagree.  Some of the argument put forth against Common Core get off into the tin foil hat territory, however. There is a lot being said about what common core curriculum includes and how terrible it is when there is no such curriculum.  Some of the criticism, such as opposition to word math problems that requires a child to use reason to understand the problem, I do not understand at all.  I urge you to consider the arguments in favor of Common Core. Below are some articles and sites that explain why common core is a positive development and why we should welcome and embrace it.

Conservatives for Common Standards.

Common Core: conservative to the core. Six arguments for an idea that arose from the States by  Chester E. Finn Jr. and Michael J. Petrilli, Finn served in the Reagan administration; Petrilli served in the George W. Bush administration. Both are affiliated with the Hoover Institution.


The Political Right and the Common Core Strawman

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Our kids are just too dumb for Common Core and it is just too hard.

I have read a lot about Common Core and I support it. I think it is a valuable reform and something we should embrace.  I have been exposed to the agreements against it and think some of the criticism may have merit, but on balance I think the pluses outweigh the negatives. Some of the arguments against it are very weak. Some verge on conspiracy theory stuff.

One of the arguments used against it, is that it is just too hard. School should be fun. Children shouldn't experience anxiety over school work. When I was a child, I stressed over spelling test and learning multiplication tables and there was no common core. Learning can't be all fun. Sometimes children do cry when they can't figure out how to do their homework. Maybe they need to be taught how to better deal with frustration. Sometimes leaning new skills is difficult.

One of the repeated criticisms about Common Core is that it requires abstract thinking and reasoning. It seems the critics would prefer rote memorization. It seems they do not want children leaning to reason. The critics really do not like "word" math problems.  In the link below to a video critical of Common Core you will see  examples of what the critics think is wrong with it. Here is math question the video features: A box of crayons has 131 crayons and a bag of crayons has 128. Which has more crayons, the box or the bag?  Now, what is wrong with that? Are American kids too dumb to figure out that 131 is greater than 128?

The video: Faces of Common Core.

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"Repeal Common Core" bill will be up for an Education sub-committee vote on Tuesday.

From Stephen Clements, organizer of Caffeinated Conservatives:

Hi everybody,
I got a tip that Rep. Womick's "Repeal Common Core" bill will be up for an Education sub-committee vote on Tuesday. If you're interested in this, please let the committee members know if you want the bill to pass or not. See, if you attended our December meeting, you already personally know one of the committee members, Rep. Harold Love, Jr, and that can't hurt when you let him know what you want.

Stephen Clements
Caffeinated Conservatives

---

REPEAL COMMON CORE Bill goes through the House Education Subcommittee Tuesday, Feb. 25th! Time for you to make your voice heard. This bill MUST PASS the Subcommittee first in order for the full assembly to hear it.

House Bill #2332 sponsored by Rep. Womick

HOUSE EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE PHONE & EMAIL

Harry Brooks 615-741-6879 rep.harry.brooks@capitol.tn.gov

John DeBerry 615-741-2239 rep.john.deberry@captiol.tn.gov

John Forgety 615-741-1725 rep.john.forgety@capitol.tn.gov

Roger Kane 615-741-4110 rep.roger.kane@capitol.tn.gov

Harold Love 615-741-3831 rep.harold.love@capitol.tn.gov

Debra Moody 615-741-3774 rep.debra.moody@capitol.tn.gov

Joe Pitts 615-741-4575 rep.joe.pitts@capitol.tn.gov

Dawn White 615-741-6849 rep.dawn.white@capitol.tn.gov

FULL HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

rep.harry.brooks@capitol.tn.gov

rep.john.forgety@capitol.tn.gov

rep.raumesh.akbari@capitol.tn.gov

rep.kevin.brooks@capitol.tn.gov

rep.jim.coley@capitol.tn.gov

rep.john.deberry@capitol.tn.gov

rep.bill.dunn@capitol.tn.gov

rep.roger.kane@capitol.tn.gov

rep.ron.lollar@capitol.tn.gov

rep.harold.love@capitol.tn.gov

rep.debra.moody@capitol.tn.gov

rep.joe.pitts@capitol.tn.gov

rep.dawn.white@capitol.tn.gov

rep.mark.white@capitol.tn.gov

rep.ryan.williams@capitol.tn.gov

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

sen.dolores.gresham@capitol.tn.gov

sen.reginald.tate@capitol.tn.gov

sen.steven.dickerson@capitol.tn.gov

sen.charlotte.burks@capitol.tn.gov

sen.stacey.campfield@capitol.tn.gov

sen.rusty.crowe@capitol.tn.gov

sen.todd.gardenhire@capitol.tn.gov

sen.joey.hensley@capitol.tn.gov

sen.brian.kelsey@capitol.tn.gov

For the record, I am in favor of Common Core. I am pleased that the state has passed legislation to protect the privacy of students, which was my major concern. Much of the information alleging objectionable common core curriculum as well as some other things alleged about common core is simply not true. Please learn about Common Core before jumping on the anti bandwagon. RW

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Common Core, mass transit fundng, the Gulch sidewalk bridge and more. Council meeting of 2-18-14 w/ commentary and timestamp.

This is a 2 hour and 20 minute-long meeting. I thought this would be a short, boring meeting but I was wrong; it is a more interesting meeting than most. Speaker Pro Temp Chris Harmon serves as Chair of this meeting in the absence of the Vice Mayor. To follow the meeting and see the agenda and the analysis, follow this link.

All appointments to Board and Commission are approved without discussion.

Consent Agenda.
A resolution is put on the consent agenda if it is likely to be non-controversial and it stays on the consent agenda if it passes the committees to which it was assigned unanimously. The Consent Agenda also includes memorializing Resolution. Resolutions on the consent agenda are passed by a single vote of the Council rather than being considered individually. However, any member of the body may have a bill pulled off of the consent agenda but it doesn't happen often. Almost all of the resolutions on the agenda this time are accepting grants. Memorializing resolutions do not have the force of law but express the will of the Council. None of the resolutions still on the Consent Agenda at the time of the Council meeting are pulled so everything passes unanimously.

Resolutions not on the Consent Agenda.

• RESOLUTION NO. RS2014-948 is substituted to remove the money for other things except the money for the training and software for Common Core testing, reducing the bill from $13.1 million to $4.3 million. Last Council meeting the Council approved issuing bonds for funding the purchase of computers. Councilman Maynard, rightly I think, makes the point that this is premature and should wait until budget time and until after a meeting that the Council Budget and Finance Committee will have with the School Board Finance Committee. As substituted, the resolution is deferred to the second meeting in March by a vote of 29 to 6. To view the debate see time stamp 11:43-28:47.
•  RESOLUTION NO. RS2014-988 and Resolution RS2014-989 and BILL NO. BL2014-689 are all bills which are part of another one of those deals to provide incentives to businesses to locate or expand in Nashville. These bills transfers money from one fund to another and then appropriates money and tax incentives to subsidize HCA for a development on the north end of the gulch. The total amount of the subsidy is $4.9 million. Usually Councilman Josh Stites takes to the floor and is the lone voice against this type deal but does not do so on this bill and it passes without opposition. I hope Stites had not given up the fight. I am conflicted about this type deal myself. On the one hand, I do not think we should do it, on the other hand as long as other cities are doing it, we lose if we don't. See 28:54-35:05 to see the explanation of this deal. 
•  RESOLUTION NO. RS2014-984 requests the Davidson County Delegation to the Tennessee General Assembly to introduce and support the necessary legislation to provide a dedicated funding source for local mass transit. The mayor has come out against this resolution saying it is unnecessary. it is deferred at the request of the sponsor to the second meeting in May. 
•  RESOLUTION NO. RS2014-1001 endorses Common Core and opposed all state action that would discontinue the use of the standards or delay the implementation. I support Common Core and if I were in the Council, I would have no problem supporting this resolution. However, many conservatives, especially the more tea party aligned conservatives, have objections to Common Core. Also, for reasons other than those of tea party conservatives, some educators also oppose Common Core. After some lively discussion the motion passes 25 to 9. Those voting "no" are Bennett, Standley, Tenpenny, Moore, Blalock, Dominy, Duval and Mitchel. See time stamp 38:06-51:36.

All bills on First Reading pass without discussion by a single vote, as is customary.

Bills on Second Reading

• Bills 665 and 666 which address establishing a dedicated source of funding for mass transit are deferred until the second meeting in May. The sponsor, Councilman Tygard, takes to the floor and explains his bills. "Mass transit is not free," says Tygard, "Somebody has to pay for it." Councilman Stein argues against the bill and moves to table it. The tabling motion fails. Great presentation by Tygard! He explains how other cities have funded mass transit and the financial choices facing the city. To understand the logic of these bills, watch the presentation. See timestamp 53:15- 1:22:54. 
•  BILL NO. BL2014-670 authorized the acquisition of property for the Gulch Pedestrian Bridge. The Council pleasantly surprised me by rejecting this bill. The Council finally says "no" to a major new spending project. They vote 30-2 to defer indefinitely. This is a great turn of events. It is not that I do not think a pedestrian bridge connecting SoBro to the gulch would not be a nice thing but we can't afford every nice thing. After the debt of the Music City Center, the Sulphur Dell Ball Park, the east riverbank development, the planned west bank riverfront expansion and amphitheater, and the proposed AMP, the city is pushing its debt capacity. We are even borrowing money to buy laptop computers. At the same time, we are facing a budget shortfall next year and we are ignoring other needs such as new sidewalks in neighborhoods and roadway improvements. Councilman Clairborn does a great job arguing against the bill as does Robert Duval and Tygard. Please watch it. To see the debate see timestamps 1:24:30- 1:54:16.

Bills on Third Reading are almost all zoning bill and would interest no one except those near the property being rezoned.

Below are local media reports on the Council meeting.

From the Nashville Scene:  Council Burns a Bridge in the Gulch, Advances HCA Incentives 

From The Tennessean:  Council slows mayor's progress on Gulch-SoBro pedestrian bridge

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Text of the resolution regarding Common Core that is on the Council agenda, Tuesday February 17th.

Below is the text of the resolution regarding Common Core that is on the Council agenda, Tuesday, February 17. I am betting it will pass unanimously. 

RESOLUTION NO. RS2014-1001

A resolution supporting the Tennessee Common Core standards, and opposing all state action that would discontinue the use of the standards or delay their implementation.

WHEREAS, the Metropolitan Council and the residents of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County desire a world-class public education system for all 82,000 of the students enrolled in Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS); and

WHEREAS, MNPS is demonstrating academic improvement with year-over-year gains in student achievement and student growth in multiple grades and subjects; and

WHEREAS, the Common Core State Standards represent a nationwide effort to provide clarity regarding the concepts students should understand when completing each grade in math and English language arts in order to be on track for college or career preparedness; and

WHEREAS, 45 of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia are members of the Common Core State Standards Initiative; and

WHEREAS, On July 30, 2010, the Common Core State Standards were adopted unanimously by the State Board of Education with the support of then Governor Phil Bredesen; and

WHEREAS, the Tennessee General Assembly, as well as all 136 local education agencies and local boards of education, made a commitment to implement the College and Career Ready Standards through the application and award of the Race to the Top grant; and

WHEREAS, part of the motivation in adopting the Common Core standards is to promote consistency in education so that all students, regardless of where they live, are well prepared with the skills and knowledge necessary to collaborate and compete with their peers in the United States and abroad; and

WHEREAS, several bills have been filed in the Tennessee General Assembly this term that would either discontinue the use of the Common Core standards, or direct the State Board of Education to postpone any further implementation of the standards until approved by the General Assembly; and

WHEREAS, discontinuing or delaying the implementation of Common Core in Tennessee would have a negative impact on our students, and would increase the risk that they fall further behind their peers academically in other states and around the world.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:

Section 1. The Metropolitan Council hereby goes on record as supporting the Tennessee Common Core standards, and opposing all state action that would discontinue the use of the standards or delay their implementation.

Section 2. The Metropolitan Clerk is directed to send a copy of this resolution to the members of the Tennessee House and Senate Education committees, to each member of the Davidson County Delegation to the Tennessee General Assembly, and to Department of Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman.

Section 3. This Resolution shall take effect from and after its adoption, the welfare of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County requiring it.

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Gov. Haslam on Common Core: Don't back down now.

The Tennessean, Feb. 12, 2014- His state is surrounded by Republican governors who have grown hesitant of Common Core - either outright condemning the new education standards or at least wavering in support. 

Leaders of South Carolina, Indiana and Louisiana make up that list. 

But Gov. Bill Haslam, another Republican in a similarly red state, is leaving little room for negotiation as conservative-led legislative attempts mount in Tennessee to roll back the standards or delay the companion Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test. His message is much the same as it was last summer: Don't back down now. 

"I can't speak for all my Republican governor peers, but I actually feel pretty strongly about it, mainly because Tennessee has such a poor history of having high enough standards," Haslam said. 

The governor, appearing before The Tennessean's editorial board last week, said he has no problem with proposed bills that would prohibit the sharing of data collected from the new testing. But Haslam, a Common Core supporter, has concerns about both withdrawing from the standards and test and postponing their roll out, which some Republican lawmakers are pushing ahead of Common Core's 2014-15 implementation. (continue reading)

My Comment:  I have followed this issue carefully and I am with the governor on this. We need to improve education in the nation and especially in Tennessee.  America is losing  its standing in the world and our competitive advantage. Education is only one of the components in our decline but it is an important one. Education is in crisis. I believe we need a national program to improve standards and something approaching standardization so that when an "A" student leaves Tennessee, he is not an "F" student in some other state. I like that Common Core can achieve elevation of expectations and a means of standard comparisons and that it did not originate out of Washington.  I did share privacy concerns with Common Core critics and am pleased to see that those concerns are being addressed.

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TN will not share student data with Federal Gov as part of Common Core

State Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman has formally pledged that personal student information will not be shared with the Federal government as part of the State's participation in Common Core.  He joined 33 other state school commissioners in signing a letter to U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to that effect. 

The Common Core State Standards  is a joint effort led by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop a common core of K-12 standards in English language arts and Mathematics and was developed by education experts from 45 states. The 45 states, the District of Columbia (D.C.), and 2 territories and Department of Defense Education Activity have formally adopted the set of core standards for kindergarten through high school in English language arts, mathematics, and grades 6-12 literacy in science, history/social studies, and technical subjects. 

Recently their has been push back against Common Core and some states have backtracked on their commitment. Some of the criticism of Common Core is that it does not raise the bar on what a child is expected to learn.  While that may be true in some states with high education standards, it is not true in those states with a poor level of education achievement. In any event, the Common Core standards are a measure of a  minimum level of education attainment; not a cap. Nothing would prevent a State from having standards higher than Common Core.  Tennessee has traditionally ranked near the bottom in education and while we have shown recent improvement, meeting Common Core standards would elevate education in Tennessee.

Other criticism of  Common Core is that some of the reading selections in the curriculum are offensive. There is no Common Core curriculum. States would still select their own text books and define the curriculum.  There is no mandated master reading list.

I have generally supported Common Core. With the United States falling behind many of the advanced countries of the world and even falling behind many third world counties, I do not think the status quo is acceptable. We must do something to improve the quality of American education to maintain our standing in the world. Also, America is a very mobile country. In my view, when an "A" student in Tennessee moves to another state he should not now be a "D" student.  There should be some expectation that a student in the 5th grade in one state has most of the same skills and knowledge as a 5th grader in another state.

One of the criticism which I think has merit is the privacy concern.  I do not want the federal government to have the academic record of every child in America. This letter from 34 of the state commissioners  of education addresses the privacy issue.  This is encouraging and reassuring. 

There are several bills in the state legislature that addresses the privacy issue as it relates to Common Core. Senate Education Committee chair Dolores Gresham  has introduced a bill that would restrict the state from releasing a student's academic data to the federal government. There are also a couple other bills and resolutions introduced that address the issue.  The state legislature should go ahead and pass a bill that puts into state law the position stated by our Commissioner of Education.  This would even give more more comfort and assurances that student privacy will not be compromised by Common Core. I know I would be more comfortable with Common Core if such a bill passes.

Below is the text of the letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan from the 34 state commissioners of education.

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,

(Following is the signature and title of 34 state education commissioners.)

For more on this development follow this link and this link. 

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