I wish everyone a safe Memorial Day weekend and invite you to come and watch the parade on Monday. The parade begins at Stanley Park at 10 AM and ends at Parker Park, across from South Middle School.
It is important to remember the brave men and women who gave their lives that Americans might enjoy the freedoms we have.
While most of us will be busy with graduations and weddings, the City Council will consider issues important to many of you. First is the city budget, which affects services, city employees and property tax rate. The budget will be voted on in July, but now is the time for citizens to make their voices heard. I have not voted for a budget since being on the council because I believe we can do better and people are taxed too much. The rate of increase places a burden on working families, seniors and small businesses in a tough economy.
Another hot topic is the 75-foot restriction on open burning, which is being sent back to the Council. The Council voted to adopt a 20 -foot restriction from any structure or dwelling. 20 feet is twice the distance recommended by manufacturers of chimeneas. Open burning laws should not be applied to chimeneas, outdoor fireplaces, fire pits or campfires. I will oppose efforts to do so, and any excessive fines.
I wish Dr. Suzanne Scallion an enjoyable retirement, and thank you to all the teachers for their hard work and especially those who are retiring. You will be missed.
Educating our children is the most important thing one generation can do for the next. In recent years, education has become more about testing and performance, rather than teaching.
Parents, local and state school boards should make decisions about our children’s education, not private companies, billionaires and the federal government,.
For this reason, I am serving as Hampden County Coordinator to put a question on the statewide ballot in November to END Common Core and PARCC testing.
Massachusetts had the highest education standards in the country. Whether you liked MCAS or not; it took many years to implement, and at least we all knew what it was. The same cannot be said about Common Core and the PARCC testing.
How did we end up with a so called “national curriculum and set of standards” when half of the people don’t know what it is?
Because Common Core was not properly developed, vetted or implemented. It was carefully slipped into a number of states that accepted stimulus money as part of President Obama’s Race to the Top funding, on one condition; to accept the standards, “before they were written” This is no way to implement an education policy that affects 50 million students.
The federal government gave Pearson a 350 million dollar, no-bid contract to develop the curriculum and testing aligned to the Common Core Standards. Pearson, a British company with near monopoly control of the textbook markets in Canada and United States, now controls SAT, GED, teacher certification and College Boards. This is an illegal crony capitalist takeover of the American education system. The US Department of Education is prohibited by the 10th Amendment, and three federal laws; from directing, supervising or controlling curriculum, programs of instruction, instructional materials or standards. This was in our schools without the approval of our state legislators, school committee or parents.
Our education system is now testing students, more than teaching. Students cannot read or write cursive, including signing their own name. They cannot do multiplication tables, read the face of a clock, or make change from a twenty-dollar bill.
Teachers in Westfield and other communities may have tried to bridge the gap between adjusting to needs of students and teaching to the test, but may not be able to hold out much longer. David Coleman, the architect of Common Core, and now president of the College Board exams stated, “Teachers will teach to the test. There is no force strong enough on this earth to prevent that.”
People need to remember that when America became a superpower, most students were taught in a one-room schoolhouse. The most effective model for educating is a disciplined child, an effective teacher and an involved parent. As decisions and control moved from the local to the district, then to the state and federal and now to global private companies, education as gotten worse, more expensive, and is now a machine.
While collecting signatures in surrounding communities I have heard from many parents and educators on what is happening in our schools.
In Ludlow, 30% of students have opted out of PARCC testing. People trying to get their GED and enter college are failing because the tests are based on Common Core. Parents report that their first and second graders are stressed due to testing. Fourth and sixth graders are telling their parents, “No mommy, I have to do my math the more complicated way.
I have printed a newsletter called The Black Squirrel describing the origins of Common Core. Copies are available at the Athenaeum, local businesses, or read it on www.danallie.com
Because I collected nearly 2000 signatures last year in Westfield to put this issue in front of legislature and signatures this year must be new, I am collecting signatures in other towns in Hampden County. I promise to distribute copies and spread the word in the upcoming months. I encourage people to learn all they can on this important issue. Go online on YOUTUBE and Google DUKE PESTA, COMMON CORE, COSTA MESA, and watch this powerful video.
Of the 24 states that were in the PARCC consortium, Massachusetts is one of only seven that remain. It is up to each state to get out of Common Core and PARCC, and it will be up to the voters to demand real education reform, not just a name change. Our education commissioner in Massachusetts is Chester Mitchell, a member of the board trustees of PARCC. No conflict there.
We need education reform now, and we need to do it right. Our children’s education is too important and the years go by too quickly to accept a failing system of testing that serves private companies, rather than the needs of students.
