No closer to common ground: Hearing airs concerns on Common Core

By   /  May 22, 2013  /  Accountability, Education, Featured, News, Personal liberty, Wisconsin  /  No Comments

Miles Apart: Opponents of Common Core State Standards squared off with proponents during a legislative hearing Wednesday. It seems the two sides are no closer to common ground.

By Ryan Ekvall | Wisconsin Reporter
MADISON –Nearly three years after state Superintendent Tony Evers signed off on implementing the Common Core State Standards, the Assembly and Senate committees on education got around to holding a public hearing to get the facts on the changes in Wisconsin classrooms.
The room was packed Wednesday, mostly made up of [...]

Read More →

Five reasons anti-Chicago school closing rally at IL Capitol didn’t work

By   /  May 22, 2013  /  Illinois, News  /  2 Comments

mqdefault

By Benjamin Yount | Illinois Watchdog
SPRINGFIELD  —  As Chicago’s school board was meeting Wednesday to close 49 schools in that city, a couple of dozen advocates descended on the Illinois Capitol to try to stop them.
Chicago leaders have been debating whether, and how, to close schools that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said are either under [...]

Read More →

Right and left oppose Common Core standards in PA

By   /  May 14, 2013  /  Accountability, Education, Featured, Issues, News, Pennsylvania, State Government  /  No Comments

PASS THE TEST: A new test will determine whether high school students can graduate, but the standards used for those assessments is raising some questions.

By Eric Boehm | PA Independent

HARRISBURG – They don’t always agree on education policy, but when they do, it’s to oppose an unfunded mandate on school districts.

The implementation of the so-called Common Core standards in Pennsylvania public schools is facing united opposition from teachers unions and tea party groups – two political factions that rarely, if ever, play on the same team.

Read More →

Americans have a common cause in battle against Common Core State Standards

By   /  May 2, 2013  /  Wisconsin Commentary  /  2 Comments

Karen Schroeder, President of Advocates for Academic Freedom.

By Karen Schroeder | For Wisconsin Reporter
MADISON — The government is planning to spend about $16 BILLION to implement programs that are basically the same as those paid for in the 1950s. Many have been given the false impression that Common Core State Standards and the International Baccalaureate programs will reform and improve education. However, these two [...]

Read More →

Week in Review: PA universities, legislative spending get scrutinized

By   /  April 26, 2013  /  Pennsylvania  /  No Comments

800px-Flag-map_of_Pennsylvania.svg

By PA Independent Staff
HARRISBURG – The state House took the first step to closing a transparency loophole at Pennsylvania’s largest public universities, but at the same time a new audit report says the lawmakers themselves need better transparency and accountability over how they use special legislative expense accounts.
Meanwhile, Medicaid costs are projected to go up, [...]

Read More →