Common Core Demystified, Part II

In Part I of our two-part response to the Department of Public Instruction’s "Common Core Demystified", we rebutted DPI’s claims that Common Core Standards are state-led and DPI’s assertion that teachers will maintain control of the curriculum and how subjects are taught. In part II, we explore DPI’s claim that Common Core does not require specific data collection efforts and that the implementation of Common Core standards is “no different in cost than implementing North Carolina’s ongoing revisions to its longstanding standard course of study.”

CCD states that Common Core does not require student data collection.  Specifically, the document states:

North Carolina schools do not ask students questions about religious affiliation. State and federal privacy laws apply to certain health and income student data collected by the public schools.  But again the Common Core testing does not require data collection on students.

CCD goes out of its way to say Common Core standards do not require student data collection. That may be technically true.  It is what is left unsaid, however, that is significant.

Common Core does not specifically require student data collection. However, CCD fails to say an ambitious program of student data collection already exists and while Common Core Standards may not require data collection, teachers and students are expected to benefit from such efforts. Student data collection was built partly with the help of federal stimulus funding and also Race-to- the-Top funds, a federal grant which advocated heavily for the adoption of Common Core Standards.

For example, all states that accepted stimulus funding agreed to build broad state longitudinal data systems (SLDS) as a condition of receipt of the funds.   In addition, all states that applied for Race to the Top funding were given additional points based on their commitment to the development of student data collection. Improving data-driven decisions at all levels was a critical element of  North Carolina’s Race to the Top application. So while Common Core may not specifically require additional data collection, the standards link to Race-to-the-Top and as such tie them to a large existing state and federal student data collection effort.

 

CONTINUED:

http://www.nccivitas.org/2013/common-core-demystified-part-2/

VIDEO: SEIU UNION REP SAYS FAST FOOD EMPLOYEES MAY CONTAMINATE FOOD IF THEY DON’T GET $15 AN HOUR

The following video came across my Twitter feed this morning. The video shows someone asking a man in an SEIU shirt why he was attending a rally of employees demanding mandated $15 an hour wage minimum for fast-food workers. The man says he doesn’t work fast food, but is supporters those who do. His concern? The man claims he supports minimum wage increases because if the $15 minimum isn’t enacted employees may start contaminating food.

CONTINUED:  http://patriotaction.net/forum/topic/show?id=2600775%3ATopic%3A6332849&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_topic

CBO: Obamacare 'delay' will add $12 billion in debt, put another 500,000 on welfare | Human Events

Here is the Congressional Budget Office’s cost estimate of the Obama administration’s one-year employer mandate delay (which many believe will be repealed altogether.) The Obama administration’s  unilateral decision to put off the mandate — after CEOs groused to the administration about the cost of implementation — will increase federal spending by $3 billion in 2014, reduce federal revenues by a net $9 billion, and add $12 billion more in debt than previously estimated.

CONTINUED:  http://www.humanevents.com/2013/07/31/cbo-obamacare-delay-adds-12-billion-more-to-debt/

URGENT GRASSFIRE ALERT!

The next 60 days may, one day, be looked upon by historians as the most important in our nation's history. And how you respond to this message could directly impact whether or not ObamaCare becomes a reality for millions of Americans on January 1, 2014.

On October 1, every American man, woman and child living will have to enroll in ObamaCare ... setting into motion a domino effect of disaster that many predict will destroy our economy and our health care system.

And Obama knows it.

Fearful of the "electoral accountability" he recently delayed the employer mandate for large corporations until after the election. As Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) argues, if the plan were so good, Obama would want the mandates in place beforethe election.

+ + Obama The Salesman Selling Unworkable Plan

He's also spending more than $700 million and tapping Hollywood elites to help "sell" his unworkable plan to the American people in the coming months.

That's right. Ever the salesman, Obama believes he has sold you an expensive car that will never start.

But you have a one last opportunity ... a chance to make a final statement leading to the October 1 sign-up. Again, how you respond, right now, may be critical in delaying and ultimately dismantling this murky health care plan threatening our economy and our way of life.

+ + Final Call: STOP OBAMACARE NOW!

Lynn, with time dwindling, House and Senate Republicans need to hear from those who stand to be impacted the most through ObamaCare -- American taxpayers.

Through Grassfire's national petition platform, you can quickly and easily tell Republican leaders in the House and Senate "to use any and every legislative means at your disposal to prevent this job-killing, economy-dragging and taxpayer-draining law from taking effect."

CONTINUED:
http://www.grassfirehq.com/201025/petition.asp?Ref_ID=22096

Mark Levin urges his 8.5 million listeners to call a 'We the People' convention to stop Obama | WashingtonExaminer.com

July 31, 2013

Mark Levin, who hosts one of America’s top radio talk shows and is considered by supporters to be the people’s pundit on the Constitution, is rallying his 8.5 million-strong audience to demand an historic convention of state governments to halt the “oppressive power” of the federal government.

The author of two New York Times bestsellers on the threats to the Constitution, Levin hopes his latest, “The Liberty Amendments,” out mid-August, will spark the state lawmakers to tap a rarely used Constitutional provision to institute measures that would brake President Obama’s use of executive orders, bar thousand-page laws and collar inventive judges.

In a copy provided to Secrets, Levin writes that his book is an appeal “to rebalance the constitutional structure for the purpose of restoring our founding principles.”

Levin’s proposal for a grassroots, “We the People” effort focusing on state legislatures is especially appealing to Tea Party members and conservatives riled at Obamacare, snooping scandals and immigration reform. One Tea Party insider said the new book has the potential to reignite the movement.

He is likely to have a big impact. The reason: While Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have bigger audiences, Levin’s is extremely loyal, especially within the Tea Party movement. They helped make his book, “Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto,” a mega seller at 1.3 million sold.

For Levin, who is also a lawyer and conservative legal activist through his Landmark Legal Foundation, the idea of a convention of the states to control Washington’s “ruling class” is actually an explicit constitutional option, not a radical idea, established in Article V. He writes that the framers feared the federal government might become oppressive and they provided future generations with a way out. The amendment process enables two-thirds of the state legislatures to convene a convention for the purpose of amending the Constitution, and then requires three-fourths to approve the proposals before they become the law of the land.

CONTINUED: http://washingtonexaminer.com/mark-levin-urges-his-8.5-million-listeners-to-call-a-we-the-people-convention-to-stop-obama/article/2533700

Immigration Reform Bill Will Prevent Arrest of Illegals

US Border Patrol agents not only work along the Mexican border but they also patrol many of the roads that lead from the border to US cities.  If they see a vehicle full of Hispanics driving north on a dirt road a few miles from the Mexican border, they routinely pull them over and ask for identifications.  The majority of the time, they are illegals that just crossed over the border and they are arrested.

If the proposed immigration reform bill is passed and put into law in its present form, all of this law enforcement will be stopped and millions of illegals and drug traffickers will be allowed to enter the country unmolested.  Why?  Because the current bill states:

“In making routine or spontaneous law enforcement decisions, such as ordinary traffic stops, Federal law enforcement officers may not use race or ethnicity to any degree, except that officers may rely on race and ethnicity if a specific suspect description exists.”

In other words, if you see a van overflowing with Hispanics driving a mile from the Mexican border heading north, Border Patrol agents will not be allowed to stop them, even though they have probable cause.  Unless the Border Patrol agents actually saw them cross the border, all they can do is sit and watch them drive by.

The bill goes on to define federal law enforcement officers as any :

“Officer, agent, or employee of the United States authorized by law or by a Government agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of any violation of Federal law.”

CONTINUED:  http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/07/immigration-reform-bill-will-prevent-arrest-of-illegals/#ixzz2ae7GFxqH

Nullify Now! in Raleigh

October 19, 2013

Nullify Now! in Raleigh is THE event to learn about what Jefferson and Madison advised as the rightful remedy to unconstitutional federal acts.

Since September 2010, the Tenth Amendment Center has been hosting events around the country to educate and activate people on the topic of Nullification. At a Nullify Now! event, you learn nullification’s constitutional basis and when it has been used in history – plus much more.

AT NULLIFY NOW! YOU WILL LEARN:

1. The Constitutional history of Nullification. Jefferson and Madison’s basis for states rejecting, nullifying and interposing against unconstitutional federal acts.

2. How Nullification was used in early American history - against attacks on freedom of speech and more.

3. Nullification vs Slavery. The mainstream wants you to believe that Nullification was used to support slavery. This is either ignorance or a lie. Hear the heroic story of nullification being used to reject federal slave laws in the 1850s.

4. How Nullification is being used today. right now, across the country, dozens of states are implementing nullification bills. They’ve already been very successful pushing back against the feds and you can use this lesson as a blueprint in your own state, on issues important to you.

5. About Nullification as a Tool for Protecting Liberty. Nullification is a powerful tool to protect your right to keep and bear arms, stop “indefinite detention,” protect your health freedom – and more. You’ll learn about model legislation that can be used on a state OR local level – and effective methods to get nullification bills passed.

6. What YOU can do right now – you won’t leave Nullify Now! with just a bunch of great information. You’ll also be provided with a practical, actionable plan to do something today. The time to act is now, not next year and not next week. Today, not tomorrow, now.

YOU MUST GET TICKETS HERE: http://www.nullifynow.com/