Tag Archives: ConcordMonitor

Gov. Hassan’s Model School Is “Broken”

We’ve reported on parental concerns from the Pittsfield School district. (See the links below) However Governor Hassan has continued to hold Pittsfield up as the model school in New Hampshire based on the numerous federal reforms they’ve put in place.

On July 25th, the Concord Monitor ran a front page article on a student who graduated ill prepared for college or the workplace. Many of us have been warning parents about the federal reforms and the lack of focus on literacy. It comes as no surprise that students and board members are discovering there is a real problem in Pittsfield. We just wonder when the Superintendent and our Governor will wake up.

If you recall, Pittsfield handed control over to the Nellie Mae Foundation. Nellie Mae (think community organizers like ACORN) then came into the school to tell the teachers how to teach. Reporters and parents should file a Right to Know Request if they want to see what the school has to do in order to get Nellie Mae grant money. It should also be noted that all of this funding originates with the Gates Foundation and the Federal Government. In other words, the Feds are running your school in Pittsfield.

So how’s what working out for you?

In spite of the praises from Governor Hassan and the Superintendent who pats himself on the back at public hearings before legislators, it sure looks like the graduates are acknowledging it’s not working well at all.

‘Pushed out’: Pittsfield high school graduate returns to confront school board

Taylor Edwards, graduate from Pittsfield explains:
**“I felt like I could barely read things or understand when people are talking with me, or that I’m supposed to, like, sound smart in front of people, and I hardly can say half the words that I can say, so it’s hard for me.

**“I’m basically here to say that when I was going to high school here, I was basically kind of pushed out in a way. I wasn’t really helped out with my reading in a nutshell, really.”

****As for Nilsson, he said he plans to follow up at the school board’s meeting next month to see what progress has been made.

“I think the school system up here is broken, and they’re not into the basics of learning. They’re trying to go above and beyond the basics, and you can’t go anywhere until you have the basics. You need your arithmetic, your reading, your writing,” he said.

Pittsfield Math: Common Core Math (Does it make sense?)

Pittsfield Under Attack From NGOs, Foundations, and PR Firms

Pittsfield, NH Parent Speaks Out Against Common Core

Pittsfield Listens: How to LOWER Academic Achievement in the School

Pittsfield NH School: Success or a BIG FAT LIE

Pittsfield Under Attack By NH Listens

Ayers Aligned Group Working In Pittsfield

NH Listens Coming To a Town Near You

The Radicalization of NH Teachers and Children

Math Education via Common Core in NH Claims More Children As Victims

The Patronizing of Parents and Teachers by the Concord Monitor Editor

(With permission to post on this web site)

In reply to this: http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/13201820-95/editorial-myths-guiding-opposition-on-common-core

Dear Editor:

The recent Editorial by the Concord Monitor: Myths guiding opposition on Common Core, expresses the same patronizing position other supporters have taken when addressing the opposition to Common Core.

Since most of the opposition has come directly from parents and teachers one has to ask, does the editorial staff believe they are stupid?

The Huffington Post recently published an article: How the Common Core Lost Teacher Support. In the article, Peter Greene who is a teacher, talks about how support for Common Core is dropping like a stone among teachers. He also lists the many reasons for the continued decline among teachers, such as the horrible core-aligned curriculum that they say causes children to suffer.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-greene/how-the-common-core-lost-_b_5694139.html

We’ve seen numerous examples of developmentally inappropriate math assignments for young children that Child Psychologists, Teachers and Parents have rightfully criticized.  If a young child’s brain is not developed to think abstractly and yet the math standards call for abstract thinking in the early years, all they’ve done is set the child and teacher up for failure.

Speaking of teachers, this entire reform effort has teachers as the scape-goat. U.S. Secretary Duncan has pulled No Child Left Behind Waivers if states were unwilling to tie a teacher’s evaluation to the standardized tests.  This has made the problem of high stakes testing an even bigger problem.

Parents throughout the country have researched Common Core and it’s insulting to imply that they are “mis-guided”.  Teachers are on the front lines dealing with these new standards and tests and it’s insulting to imply that they are misguided too.

There was a better way to address the low quality New Hampshire Standards that were developed under Governor Lynch that no one seemed to mind using prior to the Common Core.  The former or the current Governor could have utilized the teachers in New Hampshire, the college Professors at our local colleges and universities, and developed state level standards that are the best in the country.

Other states have taken that route, why not New Hampshire?  Why should our children settle for standards that do not include math standards that prepare students for STEM programs?  Why should our children settle for standards that put them two years behind their international peers?

This is the failure of the Hassan Administration and the previous Lynch Administration.  Neither were committed to developing state standards that are the best in the country and that are developmentally appropriate for children.

Instead we continue to hear how we are guided by myths when we know the facts.

Sincerely,
Ann Marie Banfield
Education Liaison, Cornerstone Action