We decided to stay out of the politics when Governor Sununu appointed a new Commissioner of Education. The former Commissioner was a huge disappointment to all of us because of her allegiance to the dumbed down Common Core Standards. We never know if a new Commissioner is truly committed to quality academic standards or not. We’ve seen enough to know that there is always a possibility that we will see a re-brand of the Common Core and that only makes it worse.

Governor Sununu ran his campaign promising to scrap Common Core. This is encouraging since Governor Hassan was committed to Common Core in spite of the outcries from parents.

We would love to see Gov. Sununu follow through on this important task but the proof will come when that task is finally accomplished.

Governor Sununu appointed Frank Edelblut as Commissioner of Education. We remained neutral in spite of the outcry from partisans who decried that he was unqualified. Of course he was qualified but it remains to be seen if he will have the courage to “scrap” Common Core and put forth academic standards that are truly world class.

Commissioner Edelblut has taken a great deal of heat just for breathing. It seems as if the political forces are not going to let him move forward with any proposed changes. Whether it be the Common Core Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards or reorganizing the Department, it looks like there will be partisan opposition along the way. That’s truly unfortunate since education should always focus on children.

What we are seeing is political partisans lining up to shoot down the new Commissioner before he has a chance to do anything. That’s not good for kids, that’s partisan politics at its worst.

Stop Common Core NH is made up of parents and teachers across the state of New Hampshire. We are diverse in our political backgrounds, but our focus is always on improving public education. The Common Core Standards are not the best we can do for our kids in public schools and neither are the Next Generation Science Standards. These are dumbed down national standards and we can do better.

Everyone says, these are the minimum standards. Well we are tired of public school children getting the minimum. Why aren’t we shooting for the best?

There is NO excuse for this political game being played at the expense of your children.

Who has been fully engaged in making sure we continue with the status quo in New Hampshire? We are going to name names.

1) Executive Councilor Andru Volinsky. District 2
Volinsky has been opposed to Commissioner Edelblut since he was nominated and now he is attacking him for wanting to improve the science standards for your kids.
Volinsky represents: Acworth, Alstead, Barnstead, Belmont, Boscawen, Bradford, Canterbury, Charlestown, Chesterfield, Dublin, Durham, Farmington, Gilmanton, Gilsum, Goshen, Hancock, Harrisville, Henniker, Hinsdale, Hopkinton, Langdon, Lempster, Madbury, Marlborough, Marlow, Nelson, Newbury, Northfield, Rollinsford, Roxbury, Salisbury, Stoddard, Strafford, Sullivan, Surry, Sutton, Unity, Walpole, Warner, Washington, Webster, Westmoreland, and Winchester, and the cities of Concord, Dover, Franklin, Keene, Rochester, and Somersworth.

2) Chairman Tom Raffio New Hampshire State Board of Education District 4

3) Bill Duncan State Board of Education District 3

4) Cindy Chagnon State Board of Education At Large

5) Helen Honorow State Board of Education District 5

6) Gary Groleau State Board of Education At Large
**All of these State Board Members argued against the Commissioner reviewing the Next Generation Science Standards in an effort to improve them.

If you go here: https://www.education.nh.gov/state_board/ Click on meetings & minutes, then click on the link to the videos.
Click on: NH SB Video and scroll down to 2017 then April 6, 2017
Go to 1:50:00 and watch your State Board Members argue against improving science standards for your children.

We have a diverse group of parents and teachers working together to support quality standards in this state. We have a few partisans working against us so we need parents to recognize what is going on.

Make sure you are taking time to let these people know that you do not appreciate their partisan games they are playing with your kids and your public schools. They have become obstructionists to quality public education in this state and your kids will suffer the consequences if you do not speak up.

Send a message by attending a State Board of Education Meeting and tell them you want the Commissioner to improve the academic standards in this state. Tell them to STOP obstructing his efforts. If you cannot attend a meeting, send an e-mail and ask other parents to do the same.
Andru.Volinsky@nh.gov
TomRaffio@nedelta.com
waduncansboe@gmail.com
kcassady@allstaffcorp.com
ggroleau@nhbb.com
chags@comcast.net
hhonorow@barrylawoffice.com
annlanenhsboe@gmail.com
Frank.Edelblut@doe.nh.gov

It’s time to put our children above partisan political games!!!