At stopcommoncorenh.org we are a non-partisan, diverse group of parents and teachers working together to stop the corporate and big government take over of education in New Hampshire.
We come together with diverse backgrounds including our political views. We may not vote the same way in every election but we have a common goal and that is to improve the quality of education in New Hampshire. With a quality school system, teachers are secure in their jobs and parents are happy.
It is important to note that some of us are teachers and some of us work directly with teachers who face a hostile working environment if they speak out against Common Core. One of our main goals through our activism is to make people aware of the attack on teachers through this reform effort by U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan.
Anyone who follows Common Core knows the U.S. Department of Education has waged war on teachers through their insistence that teachers be evaluated by test scores. This is known as a “Value Added Model” (VAM). Recently the state of Washington saw their No Child Left Behind Waiver snatched up the U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan because they would not evaluate teachers based on test scores. Is this a tyrant or an appointed cabinet member who is supposed to be working to help states support a quality education?
Governor Hassan has remained virtually silent on this issue leaving many NH teachers wondering why she will not advocate on our behalf. Instead we have NH Commissioner Barry who carries out the will of the U.S. Department of Ed. by supporting the Value Added Method VAM.
Teachers do not mind being evaluated and welcome it. However if you follow Common Core and the testing that will be implemented per the agreement the NH DOE made with the Smarter Balanced Consortium, you know that teachers are being set up for failure.
You know the SBA (Smarter Balanced Assessment) is seriously flawed and you know the Common Core Standards are developmentally INAPPROPRIATE. That means it’s also a set up for failure for YOUR kids.
Many teachers hoped that Governor Hassan would understand the significant problems with VAM and make sure New Hampshire did not follow that prescription. Unfortunately she has done nothing to help.
IF you thought teaching to the test was bad before, get ready for it to go in high gear. This is No Child Left Behind on steroids and teachers are caught in the middle of this mess.
With the nomination of Bill Duncan for the Board of Ed in New Hampshire, it’s another strike against teachers. Bill Duncan may say he supports public education and teachers, but we know better. We are solid in our opposition to the nomination of Bill Duncan for the New Hampshire Board of Education by Governor Maggie Hassan.
He did not support the teachers in Nashua when they raised an alarm on the Smarter Balanced Assessment. He did not fight to make sure the Model Teacher Evaluation did NOT tie a teacher to a test score. He supports standards that are developmentally inappropriate, leaving many of these young children in tears.
Teachers will be watching the vote tomorrow and watching how the Executive Councilors vote. Whatever the outcome, Governor Hassan will not get support from many teachers in New Hampshire.
The question now is, will the Executive Councilors lose that support too?