Common Core Update - Legislation and Required Reading

[David Edward Bloch]

Update: On October 24, 2013 the Republican controlled Senate passed “Substitute for House Concurrent Resolution No. 11.”  This is the disguised name for the bill that provides funding and authorizes the State Board of Education and the Michigan Department of Education to begin implementing Common Core in every school district in Michigan.  Republican Governor Rick Snyder actively supported the passage of the bill.  In both the Republican controlled House and Senate, the Common Core bill was passed by a “voice vote” meaning no representative or senator was required to record their vote.  To be sure, there are some differences between Democrat and Republican politicians, but the Progressive-Socialists Republican politicians dominate the Michigan Republican Party.  Common Core is not about education (in the same manner that Obamacare is not about health care), Common Core is about control and power – power to advance a socialist agenda on vulnerable young people.

 

Legislation: If you want to read the 2-1/2 page Michigan Senate passed “Substitute for House Concurrent Resolution No. 11” regarding Common Core, click on this www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2013-2014/concurrentresolutionadop...

If you read the resolution, don’t be fooled by its many clauses such as “the standards shall not include attitudes, beliefs, or value systems that are not essential in the legal, economic, and social structure of our society, and to the personal and social responsibilities of its citizens, as determined by locally elected school boards . . . “ This clause is inserted to give political cover for those voting for the resolution.  It is meaningless.

Also, the resolution states: “Resolved, That the Michigan Department of Education will provide an official way for parents, teachers, administrators, and the public to provide feedback on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, and appropriate assessment aligned with those standards.”

Required Reading: A book titled “The Bluest Eye (2007)” by Toni Morrison, is required reading under Common Core.  I have not read the book, but I have read many reviews of the book.  Here are some of the reviews on Amazon.com: “Horrid, Too Horrible to Read, pretentious pornography, Apology for Pedophilia, too depressing to finish, and the worst book I have ever read.”  One reviewer wrote:  “Not appropriate for teens – This book, the Bluest Eye, is on the required reading list for young teens through the Common Core program that has been set up in schools.  Write to your schools and ask them to remove The Bluest Eye from their required reading list. This book is not appropriate for young teens and the entire Common Core program is a disgrace.”

Finally, a review from a 9^th grade student: “MOST REPULSIVE BOOK EVER, I had to read this book for 9th grade english. It was so terrible. Half the time someone is having sex or being rapped. I never saw any of the good things about this book, and when I told my english teacher about the book (she has never read it) she told me to write a letter to the school board to have them remove it from the list. So thats what I am doing. I cant believe how much sex was in this book. Dont give this book to people under 16! Its sooooooo dirty!” 

Under Common Core, teachers will assign books they have not read, and if students or parents object they must take their complaints to the school board because the teacher is no longer in control of what is taught in her/his classroom.

I suspect the purpose of the book, written by an old socialist, is to denigrate individuals and the family and to teach young people that they should seek their nurturing and values from the collective and the state.