One of Tennessee’s biggest cheerleaders for Common Core has not pushed to adopt the education standards in the private school she now leads.

On an almost weekly basis, Candice McQueen is called on by the state Department of Education to beat back criticism. Last week, it was an Associated Press panel. The week before that, she advocated for Common Core as SCORE released its annual report card. McQueen testified before the Senate Education Committee during a two day hearing on the standards.

She praises the rigor and the benefits to having Tennessee kids on the same page as students in 44 states. So when McQueen assumed a new role over Lipscomb’s private K-12 academy, parents were concerned Common Core would follow her to campus, according to an open letter sent to families.

“Because of my role as the dean of the university’s College of Education some of you have expressed concerns about my appointment and the direction Lipscomb Academy will take as it relates to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).”

McQueen wrote that she Common Core has not been adopted and that she has “not been in any formal discussions” about changing standards at the school, though she has asked faculty to familiarize themselves with the math and English standards.

And McQueen doesn’t plan to stop advocating for Common Core, according to the letter.

“I will continue to be part of the ongoing CCSS conversation. However, this should not be extrapolated to indicate or predict the adoption of CCSS at Lipscomb Academy.”

Asked by WPLN why Common Core wouldn’t be used at her school, McQueen referred back to her letter.

“We make decisions about what’s going to be best within the context of our community,” she said. “I would say that’s absolutely what we’re going to do now and for the future.”

Lipscomb would be unusual if it went to Common Core. Most of Nashville’s private schools blend state and national standards and don’t use the same standardized tests as public schools.

The above excerpt was reported by Nashville Public Radio (Feb. 10, 2014).  Click HERE to read the rest of the article, more of McQueen's hypocritical letter to Lipscomb parents, and some pretty irate comments from citizens. 

Dr. Candice McQueen was dean of Lipscomb’s College of Education until she was recently named senior vice president overseeing Lipscomb Academy.  Credit: Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce via Flickr 


From McQueen's mouth:  
"We make decisions about what’s going to be best within the context of our community,” she said. “I would say that’s absolutely what we’re going to do now and for the future.”

Tennessee parents, teachers, Superintendents, and our elected school board members all want to know:

WHY CAN'T WE DO THE SAME???

The Bradley County School District is in Cleveland, TN (east of Chattanooga).  Bradley County ranks above-average on test scores and above-average on graduation rates compared to other school districts in Tennessee.
 

Click HERE to download the Bradley County Resolution

A first grade math question from Pearson Education:

To get the correct answer, one has to use multiple steps to add and subtract to get a multiple of 10.  If you picked D, that is the correct answer.  However, if you arrived at D because you figured out that 8 + 6 = 14 and picked D because it was the only choice that equaled 14, then your answer is counted wrong.  You must use the correct method, or you fail this problem.  You must "decompose" a number by dividing it, then add part of it to a number to make 10, then add the remainder.

8 + 2 = 10
6 - 2 = 4
10 + 4 = 14

I’m a photographer. This is my daughter…and this is the first photo of her that I have ever hated.

You may have already seen this image today. I posted it this morning on my business page and after returning from a session out in Syracuse, it has been shared over 400 times. I want to take a moment to explain this image so as those who do not know me, can understand how this image came to be.

I am a photographer, a hobby farmer, a child advocate and a mother of 3 elementary-aged children. This is my middle child in the photo … she is 7 and is in 2nd grade. My kindergartner and my 4th grader were already finished with their homework and had left the table. I had brought my camera in to work on my white balance skills while shooting in low light as I had a session the next morning to prep for.

After checking her work, I had found 2 math problems were incorrect. I tried to help her understand where she went wrong through her process but I don’t understand it myself and was not much help.

I told her to forget about it and we’d try again tomorrow but she became very upset that she could not get the answer and kept trying and trying to fix it. She is hard on herself as she very much wants to excel in school and not be pulled for extra help all of the time. I was talking to her and clicking my camera as I changed settings … it’s something that is very common in our household … and that is when I caught this image.

My daughter is incredibly strong.  My daughter is a 4-year cancer survivor.  She is a fighter with a resilient spirit.  It crushes me to see her cry; to see her struggle.  My daughter deserves a happy childhood.

Please know that 5 minutes later I had convinced her to leave the homework behind and go snuggle with her dad on the couch and watch some Olympics coverage. She is not neglected. She was not abused or left alone to cry. And this photo was not staged.  (Click here to read the rest of this sad article)

My son is taking a computer class.  While they are taking tests, he is not able to have class.  They have to use the computers in his classroom to take the writing assessment.  That said, he has not had class this week and looks like next week also.  11th grade writing assessment this week.  9th or 10th next week.  So he could miss three weeks of his computer class.
- A Mom in Shelby County, TN
 
The writing assessment lasted 3 ½ hours and we finished 5 minutes before lunch.   Some kids didn't even get to eat. We had 60 minutes to read each prompt and write an essay on it, and there were two prompts. The first prompt was about 7 pages long and there was way too much information and too many names to remember. I didn't get to finish typing because we were supposed to write about two of the central ideas and explain how the author goes into detail about them. But the entire first prompt was repeating the same thing over and over again. So it was pointless reading most of it. All of our computers froze up at one point so that wasted about 5 minutes. The second prompt had absolutely no information and was very hard to write about and I only finished about three paragraphs on it. After the three and a half hours everybody was brain dead and during lunch most juniors laid their heads down. And because we still had two more class periods that were an hour and a half each, everybody was exhausted and we still had to work. In math something that I could have usually done in thirty minutes took me the entire class and I still have to do it for homework.
- a junior at a Chattanooga High School

I live in TN and tried to opt my son out of the writing assessment test being given to 5th, 8th and 11th graders. He is in the 11th grade.  He called this morning and said that they would make him leave school if he didn't take it. I talked to him and had prayed about it. I told him to take it and to answer honestly and if anything violated his beliefs or convictions then he didn't have to answer or if given the choice to give his opinion. He called back after the test and told me it was horrible. They were supposed to write essays based on some statements and questions. He said one statement said "Explain the futility of happiness." He said that he wrote happiness is not futile. I have happiness. He said I know what you are trying to accomplish. Are you going to retaliate at me and others because we know what you are doing? He said another statement said something to the effect that a person can really only achieve 40% of happiness. He wrote the Declaration of Independence says everyone has the right to the pursuit of happiness, not just 40%. He said again I am completely happy. He tried to write down some of the questions but the teacher there said that he'd loose his job if that happened. I told my son to write as many notes as he could remember. He already has information relating to Hitler and how he changed text books and went after the kids through school. He is so upset now. He is putting together a speech for our next school board meeting in March but I want him sharing it everywhere. I told him to send it to state and government Representative, to our Governor and anyone else we can think of.
- a Mom in Sevier County, TN
 

Every day, more and more parents in TN are realizing that our children are being abused with testing.  Please stop this incessant focus on testing!  This is unacceptable.

Note:  Tennessee parents are not opposed to all tests.  We are opposed to the standardized high-stakes testing that are excessive, expensive, and used to hurt our children's teachers.

Click HERE to read a testing Resolution adopted by Shelby County Council PTA and schools in their district.  
  

TN Parents often wonder why many of the people in politics who push for charter schools generally do not send their children to these same schools. We also wonder why many of these same people seem to think that for-profit charters—which further reduce a school’s transparency and a parent’s ability to participate in his/her child’s education—are a good idea. (For-profit charter schools answer to their investors, not parents.) Could it be that these charter supporters are concerned about sending their children to schools that could possibly:      

1. lock their young children in small, padded cells like this KIPP charter school in NY? (Click here for documentation.)
2. force their children to earn their desks, uniforms, and lockers like this KIPP charter school in Nashville? (Click here for documentation.) Click here for more information about KIPP’s disciplinary methods.  
3. spank their children in front of their peers in a weekly meeting called “Chapel” like this Memphis charter school? (Click here for documentation.)
4. require their children attend for 9.5 hours every day and attend extra school days like this Nashville charter school? (Click here for documentation.) On a side note, the children at this same charter school receive 541.5 additional instructional hours—almost 1/3 more—than traditional Nashville public schools. (This is the equivalent of an extra 77, 7-hour school days a year.) Which makes one wonder if their test score gains are due to the school itself, or to the longer hours the kids are attending. Or could it because they receive HUGE contributions from donors that increase their per pupil funding? (We have acquired the 990s for this charter school and we strongly suspect they are spending much more per pupil than the typical zoned school.) Stay tuned for more information...
5. kick their children out prior to testing like this KIPP school did in Nashville? (Click here for documentation.)
6. inflict extreme methods of discipline on their children just like this charter school chain. (Click here for documentation.) 

Why is it that charter schools are OK for “other kids”, but not for many of those who claim they are so wonderful? Perhaps it’s because many of these people would never dream of their children being treated in the ways listed above. Now ask yourself this: Would you be OK if we allowed these schools, that already push the limits on acceptable treatment of children, to make their primary motive profit over children?
 
If you believe that last question about profit motive is an overstatement, take a few minutes to look over a 2009 PowerPoint presentation entitled "Investing in Education: Where are opportunities and how you can capture them?" from a well-known education consulting firm called The Parthenon Group. (You can find the link to the presentation here.). On page 13 you will find a very disturbing quote: “All students are not created equal. Some are more profitable than others.” (The Parthenon Group has already provided consulting services in the Memphis and Nashville school districts, and is currently doing so for Knox Co. schools) Organizations such as the Parthenon Group ultimately see our children as profit-makers, not students, and that is highly disturbing.
 
TN Parents urge you to contact legislators ASAP and let them know that you are against for-profit charter schools in TN. (There is a big vote on For Profit Charters coming up on Tuesday, 2/11/14 in the House Education subcommittee.) Please click here for an email to legislators that you can send directly from the page.  

TN parents received a message from an upset parent of a middle schooler in Dickson County, TN. It seems that some of the teachers at her child's school decided to instruct the students on how to take the Constructed Response Assessment (CRA). The students apparently did not do well on the subsequent practice test and the teachers sent home more practice questions for the kids to work on at home over the weekend. The teachers also sent home a letter along with the extra work and stated that the students will be given after-school detention if they do not answer the questions correctly.

TN Parents want you to hear directly from this mother and to see this letter. We want you to understand that our children are being punished because of the excessive focus on testing in our schools. Some children are punished by having their PE,  related arts classes, and recess replaced by testing preparation. Some children are being punished by having their test scores publicly posted for their classmates to see. Some children are being punished by being told, again and again, how important the tests scores are--creating an undue level of anxiety that should never be forced on our children. And, in this situation, some kids are being punished by being put in detention for not performing well on practice standardized tests. 

From this Dickson Co. mother: 
"This letter is weighing heavy on my mind today, especially the last paragraph. It comes across a little defensive on their part, and somewhat threatening to my child and myself. When the heck did school detention become a consequence for academic performance? I thought "detention" was for behavioral issues. Not for high-stakes practice and performance tests which already delivers a crazy amount of stress on CHILDREN. And we wonder where test anxiety comes from." 

In a meeting room at Legislative Plaza on January 27th, the first TREE event bloomed.  TREE is short for “Tennesseans Reclaiming Excellence in Education” and is made up of volunteer parents.  This event was publicized frugally through social media and email to anyone who was interested in attending.  These volunteers took off from their jobs to be downtown at the Capitol for this very special event.  Parents donated from their own pockets to TREE to cover the travel expenses of an expert speaker whom they begged to be there, Elaine Weiss, who gave some staggering facts about education in TN:

• TN pays more to Teach for America than any other state (which is probably because our appointed Commissioner of Education, Kevin Huffman, used to work for TFA before it was revealed on national news that federal funds were mismanaged under his leadership.  That’s another story for another day.  If you want the details, click HERE)
• Since winning Race to the Top, TN has not increased its pre-K programs by even one seat.
• During the first 3 years of Race to the Top in TN, money spent with Pearson tripled.
• No real change in terms of impact of poverty on test scores since 1966 in TN.
• Charter schools haven’t helped, they only take focus away from the issue of poverty.
• TN is not using RTTT money to develop a strong teacher corps.

Weiss suggested a “Bolder, Broader” approach to education in TN spreading learning to PreK and summer learning opportunities for impoverished children.  (Click HERE to watch Weiss' excellent presentation)
 
Next, certain invited legislators and the press went a block away, (or it could have been to the moon - the settings were so starkly different) to the Hermitage Hotel to a fancy invitation-only event hosted by SCORE, the State Collaborative on Reforming Education.  In an elegant ballroom that costs a small fortune to rent, the invited guests were dazzled by a guest panel of speakers including Dr. Bill Frist himself.  Frist started the SCORE club, so it was only fitting that he be in attendance to discuss public education even though Frist’s own children never attended public schools.  Most of the invited guests’ children also attend private schools.  The handful of their children who attend public schools actually attend magnet schools, which are public schools that get extra resources and support to make them more special than ordinary public schools.
 
Anyway, the invited guests were each given thick SCORE Card books full of glossy photos of smiling children and cherry-picked test data.  They listened to the speakers brag about their achievements in raising the test scores, as if they were the very ones to bubble in those correct answers themselves.  Former Senator Jamie Woodson (who makes over $300,000 now as the CEO of SCORE) presided over the event like royalty.
 
The SCORE event not only included the speakers and expensive booklets, it also included a fancy lunch at the hotel.  Yummy.  Cha-ching.
 
And we noticed that SCORE recently got a brand new professional website.  The old one was fine, but the new one smells richer.  We wonder how much that cost?  And who paid for it?  And where their children attend school?  And if their children are forced to take standardized tests and do common core?
 

Tennessee parents realize the stark difference between the down-to-earth TREE and the head-in-the-clouds SCORE.  We sure hope our elected Representatives and Senators do, too.  Our children are depending on legislators who have their feet firmly planted on the ground representing their interests, not corporate profits.

A little boy here in Memphis (a cousin of a musician friend of mine) told me he was into sports, not music. I was a little surprised because his cousin is a first-rate drummer. I asked him why. He explained to me that they don't have music at his school. Now I was really surprised, because for many years all elementary schools in Memphis not only had music, but the superb Orff music curriculum at that. "You don't have Orff music at your school?" I asked him. "No, sir. It's a charter school," he replied,as if that explained everything. "But we have sports."

So I learned the awful truth on Saturday that many charter schools are being used here in Memphis to undermine our city's legacy in music and the arts. Parents, please don't assume that charters offer a better education for your kids. Do some research first, and if a particular school doesn't offer art or music, please don't put your kids there. I don't believe this is isolated, and I don't believe it is accidental either. Studies show that education in the arts and music can improve a child's performance in other subjects as well, due to the analytical thinking that the arts encourage, but the charters are interested in getting the best test scores possible in the shortest amount of time so as to protect the flow of taxpayers' dollars into their schools.

- A parent in Memphis, TN

How sad that children in some charter schools have no music.  
 

I worked with 3 other amazing 6th grade teachers. We had a handful of kids we knew were pretty much on their own once they went home. Weekends were a terribly long time to these kids. We made sure that each one of them went home each Friday with enough food to last them (and their siblings) the weekend. When winter came - they had coats, hats, gloves and anything else they needed. Evaluate that!
        - A teacher at Boones Creek Middle School in Washington County, Tennessee


Follow #EvaluateTHAT on Twitter and Facebook to read about amazing, inspiring things teachers do for their students
 

We dare anyone to put a numerical value on the compassion of teachers.

“When you wage war on the public schools, you’re attacking the mortar that holds the community together. You’re not a conservative, you’re a vandal.”
- Garrison Keillor, “Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America”

Legislators:  Please remember the above quote when you cast your vote regarding charter schools and vouchers.  Keep in mind that our community schools are not replaceable, but our elected officials are.

Many Senators, Representatives, & Governors began their political careers serving as elected school board members in their home towns.  School Board members are typically more politically aware than average citizens; they are in tune with not only local issues, but know about state and federal issues, as well.  There are thousands of school board members in TN who were each elected by their districts to serve the schools in their communities, and these elected officials are closely watching this year's Legislative session.  Parents are, too, which is something new.  Never before have parents been so informed and concerned about issues.

Although an opponent to Governor Haslam has not yet appeared in the news, certainly one of you pro-public school leaders has the courage?  If not, Raccoon Man may be our next TN Governor because Tennessee parents and teachers refuse to vote for a Governor that destroys our public schools and hands our children's education over to corporate interests.