Trash or treasure? The scramble for resources...

Class parties can be a very exciting time for kids. After the games, activities and treats, most teachers will try to settle everyone down to watch a movie. Usually, the biggest challenge is the movie selection. This year, my child's teacher held up several choices and the class voted. It took about 3 minutes to pick out the movie but then came the real challenge, finding a laptop that worked.

Out of all the 20+ laptops, only four worked. Then, four became three when one was dropped and the battery pack came off. Five minutes later, we were able to snap the battery back into place but the laptop still didn't work, it was added to the stack in the corner. The teacher said she did not know what they were going to do because there were no plans to replace or repair the broken laptops piling up in the corner.

Later that day, I ran into a retired teacher and was telling her about the lack of classroom resources. This teacher of school years past asked me to tell current teachers about the surplus auctions. For years, she regularly shopped the Memphis City School surplus auctions to furnish items for her classroom. It's no big secret that teachers pay for classroom items out of their own pockets but who knew they were buying things already bought and paid for by taxpayers?

A quick check of the Shelby County School website revealed that surplus auctions exist, they really do!

Memphis, Tenn. – Shelby County Schools is holding a public auction of surplus items on Saturday, November 2, 2013 at 9 a.m at the SCS Mallory Warehouse, 1384-A Farmville. Auction items include classroom furniture, vehicles, auto shop equipment, televisions, and more. Vehicles, furniture and equipment will be on display and may be inspected on Friday, November 1 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, contact Robert Braden, (901) 416-2830 or (901) 416-4116. CLASSROOM/OFFICE FURNITURE/EQUIPMENT Stack Chairs, Computer Tables, Desks Office Furniture, Metal Carts, File Cabinets Bookcases, Early Childhood Furniture, Classroom Furniture Office Chairs, A/V Carts, Color TVs MISCELLANEOUS Commercial Mixers, Band Saw, Shop Tables Commercial Ovens, Lathes, Industrial Sewing Machines Hot & Cold Tables, Welders, Upright Electronic Piano Pedestal Grinders, Washer Machines, Stainless Steel Food Prep Tables Ice Cream & Milk Boxes, Drill Press, Dryers, Food Warmers VARIOUS VEHICLES and ADDITIONAL MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS All sales are final.
http://www.scsk12.org/uf/news/viewrelease.php?id=119

To make teachers buy classroom resources from their own pockets is a stingy thing to do, but to make them pay for items they have already bought as taxpayers? 
Well, we would call that Scrooge-like except Ebenezer Scrooge kept meticulous accounting records and would never come up $48 million short in an audit. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/dec/02/audit-of-shelby-schools-shows-staggering-484-in/

Have you heard the Blueberry Story?


"If I ran my business the way you people operate your schools, I wouldn’t be in business very long!” 
 
I stood before an auditorium filled with outraged teachers who were becoming angrier by the minute. My speech had entirely consumed their precious 90 minutes of inservice. Their initial icy glares had turned to restless agitation. You could cut the hostility with a knife. 
 
I represented a group of business people dedicated to improving public schools. I was an executive at an ice cream company that became famous in the middle1980s when People Magazine chose our blueberry as the “Best Ice Cream in America.” 
 
I was convinced of two things. First, public schools needed to change; they were archaic selecting and sorting mechanisms designed for the industrial age and out of step with the needs of our emerging “knowledge society.” Second, educators were a major part of the problem: they resisted change, hunkered down in their feathered nests, protected by tenure, and shielded by a bureaucratic monopoly. They needed to look to business. We knew how to produce quality. Zero defects! TQM! Continuous improvement! 
 
In retrospect, the speech was perfectly balanced - equal parts ignorance and arrogance. 
 
As soon as I finished, a woman’s hand shot up. She appeared polite, pleasant – she was, in fact, a razor-edged, veteran, high school English teacher who had been waiting to unload. 
 
She began quietly, “We are told, sir, that you manage a company that makes good ice cream.” 
 
I smugly replied, “Best ice cream in America, Ma’am.” 
 
“How nice,” she said. “Is it rich and smooth?” 
 
“Sixteen percent butterfat,” I crowed. 

“Premium ingredients?” she inquired. 
 
“Super-premium! Nothing but triple A.” I was on a roll. I never saw the next line coming. 
 
“Mr. Vollmer,” she said, leaning forward with a wicked eyebrow raised to the sky, “when you are standing on your receiving dock and you see an inferior shipment of blueberries arrive, what do you do?” 
 
In the silence of that room, I could hear the trap snap…. I was dead meat, but I wasn’t going to lie. 
 
“I send them back.” 
 
She jumped to her feet. “That’s right!” she barked, “and we can never send back our blueberries. We take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, abused, frightened, confident, homeless, rude, and brilliant. We take them with ADHD, junior rheumatoid arthritis, and English as their second language. We take them all! Every one! And that, Mr. Vollmer, is why it’s not a business. It’s school!” 
 
In an explosion, all 290 teachers, principals, bus drivers, aides, custodians, and secretaries jumped to their feet and yelled, “Yeah! Blueberries! Blueberries!” 
 
And so began my long transformation. 
 
Since then, I have visited hundreds of schools. I have learned that a school is not a business. Schools are unable to control the quality of their raw material, they are 
dependent upon the vagaries of politics for a reliable revenue stream, and they are constantly mauled by a howling horde of disparate, competing customer groups that would send the best CEO screaming into the night. 
 
None of this negates the need for change. We must change what, when, and how we teach to give all children maximum opportunity to thrive in a post-industrial society. But educators cannot do this alone; these changes can occur only with the understanding, trust, permission, and active support of the surrounding community. For the most important thing I have learned is that schools reflect the attitudes, beliefs and health of the communities they serve, and therefore, to improve public education means more than changing our schools, it means changing America. 

Printed with permission ~ Jamie Robert Vollmer © 2011 
Jamie Vollmer is a former business executive and attorney who now works to increase public support for America’s public schools. His new book, Schools Cannot Do It Alone is available at www.jamievollmer.com 
________________________________________

Tennessee parents want the best for every "blueberry" in our state.  Every single child is unique and special, and each one of them deserves a quality public school education.  

Tennessee parents really like the Beliefs that  the Stewart County School System have listed on their website: 
• Education is the most essential service a community can provide.
• All children can learn.
• Every child has the right to an equal education.
• Children deserve good facilities.
• Schools should employ the best teachers and staff possible.
• Schools should provide for children of varying abilities.
• Employees salaries should be competitive to surrounding counties.

And we think their Vision Statement is pretty awesome, too:
"The vision of the Stewart County School District is to inspire in all the desire to learn and succeed.  Our schools will be safe learning communities that celebrate our achievements and encourage active partnerships with families and the entire community.  We will empower students to embrace the challenges and opportunities of the future."

Why did I get this email? TN Legislators have been receiving our emails from Tennessee parents over the past few months, and many of them said how much they appreciate the information we share with them.  We realized that School Board members & Superintendents need to hear from Tennessee Parents, too!  It took us awhile to find every Superintendent and school board member's email address in TN on 158 different district webpages (there are a LOT in TN), but with the new year, we are excited to send our emails to even more leaders in education in our State.
     
If you ever have any questions about our emails, just reply and ask us. 
 
Why do we send these emails?
because
you were elected by the citizens of Tennessee
OR
you were appointed or hired by someone
who was elected by the citizens of TN

Why is it important for me to read these emails?
Because parents in Tennessee want you to hear what we have to say.
We can't afford lobbyists.
We can't host fancy luncheons or cocktail parties to woo you.
We don't have the money to print glossy books full of smiling children, buzz words, and manipulated pie graphs.

BUT

We are aware of what is happening with our children and our public schools, and we are concerned.  That is why we are sending these emails to you.  We want you to hear our concerns.  We want you to understand and take action.


Who are we?
We are volunteers (and everyone knows that Tennessee Volunteers are a force to be reckoned with!).  We seek to make a positive difference for children and public education in our state.  We do this because we believe in public education, and we believe in TN.  Our group is growing stronger every day from across the State from east to west and in-between. We have organized, dedicated parents and teachers who are committed to children, and not corporate profits. We aren't paid a single penny for our time or work with this group.  In fact, the web hosting fees come out of our own pockets.  Please, listen to our voices.  What we tell you is important.

You can see who we are and read our past emails by visiting our website:  www.tnparents.org 

(Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to our TN Parent emails)

Even MORE personal questions asked of students without parents knowing...

We have emailed you already about the Tripod Survey that many students in TN were given this fall and will be given again in the spring (click HERE, HERE, and HERE to see those messages again).  Some of you responded that they were harmless because they were given anonymously (even though some districts had students bubble in their own unique student ID # on their survey).  This next survey we need to tell you about was definitely NOT anonymous:

Most high school sophomores in TN were given the PLAN computerized assessment to predict how they'll do on the ACT test.  Before they take the PLAN, they were askedabout an hour's worth of personal demographic questions.

Parents had no clue.

Their answers were NOT anonymous, their answers were directly tied directly to their names.

Tennessee parents are asking:  
Who wants to know personal information about our children?  
What will they do with it?  
Where will it be stored?  
Who will have access to it?

Everyone knows that once something is in cyberspace on the internet, it can never be totally erased.  (Just ask any politician or celebrity who's accidentally texted or posted something inappropriate.)  

Privacy is an American liberty that is quickly being stripped from citizens.  Our children are the most vulnerable victims, but people are turning a blind eye because of the profit and grant money given in exchange for this precious data.
 
Tennessee parents are deeply concerned.  Please, legislators, take action to protect TN students!  

Apparently, email filters caught the explicit words in our prior email and wouldn't deliver it to some of you.  How ironic... it isn't appropriate for our Senators, Representatives, and the Governor to read, but it is okay for our high school students because the Common Core authors put it on their approved list.

We have edited the excerpts even more.  You'll have to figure out the adult language on your own.  

Thank you to those who replied to our email about the inappropriate Common Core text exemplar, "Dreaming in Cuban." Your shock, disgust, and disbelief mirrors our own that it was included on the official Common Core list of approved literature for students.

You should know that it is not an isolated example.  The next book we are about to tell you about is much worse.  

Imagine how a pedophile feels as he molests an innocent child...

***WARNING*** (Pornographic information below)

Pages 162-163:  “A bolt of desire ran down his ge*****s…and softening the lips of his a***. . . . He wanted to f*** her—tenderly. But the tenderness would not hold. The tightness of her va**** was more than he could bear. His soul seemed to slip down his guts and fly out into her, and the gigantic thrust he made into her then provoked the only sound she made. Removing himself from her was so painful to him he cut it short and snatched his ge****** out of the dry harbor of her va****. She appeared to have fainted.”

Page 174:  “He further limited his interests to little girls. They were usually manageable . . . His se*uality was anything but lewd; his patronage of little girls smacked of innocence and was associated in his mind with cleanliness.” And later, this same ped****le notes, “I work only through the Lord. He sometimes uses me to help people.”

Page 181:  “The little girls are the only things I’ll miss. Do you know that when I touched their sturdy little t*** and bit them—just a little—I felt I was being friendly?—If I’d been hurting them, would they have come back? . . . they’d eat ice cream with their legs open while I played with them. It was like a party.”

Pages 84-85:  “He must enter her surreptitiously, lifting the hem of her nightgown only to her navel. He must rest his weight on his elbows when they make love, to avoid hurting her b*****s…When she senses some spasm about to grip him, she will make rapid movements with her hips, press her fingernails into his back, suck in her breath, and pretend she is having an org***. She might wonder again, for the six hundredth time, what it would be like to have that feeling while her husband’s p***s is inside her.”

The above exerpts are from "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison.  It is listed as an approved book on the same Official Common Core Text Exemplars list as "Dreaming in Cuban". (Click HERE to see for yourself that it really is on p.152 of the official Common Core list published by the architects of Common Core)
 We know you've been told this by Common Core supporters:
"Common Core isn't curriculum. Common Core is only standards."
Blame the curriculum.
Blame the curriculum.
Blame the curriculum.

Q: Who published this list of inappropriate books?
A: The same people who wrote the Common Core standards.

Q: Who wrote the Common Core standards?
A: Businessmen from textbook and testing companies wrote the standards (they're writing the curriculum, too).

THE BIG QUESTION:

If those people didn't have the common sense not to include these 2 inappropriate books on a list of 19 books recommended as appropriate for high school juniors to read as fictional literature (when there are hundreds of thousands of other wonderful books in the world to select from) how can anyone trust their judgement with writing the standards for every child in our state???

This is what the Common Core architects have to say about their list of appropriate Common Core aligned books (p.2 of their list): 
"The following text samples primarily serve to exemplify the level of complexity andquality that the Standards require all students in a given grade band to engage with.  Additionally, they are suggestive of the breadth of texts that students should encounter in the text types required by the Standards.  The choices should serve as useful guideposts in helping educators select texts of similar complexity, quality, and range for their own classrooms."  [emphasis added]

The textbook & testing industry is monopolized by one company: Pearson. Click HERE to read a very informative Momma Bear blog on "Pear$on in the U$A." You'll see how Pearson has used its money to influence politicians and laws. They are making a fortune off of Common Core with our tax dollars.

Sick, yet???  Tennessee parents are.

Here is a guest post from one of our followers:

Please read this short article about the fact that the Achievement School District did not report its per pupil funding on the state's 2012-2013 schools' Report Card: http://tn.chalkbeat.org/2013/12/20/state-run-districts-per-pupil-expenditure-not-included-on-state-report-card/. (The ASD was the only district in the state that did not have this amount listed.) The article states that, "Per-pupil funds are made up of local, state, and federal tax dollars and are distributed based on a formula known as the Basic Education Program, or BEP...Based on that formula, the ASD’s spokesman Elliot Smalley said the district’s per-pupil expenditure is $10,179."

As you likely know, many charter schools receive donations from private companies, organizations, and individuals (http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/dec/13/kipp-memphis-lands-3m-to-expand/?print=1). The above article only gave the per pupil amount based on the BEP formula--it apparently did not indicate the per pupil amount that included the money donated to these schools. In addition, the Department of Education's explanation for why the per pupil funding amount was not included on the Report Card is highly suspect. It should not be difficult to determine how much was spent on educating their students. We suspect that the ASD is spending much more on their students than they are reporting, yet they do not want us to know that it actually takes more money than Tennessee is currently spending to adequately educate the children of Tennessee.

As an aside, we are also bothered that the ASD received a growth score of 5 (out of 5) when their TCAP reading scores dropped by 4.5% and their math scores increased by 3.3%--for a net loss of 1.2%. (http://garyrubinstein.teachforus.org/2013/08/20/the-underachievement-school-district/) And, the fact that they throw Happy Hour events that serve alcohol to teachers on what appears to be the taxpayer dime is also very upsetting. (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/asdtfa-happy-hour-tickets-8393399885, http://events.wmctv.com/ASD_Staff_Happy_Hour/281359437.html,https://twitter.com/TN_ASD/status/392402445282062336). And last, but not least, we do not understand why the ASD ACT scores have not been released.

As taxpayers, we deserve to know how the ASD is using our money to educate its students. It seems to many Tennesseans that the ASD is allowed to play by a different set of rules, and the evasiveness of the ASD only strengthens our suspicions that this is the case. We deserve transparency and I ask that you investigate these issues when the legislative session begins next month.

"At a meeting, a Mom shared some hot, steamy sex excerpts between Hugo and Felicia in a book called Dreaming in Cuban. This book is on the official Common Core recommended text exemplars. (Click HERE to see for yourself that it really is on p.152 of the official Common Core list published by the architects of Common Core) There were some vivid reactions on what she read aloud. Someone evidently called our Board of Education the following morning complaining about it. The BOE sent an email to middle and high schools to be sure the book was nowhere to be found. There was no expression of concern for the contents of the book, just worried that they may make the news. At least that is a step in the right direction in our district."

 (This was posted anonymously to protect these teachers & parents in Tipton County)

Tennessee parents don't want our children reading this.  You wouldn't want your children exposed to it, either.  

Exerpts from p. 80 of this erotic novel:
  
“Hugo and Felicia stripped in their room, dissolving easily into one another, and made love against the whitewashed walls. Hugo bit Felicia’s breast and left purplish bands of bruises on her upper thighs. He knelt before her in the tub and massaged black Spanish soap between her legs. He entered her repeatedly from behind.

“Felicia learned what pleased him. She tied his arms above his head with their underclothing and slapping him sharply when he asked.

“‘You’re my bitch,’” Hugo said, groaning.

“In the morning he left, promising to return in the summer.”

"I have done nothing but test kids for the last 3 weeks. I administered a DEA (Pearson test), a Common Core test on Informational texts, and now I am giving exams. I wasn't able to teach any stories that open up students' imaginations and tap into their creativity. I apologize to students when I have to give these tests. There are so many of them now. Students just groan. I feel sorry for students these days."
 
"I teach by the block, which means that I only see students every other day. In 15 school days, I will see my students 7-8 days. Three tests take up the whole time! My exam includes Common Core Standards. I try my best to keep classes interesting, but test prep is not interesting."

(This was posted anonymously, with permission, from this teacher in Metro Nashville schools)


Testing doesn't teach students, TEACHING does.  
Let teachers teach.
 
Thank you, legislators, for reading our emails.  We assure you, we are not affiliated with any political organizations or unions.  We are not paid for writing these, nor will we accept money for doing so.  We are a strong group of parents from across TN who are genuinely concerned about our children and our public schools.  We do not have a leader, we are working collaboratively to bring you the truth of what is really happening.  To protect the anonymity of the voices we share, we will not reveal our names.  You can see the many voices we represent and what we believe in at our website: 
  www.tnparents.org 

"My 3rd grade team gave our students a sample writing test from the TN CORE website. It was a paper test, not on the computer as they will have in February. I could only give them 45 minutes for each, not the two total hours they will have in February. My poor kids were so distraught, and I felt like the Grinch making them suffer through this long writing task two days before Winter Break."
"One of my little boys was so upset, he told me he was sick and then proceeded to FORCE himself to throw-up, hoping I would call his mom!!!! Why are we doing this to our students? This is not developmentally appropriate and as a matter of fact, when I googled "compare and contrast two texts" to get some ideas of how best to prepare them, do you know what came up in my search? "Tenth grade, tenth grade, tenth grade.....""

(This was posted anonymously, with permission, from this teacher in Memphis)

TN CORE's website has sample test questions to prepare students for the new PARCC test that will be forced on students in spring of 2015.  The PARCC test was given to students in New York state last year and 70% of students failed it. Parents in New York are outraged!


...but they are not outraged at their children for failing the PARCC,


...and they are not outraged at the teachers for not preparing their children.


Parents are angry at the STATE of New York for giving the inappropriate test.


And they are angry at PEARSON Publishing, too, who was paid millions of their tax dollars for the PARCC test. Even more outrageous, Pearson included brand name products embedded in the PARCC test questions!


Parents in NY are so upset that tens of thousands of them have already opted their children out of state testing, even if it hurts their child's grades.
 
Tennessee parents are watching New York closely. We hope our legislators are watching, too.