In a desperate political move to save the Common Core in Tennessee, Governor Haslam has announced there shall be a "full vetting" of the Common Core.  There are some huge flaws with his plan that people should know:

1. The "independent" organization that will be handling the entire process is not "independent" at all.  It is heavily funded by Bill Gates.  $11.8 million dollars so far has been given to the Southern Regional Education Board specifically to support Common Core.  Click HERE to see the millions in grant money flowing from Gates to SREB specifically to support his Common Core initiative.  This organization is biased and exists to SAVE Common Core.
    
2. The committee members of these review panels include Common Core cheerleaders from the lucrative reform movement such asCandice McQueen (Miss "I love it for your kids, but not for mine in private school") and Meghan Little, chief academic officer for KIPP Nashville which has a very high rate of kicking kids out conveniently before the TCAP testing window.
    
3. The "review" won't be finished until after the 2015 Legislative Session so Legislators won't be able to take any action regarding the results until 2016.

Click HERE to see the FAQ from Governor Haslam with more details.
 
 
Will TN Legislators be fooled with this stalling tactic?

Maybe you didn't read the paper?  (we don't blame you if you didn't).  You still need to know this big news, so we will email it to you.  You don't want to be out of the loop, do you?  You're welcome.
 
THE BIG NEWS:
There was a big, important survey given to teachers in TN by the Tennessee Consortium on Research, Evaluation and Development, an organization that "is responsible for carrying out a detailed, focused program of research as part of Tennessee's Race to the Top grant."  

On this important survey, the biggest shocker (not to us) was that:

56% of the 27,000 Tennessee teachers who responded to the survey want to abandon the standards!

56% of the 27,000 Tennessee teachers who responded to the survey want to abandon the standards!!

56% of the 27,000 Tennessee teachers who responded to the survey want to abandon the standards!!!

and also: 
13% want to delay the implementation 


The next biggest shocker (not to us) was that Governor Haslam announced he plans a full vetting of the Common Core standards sometime in the future.  This is a desperate political move and TN parents aren't fooled.  It is just like the Senate Common Core hearings that were held over a year ago in September 2013.  Anyone seen the report on that, yet?  We assume the report must be stuck in the TCAP results department being aligned and post-equated by t.    

We apologize if it is difficult to read the above letter from a TN school asking families to do a fundraiser to pay for Common Core instructional materials.  The parent was so disgusted that she crumpled the letter up and threw it in the trash.  Then she thought better, took it out of the trash, snapped a picture, put it on Facebook with an angry message, tore the letter into tiny pieces, and then threw it away.  

PTAs and PTOs used to do fundraisers to pay for special things for their schools like playgrounds, field trips, and outdoor classrooms.  Now, many school organizations are fundraising to purchase Common Core materials and computers for Common Core testing.  This is so sad for those children.

Conversations and Facebook posts from fed-up parents about fuzzy, frustrating common core math and Islam homework assignments are multiplying.  And the school year just started!  This Common Core commotion is not going away.  

Common Core is not rigorous, it is ridiculous... 
Meaning, it is making some people ridiculously rich. 

This week's Education Summit that Governor Haslam is hosting in Nashville is one of those exclusive events for ridiculously rich people to attend.  The people invited to Haslam's exclusive event are mostly all supporters of his reforms and of Common Core.  They are "invested" as "stakeholders" in public education, and many of them make six-figure salaries from these reforms.  In fact, some of these "stakeholders" (such as SCORE) would not have jobs without Common Core in Tennessee (thanks to money from Bill Gates).  According to SCORE's tax return, Jamie Woodson, CEO of SCORE and former TN Senator, made a sweet salary package of $328,361 (including a $25,000 bonus) and SCORE COO, Sharon Roberts, made over $160,000.  It is an obvious case of the Governor is stark naked, but nobody wants to say anything because they are all making big bucks from selling him the invisible clothes.

It is also very important to notice that there are no public school parents included at the table of the Governor's Summit.  The only parent representation is the TN Parent Teacher Association (PTA).  But, did you know that the TN PTA executive board members do not even have children currently in school? and that the National PTA has accepted millions of dollars from Bill Gates to support Common Core, some of  which was given to PTA before the Common Core standards were even finished?  

If you are lucky enough to be invited to Haslam's dog & pony show, be sure to stop and talk to the protesting parents and grandparents outside.  Ask them how Common Core is affecting their children.  Ask them why they are refusing to allow their children to take the tests.  If you're wondering where all the teachers are, they are at school teaching because notice that this summit was strategically scheduled on a school day at a time that teachers are unable to attend.  (Although, there may be some teachers there who take one of their precious personal days to bravely protest for their students).

Follow the money, and you'll find the motives.  That is what TN Parents does for free.

A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR CIVIL LAWSUIT HAS BEEN FILED AGAINST KEVIN HUFFMAN, CHRIS BARBIC, TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, TENNESSEE ACHIEVEMENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHARTER SCHOOL AUTHORIZERS AND YES PREPARATORY ACADEMY

Rodney O. Ursery, J.D. and Clara D. West, Ph.D. are the Plaintiffs Who Filed the Lawsuit In Pro Se

Memphis, TN (September 8, 2014) – Rodney O. Ursery and Clara D. West, two former applicants for a charter operator’s authorization for the 2014/2015 school year, have filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Kevin Huffman, Commissioner of Tennessee Department of Education (“TDOE”); Chris Barbic, Superintendent of the Tennessee Achievement School District (“TASD”); as well as the TDOE and TASD; along with two other defendants: the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (“NACSA”) and YES Preparatory Academy (“YES Prep”).

Among the thirteen causes of action, the complaint alleges unfair business practices, violations of Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, civil conspiracy, and violations of constitutionally protected rights. The lawsuit seeks a court order prohibiting YES Prep, a charter school enterprise headquartered in Texas, from opening schools that it illegally obtained in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil action, which also requests a jury trial, was filed in the 30th Judicial District Chancery Court, Shelby County, Tennessee.

Ursery states, “For far too long, it has been recognized and stated in the court of public opinion that Huffman and Barbic have utterly abused the power of their positions when it comes to regulating the Tennessee's school system. Now, I’m confident that their reign of terror, which has been plagued with conspiracies among crooks and cronies, will finally be revealed in a court of law, that is, if justice prevails.” West added, “It's as if we have to fight Brown v. Topeka Board of Education again. Our proposal offered equity in education through student-centered learning using individualized learning plans and iPads, just like the countries that consistently outrank the U.S. in education. We were unfairly denied the opportunity to help educate the lowest-performing students, who the system has already left behind and identified as the future prison population. It's all about leveling the playing field.”

According to the complaint, the defendants deliberately designed and implemented discriminatory selection and approval practices, customs and procedures to deny Plaintiffs’ application. The lawsuit further alleges that during the time when TASD solicited Requests for Qualification to apply for a charter operator’s authorization for the 2014/2015 school year, Barbic, TASD and NACSA conspired to approve charter operator’s authorization(s) for the 2015/2016 school year, an opportunity, which was made available only to YES Prep. It is alleged that Barbic, founder and former Chief Executive Officer of YES Prep, illegally authorized YES Prep to seize nearly 6,000 elementary school students in Memphis, TN.

Moreover, the lawsuit alleges that NACSA, who “partnered with” TASD to provide support and management services for the application process, is not a “professional” organization. NACSA does not have any government-approved, professional standards of operations; nor state licensing or certification; and it is not subject to any government agency, review board or code of ethics to govern its acts. Finally, the lawsuit states that Huffman and TDOE enacted a regulation which granted Barbic and TASD carte blanche to deny due process to applicants who are denied charter operator’s authorizations as there is absolutely no redress, grievance or appeal process to review any of the defendants’ actions.

For more information, contact the plaintiffs at: [email protected] or 901.300.0162.

This lawsuit is brought by two individuals claiming $10 million in damages because they were denied charter operator authorization by the ASD. $10 million dollars!!!  Those damages are a clear-cut case for how profitable a charter operator authorization can be.

Interesting how a potential charter school is suing some big guns in TN over unfair business practices, isn't it?

We've heard for years how there is a severe case of the good ol' boys club, "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine," nepotism within the TN DOE between other self-serving high-dollar organizations like the Chamber of Commerce and SCORE.  

It is hard to ignore the evidence of that nepotism when you read how:

• TN pays more than any other state for Teach for America temporary teachers through a $6+million NO-BID contract signed by Kevin Huffman, who formerly had a cushy job at Teach For America.  
• Our public schools are strangled, teachers and administrators are cut, and then the students, buildings, and tax dollars are handed over on silver platters along with generous grant dollars and tax incentives to their buddies' charter chains (like YES Prep, where ASD Superintendent Chris Barbic has very close ties and has richly profited from).
• The ASD schools have worse results than the public schools they killed ever did, but the ASD schools aren't feeling the wrath of the TNDOE's micromanaging and bullying like the public schools.
• Charter schools are making some people very, very rich. 
• Charter schools get preferential treatment within districts and the state:
• charters are exempt and/or given waivers from TCAP score accountability (especially if they are friends and/or donors to politicians)
• charters are exempt from giving the expensive and time-consuming benchmark RTI2 assessment tests that public schools are now being forced to do by the TNDOE.

When we allow corporate greed to infect public education, it is to be expected that profiteers will attack each other over business practices. We hope that this lawsuit will shine a light on these shady practices.

Perhaps this isn't "dog eat dog" but more like a pack of dogs attacking public schools.  If the plaintiffs win, where will that $10 million come from?  Public school funding???

On August 14th, Governor Bill Haslam sent a “Welcome Back” letter to teachers across the state. In the letter, he thanked teachers for their hard work in helping Tennessee improve its student achievement scores. He said he appreciated what they did for Tennessee students every day.

Apparently, some teachers haven’t forgotten that this is the same Bill Haslam who promised to make Tennessee the fastest improving state in the nation in teacher pay in October of 2013 and included a teacher pay raise in his 2014 budget address … only to break that promise in April.

Some teachers sent responses directly back to Haslam. And some of those same teachers sent their responses to TN Ed Report under the condition we keep their names anonymous.  Here are some of the responses we received:

Teacher Response #1:

I appreciate your attempt to understand the inner workings of a classroom and appreciate your words of appreciation for those of us who chose to serve others through teaching. However, I am highly disappointed at the turn of events in which you announced that teachers would not receive pay raises. We already make much less than other TN State employees and much less than teachers of other states.

It is easy to make promises and to break them:
http://tnreport.com/2013/10/04/raising-teacher-pay-a-top-budget-concern-for-haslam-administration/   

I am personally insulted in your lack of support for the teaching profession. My colleagues and I work hard for the families we serve. A normal day for most of us is  7:45 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Though we are only paid to work 8:00 until 3:15, our jobs cannot be completed in those hours. Many times we take student work home with us and are constantly looking for ways to improve our teaching on our own time.

Teachers are generally told “no one teaches for the money”. TRUE, but teachers never expected to be put on the “budget cutting” chopping block each time raises are considered. We feel betrayed with popular campaign promises and rhetoric.

In closing, make no mistake that our hard work is not completed for you or any elected official. Our hard work is for the children we PROMISED to educate when we accepted our jobs. Your letter of appreciation proves that WE have not failed those who have put their trust
in us, including you.


Teacher Response #2

Please tell the PR firm that suggested you send these letters that we teachers are well educated and therefore insulted that they would believe a letter full of empty words could ever make up for what you and your administration have done and are doing to ensure the destruction of public education in Tennessee.

Teaching is more than a job to me. Teaching is my calling. I sincerely love all of my students and work tirelessly for them. I most often work six full days a week to ensure that they have exactly what they need to succeed. I spend hundreds sometimes more than a thousand dollars of my own limited income every year to make sure that their needs are met. I was always proud to be a teacher but, not so much these days. Mostly these days my heart aches for my children. I spend many hours crying for them. Your administration has stripped our classrooms of all joy. Teacher morale is low because we are working in hostile conditions.

Finally, please keep your empty words. This letter is too little, too late.


Teacher Response #3

I am in receipt of your letter of August 14, 2014.
 
I appreciate the welcome back to school. And it is nice to hear the words “thank you.”
 
In your letter, you note that Tennessee is the fastest improving state in the nation in terms of student achievement. You attribute this success directly to teachers.
 
I seem to remember that in October of 2013, you also promised to make Tennessee the fastest improving state in teacher pay — an acknowledgement of the hard work so many Tennessee teachers are doing every single day.
 
Your budget, proposed in early 2014, also indicated at least a nominal raise for teachers was forthcoming.
 
Then, in April, you abandoned that promise.  When the state revenue picture changed, the budget was balanced on the backs of teachers. Not only did your new budget take away promised raises for teachers, but it also reduced BEP funding coming to school districts. Now, teachers are being asked to do more with less.  And students suffer.
 
Your words ring hollow when your actions make it clear that teachers don’t matter. That our schools can wait just one more year for the resources students need to succeed.
 
As for your “thank you” for the work I do, I’d note that I can’t send it to the bank to pay my mortgage. A thank you isn’t going to fix my car when it needs repair. When the price of groceries goes up, I can’t simply use your thank you letter to cover the increase. And when my health insurance premium inevitably rises in January, your letter won’t put money back in my paycheck to cover the cost.
 
The raise you promised but failed to deliver would have helped with all of these things. But your letter does nothing but remind me that you say nice words and shortchange our schools.
 
In my classroom, I place a high value on integrity. That means doing what you say you’re going to do. On that scale, sir, you rate an F.


We received copies of other responses that mentioned the poor communication style of Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman and the loss of collective bargaining rights. While teachers may not have a viable alternative to Haslam on the ballot in November, those sending us copies of their responses made it clear they won’t be supporting Haslam.

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow@TNEdReport