1) This bill, as written, does not apply to charter schools; therefore, county commissions will not have the authority to control lobbying expenditures by charter schools. This seems extremely unfair because charter schools use public money just like zoned schools. This is just another example of how charter schools are treated differently than traditional, zoned schools in our state. 

2) There are actually 59 registered lobbyists (not 31 as we originally reported) that are pushing privatization and/or testing agendas that, in our opinion, are undermining public schools in Tennessee.  

Here is an UPDATED list of all of these groups and the number of lobbyists they employ:
1. Tennessee Federation of Children (charters, vouchers): 5 lobbyists
2. Tennessee Charter Center: 8 lobbyists
3. Stand for Children (charters, vouchers): 2 lobbyists
4. Beacon Center of TN (vouchers): 2 lobbyists
5. Pearson, Inc. (high-stakes testing): 1 lobbyist
6. K-12, Inc. (for-profit virtual charter schools): 5 lobbyists
7. Aspire Charter Schools: 1 lobbyist (They've had as many as 3.) 
8. National Heritage Academies (for-profit charter company): 3 lobbyists
9. Charter Schools USA (for-profit charter company): 3 lobbyists
10. Education 2020 (K-12, Inc. competitor): 2 lobbyists
11. Connections Education (for-profit virtual charter school): 1 lobbyist
12. SCORE (charters): 2 lobbyists 
13. Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce (They support this bill and lobby for charters.): 5 lobbyists
14. Rennaissance Learning (testing): 4 lobbyists
15. Parent Power Fund (parent-trigger bill): 1 lobbyists 
16. Public Consulting Group: 1 lobbyist 
17. Americans for Prosperity (They support vouchers, charters, and HB 2293): 2 lobbyists
18. Catholic Public Policy Commission of TN (vouchers): 3 lobbyists 

     And last, but definitely not least, 

19. StudentsFirst (charters, vouchers, and Michelle Rhee!): 8 lobbyists

Final Score:
PRO-PUBLIC EDUCATION = 6 lobbyists
PRIVATIZATION/TESTING = 59 lobbyists

3) We have heard from some Tennesseans in a particular county that they asked the current sponsor, Rep. Jeremy Durham, to introduce the bill because they are upset with a particular lobbyist their school district is using to lobby for them. We agree on many issues with them, so we hope to not offend them, but we also hope that they understand that this bill, which is a reaction to something that is happening at a local level has serious repercussions for the rest of our state. And the fact that a group such as StudentsFirst supports this bill should set off alarm bells because this organization has made no effort to hide their belief that elected school boards should be bypassed and handed over to other elected officials, including mayors and governors. 

How this bill could be devastating for other districts across Tennessee:

This bill could really hurt the newly formed municipal public school districts in Shelby County and Memphis.  Over the past 2 years, the Shelby County Commission sued the municipal districts.  There is no doubt that the animosity that the Commission has towards these districts will result in them cutting lobbying out of their budgets. (Please note that the bill is not clear in how it relates to municipal districts and commissions, but based on the overriding theme of the bill, it appears that the Shelby County Commission would likely have the authority to veto municipal-district lobbying monies.) 

In Metro Nashville the Mayor is very much in favor of charters and vouchers and there is little doubt that he will attempt to pressure the City Council to cut lobbying out of the school board budget as well. (It should be noted that the lobbyists that represent Metro Nashville Public Schools lobby against vouchers, for-profit charters, and the state charter authorizer.) 

Some claim that, in the state of Tennessee, county commissions currently have line item veto power over every other county department except for school districts and this would just allow commissions to exercise that same authority over them. But, and this is a very big BUT, the departments over which they exert this authority are appointed by the commissions--they are not elected by voters. School boards, which oversee the development of budgets, are elected by their constituents for the sole purpose of overseeing the function of their schools. County commissions were not elected for this purpose and, thereby, should not have the authority to override the will of the voters who selected, by virtue of their votes, the members of  a  school board.

Some Knox County residents and teachers have been very unhappy with the actions of their school board and school superintendent. But instead of pushing for legislation that could override the will of every elected school board in the state, they are clearly expressing their disapproval for the school board's actions and will this year elect school board candidates who will support their agenda. It seems that this approach would be effective for the county in question because it will help resolve their concerns and it will continue to give elected school boards the right to determine if they need to pay for lobbyists. And it will protect the county if, in the future, a pro-privatization commission is elected and denies money for lobbying, which will leave the county district with little defense against a variety of destructive bills such as for-profit charters, a state-level charter authorizer, and vouchers that will interject Common Core into private schools. And, believe us, the costs of these lobbyists is far cheaper than the costs taxpayers will incur if the lobbyists for "privatizers" have free reign at Legislative Plaza! 

With all due respect for some of the supporters of this bill, this seems to be the equivalent of using a sledgehammer to kill a fly when a simple fly swatter would do. We respectfully urge you to attempt to work out your concerns with your locally elected school board rather than pushing this bill onto the entire state. This will have very serious repercussions for many counties and, ironically, could very well end up backfiring and creating problems for those in the very county who support it. 

We urge those of you reading this to contact Rep. Jeremy Durham and ask him to pull HB 2293. If you are in Williamson County and/or are one of his constituents, it is vitally important that you contact him and let him know that you feel it is a very dangerous bill that sets a terrible precedent. His phone number is 615-741-1864 and his email is [email protected]. You can also contact the members of the Local Government Committee that is meeting on Tuesday and ask them to vote against the bill:

Good grief... with all those lobbyists, legislators must be worn out!  As one parent said, "it must be like a swarm of mosquitoes at the Capitol, all hungry for our children's education dollars." 

It is no wonder our legislators think our public schools are failing and that the only way to fix it is with the magic charter school or voucher recipes they've been sold by well-paid, professional lobbyists with PR staff who are masters at manipulating data and creating glossy pamphlets.

Legislators, our schools are NOT what you've been told.  Believe US, the parents.  We're in these public schools daily.  We talk to teachers.  Trust us, we know.  We are public school parents from across the Tennessee.  (note from this TNParent author: My kids proudly attend Title 1 schools)

• Yes, our children are bombarded with too many tests.
• Yes, our children's hard-working teachers are beaten down from the testing mandates and unfair evaluation systems.
• Yes, Common Core is making it all much, much worse.
• Yes, our schools need more funding because they've been doing miracles with the meager dollars they've had to work with.

But, NO... we do not need charter schools, not vouchers, not Common Core, not more standardized tests or testing products, and certainly not more oversight or micromanaging by the TN DOE.  Let teachers teach.  

Please, listen to parents.  We are telling the truth.  We are not paid one penny for writing these emails.  Honestly, we have no clue what we are doing, no lobbying experience among any of us, but it seems that our voices ARE being heard by some of you.  We greatly appreciate your responses and questions.  We will continue to share our voices because our children are worth it.
   

Huffman admits TCAP is not strong:

On September 20, 2013, during a Senate Education Committee hearing on Common Core, TN Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman made a statement that we believe should have been plastered on the front page of every newspaper in the state:

"But TCAP, I think most educators would say is inherently not a very strong test, not as strong as what we're aspiring to do because, ya know, it's a multiple choice test and, um, it doesn't have significant critical thinking or problem solving..."  (Go to this link and forward to 57:50 to hear this quote for yourself.)

So, let us get this straight:

Children are:

• being denied valuable classroom instruction,
• experiencing undue anxiety and stress,
• and receiving little-if any recess time

so they can prepare to take a test that is "not very strong"?

• and teacher job security and licensure depends upon student performance on this very same test?

A test that, by our Commissioner's own admission, does not contain "significant critical thinking or problem solving."

Parents, teachers, and students have known for years that the TCAP is not a "strong test," nor does it accurately predict a child's ability to think critically or problem solve.  Clearly, Mr. Huffman is aware of the limitations of TCAP as well.  Which begs the questions:

1. Why did Mr. Huffman and the Department of Education, in spite of this knowledge, continue to create and endorse misguided policies based on this test?
2. Why does the DOE state that parents must allow children to take the TCAP when it is clearly is not a "strong test"?
3. And why, now that Mr. Huffman has admitted the weaknesses of this test, are we giving the TCAP this school year - especially since the TCAP does not test the Common Core standards that our children are currently being taught?

California recently axed their state standardized test for this school year.  Let's follow in their footsteps and scrap the TCAP!

(This was reposted from www.StopTnTesting.com, an organized, committed, and growing group of Tennessee parents advocating for their children and against high-stakes standardized testing).
 

Huffman claims that PARCC will be better than TCAP, but New York's experience with PARCC last year tells quite a different story:

The PARCC test was given to students in New York state last school year and 70% of students failed the PARCC and are now required to take double math and English courses instead of band, chorus, art, or elective classes.  Parents in New York are outraged!

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

... and they are certainly not outraged at teachers,

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!

In fact, NY parents are so upset that tens of thousands of them have opted their children out of state testing, even if it hurts their child's grades.  (Click HERE to read about the powerful nationwide opt-out movement). 
 

According to the Truth in American Education website,

These States have pulled out of Common Core testing:

• Utah (Smarter Balanced)
• Oklahoma (PARCC)
• Georgia (PARCC)
• Alabama (Smarter Balanced & PARCC - they were an advisory state)
• Indiana (PARCC)
• Kansas (Smarter Balanced)
• Pennsylvania (Smarter Balanced & PARCC)
• Alaska (Smarter Balanced)

States Actively Considering Withdrawing:

• Michigan (Smarter Balanced)
• Kentucky (PARCC)
• North Carolina (Smarter Balanced)
• Iowa (Smarter Balanced)

States that never joined:

• Virginia
• Texas
• Nebraska
• Minnesota

According to the Hechinger Report, PARCC is even MORE expensive than TCAP: 

                          TCAP cost for TN = $20 million
                  PARCC will cost TN = $21-$25 million

...PLUS the cost of TECHNOLOGY and internet capabilities that our schools do not currently have to administer the tests.

...PLUS the cost to train teachers & administrators on the testing technology and also hire technology specialists to keep district computers updated.

...PLUS we will STILL have to pay for TCAP testing for Science & Social Studies because PARCC only tests English & Math!


Legislators:  Please do not make a mistake forcing an unproven test on our children that is an expensive, unfunded mandate to our districts.  Vote to delay or completely pull out of the PARCC testing for our children, like the smart States listed above have wisely done.

That is a fair and valid question raised by a group of concerned parents called, "Momma Bears."  They researched and found out some really suspicious info about StudentsFirst and the way it operates.  Here is an excerpt from their article about StudentsFirst:

"As StudentsFirst pretends to support children, StudentsFirst attacks the very teachers and school environments that nurture and educate children.  Through millions of dollars from corporate interests, StudentsFirst influences campaigns and laws that benefit their wealthy supporters."

"In Tennessee, StudentsFirst by far leads the pack of outside funding to influence elections and legislators.  Why is an organization in California spending so much money in Tennessee? or any state?  Because of the huuuuge profit to be reaped with public tax dollars by turning our public schools into profitable charter schools."

"Momma Bears aren't fooled.  This is definitely NOT a grassroots organization.  "Astroturf" is a better description.  There are no healthy roots, only an expensive layer of fake green plastic that doesn't fool anyone."  
Click HERE to read the entire article about StudentsFirst.  Warning:

... you may be surprised at some of the facts they uncovered.
 
...you might be angry that this organization seeks to take control away from our locally elected school boards.  

...you will be sad to see what has become of schools that followed Michelle Rhee & StudentsFirst's agenda.  

Tennessee parents most certainly do NOT want the same fate for our schools.
 

NOTE:  We see that many TN legislators, and even some local school board members, have received large campaign contributions from StudentsFirst.  In fact 9 of the top 15 campaign contributions last year from StudentsFirst went to Tennessee politicians.  According to the news media, StudentsFirst plans to give and spend even more this year in TN.  

While we can't fault politicians for turning down free campaign funding, we wonder HOW MUCH INFLUENCE does StudentsFirst have over the people that WE cast our votes to elect to represent US?  How much weight do StudentsFirst lobbyists carry when they hand legislators their professional, expensive pamphlets containing beautiful graphs of manipulated data?  Are our legislators and school board members misled hearing their "buzz-words" and empty promises?  Are our legislators gullible or flattered enough to vote against OUR children in favor of corporate profits? 

Are we wasting our time sending these TNparent emails to those we elected?  It takes quite a bit of time to collect, collaborate, edit, and send these emails and post them on our website.  We do this because we believe in public education, and we believe in TN.  We intend to make a difference.  Tennessee parents are awake, and we will be closely watching how our legislators vote.   Tennessee parents will remember at election time, and wise leaders would do well to remember that.  Our voices are strong, but our votes are stronger.   
Please hear OUR voices, not their dollars.

Sincerely,
TN parents 

PS - We see that some TN Board of Education members unsubscribed from our emails...  Clearly Richard Rhoda and Dr. Jean Anne Rogers do not want to hear what Tennessee parents have to say.  Rest assured, we get their message loud and clear.
 

My son has autism, and you wouldn't believe the hoops we have had to jump through over the years. He has terrible test anxiety. When he took the PLAN test as a sophomore, they called me from school to pick him up.  They said he had a petit mal seizure! He went through 8 months of scans and tests to determine no seize activity, just completely disoriented due to anxiety!  He HAS to take the ACT soon, and I have worked for 18 months to get him to deal with that.  Now, it's DEA testing all the time!  He's tested out!

I am also a level 5 teacher with 25 years of experience, and the things that I have seen done to SPED kids in the name of testing has been appalling...but I am bound by confidentiality. School systems are listening to testing consortium rather than IEPs. The best interest of the child is lost in favor of doing whatever it takes to score well. What our system is too stupid to see is that this is an impossible task which has been placed before us. Our kids are being set up to fail so that the county will fail, and then the state will take over and farm out much in the same way correctional facilities do now. It just seems that nobody cares! TEA has been neutered, and the media and public are extremely hostile towards teachers. Common Core is being forced down our throat as are DATA walls and testing out the wazoo!

(This was posted anonymously to protect her child and her job.  This teacher did not feel safe in publishing her school district, but would say that it is a small, rural district 50 miles outside of Nashville.)
 

All children have special needs. Excessive testing of students is robbing the joy, time, and funding from their education.

TN parents and teachers are seeing the un-piloted results of reform implementation at the classroom level:

The mismanagement...
the inappropriate and excessive testing... 
teaching to the test...
the disconnect between top down mandates and classroom instruction...

     ...all of these things are disrupting real learning.  

The plight of the learning disabled is just one example where parents and teachers should have been brought to the discussion at the beginning of the reform process.  The disconnect between reform ideas and real world implementation is a canyon that seems to grow wider each day in our Tennessee public schools.  

How can you, as an elected or appointed official, help improve the classroom experience of our disabled students?   We are weary of the dismissive attitude of our State Board of Education on these issues.  Some are saying that lawsuits are the only option, but we would much rather see the money spent on helping students instead of paying lawyers.  Wouldn't you?

 "My resolution: I will shed no more tears over evaluations. When my evaluator gives their opinion, I will remember it is only that. One person giving an opinion after only 50 minutes in my classroom. And I will continue doing the best darn job I can. There. I'm resolved."

~ The voice of an anonymous 2nd grade teacher in Shelby County, TN who teaches in a rusty old portable building. Last year, two students had reactions to the mold in the portables (one asthma, another broke out in an eczema induced rash).  For two weeks, the students met in the library while the mold was remediated.

• Why must evaluations be so oppressively discouraging for teachers?  Students feel this anxiety and pressure, too.

• When do we get to evaluate the classrooms where our children and teachers spend so much of their time?  Because of the lack of capital funding for school renovations, mold is a common problem in our public schools.

 

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."

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.

"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.
  

We experienced a traumatic "meltdown" today with my 5th grade son who has Dyslexia. He is supposed to be in a remedial math group, but they apparently have to be taught the same math at the same level now. The overwhelming amount of work to be done for one problem was too much for him. It was a word problem. They had to draw a picture to demonstrate it, write a number sentence/equation, and make a written explanation of the problem. I felt so sorry for him. I had to go pick him up he was so distraught that he could not keep up with it.

(This was posted anonymously, with the permission of this parent, to protect the privacy of this child in Knox County)

Did you know that students in New York are being diagnosed with "Common Core Syndrome"???  Click here to watch this video of a New York teacher telling how children are being harmed: