Browsing articles in "Politics of Education"
Federal Education Politics of Education
May 4, 2016
ELW
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Fed Ed Implications of Presidential Primary

Karen R. Effrem, MD – President

Anti-Common Core Senator Ted Cruz suspended his presidential campaign yesterday evening. With pro-Common Core John Kasich mathematically out of the race, Republicans are left with Donald Trump who has called education a core function of the federal government while stating he opposes Common Core.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton supports the standards, voted for No Child Left Behind  and Bernie Sanders supported ESSA.

As with everything else, we will need to stay tuned to see what happens with education in this, our beleaguered republic.  In the mean time, please help us continue to fight SETRA and the assessment of mindsets in the NAEP.

Federal Education Politics of Education
Jan 21, 2016
ELW
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The Pulse 2016 Publishes Effrem Review of Bush Education Plan

Thanks to the Pulse 2016 that published Dr. Effrem’s latest article, a review of Jeb Bush’s education plan titled: Six Reasons Jeb’s Plan Fails to End Federal Tyranny in Education.  Here is the introduction and list of concerns:

Former Florida Governor and presidential candidate Jeb Bush released his education plan on January 18th.  In it, he tries hard to sound like he cares about and supports local control and parental autonomy. In fact, the document, on pre-K through grade 12 issues, is merely a kinder, gentler form of federal tyranny that continues unconstitutional government involvement in pre-K, high stakes testing, data mining, and K-12 education in general. The plan fails on multiple important fronts:

Federal Involvement in Education

Preschool

Title I and IDEA Portability

Data Collection and Data Privacy

Promotion of Charter Schools

Continued Dependence on a Flawed High Stakes System

Please read and share!

Politics of Education
Feb 25, 2015
ELW
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Common Core & Financial Dealings Causing Problems for Jeb Bush in 2016 Polls

Karen R. Effrem, MD – President

Former governor and potential presidential candidate Jeb Bush held a closed fundraiser and an open education forum in Tallahassee, Florida on February 11th.  Many on both sides of the aisle have concerns about that candidacy. He has been protested by anti-Common Core groups and Republican activists. The Florida Bad Ass Teachers (BATs) and the Democrat Party will be protesting the event tomorrow.

Other potential Republican presidential candidates are criticizing Bush’s support for Common Core:

  • Ted Cruz was on ABC’s This Week and said:
“If he [Bush] chooses to run, it certainly looks like he’s going to, he’s going to have to make the case to Republican primary voters concerning his record, concerning certainly his support for Common Core, concerning his policies on immigration. And I think we’ll have a debate on that,” Cruz added. “But at the end of the day, I think Republicans are looking for a leader. What I would urge every Republican thinking about running to do, and this is true of senators, of governors stand up and lead. I’d be thrilled if six months from now we have a half-dozen Republicans standing and leading and making the case that there is a better way we can get back to the free-market principles and constitutional liberties that built this country and made this country a shining city on a hill.”
“Local parents, local teachers, local leaders need to make these decisions,” Jindal said at a luncheon sponsored by the American Principles Project, a conservative group that has rallied opposition to the Common Core nationwide. “In our entire history as a country, we’ve never allowed the federal government to make these decisions for us. Now is not the time to start….”

…”Trust these moms,” Jindal said. “I have more confidence in the moms in this room than I do in any collection of bureaucrats.”

Multiple exposes have been published in recent weeks discussing his questionable education and business dealings.  During that time, Bush dismissed the conservatives in Iowa, the first caucus state in the nation skipping a major gathering of potential presidential candidates.  Several 2016 polls have come out in in the last few weeks since that Iowa Freedom Summit showing that Jeb Bush is having major problems.  Here are some examples:

  • Bloomberg – 2/3 of likely Iowa Caucus goers think Common Core and immigration are deal breakers or would have to think about about those issues when considering Jeb Bush

 

 

  • Drudge Among over 440,000 online votes on the Drudge Report website, Bush only managed to garner 4% of the vote, with anti-Common Core potential candidates Governor Scott Walker with 44%, Senator Ted Cruz at 13%, and Senator Rand Paul at 12% dominating the field. Governor Chris Christie, also pro-Common Core only received 1% of that vote.
  • Public Policy Polling –  Jeb Bush is tied for the lead in North Carolina with Scott Walker and Ben Carson, but the polling firm notes a strong rise in Bush negatives since his announcement in December:
This new poll also provides evidence that Jeb Bush has stumbled out of the gate a little bit since announcing in December that he would likely run for President. Before Bush’s announcement he had a +44 net favorability rating with North Carolina Republicans at 61/17. In the last 8 weeks that’s dropped to just a +13 spread at 45/32. Although Bush has dropped across the board his most pronounced decline has been with ‘very conservative’ voters, among whom he’s gone from 63/19 to 40/37. That may not bode well for how things will go for Bush as his record is further scrutinized. (Emphasis added). Continue reading »
Common Core Standards Politics of Education
Nov 27, 2014
ELW
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Response to Jeb Bush’s Education Summit Speech

Karen R. Effrem, MD – President

Jeb Bush gave the keynote speech at his Foundation for Excellence in Education national education summit in Washington DC on November 19th  as he continues to lay the ground work for a likely presidential run.  He made an effort to soften his attacks on those who oppose Common Core by now saying he respects us and by shifting blame to the federal government.  As his remarks in Education Next on Common Core required a rebuttal, so too do his efforts to continue his unreasonable defense of Common Core.  Here is a response to some of his statements on Common Core from that speech:
JB:  This is why the debate over the Common Core State Standards has been troubling.KRE:  What is really troubling is that you think these horrific standards that are academically inferior, developmentally inappropriate, and psychologically manipulative with their accompanying tests and invasive data collection system should just be imposed on the nation without a word of protest from the parents, students, and teachers that have to suffer under them.JB: I respect those who have weighed in on all sides of this issue.  Nobody in this debate has a bad motive.

KRE:  I suppose that we should be happy that you have changed your tune from this same speech a year ago when you called opposition to Common Core “political” and full of “conspiracy theories.” However, everyone can see that it is you who are being political as you try to placate opposition while getting ready to run for president.

JB: And in my view, the rigor of the Common Core State Standards must be the new minimum in classrooms.

KRE: There is nothing particularly rigorous about these standards. They are untested and not internationally benchmarked. Federally mandated state standards have done nothing in this country to improve achievement and several think tanks including the Brookings Institute say that national standards, particularly Common Core, will not improve achievement either.  Imposing these very problematic standards will only further denigrate our very troubled education system.

JB:  For those states choosing a path other than Common Core, I say this: Aim even higher…be bolder…raise standards and ask more of our students and the system.

KRE: It is not states that should be doing this via federal mandates, but rather parents, teachers, and duly elected school boards at the local level working to improve education without federal and state micromanaging.

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