January 26, 2015
Governor Deal:
This letter is to ask you to get the Common Core out of
Georgia.
I’ve been struggling with my second grader the bulk of the
school year due to the new standards that have been implemented this year.
While I don’t oppose rigor, I do oppose federal interference in education and
abject stupidity.During the 7 weeks prior to the winter break, my 7 year old had to endure being taught to regurgitate 5 ways to add and 5 ways to subtract. She has been adding and subtracting for several years, and she’s been successful with it until the confusion of the common core “strategies” entered the picture. This was not rigor. Instead it was rigid: she was not allowed to be successful in one method that worked for her. She was forced to memorize and then regurgitate each method. This is developmentally inappropriate for a 7 year old!
Now that she has started to learn measuring, I thought we
were over the hump, so to speak. I was wrong. Now, as she is learning how to
measure and use addition and subtraction with this new skill, algebra has been
introduced. On page 10 of 93 of the Georgia frameworks for Unit 3, this is the
following statement: “Students add and subtract within a 100 to solve problems
for these situations: adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart
and comparing, and with unknowns in all positions” (https://www.georgiastandards.org/Common-Core/Common%20Core%20Frameworks/CCGPS_Math_2_Unit3Framework.pdf).
Working with algebra as in unknowns
is not developmentally appropriate until at least the 4th grade at
age 9.
During this same unit where 2nd graders are introduced
to algebra, my entire second grader’s class is studying the book Charlotte’s Web. While this is a
wonderful book, it is a 4th grade book according to the Renaissance
Learning program used by the school district for the accelerated reader program
(http://www.renaissance.com/store/quiz_home.asp?cmd=specific&i=18654&root=TITLE&ftextoption=allwords&y=charlotte%27s+web&q=charlotte%27s+web&x=10&w=1&autoscroll=NO&quiztype=ALL&RPMatch=).
Most children are barred from using a book this high above their grade level
when attempting to take an accelerated reader test, but this class is testing
on the text, testing on spelling words, and testing on vocabulary words from a
4th grade text. This is developmentally inappropriate.
You can see evidence that the Georgia Department of
Education recommends 4th grade books for 2nd graders here:
https://www.georgiastandards.org/Common-Core/Pages/TextComplexityRubrics.aspx.
For example, the Awesome Atlanta Mystery
is suggested for 2nd grade while the book level is recommended for 4th
grade.
The Common Core State Standards dictate the Georgia
Standards. Georgia’s standards dictate the curriculum, and the curriculum
dictates the lesson plans. This is a linked chain that cannot be broken. Teachers hands are tied to this chain. Again,
I do not oppose rigor. The Common Core standards equals federal interference in
Georgia’s schools, and especially for the lower grade levels, these standards
are developmentally wrong for our children. Break away from these standards and
get Common Core out of Georgia.
Thank you,
Paula
