Even more critical than CSCOPE are the people who control the education narrative. According to Ratliff, it is not the SBOE or the Texas State legislature. He wanted to right a misconception that he believes people have about the specific role of the SBOE. He told Breitbart Texas, The State Board of Education has no enforcement mechanism or enforcement ability. All we do is pass the standards and approve the instructional materials and manage the permanent school fund. Its up to TEA (Texas Education Agency) to enforce the law. Its not our jurisdiction. In the on-going quest for truth, there is one glaring fact and Ratliff pointed to it--the NCLB waiver that Commission of Education Michael Williams applied for and was granted by the U.S. Department of Education in 2013. Under the Bush Administrations education mandate, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), all students were required to be proficient in reading and math by 2014. The NCLB waiver threw out that fundamental requirement under NCLB but there was a catch. The Daily Caller reported, the federal government has pushed Common Core in three ways: Race to the Top (RTTT) grants in exchange for implementing standards essentially identical to Common Core, waivers to some No Child Left Behind (NCLB) provisions in exchange for implementation of these standards, and through federally funded assessments aligned with Common Core. In Texas, the implications of having an NCLB waiver is that it has added a layer of federal accountability. In fact, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website states that Starting in the 2013-2014 school year, Texas LEAs (Local Education Agency) and campuses will aim to meet federally approved annual measurable objectives in the areas of performance, participation and graduation, and limits on use of alternative assessments. According to Ratliff, that means the federal law has some requirements in grades 3-8 that when Texas decided to take federal money they had to take the tests along with it. Under the deal, states including Texas must also show they will prepare children for college and careers, set new targets for improving achievement among all students, reward the best performing schools and focus help on the ones doing the worst. Ratliff said, ”Make no mistake, were taking the national tests today. The State Board and the legislature cant change that. Theres something to tweet about and maybe not just to Thomas Ratliff. breitbart/Breitbart-Texas/2014/03/22/Common-Core-Proponents-are-Not-Afraid-to-Attack-Doubters
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 15:47:52 +0000
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