Women's Republican Club To Host PARCC Debate

The Women’s Republican Club of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff will host a debate on the merits or demerits of Common Core, PARCC testing and “womb to tomb” personal data collection on students Saturday, March 14, 2015 at 9 a.m. at Gorton Community Center’s Stuart Room in Lake Forest.

The event is free and open to the public.

Lake Forest High School’s website notes PARCC testing on selected classes for March 11, 12, 17, 18 and 19, with later testing May 12, 13, 14 and 15. For each of those nine days, LFHS will commence two hours later, thus depriving students of 18 hours’ instructional time. Elementary School Districts #65 (Lake Bluff) and #67 (Lake Forest) will also administer PARCC testing over five days in March, with Lake Bluff’s website noting PARCC testing is “substantially longer than ISAT” testing (i.e. 10-11 hours of testing vs. 5-6 for the ISAT).

Debaters Saturday include Bruno Behrend, J.D., a senior fellow for education policy at The Heartland Institute and a Lake Forest High School graduate and Jessica Handy, currently the Government Affairs Director with Stand For Children, and a vocal proponent of Common Core and PARCC. Handy is a former teacher, and former Illinois Senate Democratic staffer, serving in a variety of capacities before becoming the Policy and Budget Analyst for the Education and Pensions committees.

Rep. Sheri Jesiel (R-61st), a member of the Elementary and Secondary Education School Committee in the Illinois House will also attend and make brief remarks.

Proponents of Common Core argue that individual state standards were vague, failed to prioritize essential content and skills, and included serious content gaps and omissions. Thus Common Core standards were devised and are touted by proponents as challenging, clear and fair. Common Core supporters note that states which align themselves to these standards will be providing a high quality education that prepares students for college or a career in the 21st century and will ensure American students will be competitive in a global marketplace.

Opponents argue that research has demonstrated these so-called “higher” standards have no effect whatsoever—that there is no link between “higher standards” and “higher student achievement” and cite the Brookings Institute, a left-leaning think tank, for that claim. Other objections include concerns over curriculum choices, the inordinate amount of classroom time for irrelevant and intrusive testing, and the increased federal government control over local schools.