Common Core and Other Education Topics discussed at the Bedford Republican Committee Meeting

On Tuesday, May 13, two speakers; education activist Ann Marie Banfield and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Hemingway; offered their expert opinions on the broad topic of education.

Ann Marie Banfield spoke first about Common Core.  Here are some bullet points from her talk:

• Common Core is part of a larger federal effort to redesign public education.
• What is being pushed is a European workforce development education, which provides the minimum skills needed to put young people into the workforce.
• Common Core standards current exist only for English and Math.  These standards are being adopted by states and not through an electoral process, but instead by appointed bureaucrats. 
• Under No Child Left Behind, each state had its own standards...and many of those state standards were low.
• Under Common Core, the goal is to nationalize the standards.  But, the standards are flawed.
• Common Core Validation Committee included 2 individuals, including Sandra Stotsky.  Yet, in the end they would not sign off on the standards.
• The U.S. 9th grade standards are 2 years behind other nations, such as Singapore, Finland and South Korea.
• Schools do not need to adopt Common Core standards, but they do need to use the Common Core tests.  The problem is the tests use the new Common Core jargon and terminology in mathematics; so it is very difficult to avoid using the CC standards if decent results are hoped for on the tests.
• In Common Core mathematics, there is too much focus on communication and not enough on computation.
• There is a lot of pressure in New York from parents to opt out of Common Core.
• With Common Core, the tests must be done on a computer, which requires there be enough computers for all of the students.  This increases a town's education costs.
• Common Core is big into data collection on all of the students.  The goal is 400 data points on each student

• New Hampshire is ranked around 22 or 23 in the nation in education, which is not something to be proud of.
• We should be comparing our standards against all of the other states, not just the nearby states New England, which is often what is done.
• It is a global job marketplace.  College grads are competing against kids who have emigrated here from all over the world for high tech jobs here in the U.S.
• States often make a bargain with the federal government and trade state sovereignty for federal dollars.
• After 10 years of Democrat governors and billions of federal dollars spent on education om New Hampshire, standards have not gone up one iota.
• Property taxes pay for public school but many get no return on their investment.  Eighty percent of New Hampshire kids graduate and then move to another state.
• Common Core is a fundamental change to the education system.
• Mr. Hemingway wants New Hampshire to have the best educational system in the world.
• Mr. Hemingway's two goals: 1) School choice to create competition, 2) Stopping Common Core.