Back Door for Common Core in Kansas

The education establishment is talking out of both sides of its mouth and hoping you won't notice.

While some members of the education establishment are telling us teachers won’t be able to teach basic math if Common Core is eliminated, others are telling us Common Core has ALREADY been eliminated!

You and I know both statements are utter nonsense but sadly, there are legislators who are falling for it!

And that’s not all. . .

Inside sources at the Capitol have alerted our team to the next stage of the education establishment’s plans to destroy, warp, and weaken our bill.

You see, the education establishment knows a few outrageous statements will not be enough to stop your efforts to repeal Common Core.

But their plan is for these ridiculous claims to cause enough confusion that they can sneak an amendment into the bill.

They want a backdoor for Common Core.

The first stage of their plan is already complete. Just last week, Speaker Ray Merrick ordered H.B. 2292 to be sent back to the Education Committee.

There is still time to stop them, but only if we act fast.

That’s why it’s extremely important you contact the representatives listed below right now.

Demand they stand strong in support of H.B. 2292, send it back to the House floor as is, and insist on a recorded vote on the House floor.

Tell them you won’t stand for any amendment that leaves the backdoor open for Common Core.

Education Committee Chair Ron Highland
785-296-7310
ron.highland@house.ks.gov

Rep. Tony Barton
785-296-7522
tony.barton@house.ks.gov

Rep. John Bradford
785 296-7653
john.bradford@house.ks.gov

Rep. Dennis Hedke
785 296-7699
dennis.hedke@house.ks.gov

Rep. Becky Hutchins
785-296-3971
becky.hutchins@house.ks.gov

Rep. Kevin Jones
785 296-6287
kevin.jones@house.ks.gov

Rep. Kasha Kelley
785 296-7671
kasha.kelley@house.ks.gov

Rep. Jerry Lunn:
785 296-7675
jerry.lunn@house.ks.gov

Rep. Charles Macheers:
785 296-7675
charles.macheers@house.ks.gov

Rep. Marc Rhoades:
785 296-7671
marc.rhoades@house.ks.gov

Rep. Joseph Scapa
785-296-7682
joseph.scapa@house.ks.gov

Another claim from the education establishment is that our bill would get rid of AP and IB courses.

The truth is our bill simply ensures accountability to Kansas standards for all courses taught in Kansas schools.

While programs like AP and IB have been beneficial to students in the past, it is vital that there be proper accountability in place to ensure this remains the case.

Above all else, we must protect our kids and the integrity of their education.

Unfortunately, there are already signs AP could be headed down the wrong path.

You see, David Coleman -- the “architect” of the Common Core Standards -- is now the new president of the College Board, which creates AP courses!

If that wasn’t enough to worry you, recent changes to AP US History make this course look like it was written by Occupy Wall Street, or other radical leftist organizations.

For example:

>>> The 2014 AP US History curriculum left the Holocaust and D-Day out of World War II!

>>> The 2014 AP US History curriculum left Martin Luther King, Jr. out of discussions of the 1960’s, but included the Black Panthers.

Worse, the College Board is now creating courses for grades as low as sixth grade, to be used in lieu of regular curriculum.

It’s despicable.

The education establishment is taking advantage of the good reputation of a good program and hijacking it to use as a backdoor to rebrand Common Core.

That’s right, the College Board and the education establishment wants you to allow Common Core to be repackaged as AP so it can be taught to every middle and high school student in Kansas -- without any accountability to Kansans or Kansas standards!

You can be sure this will be one line of attack from the education establishment to try to weaken and warp our bill. . .

. . . and there isn’t much time to stop them.

An effort to insert an amendment to allow this kind of backdoor loophole into our bill could happen at any time.

That’s why it’s extremely important you contact the representatives listed above right now.

Demand they stand strong in support of H.B. 2292, send it back to the House floor as is, and insist on a recorded vote on the House floor.

Tell them you won’t stand for any amendment that leaves the backdoor open for Common Core.

The education establishment also claims that repealing Common Core would be too expensive.

The truth is there is a lot of money to be saved by getting rid of Common Core.

Just one example is the $9 million we could save every year by getting rid of Common Core’s superfluous testing and related costs.

The House Budget Office wants you to believe it would cost millions to write new standards and assessments, but this is only true if the most expensive option possible is selected as the path forward.

The truth is there are several excellent options for standards and assessments that are available for free if the Kansas Board of Education simply decides to use them.

The pre-Common Core standards and assessments -- which resulted in much higher scores than we’ve seen with Common Core -- would be free!

The education establishment wants to ignore the real savings associated with repealing Common Core.

And they’re telling legislators about imagined and unnecessary costs that would be caused only by really poor decisions by the Kansas Board of Education.

That is typical behavior for the education establishment in Kansas.

But without your immediate action, weak-kneed legislators will fall for it.

That’s why it’s extremely important you contact the representatives listed above right now.

Demand they stand strong in support of H.B. 2292, send it back to the House floor as is, and insist on a recorded vote on the House floor.

Tell them you won’t stand for any amendment that leaves the backdoor open for Common Core.

It should be no surprise you and I would see this kind of nonsense from the education establishment.

After all, we saw the same shenanigans from them last year.

But it seems there really is nothing the education establishment won't do or say to protect the status quo.

The good news is their willingness to make outrageous claims means your hard work is making a difference.

You see, attacks against H.B. 2292 by the education lobby are a testimony to the fact that this bill would completely expel Common Core from Kansas schools.

The education lobby knows they must defeat this bill to preserve their power!

That means the closer you and I get to repealing Common Core, the more shenanigans we can expect.

The bad news is the education establishment has enormous resources at their disposal and already have a plan in place to sneak an amendment into our bill with a backdoor to keep Common Core.

So your hard work cannot stop now; you and I have to remain vigilant.

We have to double down.

That’s why it’s extremely important you contact the representatives listed below right now.

Demand they stand strong in support of H.B. 2292, send it back to the House floor as is, and insist on a recorded vote on the House floor.

Tell them you won’t stand for any amendment that leaves the backdoor open for Common Core.

Education Committee Chair Ron Highland
785-296-7310
ron.highland@house.ks.gov

Rep. Tony Barton
785-296-7522
tony.barton@house.ks.gov

Rep. John Bradford
785 296-7653
john.bradford@house.ks.gov

Rep. Dennis Hedke
785 296-7699
dennis.hedke@house.ks.gov

Rep. Becky Hutchins
785-296-3971
becky.hutchins@house.ks.gov

Rep. Kevin Jones
785 296-6287
kevin.jones@house.ks.gov

Rep. Kasha Kelley
785 296-7671
kasha.kelley@house.ks.gov