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Standardized tests shunned by South Bay parents
From my research it seems to me that the Chula Vista Elementary School District has taken federal money and is now obligated to adopt Common Core. The Gates Foundation has essentially purchased entire school districts and states into adopting common core standards. Chula Vista elementary schools have begun teaching these standards without instructional materials. I am no attorney but it seems to me they are in violation of the Williams Settlement Act which requires all students to have materials per se books to support what is being taught. The district did not have the funds to pay for books and yet they began teaching Common Core Standards. It appears to me someone is getting rich off of the backs of our children. Also that someone should look into who these test publishers are and the book publishers themselves to see if those making these instructional decisions aren't also the ones profiting from our children's tests and results. I believe we should for a parent union and refuse to take any more exams until someone is held accountable for the mess in public education.— April 15, 2014 11:40 p.m.
Standardized tests shunned by South Bay parents
There is definitely something broken in public school education. Too many tests, too many administrators taking valuable money from classroom teachers etc. At my sons private school on exam was given at the beginning of the year to see what areas needed improvement and one at the end to see results. Now that he is in public school there are many more tests, district measures, local measures, and now smarter balance assessments. All this testing is taking away valuable instructional time. In addition in public school no one fails. They just pass everyone despite poor performance. These then become those kids who can't compete nor keep up with everyone else and end up holding everyone behind. Also, in public schools ineffective teachers are not fired. You can be a terrible teacher who remains a teacher because of union affiliations. In private school ineffective teachers are always replaced by effective ones. And they spend 95% of their time in the classroom not in teacher training. In public school teachers are absent from the classroom 8 days for teacher development. Why this can't be done outside of classroom time is beyond my comprehension. Anytime their is a substitute student learning drops dramatically. At the private school my sons teacher missed 3 days of school total the whole year. That is the difference which is missing now in public school. Lastly, in private school parents supported teachers at home by helping themselves or getting tutoring where needed. At public school no matter what type of new teaching method you use children will not succeed laking this.— April 15, 2014 11:10 p.m.