- Target:
- Governor Chris Christie
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- bit.ly
The implementation of the Common Core is illegal.
The Constitution’s Tenth Amendment, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the General Education provisions Act and the Department of Education Organizational Act expressly prohibit the federal government from directing and controlling education.
Here is a little background on Common Core:
Adoption Process
-Contrary to proponents' claims, the Common Core Initiative is not "state-led," but rather the Common Core (CC) standards were created and funded by special interests. States had little to no input.
-The federal government has coerced states into accepting the CC standards, by tying their adoption to Race to the Top funding, No Child Left Behind waivers, etc.
-Under the constitution, the federal government has no role in education policy. Moreover, three federal statutes prohibit what the federal government has done with CC and the attendant assessments.
State/Local Control and Governance
-The federal government is funding the creation of the tests that will be aligned with CC and what's on the tests will dictate what's taught in the classroom. The inevitable result will be a national curriculum controlled by the federal government.
-A state must accept the CC standards word for word. It may add 15% content but may not subtract anything. Anything it adds will not be included on the national tests.
Cost of Implementation to the States/Localities
-The states' costs of implementing CC will be substantial and will include new textbooks, teacher re-training, technology, etc. One study estimates $16 billion nationwide in implementation costs alone.
Privacy/Data Sharing
-As part of the CC process, the federal government pushed states into creating massive databases of very personal student and family information, which it can now share with other federal and state agencies.
We the people of New Jersey, ask the Governor, State Legislature and State Board of Education to immediately take the steps necessary to rescind the following:
*The illegal implementation of Common Core;
*Race to the Top;
*The No Child Left Behind waiver requirements;
*All requirements of the state related to these programs;
*Any agreement to share student data with the federal government or any other governmental or private entity;
*Participation in a national-testing consortium
We demand a return to previous standards in use prior to Common Core adoption.
Second, we ask that the Attorney General review all documentation related to such applications and contracts as mentioned above to ensure our state sovereignty is held inviolate. We further request that this review of programs, documents, and applications, include an examination to ensure no private or personal information about students is transmitted outside of local schools and districts.
Third, We ask that you give individual schools and districts full local control with the ability to adopt their own high standards, assessments, and research-based curriculum to encourage and allow for greater parental participation in the education system.
Fourth, we request that a committee of legislators and citizens be formed to develop a 5 year plan to get New Jersey off ALL federal funding of education, and if the federal government threatens to pull non-education related funding away from the state as we pursue this course, that this knowledge should be made public and fought with the assistance of the state Attorney General.
Fifth, we ask that the state strengthen privacy laws and make sharing of personal student data with any state or federal entity a crime both for the one disseminating and the recipient who requested personal information.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Stop Common Core in New Jersey petition to Governor Chris Christie was written by Gary Charwin and is in the category Education at GoPetition.