VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Last night I attended the nationwide event called “We Will Not Conform.” This was an event that ended up being shown live in 700 theaters around the country. There was information and interactive polls and questions (you answered using texting).

I know many people who are against Common Core, but most didn’t want to put out the $20 that it cost to attend this event. I wasn’t thrilled about the cost either, but without a doubt there are expenses involved in putting on a live event like this that is taking place simultaneously around the nation. So I put out the money, wanting to see what it was all about. I honestly thought I’d be one of three people who would show up to see it, due to the ticket fee. I was pleasantly surprised to see there was a good turnout for the event. I was among many people who also have concerns about this take-over of the education of our children.

This event really focused on how parents can get involved in helping to stop Common Core. There were a variety of people discussing how to go about standing up to it and why so many parents are. Many people have the false notion that Common Core is just an innocent “set of national standards.” This is not true. This is what those who are in the education system are feeding the public, simply because they are getting grant money for pushing this poor system onto our children. There is a lot of money involved in Common Core, both with schools getting grants for using it, as well as the corporations that are making money off of pushing for all the testing. The tests are $40 each and have been designed for failure, so that half the kids fail them and must re-take them (at another $40 each).

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Teachers essentially have their hands tied. They don’t want Common Core anymore than parents do. Some have even left the field because of it. Teachers want to get into that classroom and teach children using creative and unique ways that will help them understand, make a connection, and create a love of learning. But they can no longer do that. Today they are forced to abandon those passions and teach to a test (a test designed to show what a student doesn’t know and to fail half of them).

Common Core is a system that is unfair to our teachers, who no doubt enter the field with a passion for educating children, as well as not being fair to our children, who are being confused and are struggling with it. Pay attention to the work they are bringing home, including the math that makes no sense (when they are taking a simple problem and turning into a long drawn out process), and how your child is becoming increasingly frustrated and feeling like a failure because of the way things are being taught to the test. It’s a system that is backed by big greedy corporations, being pushed by those in education because they have to push it and want the grant funding for doing so, and it’s a system that is detrimental to our entire education system.

Some states are already backing away from Common Core. Others are changing the name (e.g., Sunshine Standards), simply re-packaging it because so many parents are learning that Common Core is not right for our children or teachers.

There are people that will read this and think that I’m against the schools or not supporting them. It’s actually quite the opposite. Teachers are afraid to speak out against Common Core. My efforts here are actually in support of all those teachers who want to get back to being able to do what they love, without being bound to a system that has been designed to fail them and their students, yet make corporations even wealthier.

I am all for stopping Common Core. But it’s a fight that I’m not going to lead. I am already involved in so many things that leave me busier than I want to be. But I’m happy to get in on the fight with someone else leading the cause. There are some locals that I met after the event that are already fighting to stop Common Core. If you would like to get involved in helping to fight Common Core you can either start a group yourself, or you can join forces with one in existence. Here are some that are working locally to stop Common Core:

• Janet Olney McDonald – She is a neurodevelopmental therapist who will be running for the Flagler County School Board. You can visit her site here.
• Volusia 9.12 Patriots – This is a local group that holds events and has speakers. They don’t focus solely on the Common Core issue, but they are taking up a fight against it. They meet the last Friday of each month at Sica Hall in Daytona Beach. You can visit their site here.
• Florida Stop Common Core Coalition – This group is fighting Common Core in the state of Florida.
• FreedomWorks – This is a group that is fighting it on a national level.

If you know of or start other local groups against Common Core please send them to me and I will add them to the list.

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Common Core (or the system going by any other cover name) is an issue that everyone should be concerned with, regardless of political affiliation or whether or not you have children in school. Every parent, grandparent, and tax paying citizen should be concerned, because it impacts us all. Your tax dollars are being spent on this and it is shaping our children.

Did you know that Common Core is building a database of information about your child? Did you know that Microsoft is behind Common Core, with Bill and Melinda Gates having given $150 million to push for it? Did you know that in return Microsoft will make billions from the software that will be used from the testing? Did you know that child psychologists are saying this curriculum is not grade appropriate?

There are so many issues at hand here with why everyone should be concerned about Common Core. Your child’s education is at stake and it is important that you take the time to learn more about Common Core. I urge you to learn about it outside of what the school or Common Core program itself is pushing. It is in their best interest to push for Common Core. They are all making money off of doing so. Do some research outside of their talking points that were designed to sell the program.

Those who put on this event do plan to offer information on their site about how to fight Common Core, which you can find here. It’s a comprehensive action plan on how to get involved, but includes links to groups, research, checklists, and more.

The event was good! It provided a lot of interesting insight on what others have experienced in researching and standing up to Common Core.

If you are a parent of a child currently in school you have likely seen first hand some of the surface issues of Common Core, such as the frustrated children, the poor testing grades despite having a bright child who otherwise does well, and some of the crazy curriculum being sent home for kids to do. Many fed up parents have even turned to charter schools and homeschooling. If you are not familiar with some of the problems, check out these links and you will get a glimpse of this huge problem facing our nation’s youth and talented pool of teachers:

Arkansas Mother Obliterates Common Core in 4 Minutes!

Dr. Megan Koschnick presents on Common Core at APP Conference

Brilliant anti-Common Core Speech by Dr. Duke Pesta

Common Core Curriculum – A Trojan Horse for Education Reform

Here are some pictures I took at the “We Will Not Conform” event last night:

Authored by Jacqueline Bodnar