tri-pac cc petition statement

8/13/2019 Tri-PAC CC Petition Statement

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Tri-County Parent Action Committee

Giving Southeast Oklahoma’s Parents, Students, and Teachers

An Active Voice in Education

January 6, 2014

To the Honorable:

Governor Mary Fallin

Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb

State Superintendent Janet Barresi

Members of the Oklahoma Legislature

As an outgrowth of our Tri-County Parent Action Committee position statement, the organization stands in

opposition to the Common Core Initiative. Our opposition includes the Common Core State Standards, high-stakes

testing, and data collection involved.

We believe that the standards are developmentally inappropriate especially in the lower grades and require that

all students learn the same thing at the same time in the same way making no accommodation for any student.

The standards restrict the use of quality literature, are untested, do not promote genuine learning, and eliminate

local control of what our children learn. Moreover, we believe that the standards as they have been created and

promoted in states and districts are patently unconstitutional and illegal.

We believe that the required testing places an unnecessary, unsustainable burden on students, teachers, and

schools. It does not provide usable data to these stakeholders in a timely fashion, and costs millions of dollars that

could be better spent. We are concerned that the monopoly being created in the test creation industry will

ultimately lead to our children being viewed as human capital for profit. We are concerned that the high-stakes

tests for Common Core will ultimately drive the curriculum, leading to a narrowing of the curriculum. This will leadto districts adopting pre-packaged curricular products that may or may not exemplify the beliefs of the local

community. The field of education will continue to see a decrease in quality educators who truly care about the

achievement of every student. The vacancies created will be filled with anyone willing to follow a pre-packaged

curriculum script.

We believe that the creation of the State Longitudinal Database permits AND PROMOTES the life-long collection of

information on students and families that is over-reaching and inappropriate. The security of this data is also

highly questionable. We strongly oppose the sale of student and family data to testing companies or any other

entities. We oppose the weakening of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) by the federal

Department of Education and question its legality.

Ultimately, we believe that the adoption of the Common Core Initiative by the State of Oklahoma effectively

eliminates the rights of parents to educate their children as they see fit, whether they choose public school, private

school, or home school. Our decision to develop this position statement on Common Core is based on many hours

of research done by individual members of the Tri-PAC organization. We feel that it is of vital importance that

every citizen of Oklahoma understands the scope and impact that the Common Core Initiative will have and is

having on our communities and on our freedoms as an American society.

Sincerely,

Tri-County Parent Action Committee



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tri-pac cc petition statement

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