(Des Moines, IA) Concerned Women for America of Iowa LAC will host a free educational forum tonight at 6:30p at the Airport Holiday Inn & Conference Center (6111 Fleur Dr., Des Moines, IA). The Iowa Core, along with the Common Core State Standards, will be discussed with parents and community members who would like to learn more about an education reform that is impacting classrooms across the state.
Special guests include:
Jane Robbins, a senior fellow at the American Principles Project, whose work includes education policy, student privacy and parental rights issues. Robbins has drafted state legislation on educational transparency and sovereignty that has led to a parallel resolution by the South Carolina Southern Baptist Convention, model ALEC legislation, and emulated legislation in several states.
Henry Burke is a Civil Engineer with a B.S.C.E. and M.S.C.E. He has been a Registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) for 37 years and has worked as a Civil Engineer in construction for over 40 years. Mr. Burke had a successful 27-year career with a large construction company. Henry Burke serves as a full-time volunteer to oversee various construction projects. He has written numerous articles on education, engineering, construction, politics, taxes, and the economy including state specific costs for the implementation of Common Core / Iowa Core.
Bruno Behrend, is the Senior Fellow for education policy at The Heartland Institute, Behrend deals with strategies in moving forward to stop Common Core / Iowa Core even after implementation.
“Common Core is a many-layered problem that should concern every Iowa citizen, especially parents. We’ll use the forum Tuesday to shine some light on a lot of issues that were always intended to remain hidden. We hope legislators and other policy makers will attend, so they can find out what they should have been told four years ago,” Robbins told Caffeinated Thoughts.
“The IDOE exposes the truth that Iowa Core / Common Core were integrated in 2008/10. These programs are simply one more regurgitation of all the failed reform programs that do little for students and learning, but continue to profit corporations, textbook companies and now, non-profit private entities. When Iowa Governors signed the MOU with SBAC, the legislature was removed from the process and Iowans lost sovereignty over future educational decisions. Oddly, we already have a model that works and costs little – it’s education pre-1962. Remember when students were actually taught to think rather than repeat and we put people on the moon with old fashioned flashcards? It’s time for parents to understand no one else will or should care about your children as much as you – including the ‘educational professionals,'” Tamara Scott, state director of Concerned Women for America of Iowa LAC told Caffeinated Thoughts.
There will be two subcommittee meetings held on Wednesday on Common Core Bills. HF 2141, a bill that would direct the Iowa Board of Education to pull the state out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. That meeting will be held at 7:30a in room G19 in the Iowa Capitol building. HF 2140 would make the Iowa Core voluntary for public schools and accredited non-public schools but leave them as a model schools may use as they develop their own standards. HF 2140 would also remove authority of the Iowa Board of Education to change standards. The subcommittee meeting to discuss that bill will meet at 11:30a also in room G19 in the Iowa Capitol building.
