And we have today’s quote of the day, in the snippet below.
Cobb County’s school board is considering having middle and high school math books redesigned to eliminate all references to “Common Core Georgia Performance Standards.” That would cost taxpayers $2 million.
It’s one of three proposals by administrators to get the board past a political stalemate on Georgia’s Common Core standards. The debate over math textbooks and other educational materials has pitted Cobb teachers and administrators against tea party members and other conservatives. The board is expected to consider the proposals Thursday.
Common Core is a set of curriculum standards that specify math and literature concepts students should learn by certain grades. Georgia and 44 other states are using the standards, which advocates say will help better prepare students for college and careers and ensure that students in all states learn the same concepts in the same grades. Opponents see them as an intrusion on local authority over what students are taught and say they aren’t stringent enough.
Common Core isn’t mandated by the U.S. Department of Education, but the Obama administration has given states grants to adopt the changes.
Cobb Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s staff proposed several alternatives last week after board members lambasted his staff for protesting the board’s decision in April not to purchase math textbooks.
When designing the proposed textbooks, the publisher printed “Common Core Georgia Performance Standards” icons throughout teacher and student books to indicate which lessons align with the standards. Removing the icons wouldn’t change the instructional content of the book or when students learn different math concepts.
“That’s just changing the name but not changing where we’re going,” said Susan Stanton, a Cobb resident and grandmother of a recent Cobb graduate. “We’d still have stupid children.”
via Cobb board set to debate textbooks and Common Core | www.myajc.com.
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