The calls and emails are working. House Concurrent Resolution 11 (HCR 11) is in the Senate Government Operations Committee chaired by Senate Majority Leader Richardville. He is feeling the heat and rightly so. HCR 11 should NOT be in Government Operations but in Education or Appropriations. In a statement to MIRS News Service, Senator Richardville offered up a very lame reason to explain why he abruptly took
HCR 11 out of Appropriations and put it in Government Operations last Friday.
He said,
“This is really a resolution that’s a government to government resolution, more so than just a pure education issue, so I’ll probably take that up as early as Thursday, but maybe next week Tuesday,” he said, reiterating that the timeline is dependent on caucus will.”
Richardville’s sspokesperson, Amber McCann, was more truthful in her explanation. She laughingly said, “He really really wanted it.”
Richardville knows that as long as the resolution stays in his committee under his control then he can do the Governor’s bidding and get this passed out of his small committee of five and gavel it through the Senate. Governor Snyder really, really wants Common Core Standards in Michigan and Richardville is in charge of making that happen.
Senator Richardville is playing PURE Michigan politics.
This is a PURE education issue. Richardville is trying to minimize the importance and the impact. This is a PURE education issue and it affects every student and parent in Michigan. In 2010, the State School Board made a hasty decision in thirteen days to adopt Common Core. Because of public pressure, the legislature halted funding and is forcing state officials to examine their decision. Parents and taxpayers are trying to make sure that the state gives this resolution and Common Core a proper vetting. That should be applauded by every lawmaker in Lansing. But instead we get Senator Richardville playing pure politics with our children’s education and future. There are many unanswered questions about the resolution, Common Core, and SBAC despite the hours of testimony.
We don’t know if HCR 11 is the proper mechanism given that it was an appropriations bill that halted Common Core funding.
We still don’t know if HCR 11 is truly binding. But we do know that our SBAC agreement is binding.
We don’t know if HCR 11 will protect student-level data privacy. We we do know that if we if we remain in SBAC data will be shared with the feds and third parties.
We don’t know will be the governing body for Common Core State Standards. According to the
CCSS website FAQ, the governing body has not been determined. But we DO know Michigan is no longer in charge of our standard.
We don’t know if
HCR 11 will retain and protect local control. But we do know that if we remain in SBAC the feds are “partnering” with SBAC in the development of the tests and Michigan gets ONE vote in the consortia. Local control is history.
This whole process is becoming political theater. The federal government and outside interests are calling the shots; most state lawmakers are just acting like they are in charge. State lawmakers are either clueless or willfully giving control of Michigan education over to to DC and private interests. If common standards and assessments are implemented in Michigan, state officials will never be in charge of education again. That is the fundamental shift in education that Obama desperately wants in the United States. Why Republican lawmakers are working in the best interest of Obama and against our school children is a complete mystery.
We need to make sure the “will of caucus” represents the “will of the people” and NOT Obama, Bill Gates, or Pearson Publishing. The Senate Republican Caucus could meet as early as tomorrow. Make sure that they know that you are watching.
We need to get out of Common Core and Smarter Balanced testing. We can adopt exceptional standards from Texas, Massachusetts English and Indiana math. Once we go down Common Core road there is no stopping the rest of the standards including the controversial science, social studies, and health. They WILL NOT stop with math and English.
In addition to Committee Members call or email your own Senator.
Here are the Government Operations Committee members and their phone numbers: CALL NOW!
Randy Richardville (R) Committee Chair, 17th District (517) 373-3543
Dave Hildenbrand (R) Majority Vice Chair, 29th District (517) 373-1801
Arlan B Meekhof (R) 30th District (517) 373-6920
Gretchen Whitmer (D) Minority Vice Chair, 23rd District (517)-373-1734
Tupac A Hunter (D) 5th District (517) 373-0994