1. Common Core Standards-Rotten to the Core
Presenter- Jennifer Reynolds

2. Brief History of Goals 2000, “School to Work” and “College Readiness” Programs in the United States
“Education for Sustainable Tyranny- The UN Agenda for America’s Children”- Michael J. Chapman DVD
Workforce Investment Act (1998)- Managing K-80 Knowledge Supply
“Merging Factory with Schools.”
Goals 2000 (Educate America Act)- Started in the 1990’s under President Clinton. Failed to established national standards- Rejected by the states.
“Workforce Planning Boards- appointed by the Governors in the states.” We have these Councils in AZ! These started as the P-20 Council: P=Preschool and 20= stands for grade 20 (years of college). Now AZ has the “AZ Ready Education Council.”
Minnesota is the “pilot” Workforce State which all other
states are modeled after.
Planned economies do not work- we cannot match
students to a particular career path! This goes against
the “free enterprise” system as well that Americans have
come to enjoy.

3. How were K-12 “College Readiness” and “Workforce” Programs Established in AZ?
The Governor’s P-20 Council was created in August 2005 by former Governor Janet Napolitano with Executive Order and then replaced with EO ( “The P-20 Council was to consist of:
4 members from the AZ Legislature to serve as ‘exec-officio members;’
The Superintendent of Public Instruction;
A member of the AZ Board of Regents who is a member of the Joint Conference Committee (JCC);
AZ’s three State University Presidents (ASU, NAU, UofA);
Not more that four Community College representatives (one of which has to be a member of the JCC);
Two Superintendents of the Joint Technological Education Districts (one had to be from a rural district and one from a urban district);
Three P-12 Education Representatives;
A Member of the State Board of Education;
A Member of a Private Post-Secondary Institution;
A Representative of Governor’s Council on Innovation and Technology;
A Representative of Governor’s Council on Workforce Policy;
Not more 8 members of the public representing parents groups, business and industry;
A Representative of the Governor’s School Readiness Board;
A Representative of the high school drop out programs or policy;
A Student Representative of a high school or post secondary education;
A Tribal Representative;
Not more than 2 elective officials.”
“The P-20 Council shall explore ways Arizona can achieve a more effective, efficient and equitable education pipeline.”

4. K-12 “College Readiness” Programs in AZ- P-20 Readiness Council Responsibilities

5. P-20 Readiness Council Replaced By AZ Ready Education Council (AREC)
Governor Janet Brewer replaced the “P-20 Ready Council” with the “AZ Ready Executive Council” (AREC) in 2011 with Executive Order “The membership of this AZREC would include:
The Superintendent of Public Instruction;
The President of the State Board of Education;
The President of the Arizona Board for Charter Schools;
The President of the Arizona Board of Regents;
The Chairperson of the Arizona Community College Presidents’ Council;
The President of the Arizona Commerce Authority;
A County School Superintendent;
A Chairperson of a statewide business organization;
A Representative from a Joint Technical Education District;
A Representative from a parent’s organization;
A Representative of a community organization;
A Representative from an education service relation foundation or philanthropic organization;
A current of former teacher;
A current of former principal or superintendent;
Two “at large business leaders;
A business leader from rural or southern Arizona.”
“The members serve at the pleasure of the Governor.” What does that mean??

6. Arizona Ready Education Council Taskforce and Member List (http://www

7. Arizona Ready Education Council Taskforce Responsibilities

8. Why is No-Child-Left-Behind (NCLB) and Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) a failure in AZ? (
This article from the Arizona Republic was written in 2006 and it states:
“This year Arizona has tripled its number of failing schools.
Credit can be given to insane NCLB requirements, which demand
the inclusion of test scores for new immigrants, many of whom who
do not speak English. This kind of thuggish requirement, which is
not limited at all to Arizona, represents a blatant disregard for public
schools, teachers, and the students who can't read the tests they are
given.”
“The main reason: Federal officials changed the rules. “For the first time
ever the state was forced to include AIMS (teaches-to-the-test and not a
measure of student achievement) test results in math and reading from
students who are in their second or third year of learning English.”
“The contrast highlights a debate that is playing out among educators over how Arizona should measure its educational performance?” State officials want to exclude students in their first three years of language learning from the federal ‘adequate yearly progress’ counts, expected to be released Friday. They also separate them from Arizona's annual ranking of schools and overall AIMS exit-exam results. They argue that including students still learning English skews the picture.”
With NCLB, all students were slowed down to make sure everyone in the class passed- this breeds mediocrity!
National Education Assessment Progress (NAEP) English Language Learners (ELL) vs. Non-English Language Learners (Non-ELL)

9. Has more Federal and State Money spent made our students smarter over the years?
As seen from this graph, despite more money spent, year after year, we have not seen an improvement in the National Assessment of Education Progress Scores!
Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), “Digest of Education Statistics: 2011,” Table 194,

10. What is Common Core? (http://arizonansagainstcommoncore.com/)
Common Core, or the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI), as it is known at the AZ State and Federal level, is a set of national education standards that fulfill the requirements of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, with a waiver system. (The NCLB Act was put into place by Congress in and signed into law by President George W. Bush). Our state, like many other states, was failing to meet the NCLB Act requirements and, therefore, wanted something to replace NCLB.
AZ adopted the CCSSI for English Language Arts and Math Standards in June and started implementing them across the state.
Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) are not state standards in the first place, and are nothing more then further federalization of our state education systems. It has been the goal of federal education departments for decades to further control state education of our children through federal standards, and to take education out of the hands of the parents and put it to "the state," or under federal control. This has been done at a rapid pace through "school to work" and "college readiness" programs as we have seen happening in AZ in the past.

11. What is Common Core? (cont..) (http://arizonansagainstcommoncore.com/)
“Educators have described Common Core as 'No Child Left Behind' (NCLB) on steroids! In layman's terms, the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) is a set of National K-12 standards developed primarily by a nonprofit called Achieve, Inc., in Washington, D.C. under the auspices of the National Governor's Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). These Common Core Standards were developed without state legislative authority.” (Georgians Against Common Core
States were hooked into the Common Core movement with Race-to-the-Top (RTTT) grants they applied for in , and with that application, they were allowed to apply for "No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Waivers" if they adopted the CCSSI verbatim! Subsequently, each state was allowed to add 15% to these federal standards under the Common Core 15% Rule only after they adopted these CCSSI standards verbatim.

12. Who is Behind Common Core. (http://www. arizonansagainstcommoncore
A nonprofit organization called Achieve, Inc., in Washington, D.C. is the main driving force behind creating the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI). The Common Core (CC) standards were initiated by private interests in Washington, D.C., without any representation from the states.
From the Achieve, Inc. website: “To this day, Achieve remains the only education reform organization led by a Board of Directors of governors and business leaders. This unique perspective has enabled Achieve to set a bold and visionary agenda over the past 15 years, leading Education Week in 2006 to rank Achieve as one of the most influential education policy organizations in the nation.” (
"Eventually the creators of the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) realized the need to present a facade of state involvement, and therefore, enlisted the National Governors Association (NGA) {a trade association that doesn't include all governors}, and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), another DC-based trade association. Neither of these groups have grant authority from any particular state or states to write the standards. The bulk of the creative work was done by Achieve, Inc., a DC-based nonprofit that includes many progressive education reformers who have been advocating national standards and curriculum for decades. Massive funding for all this came from private interests such as The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation." ( vs-facts/)

13. Achieve Common Core Implementation Workbook (http://www. achieve
Achieve, Inc., states in their Common Core Implementation Workbook, "After 30 years of fits and starts, true transformational reform in education is not only possible but also entirely within our grasp. In the last few years, we have seen a number of significant shifts occur: College and career readiness for all students is the new national norm, the majority of states have adopted internationally benchmarked K through 12 Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in mathematics and English, and most states are participating in a Race to the Top assessment consortium.”
"The implementation challenge looms large. In response, Achieve and the U.S. Education Delivery Institute have developed a practical Common Core Implementation Workbook for all states in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). The workbook uses a proven performance management methodology known as 'delivery' to lay out clear action steps for states and districts. It provides relevant information, case stories of good practice, key questions and hands-on exercises for leadership teams to complete together. Regardless of your timeline, the workbook offers state and district leaders the means to plan for the CCSS and then drive successful implementation. The discipline of delivery was first developed in 2001 under U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair. "
So as you can see, the delivery system for Common Core started in 2001, long before what is stated on the CCSSI website of ! It actually started with the American Principles Project in 1986 which morphed into Common Core!

14. Who is Behind Common Core- Flow Chart. (http://www

15. What Companies Have to Gain from Common Core. (http://www
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, pledged $60 million dollars
in Grants in Bill and Melinda Gates are directly tied to the
United Nations, and they will directly benefit from the software packages
that are sold to train teachers in the classroom through Microsoft.
Publishing Companies- Pearson Foundation, Scholastic News, McGraw Hill, Harcourt, (AZ textbooks used in Public Schools are primarily from the publisher Harcourt,) etc., will benefit from Common Core because they will provide the textbooks, for training teachers and teaching students, and curriculum changes that will need to be made to implement Common Core. Pearson had been awarded the contract to develop Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) to develop test items for Common Core English and Math assessments that will be administered in the school year! (
Achieve, Inc. connections- Craig Barrett is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Achieve, Inc., (He is also the Former CEO/Chairman of the Board of Intel). Computer companies will directly benefit from computer sales to the states and local school districts. All of the Common Core student assessment testing will now be computer based- Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).
United Nations
Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies (ITC ) and Development- UN GAID

16. AZ Connection to the Common Core State (Federal) Standards Initiative (CCSSI) Development?
Dr. William MacCullum, Head of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Arizona, was one of the lead writers of the math standards ( However, do you want to know who he supports?
He is a democrat that supported Obama in his Presidential Campaign in 2008 and )$4,650 and $12,500, respectively! ( )
```````` He is a Senior Consultant to Achieve! (
Dr. James Milgram, Member of the Common Core Validation Committee said “The CCSSI Math standards who slow down our students up to 2 years,” and he was one of the 4 Common Core Validation Committee Members that would not sign off on these standards since they were “sub par!” Dr. Alfino Flores, Math Professor from the CC Validation Committee would also not sign off on the standards! I’m not impressed with Dr. William MacCullum!
Sarah Baird, 2009 National Education Association (NEA) Teacher of the Year was chosen by the NEA and the National Governor’s Association (NGA) as one of the Common Core Validation Committee Members. The Common Core Validation Committee was nothing more then a “Rubber Stamp” Committee of the CCSSI Standards and they never saw the data which proved these new standards would make our students more “college ready” and they never saw the “international benchmarks.”
( fa8b4987d588f&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=1197&PageID=983 )

17. AZ Connection to the Common Core State (Federal) Standards Initiative (CCSSI) Development? (cont…)
Fabio Milner, Director of Mathematics for STEM Education, Arizona State University. ( TEAM.PDF) What is STEM?- Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Did you know STEM teaches Climate Change (Global Warming) on their on-line Institute 1.0 courses? ( Last year, Arizona K-12 Center offered the STEM Institute 2.0 courses ( Let’s just proliferate this United Nations Agenda 21 indoctrination through STEM and ASU’s involvement in the Common Core Math Standards! Mary Knuck, Deputy Associate Superintendent, Standards-Based Best Practices, Arizona Department of Education. In 2006 she was on the National Mathematics Advisory Panel for the United States Department of Education. ( and Patrick Thompson, ASU Mathematics Professor and Marta Civil, University of Arizona Mathematics Professor, were also involved in the Common Core Math Standards.

18. How is Common Core Tied to the United Nations. (http://www
Common Core is part of the UN's plan for complete federal control over our education systems and the “dumbing-down” of America. The major funder of the Common Core Movement is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which has pledged $60 million dollars to this effort. They are tied to the UN through-and-through and have spent money in America and overseas for UN programs in Africa and all over the world for decades.
From the “Conservative Teachers of America” organization, they wrote an article entitled: "Common Core Standards and the Federalization of Education." In this article we read: "Many are concerned that the Common Core Standards, once successfully implemented, will provide unfettered access of our educational system by the United Nations. Some textbooks and curricula for our public schools have already been written by the [United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization] UNESCO and the International Baccalaureate program, that is currently in many school districts, across the United States. Grabbing additional access is a natural next step. Once they write the curricula, they must have authority to develop all testing tools. They will decide who becomes a teacher and what preparation will be provided for that teacher. The International Baccalaureate curriculum upsets parents and teachers because the focus includes sustainable development, abortion rights, gay marriage, universal disarmament and social justice curricula.” (
"The UN involvement in the American educational system has already been facilitated by treaties signed by American presidents from both parties (President H.W. Bush, President Clinton and President Obama). Those documents include but are not limited to: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Treaty on the Rights of the Child, Civic Education: Classroom Connections, and Agenda 21” (aka as “Sustainability”). [
ASU is leading the way to implement Agenda 21 programs in our cities and in the classroom with there “Sustainable Cities Network.” They were awarded by the EPA on March 4th as the first University to successfully establish this Network and they are influencing other universities across the nation!

19. How is Common Core Tied to the United Nations? (cont…)
Arizona State University (ASU) Institute of Global Sustainability is teaching sustainability in our cities (Sustainable Cities Network) and in our high schools- ASU’s “Meet the Schools.” Chandler Unified High School District and Tempe Unified High School District are teaching “sustainability” programs in their schools, to name a few. ASU is involved in writing the test questions for the new student assessment test called Partnership for Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and they were involved in AIMS development as well!
You can obtain a degree in “Sustainability” to become a Sustainability Manager through Arizona State University (ASU), Northern Arizona University (NAU), University of Arizona and Chandler/Gilbert Community College.
The UN’s Agenda 21 goal is to completely federalize education and take education out of the hands of the parents and put it into the hands of “the state” or government. Two Agenda 21 principles cover education:
Principle #25-”Children and Youth in Sustainable Development.”
Principle #36-”Promoting education, public awareness and training.”
The new Common Core Science Standards are being reviewed right now and they teach Climate Change (aka Global Warming)!
Northern
Arizona
University

20. Common Core State Standards Initiative Adopted 2010 by the States (

21. Common Core Validation Committee Members- setup by National Governors Association (NGA) and Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) (
Math
NOTE: Highlighted Members did not sign off on Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI).
Math
English

22. When was Common Core adopted in AZ. (http://www. azed
AZ Leadership went to Washington, D.C. in 2009 and 2010 to apply for a Race-to-the- Top (RTTT) Federal Grant (Phase III) and to apply for a No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waiver if they adopted the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) verbatim. Governor Jan Brewer, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, Mesa Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Cowan, and Senator Rich Crandall were the "AZ leadership" that went to Washington, D.C. From the RTTT Phase 3 Grant, AZ received $25 million dollars to implement Common Core.
The total cost impact on AZ to fully implement Common Core is unknown. However, we do know that the current Superintendent of Public Instruction, John Huppenthal, has asked the State Legislature this year in HB2047 for $600 million dollars to upgrade the AZ Department of Education's (AZED's) computer database system so they could implement the Partnership Assessment for College & Career Readiness (PARCC)! Can AZ afford this $600 million dollar added expense for their growing Education budget?? HB2047 died in the Senate, now what?
AZED adopted the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) for K-12 in Mathematics and English Language Arts on June Full implementation of the CC AZ Mathematics and English Languages Arts Standards is required by all school districts by the school year!
The Common Core Science standards will be next AZ! These standards are up for public comment now. AIMS test questions already contain global warming questions due to ASU’s involvement in develop the test. ASU is involved again with Common Core!

23. Arizona’s Common Core (CC) will be Implemented in Three Phases
PHASE I- Implement the CC standards at the AZ school district level, and train teachers on "how to teach" the standards. Implementing new curriculum to support the CC standards goes right along with this at the district level.
PHASE II- Partnership Assessment for College & Career Readiness (PARCC)- Developing the AZ test which is still in progress. This PARCC Assessment will replace the Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) test. Once again, PARCC sample tests are being developed by the AZED which they did previously for AIMS. Will there be a requirement for graduation now that HB2047 died in the Senate?
PHASE III- PARCC testing of our students, and sharing the data with the Federal government and other states through the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS). This phase has not begun yet, but yes, data on our students will be shared with the Federal government! What ever happened to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) which prevents sharing student data to the Federal government?
AZED is working with a consortium of 22 other PARCC states and they are obtaining input from various representatives from the school districts as well. Then all of these PARCC members, with their respective states, will develop these sample PARCC tests. Are we teaching-to-the-test which was the major failure of AIMS? Only time will tell when these PARRC sample tests become available!

24. How Is AZ Paying for Common Core. (http://www
Where is money coming from now?

25. Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) Has Five Major Problems
The Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) has five major problems:
The English and Math Standards are of mediocre quality:
Dr. Sandra Stotsky, Common Core Validation Committee Member has said, “Common Core's 'college readiness' standards for English language arts and reading do not aim for a level of achievement that signifies readiness for authentic college-level work. They point to no more than readiness for a high school diploma (and possibly not even that, depending on where the cut score is set). Despite claims to the contrary, they are not internationally benchmarked….Even though several of us regularly asked to examine this supposed body of research evidence, it became clear why our requests were ignored. In December 2009, the Parent Teacher Association, indicated the real role of this committee--more like that of a rubber stamp.” (
Dr. Sandra Stotsky also testified to The Heritage Foundation, on the Common Core English Language Arts Standards, in an article entitled "How Common Core Standards Have Begun to Damage School Curriculum." She stated in this article “the Common Core standards require English teachers to emphasize skills, not literary or cultural knowledge. They do so because the Common Core 'college readiness' reading standards are empty skills, not academic standards.” (
Dr. James Milgram, Common Core Validation Committee Member stated about the Math standards to the Indiana State Senate Education Committee, “The Common Core standards claim to be 'benchmarked against the international standards' but this phrase is meaningless. They are actually two or more years behind international expectations by eighth grade, and only fall further behind as they talk about grades Indeed, they don't even fully cover the material in an solid geometry course, or in the second year algebra course.” ( indiana-senate-committee/)

26. Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) Has Five Problems
Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) Has Five Problems! (Cont…) (
These Common Core Standards violate Federal Statues: They circumvent the General Education Provisions Act, the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and these Standards dictate new Curriculum for our state schools ( Education-From-the-Top%5B1%5D.pdf):
“Federal law lays down broad prohibitions on Department [of Education] involvement in curricula decisions. The General Education Provisions Act- prohibits the Department [of Education] from 'exercis[ing] any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel' of any school, or 'the selection of...textbooks, or other...instructional materials' used in any school. Similar prohibitions exist in the Department of Education Organization Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).”
"Common Core is the vehicle by which the federal government is evading these prohibitions. As described above, the Department [of Education] has herded the states into adopting Common Core by dangling before them Race to the Top funding while denying them the opportunity to review the Standards before signing on. As the Pioneer report notes: Standards drive curriculum, programs of instruction, and the selection of instructional materials.”
Data tracking of our students through the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) violates FERPA (see number 3).

27. Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) Has Five Problems
Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) Has Five Problems! (Cont…) (
Our state will have to pay a "heavy price" to implement them. No cost analysis has been done before these Standards were adopted by the Arizona Department of Education (AZED) in June 2010!
"Accountability Works, in their study of Common Core, estimated that the total additional costs (one-time plus a 7-year time period for implementation) to state taxpayers will amount to $15.8 billion across participating states. This constitutes a "mid range" estimate that only addresses expenditures required for implementation of the new standards. This estimate includes the following additional expenses for the states: $1.2 billion for participation in the new assessments; $5.3 billion for professional development; $2.5 billion for textbooks and instructional materials; and $6.9 billion for technology infrastructure and support.“ ( pdf)
Since the PARCC test will be done with a consortium of 22 states, the cost to implement Common Core just in our state is “unknown.”

28. Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) Has Five Problems
Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) Has Five Problems! (Cont…) (
These standards intrude on student and family privacy. Data Tracking of our Students with the State Longitudinal Database Systems {SLDS} which will share our student’s personal data with other States and the Federal government! What is tracked? From the SLDS website: "a unique identifier for each student; student enrollment history; tracks if a student drops out or switches schools; tracks students test scores; matches student performance to teachers; tracks transcripts of students in courses they have taken and their grades; tracks student data if they were enrolled in ‘remedial’ classes; tracks student data to determine if they are ‘prepared to success in college’" and the SLDS has the ability to share this data with other preschool through postsecondary education data systems. (
These standards further federalize education and usurp power from the state (erodes state sovereignty)!

29. Example of National, Socialist Education at its Worst- Nazism
Example of National, Socialist Education at its Worst- Nazism! We can Stop This! Orlean Kohle, “Common Core- A Trojan Horse for Education Reform.” (California Eagle Forum)

30. What Can We Do About Common Core. http://arizonansagainstcommoncore
Become a member of the Common Core Team to receive “Action Item Updates!” me at
Pressure our AZ Legislature to stop all legislation that implements Common Core:
HB2047- AIMS to PARCC Transition. Died in the Senate 3/21/13! YAY! HB2425 snuck in Senator Crandall’s student assessment amendment that got rid of AIMS and the Legislature’s power on when the student test will be given, how often and if it was a requirement to graduate!
HB2563- Common Core Teacher Preparations. Bill “held” in the Senate on 3/5/13.
HB2399- School Bond Increased Indebtedness. Bill “held” in the House 2/11/13. Snuck in HB2003 under “Legislative Special Session”- Budget Appropriations bill for school year. We are circulating a Voter Referendum Petition to stop this- 86K signatures required! Wes Harris will discuss process if further detail.
Support Legislation that is good for our schools:
HB2318- Federal exemption for schools that do not except Federal funding. Passed in House and Senate and is at the Governor’s desk.
SB1450- Family Education Rights to Privacy Act (FERPA) protection- Stops funding to schools who violate FERPA. Passed in the Senate and “held” in the House on 4/30/13.
Pressure AZ Department of Education to exit Common Core!
Contact Superintendent of Public Instruction, John Huppenthal:
by at or by phone at
Fill out “Common Core Opt Out” form and submit to your local school district and Superintendent Huppenthal. Start attending your Local School Board meetings and demand they stop implementing Common Core!
Sign our “Common Core- Petition for Redress of Grievances!” Wes Harris will discuss this process in further detail.

31. Other States Are Exiting Common Core. Why Don’t We Follow Their Lead
Indiana stopped Common Core in their state on 5/13/13
and Texas Stopped
Anti-American CSCOPE on 5/20/13!

32. Any Questions?
Become a member of the Common Core fight by contacting me at:
I’m doing many more presentations in our state, contact me for further details.