Common Core: Report on Common Core/ PARCC delay in TN State House

Common Core: Report on Common Core/PARCC delay in Tn State House

Hello friends and readers. 

Alot of activity in Nashville this week. A Common Core and PARCC delay of 2 years was compromised after calling for repeal.

On the front lines and doing an exceptional job is none other than Karen Bracken of Tennessee Against Common Core, Lauri Day and Julie West.

These ladies went to bat for you and your children this week, although not getting a full repeal they managed to broker a  delay of 2 years while shedding light on the process and informing the public. Despite the circumstances and heavy political games this battle is to be considered a victory. “We have to stay diligent,” said Karen Bracken, founder of Tennessee Against Common Core. “It’s not what we want, but it’s more than we expected today. We’re very happy.”

Here is her update on the rally which offers some insight into the battle that waged and those legislators opposing their efforts.

Please go to: www.tnacc.net and read other interesting articles and offer them some financial support. This constant war on Common Core and the political elite is not cheap!

COMMON CORE RALLY DETAILS

“If education has become – as Common Core openly declares – preparation for work in the global economy, then this situation is far worse than Common Core critics ever anticipated.  And the concerns about cost, and quality and yes, even the constitutionality of Common Core, pale in comparison to the concerns for the hearts, minds and souls of American children.” Dr. Daniel Copeland, Hillsdale College

WOW WHAT A WEEK!!! BUT WE ARE NOT DONE!!!

On Monday we took over their hearing room.

On Tuesday we took over the War Memorial Plaza with a cast of quests that were unequaled and a crowd of citizens that warmed our hearts on a miserable cold day.

On Wednesday we saw our government at work.  At times it seemed more like a Laurel and Hardy movie but the point was made and the case won.  Our legislators attached 32 education amendments to HB1129/SB1266 in order to by-pass the Education Committees to repeal Common Core and withdraw from PARCC.  This tactic forced leadership to allow our voice to be heard. We did not get our repeal. But we did get a lot of good press and people in Nashville are very nervous.  We did get an amendment passed that will delay PARCC for 2 years; but be very cautious here.   New lipstick on a pig doesn’t change the fact that it is a still a pig.  And they passed an amendment to stop the implementation of Common Core.  Again, caution here.  Common Core is already implemented.  The other national standards coming down the pike ARE national standards but they ARE NOT COMMON CORE and we need to educate our legislators on this fact.  But take heart.  There are other pieces of legislation that spell this out.

So above you have a quick overview. 

URGENT ACTION ITEMS – We are getting down to the wire.  Only a couple more weeks of session left.  We cannot stop now!!!

1. Friday 3/14, Saturday 3/15, Sunday 3/16 and Monday 3/17 – hit the phone lines and emails hard!!!  List is attached.  We need you to call and email all Education Committee members in both houses. 
House Sub Committee –
YES vote on HB2332 (Repeal Common Core, Sponsored by Rep. Rick Womick)

House Full Education Committee –
NO vote on HB1693 (for-profits to open Charter Schools, Sponsored by Rep. John DeBerry) and HB1959 (Parent trigger, Sponsored by Rep. John DeBerry)
This is the same Rep. DeBerry that got over $100K from Students First in his last election.

Senate Education Committee –
YES vote for SB2405 (Repeal Common Core, Sponsor is Senator Mae Beavers) 

YES vote for SB2153 (will require State School Board to be elected instead of appointed – THIS IS A CRITICALLY IMPORTANT BILL, Sponsored by Sen. Niceley) 

SHARE AND GET EVERYONE TO CALL.  The only reason we have the repeal bills scheduled is because of your calls and emails and our 3 day event.  So making noise does work.
Be polite.  Please be prepared to let them know why you do not like Common Core.

2. Tuesday, March 18 – Pack up the kids again and come to an early morning hearing on Rep. Womick’s REPEAL COMMON CORE BILL (HB2332 is #3 on the lineup)   Room 30,  08:00am 

3.  Wednesday, March 19 – The Senate Repeal bill is scheduled as #40 on the list.  If you come on Wednesday be prepared for a long session.  We have not been making calls to the Senate Education Committee so they are not aware of how we feel. So hit them HARD HARD HARD.  There is no Senate Education Sub Committee so this is a big deal for this bill.  09:30am CST Room 12

THIS WILL BE THE ONLY NEWSLETTER YOU WILL RECEIVE BEFORE THE HEARINGS ON TUESDAY. For updates go to: 

http://www.tnacc.net 

Go to the TN TAKES ACTION tab for updates. Check often to make sure you have the latest details.

If you have any questions please contact:

Karen Bracken – 215-692-2147    karen.bracken@reagan.com

Lauri Day – 615-268-8855             twoday@wildblue.net

Julie West – 615-579-0104           juliewest08@gmail.com

Our mailing address is: 
Tennessee Against Common Core
231 Bob White Drive
Ocoee, TN 37361
 
Karen Bracken 
http://www.tnacc.net
http://www.americadontforget.com
215-692-2147

 

 

Urgent: 7 year old boy needs lifesaving med, Big Pharma Chemerix will not release drug

Urgent: 7 year old boy needs lifesaving med, Big Pharma Chemerix will not release drug

03/11/14
1018 am

A little 7 year old boy lies on his death bed today. He reportedly has about a week to live and is dying with a preventable disease. A Big Pharma company Chemerix will not release the drug Brincidofovir to this child, at this time the only known drug that could save his life.

Josh Hardy, who has battled cancer for the last two years has developed a secondary infection as a result of that treatment.

The pathogen that has entered his blood stream is called Adenovirus. This virus is usually overcome easily with patients with a normal immune system. Pink eye is a form of Adenovirus. 

Josh does not have a normal functioning immune system, he is still very sick from a bone marrow transplant he had recently as part of his ongoing treatment.

Doctors at St. Jude recommended Josh be treated with Brincidofovir – an antiviral drug that has been proven to clear up adenovirus in children within two weeks

However, Brincidofovir, the only known treatment for Josh is in stage 3 trials awaiting FDA approval and is in the hands of drug maker Chemerix.

I am confident the reason Chemerix is not releasing this drug is that they are protecting their investment. The drug is reportedly on the brink of approval and because of successful trials the drug has been requested to be placed on the FDA “fast track”, a common occurrence when the drug shows promise of saving lives if implemented and approved quickly.

What could be worse than a drug company giving this drug to a child outside a trial and it not work as stated? But the company has already stated the drug works and well enough for an FDA fast track. 

You would think the oncoming high profile nature of this case will surely outweigh  Chemerixs concerns over whether it works or not or whether their bottom line will be affected.

After all, Chemerix stands to profit billions once the FDA approval process is completed. God forbid a little dying boy stand in the way of a company and it’s profits.

Chemerix CEO Kenneth I. Moch has said in several interviews that it is a cost issue and has recently been quoted as saying it is an ethical decision that if he does it for this kids many more will come forward. And the drug was developed for what reason? 

If Chemerix’s CEO had stepped back and thought about this a moment and changed his direction the public would be clamoring to get this drug on the market, praising this company and its innivation,begging for fast FDA approval to save this little boys life, but instead the public is calling for the removal of their big capitalist heads.

There is something unique about Americans in that they can somehow manage put all indifferences aside and rally around a little boy dying from a curable infection and face a large corporation withholding the cure. I love this about America.

A private individual has offered the 50,000 dollars it would cost to treat this individual and Chemerix once again denied to treat the young dying boy.

The family of young Josh Hardy is asking now for Chemerix to allow a compassionate user request which would facilitate Josh getting the treatment he needs bypassing FDA approval. This is where you are needed. To date, nearly 900 patients in trial have been treated with this drug thus far.

March 7th, 2014, Chemerix released this statement on their website. To me it shows how close they are to releasing this drug for approval, assuring the safety of it’s delivery.

“We are enthusiastic about brincidofovir’s potential to prevent clinically significant viral infections in bone marrow transplant recipients, and look forward to expanding the compound’s development activities to other DNA viruses and other patient populations, (to include Adenovirus in immunocompromised patients) said Kenneth I. Moch, President and CEO of Chimerix….. we are working to prepare our pre-launch strategies and to establish our commercial infrastructure.”
http://www.noodls.com/view/84C28A18F011CC8A9DA4E4F8250C6B0DC46FBC1F

Interestingly, Chemerix has received  72 million in federal tax dollars to research this drug to fruition. Chemerix also reported a near 900 percent profit margin for 2013 which formulates to 10s of millions in profit for the pharmaceutical company.

In summary, a little 7 year old boy is dying and has reportedly a week to live with a treatable disease. A big Pharmaceutical company has the cure, Chemerix refuses to offer the drug that may save his life and the companies profit margin and ethical dilemmas are being cited as reasons for their denial.

Good Lord help us all! Bare grassroots people like you and I can make a difference. 

We can call and demand the result we want especially as our tax dollars are being used to develop the drug needed for this young boy and being held from him.

Let’s see if we an make a difference! Spread the word. Contact the numbers below.

My call to Chemerix has been unanswered as yet but I did leave a message. Let’s jam up the phone and email lines and see if we can save this young boys life.

To contact Chemerix and support this young boy and perhaps save his life, give Chemerix a call and spread the word to your social networking friends on Facebook and Twitter.

To help save Josh, I encourage supporters to call 

Chimerix at 919-806-1074; 

supporters can also e-mail 
compassionateuserequest@chimerix.com 

or

tweet @chimerix using the hashtag #savejosh

or

Contact the Chimerix Board of Directors at
http://www.chimerix.com/contact-us

or 

Show your support for Josh and his family at this website
http://www.CaringBridge.org 

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/03/10/drug-company-refuses-to-give-lifesaving-medication-to-7-year-old-boy/

Profit Margin report for Chemerix 2013
http://ycharts.com/companies/CMRX/profit_margin

Chemerix number one campaign donation goes to Barrack Hussein Obama. 1.3 million in lobbying.
http://influenceexplorer.com/organization/chimerix/326d7b7a29e04c95b3ee63eac5665441

http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/adeno/2004takahashi/webpage/Treatment%20of%20Adenoviurs%20Infections.htm

Common Core goes green: Next Generation Science Standards on the way

Common Core goes green: Next Generation Science Standards on the way

Ever since the appointment of Arne Duncan as the Secretary of Education, Governor Bill Haslam elected as our “radical education reformer,” Kevin Huffman,  Secretary of Education in Tennessee, ex husband of Michelle Rhee appointed by Haslam  and our State Representative Kevin Brooks, the recipient of 6,000 dollars of Rhees money our state and our kids have seen this day coming for a while. The perfect storm was formulated.

Common Core is rolling out the green carpet. A liberals dream come true. A radical reformist politicians bucket list has come to fruition.

In a world created by the highest bidder, the next progressive step in common core is to indoctrinate our children using the “green movement” as their platform. 

The big political arm of the green movement is now surfacing in our schools. Science, the EPA and the UNs next big step to further liberalize, globalize our school system in exchange for the minds of our children.

Common Core is teaming up with the “greenies” to provide a multi-pronged effort to promote “fun” contests and activities for students while promoting the new Common Core “state standards” in Science.
 
As reported by Mary Grabar in Front Page Magazine (See link below), she states  “For example, the Department’s latest Green Strides newsletter (February 28) announced three contests for K-12 students who display their agreement with the government’s position on climate change.”

“In that newsletter, the Department of Education announced that another federal agency, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and its National Environmental Education Foundation, have “launched an exciting video challenge for middle school students called Climate Change in Focus.”  

“In this contest, middle school students are asked to make a video that “expresses why they care about climate change and what they are doing to reduce emissions or to prepare for its impacts.”  

“To win loyalty to the EPA, it is announced that winning videos will be highlighted on the EPA website.”

 “The effort sounds like the kids’ cereal box promotions of yore: the top three entries will receive “cool prizes like a solar charging backpack,” winning class projects will receive special recognition for their school, and the first 100 entrants will receive a year’s subscription to National Geographic Kids Magazine.”

“Another contest, National Wildlife Federation’s Young Reporters for the Environment, invites students “between the ages of 13-21 to report on an environmental issue in their community in an article, photo or photo essay, or short video.”  Entries should “reflect firsthand investigation of topics related to the environment and sustainability in the students’ own communities, draw connections between local and global perspectives, and propose solutions.”

“Students are also encouraged to make nominations for “Champions of the Earth,” a “UN-sponsored award for environment, Green Economy, and sustainability.”  

“Students already get exposed to climate change and sustainability in textbooks which are bought with taxpayer funds, as well as in videos and online materials produced by taxpayer-supported Public Broadcasting.  Many students, of course, have had to sit through Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.”

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)—the next phase of Common Core—will make the situation worse, however,” Grabar continues.  

“Students will be even less capable of distinguishing science from propaganda.  These standards, like those for math and English Language Arts, were produced by Achieve, a nonprofit education group started by corporate leaders and some governors. 

 As in the standards for English Language Arts and math, the NGSS are intended to be transformative, or as Appendix A states, “to reflect a new vision for American science education.”  They call for new “performance expectations” that “focus on understanding and applications as opposed to memorization of facts devoid of context.”

“It is precisely such short shrift to knowledge (dismissively referred to as “memorization”) to which science professors Lawrence S. Lerner and Paul Gross object.  The standards bypass essential math skills in favor of “process,” they asserted last fall at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation blog.”

“Common Core standards, in all disciplines, are written with a lot of fluff to conceal their emptiness.”

“The Common Core math standards themselves have garnered much criticism among teachers, parents, and students; focusing so much on “process,” they make simple problems bizarrely confusing, as a collection of examples illustrates.”

“With some sarcasm, they write, “It is charming to say ‘. . . students learn science effectively when they actively engage in the practices of science.’”  However, Students will not learn best if they practice science exactly as do real scientists. A firm conclusion in cognitive science contradicts that claim.  Beginners don’t and can’t ‘practice’ as do experts.”  

“Not only do the Next Generation Science Standards shirk the necessary foundations in math and science knowledge, but they explicitly call for including ideological lessons, such as “Human impacts on Earth systems.” 

“For grades K-2, students are to understand. Things people do can affect the environment but they can make choices to reduce their impact.” 

“In grades 3 through 5, students will learn “Societal activities have had major effects on the land, ocean, atmosphere, and even outer space.”  “Societal activities can also help protect Earth’s resources and environments.”  

This is from part ESS3.C of the NGSS standards. “Human impacts on Earth systems” are huge topics, when approached legitimately.  They present quandaries to scientists at the top levels.  Yet NGSS imposes them on kindergartners. The objective, of course, is not teaching legitimate science, but indoctrination.”

Amazingly, ten states have already voluntarily adopted the Standards.
Such efforts, coordinated by the Department of Education, threaten the future of science itself.

BCN Summary:
Common Core is clearly not doing what it was hyped to do. It is clearly time for us to abandon these standards and the curriculum that follows.

Our children are not available for the transformative thinking of liberals and the assault on their minds.

The ABCs and the 3 Rs need to be our focus, not the accumulation of liberal global indoctrination.

Let’s get back to teaching and let’s see less propaganda in our schools.

Please subscribe to her newsletter and read her info frequently. I have met Mary Grabar and heard her speak. She is an expert on this subject and was a big contributor to this blog entry. Please view the link below.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/mary-grabar/common-cores-little-green-soldiers/