- In the second $4 billion Race to the Top grant competition, 12 states won, but now three of them–D.C., Maryland, and Georgia–are not making enough progress on the promises they’d made in their winning applications, such as improving low-performing schools.
- 49% of Pennsylvania’s 156 charter schools achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status under a less stringent assessment method that was then rejected by the federal government. Under stricter rules, only 28% of those charters made AYP–and not one cyber charter!
- Under the Common Core State Standards, cursive writing is optional but keyboarding is mandated. That raises the question of how will students then be able to read such documents as the Declaration of Independence, etc. Plus, cursive writing enhances brain development.
- Critics of the Common Core State Standards–adopted by 46 states–say they provide a pipeline for the private sector to assess tax dollars and that the federal government is using them to lay the groundwork for a national curriculum.
- About 59% of Georgia’s students failed to meet the standard for a new end-of-course algebra test tied to the Common Core State Standards.
