It has been said that parents, teachers and school districts are crying out for a fix to NCLB. Many promises were made with NCLB, and yet now it is being called the “failed” No Child Left Behind. It is said there were good intentions. I believe there are some good intentions in ESSA. I also…
Last week, the House passed the renewal of NCLB with S1177. You can read about that bill here. Our own Kristi Noem voted for this 1061 page monstrosity with less than 72 hours to read it. We are told the Senate will vote on this leviathan this week. The education establishment has been busy helping…
This is going to be a long post. I want to put all information, we have so far regarding the ESEA/NCLB renewal, now dubbed the “Every Student Succeeds Act” (ESSA) in one place. Given that it is over 1,000 pages of legal ease, and it has only been available for 6 days, we know that…
It is likely that the House of Representatives will vote today on the ESEA/NCLB renewal renamed “Every Student Succeeds Act” (ESSA). There are many reasons to oppose this renewal. I want to highlight a few of them here. Over 1,000 pages of federal control does not equal local control. This bill was released to Representatives…
The Thomas More Law Center has filed the challenge to Common Core and the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC) against Gov. Daugaard, Dr. Melody Schopp, the South Dakota Department of Education and the South Dakota Board of Education, on behalf of two South Dakota parents. These Plaintiffs seek to stop South Dakota from paying yearly…
In light of the alleged mishandling of millions of taxpayer dollars through the GEAR UP program, run by MidCentral Educational Coop, Representative Lance Russell, Hot Springs, has called for Dr. Melody Schopp, Secretary of Education, to resign her position, citing the apparent lack of oversight of how taxpayer dollars are being spent. The request for…
Joy Pullmann, is a research fellow on education policy for The Heartland Institute and managing editor of The Federalist, a web magazine on politics, policy, and culture. She is also a former managing editor of School Reform News. In that capacity, Pullmann interviewed and produced podcasts with many of the leading figures in school reform. Before…
As I posted last week, the Board of Education postponed the full July 27, 2015 meeting in Rapid City, including the proposed Social Studies Standards required public hearing until August 24, 2015. (Link) Due to a proposed rules change public hearing, there will be a July 27, telephonic meeting. You can read the proposed rules…
July 15, 2015 This morning the South Dakota Board of Education held a telephonic meeting with the single agenda item of changing the date of the July 27, 2015 board meeting in Rapid City. One of the agenda items of the July 27 meeting in Rapid City, was to be the last of four public…
To complete the 26 member Blue Ribbon Task Force on Education Funding, Gov. Daugaard has named the additional members. The original members of the task force are legislators and members of Gov. Daugaard’s administration: Sen. Deb Soholt, Sioux Falls – Task-Force co-chair Rep. Jacqueline Sly, Rapid City – Task-Force co-chair Sen. Corey Brown, Gettysburg Sen.…
South Dakotans Against Common Core 