GRAFTON TOWNSHIP – Two former teachers asked the Midview Board of Education and administrators to rethink involvement with Common Core instruction mandated by the state of Ohio. Ethlyn Kennedy, of North Ridgeville, graduated from Midview High School and owns property in the Midview School District, so she’s a taxpayer, she said. As a former math teacher for a year and a computer analyst, Kennedy said she was concerned about Common Core, a system of educational goals and outcomes mandated by the U.S. Department of Education and adopted by the state of Ohio. Proficiency tests associated with Common Core are labeled, Partnership for Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, according to the
Ohio Department of Education website
. ‘Since PARCC testing is done 100 percent on computers, how are you going to meet the demand for hardware?’ Kennedy asked. ‘Taxpayers were not asked to approve this. Where is the money going to come from to pay for it?’ The majority of citizens do not know what Common Core is, Kennedy said, so school districts should lead public awareness campaigns. Kennedy asked how do teachers communicate with parents when children receive homework assignments in Common Core math unfamiliar to parents. Another aspect of Common Core that Kennedy says bothers her is data collection. ‘It’s an invasion of privacy,’ Kennedy said. ‘Common Core is more about mind control than about education.’ Kennedy gave examples of sample test questions that made untrue statements about government functions, confusing the roles of the executive and legislative branches. ‘Schools have been and should continue to be about local control,’ she said. ‘I feel that Common Core is contrary to local control, because it’s really about federal control. I’m very much against Common Core. I think it isn’t a good thing for children in our schools.’
Another former teacher spoke about Common Core. ‘I’m concerned about Common Core as a former teacher of language arts,’ said Jean Craig. ‘They seem to be moving away from literature and more to informational texts. I think a middle school student would look at that and say, ‘I don’t really feel like reading that.” Midview Superintended Scott Goggin said he will reply by email to the questions raised by Kennedy and Craig. In other Midview School Board action: Treasurer Nicole Spriggs asked for a petty cash fund of $300 controlled by the treasurer so she can send a teacher to a store for a $10 item, for example, and pay for it through the fund. Then all of the items would be approved by the board in a lump sum at the next meeting. ‘We do have board policy on a petty cash fund. It cuts down on paperwork,’ Spriggs said, adding the cost for the object goes into the same line item it normally would have. ‘It’s a good business practice,’ she said. The next Midview Board of Education meeting is 6:30 p.m. Aug. 27 at West Elementary School, 13080 Durkee Road. The board adjourned before going into executive session to discuss performance evaluations of the superintendent and treasurer.
