There has been so much said about those who are opposing Common Core. Some have described them as conspiracy theorists, white suburban moms (per Arne Duncan), right wingers, Tea partiers etc.
Here are some that are staunch defenders of values. Let's take a look and then you decide. Hopefully you will see that all sorts of people as color does not matter, party does not matter and even teachers and Superintendents are making a stand. All for the the love of children.
For example in Alabama:
- Two of Alabama's State Board of Education members--Betty Peters and Stephanie Bell whose vigilance against lies and corruption are speaking out tirelessly against Common Core. They were the only two board members that exposed Alabama State Board of Ed Chancellor Roy Johnson that was subsequently fired and tried along with 14 others, including a state representative; the case resulted in charges, guilty pleas or convictions of all 15. Their record speaks volumes.
- Alabama Baptist Convention passed a Resolution on November 2013 over their concerns about the Common Core Initiative and warns parents to be more involved and vigilant in what is going on in their child's education.
I am sure in each state there are staunch defenders of children and family such as those above. Here are some the whole nation needs to look at and pay attention to:
- The RNC (Republican National Committee) in April of 2013 passed a Resolution which says "RESOLVED, the Republican National Committee recognizes the CCSS for what it is — an inappropriate overreach to standardize and control the education of our children so they will conform to a preconceived “normal,”...
- 3,500 Principals in New York Speaking Out Against The Testings and Its Effect on Students & Teachers
- 500 Early Childhood and Education Professionals warning about "conflict with compelling new research in cognitive science, neuroscience, child development, and early childhood education about how young children l earn, what they need to learn, and how best to teach them in kindergarten and the early grades. " Here are names on that list: G. Rollie Adams,
President and CEO, Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, NY
Cynthia K. Aldinger,
Executive Director, LifeWays North America, Norman, OK
Edith Adams Allison,
Learning Disabilities Specialist, Amherst, MA
Joan Almon,
Executive Director, Alliance for Childhood, College Park, MD
Defne Apul,
Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
Ruth H. Aranow,
Senior Academic Advisor, Krieger School
of Arts & Sciences, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD
Cara Armstrong,
Curator of Education, Fallingwater, Mill Run, PA
Anne Austin,
Director, Early Learning Center, Baruch College, New York, NY
Ray Bacchetti,
Vice President, Planning and Management, Emer
itus, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Lyda Beardsley,
Director, Child Development Programs,
College of Marin, Kentfield, CA
Sara Bennett,
Founder, Stop Homework, Brooklyn, NY
Laura M. Bennett-Murphy,
Associate Professor, Psychology, Westminster College, Salt Lake City, UT
Marilyn Benoit, M.D.,
Past President, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
Washington, DC
Karen D. Benson,
Professor, California State University, Sacramento, CA
Eugene V. Beresin, M.D.,
Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Wendy C. Blackwell,
Director of Education, National Children's Museum, Washington, DC
Wil Blechman, M.D.,
President, Docs for Tots Florida; Past President, Kiwanis International, Miami, FL
Herb Bleich,
early childhood teacher, Community School 133, New York, NY
Amy Blesi,
board member, Winnetka Alliance for Early Childhood, Winnetka, IL
Paula Jorde Bloom,
Professor of Early Childhood Education, National-Louis University, Wheeling, IL
Lila Braine,
Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Psychology,
Barnard College, Columbia University,
New York, NY
Michael Brody, M.D.,
Chair, Media Committee, American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry, Washington, DC
Stuart L. Brown, M.D.,
Founder and President, National Institu
te for Play, Carmel Valley, CA
Sylvia Bulgar,
Professor, Mathematics Education, Ri
der University, Lawrenceville, NJ
Blakely Bundy,
Executive Director, Winnetka Alliance for Early Childhood, Winnetka, IL
Kathleen Burriss,
Professor, Early Childhood, Middle Tenn
essee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
Wei Cao,
Assistant Professor, University of Michigan, Flint, MI
Nancy Carlsson-Paige,
Professor of Early Childhood Education,
Lesley University, Cambridge, MA
Catherine Carotta,
Associate Director, Center for Childhood
Deafness, Boys Town National Research
Hospital, Omaha, NE
Julie Ann Carroll,
Founding President, Winnetka Alliance for Early Childhood, Winnetka, IL
Ingrid Chalufour,
Lead Developer, Foundations of Science
Literacy, Education Development Center,
Newton, MA
Barbara C. Chauvin,
Supervising Teacher, University of Ma
ryland Baltimore County, Catonsville, MD
Sherry Cleary,
Executive Director, NYC Early Childhood
Professional Development Institute, City
University of New York, NY
Carol Cole,
Executive Director, Sophia Project, Oakland, CA
Patricia M. Cooper,
Assistant Professor of Literacy and Early Childhood Education, New York
University, New York, NY
Jayna Coppedge,
Children’s Minister, First Baptist Church, Tahlequah, OK
Colleen Cordes ,
Executive Director, Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Washington, DC
Donna Couchenour,
Professor and early childhood teacher educator, Shippensburg University of
Pennsylvania, Shippensburg, PA
Milly Cowles,
Dean, Principals’ Academy, Mobile, AL
Ellen F. Crain, M.D.,
Professor of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
William Crain,
Professor of Psychology, City College of New York, NY
Sara McCormick Davis,
Associate Professor, University of Arkansas Fort Smith; President Elect,
National Association of Early Childhood
Teacher Educators, Fort Smith, AR
Diane Trister Dodge,
President, Teaching Strategies, Inc., Bethesda, MD
Aviva Dorfman,
Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education, University of Michigan, Flint, MI
Georgianna Duarte,
Professor, University of Texas, Brownsville, TX
Barbara Dubitsky,
Director, Mathematics Leadership Programs, Bank Street College, New York, NY
Eleanor Duckworth,
Professor of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Sean Durham,
Director, Early Learning Center for Research and Practice, University of Tennessee,
Knoxville, TN
Carolyn Pope Edwards,
Willa Cather Professor of Psychology a
nd Child, Youth, and Family Studies,
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
David Elkind,
Professor Emeritus of Child Development, Tufts University, Medford, MA
Ann S. Epstein,
Senior Director of Curriculum Devel
opment, HighScope Educational Research
Foundation, Ypsilanti, MI
Beverly Falk,
Professor, School of Education, City College of New York, NY
Stephanie Feeney,
Professor Emerita of Education, University of Hawaii; Chair of the Advocacy
Committee, National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators, Honolulu, HI
Margery B. Franklin,
Professor Emerita of Psychology, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY
Doris Fromberg,
Professor and Director of Early Childhood Teacher Education, Hofstra University,
Hempstead, NY
Joe L. Frost,
Parker Centennial Professor Emeritus, University of Texas, Austin, TX
Ellen Galinsky,
author and work life researcher, New York, NY
Howard Gardner,
Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Educa
tion, Harvard Graduate School of
Education, Cambridge, MA
Suzanne Gellens,
Executive Director, Florida Association for the Education of Young Children,
Tampa, FL
Roberta Golinkoff,
H. Rodney Sharp Professor of Education,
Psychology, and Linguistics and Cognitive
Science, University of Delaware , Newark, DE
Elizabeth N. Goodenough,
Lecturer in Literature, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Rachel Grob,
Director, Child Development Institute
, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY
Marcy Guddemi,
Executive Director, Gesell Institute of Human Development, New Haven, CT
Joan Gussow,
Professor Emerita of Nutrition and Education,
Teachers College, Columbia University,
New York, NY
Winifred M. Hagan,
Early Care and Education Consulta
nt, CAYL Institute, Cambridge, MA
Darell Hammond,
CEO and co-founder, KaBOOM!, Washington, DC
Jane M. Healy,
educational psychologist and author, Vail, CO
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek,
Stanley and Debra Lefkowitz Professor
of Psychology, Temple University,
Philadelphia, PA
Craig Holdrege,
biologist, educator; Director, The Nature Institute, Ghent, NY
Carla M. Horwitz,
Director, Calvin Hill Day Care Center a
nd Kindergarten; Lecturer, Yale Child Study
Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Carollee Howes,
Professor, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
Kim Hughes,
Therapeutic Teacher, Trainer, and Consulta
nt; 1999-2000 North Carolina Teacher of the
Year, Project Enlightenment, Wake County Schools, Raleigh, NC
Mary Hynes-Berry,
Faculty, Erikson Institute for Early Childhood, Chicago, IL
Olga S. Jarrett,
Associate Professor, Early Childhood Educati
on, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
Candace Jaruszewicz,
Director, N. E. Miles Early Childhood Development Center, College of
Charleston, Charleston, SC
Jim Johnson,
Professor-in-Charge of Early Childhood E
ducation, Pennsylvania State University,
University Park, PA
Constance Kamii,
Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL
Lilian G. Katz,
Professor Emeritus and Co-director, Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting,
University of Illinois, Champaign, IL
Merrie B. King,
Montessori Program Director and Associate Professor of Education, Belmont
University, Nashville, TN
Ethan H. Kisch, M.D.,
Child Psychiatrist; Medical Director, Quality Behavioral Health, Warwick, RI
Robert H. Klein,
Professor Emeritus of Physics, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH
Tovah Klein,
Director, Center for Toddler Developmen
t, Barnard College, Columbia University,
New York, NY
Edgar Klugman,
Professor Emeritus, Wheelock College, Boston, MA
Alfie Kohn,
author and lecturer, Belmont, MA
Linda Kroll,
Professor, School of Education, Mills College, Oakland, CA
Vicki LaBoskey,
Professor of Education, Mills College, Oakland, CA
Linda Lantieri,
Director, The Inner Resilience Program, New York, NY
Deborah Lenny,
Principal, Golden Valley Charter School of Sacramento, Orangevale, CA
Diane E. Levin,
Professor of Early Childhood Educa
tion, Wheelock College, Boston, MA
Susan Lyon,
President, Susan Lyon Education Fou
ndation, Mills College, Oakland, CA
Yeou-Cheng Ma, M.D.,
Developmental Pediatrician, Albert Ei
nstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Fran P. Mainella,
Co-Chair, U.S. Play Coalition, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
David Marshak,
Professor Emeritus, Seattle University, Bellingham, WA
Milbrey McLaughlin,
David Jacks Professor of Education,
Stanford Universi
ty, Stanford, CA
Gillian D. McNamee,
Professor and Director, Teacher Education, Erikson Institute, Chicago, IL
Deborah W. Meier,
Educator and Senior Scholar, New York University, New York, NY
Edward Miller,
Senior Researcher, Alliance for Childhood, New York, NY
Mary Sue Miller,
Lead Educator for Early Learning, Chicago Children’s Museum, Chicago, IL
Lowell Monke,
Associate Professor of Education, W
ittenberg University, Springfield, OH
Mary Ruth Moore,
Professor, University of the In
carnate Word, San Antonio, TX
Dorine Morese,
Instructional Coordinator, NYC Office of Early Childhood Education, New York, NY
John Nimmo,
Executive Director, Child Study and Developm
ent Center, University of New Hampshire,
Durham, NH
Nel Noddings,
Lee Jacks Professor Education Emerita, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Pedro A. Noguera,
Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education
and Executive Director, Metropolitan Center
for Urban Education, New York University, New York, NY
Susan Ohanian,
Fellow, Education Policy Studies Laboratory,
Arizona State University, Charlotte, VT
Sharna Olfman,
Professor of Clinical and Developmen
tal Psychology, Point Park University,
Pittsburgh, PA
Linda Olivenbaum,
Director, California Early Childhood Mentor Program, San Francisco, CA
David Osher,
Vice President, Education, Human Developm
en
t, Workforce, American Institutes for
Research, Washington, DC
Vivian Gussin Paley,
author and teacher emerita, University of Chicago Laboratory
Schools, Chicago, IL
Kim John Payne,
director, Center for Social Sustainability, Antioch University, Northampton, MA
Jane P. Perry,
Research Coordinator and Teacher, Harold E.
Jones Child Study Center, University of
California, Berkeley, CA
Helene Pniewski, M.D.,
Developmental Pediatrician and Child Psychiatrist, Family Service Association,
Providence, RI
Ruth Prescott,
Professional Development Director, Chicago Metro Association for the Education of
Young Children, Chicago, IL
Baji Rankin,
Executive Director, New Mexico Association for the Education of Young Children,
Albuquerque, NM
Fretta Reitzes,
Director, Goldman Center for Youth and Family, 92nd Street Y, New York, NY
Mary S. Rivkin,
Associate Professor, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD
Joe Robertson,
Director of Parent/Child Programs, Free to Be Under Three, New York, NY
Alvin Rosenfeld, M.D.,
Child Psychiatrist; Lecturer, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
A. G. Rud,
Head, Department of Educational Studies, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Eliza Russell,
Director of Education, National Wildlife Federation, Reston, VA
Susan Riemer Sacks,
Professor of Psychology, Barnard Colle
ge, Columbia University, New York, NY
Eric Schaps,
President, Developmental Studies Center, Oakland, CA
Lawrence J. Schweinhart,
President, HighScope Educational Research Foundation, Ypsilanti, MI
Dorothy G. Singer,
Senior Research Scientist, Dept. of Ps
ychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Jerome L. Singer,
Professor Emeritus of Psychology,
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Mary Stone,
President, Missouri Association for the E
ducation of Young Children, Springfield, MO
Maurice Sykes,
Executive Director, Early Childhood Leadership
Institute, University of the District of
Columbia, Washington, DC
Molly Thompson,
Director, Early Childhood Programs, Breakwater School, Portland, ME
Arlene Uss,
Director, Center for Early Care and Edu
cation, Bank Street College, New York, NY
Rosario Villasana-Ruiz,
Faculty, City College of San Francisco, CA
Macy Welsh,
Director, National Lekotek Center, Chicago, IL
Donald Wertlieb,
Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of
Child Development, Tufts University,
Medford, MA
Frank R. Wilson, M.D.,
Neurologist (retired), Stanford University School of Medicine, Portland, OR
Marie Winn,
Writer, New York, NY
Lisa Witkowski,
Director, Future Workforce Unit, Workforce
Solutions for Tarrant County, Fort Worth,
TX
Chip Wood,
Author and educator, Courage and Renewal Northeast, Wellesley, MA
George Wood,
Principal, Federal Hocking Middle & High School, Amesville, OH
Karen Worth,
Instructor, Wheelock College, Boston, MA
Note: Signers’ affiliations are listed for identif
ication purposes only and do not signify the
organizations’ endorsement of this statement. For a full list of signers, see
www.allianceforchildhood.org
- Dr. Gary Thompson, a Democrat testifying as a mental health expert before the State of Wisconsin on the dangers of Common Core and testings--here is video link.
- A teacher and union local president, Beth Dimino, from Port Jefferson, Long Island speaking out Common Core.
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has seen her caseload increas dramatically speaks out against common core. A must hear!!
- Former Texas Commissioner on Education speaks out against Common Core and RTT inducement to sign before standards were published.