Click Here For a Printable Brochure

Click Here to Sign the Petition 

What are the Common Core Standards?

The Common Core “State” Standards* are K-12 Mathematic and English language arts standards written by  the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Both the NGA and CCSSO are based in Washington D.C.

How it began

• In 2009, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), aka the stimulus package, “provided” funds for the Race to the Top grant.
• In order to qualify for the grant, states had to agree to adopt the not yet written College and Career Readiness Standards, later renamed the Common Core State Standards.
• To further entice states, to “buy into” Common Core, the Obama administration offered No Child Left Behind waivers in exchange for agreeing to adopt the Common Core Standards.

In Wyoming

• In January 2010, then Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jim McBride  applied for $159 million in Race to the Top Grant money. Wyoming did not receive the money.
• In June of 2010, the Wyoming State Board of Education approved the Common Core State Standards without following rulemaking requirements. The WDE then began to advise school districts that the Common Core State Standards had been adopted.
• It wasn’t until April of 2012, that the State Board of Education formally adopted the standards, even they already voted to adopt the standards in 2010.

Countering the Myths

The Common Core Standards are not State Led

· The standards were written by the NGA and the CCSSO. Both are lobby groups based in Washington D.C.

• The Common Core Standards* are copyrighted.
• Prior to the adoption of the Common Core Standards*,  Wyoming never had copyrighted standards. In fact our prior academic standards were written in Wyoming.

Data Collection

  Remember the phrase, “this will be on your permanent record? These so-called “standards” include an assessment mandate where all students will be included in a large scale data collection scheme.

• Straight from the ed.gov website, a shocking report that reveals data mining is being used for testing the new math and language arts standards. [Chapter 3]
• The only math and language arts standards being used nationally are the Common Core Standards*.
• Chapter 3 of the report discusses the use of
  • Facial Expression Camera
  • Posture Analysis Seat
  • Pressure Mouse
  • Wireless Skin Conductance Sensor

Click here to read the Common Core Standards Memorandum of Agreement

 Click here to read to Memorandum of Understanding for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium

Be sure to look into:

• The  NGA
• The CCSSO and its partners
• Achieve, Inc. who partnered in the creation of the Common Core Standards* and published the Next Generation Standards. (Also Copyrighted)
• Pearson, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Inbloom, and their connection to Common Core*.
• Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, WY signed a binding agreement in 2010, and again in 2013 when we became a governing body.

Why Stop Common Core in WY?

It is all about the money

• The standards are developmentally inappropriate, and cause children and subsequently teachers and parents undue stress. 
• Class time is reduced to “teaching to the test” because test scores as well as attendance are tied to school funding.
• Not only is your child treated like a commodity, elementary age children are coming home with hours upon hours of homework each night.
• It is discouraging to parents who cannot help their children  with their homework, because,  it is, insisted that parents don’t confuse children with “traditional” methods.

Sign the Petition & Donate to help us in our fight to stop Common Core* in Wyoming.   

Contact:

Governor Matt Mead: E-mail Governor Mead: 

By Mail: State Capitol, 200 West 24th Street Cheyenne, WY 82002- 0010 

By Phone: 307.777.7434

Contact your legislators

Director of the Department of   Education, Richard Crandall:

By Mail: 2300 Capitol Avenue Hathaway Building, 2nd Floor Cheyenne, WY 82002-2060

By Phone: (307) 777-7690

State Board of Education:

Joe.reichardt@wyoboards.gov                                                                                              

sue.belish@wyoboards.gov

kathy.coon@wyoboards.gov

pete.gosar@wyo.gov

hugh.hageman@wyoboards.gov

scotty.ratliff@wyoboards.gov

walt.wilcox@wyoboards.gov

kathryn.sessions@wyoboards.gov

belenda.willson@wyoboards.gov

ken.rathbun@wyoboards.gov

ron.micheli@wyoboards.gov

paige.fenton-hughes@wyo.gov

Click Here For a Printable Brochure

Click Here to Sign the Petition 

Read: Where is Wyoming? Proof that Common Core is Not truly State led Part 1

Read: Where is Wyoming? Proof that Common Core is Not truly State led Part 2

Read: Data Collection and the Common Core part 1