IMPORTANT ACTION ALERT

ACTION ITEM #1

STATE LEVEL

We need EVERYONE to participate and to send to your family, friends and neighbors!!!!!!!
GROUP LEADERS PLEASE forward to your groups.

PLEASE send this letter (attached and in the body of the email) to
House side:

1) David Hood - Dave.Hood@myfloridahouse.gov - (850) 717-5025
2) Dane Eagle - Dane.Eagle@myfloridahouse.gov - (850) 717-5077
3) J.W. Grant - James.grant@myfloridahouse.gov - (850) 717-5064

Senate side:
1) Kelli Stargel - stargel.kelli.web@flsenate.gov - 850-487-5015
2) David Simmons - simmons.david.web@flsenate.gov - 850-487-5010
3) John Legg - legg.john.web@flsenate.gov - 850-487-5017

     If we ALL take the time to email and call it WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!! But it takes all of us. If only a few act, then they won't take us seriously. If you took action- please let us know!!

     To make it fast you can BCC all of them on one email and send the following message to them.  Just copy and paste their email addresses.

(written by Randy Covington):

Dear Legislator

     There are over 7.0 million parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles with family members in Florida Schools. I am just one of 7.0 million opposed to the State Legislatures wholesale transfer of our sovereign rights to govern our schools by your acceptance of the mandates of the Race To The Top grants and your imposition, through those mandates, of the Common Core State Standards.

     The Common Core is an untested, unpiloted theory that purports to set a higher bar for Florida Students. There is no evidence it will do this. The entire process by which this was done in Florida is contrary to Florida Law and violates the spirit of the duty of an elected Florida Legislator.

     Does the State Legislators and Florida Department of Education support for Common Core mean all the pronouncements of the State elected officials over the last five years about the improvements in the results of Florida Students were not true? What was wrong with the Florida Standards that required a radical, untested departure to a new theory of education? Adding the 15% of allowed local standards to the Common Core State Standards, which you HAVE adopted in their entirety, additional standards that will not be tested, is nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig. You have passed a law that required teachers be paid based on student growth in learning and these new standards will not be tested. You cannot pay merit pay if you do not test those additional standards.

     Many of the 43 reviewers appointed to comment on the Common Core Standards had serious reservations about the rigorousness of the standards. Many of them were also disturbed that they had to sign non-disclosures to participate. No one we have requested documents from, can show us anywhere where any of the comments of the reviewers resulted in changes to the Common Core Standards as first presented for their review. Parents were cut out of the process on the front side and only given a sham three meeting run, after the fact, all manipulated and controlled by proponents to "participate" in a vetting of the standards. This makes the entire process a sham. Parents were shut out and the process was conducted in secret, in violation of Florida Law.

     Now, we have more bad news, a study is indicating that the implementation of the CCSS and the assessments will cost far, far more than anticipated when the Legislature changed Florida law to surrender our state, local and citizen's sovereignty to the Federal Government.

     The mandates of Race To The Top also subvert the sovereignty of parents to govern their children's education. The curriculum review process that existed for decades in this state, that empowered parents to provide oversight to curriculum materials was gutted in SB 2120 (2011 session) and the mandate to implement a Learning Management System contained in Race To The Top provides a backdoor for the Federal Government to deliver, unvetted, to teachers and students alike, curriculum materials through the Federal Learning Registry, all filtered and ranked according to the Federal Governments judgment as "aligned" to the standards. It will be our children's Google, all controlled by the Federal Government.

     We have become informed and we know now that what occurred is:

You sold our sovereignty!
You sold our sovereignty!

     We respectfully demand that you give it back. It is time to reverse course. It is time to repeal all the mandates of Race To The Top passed into Florida Law. It is time to Pause - please pass HB 25 filed by Representative Mayfield. Follow the states like New York, Wisconsin and Indiana who are rethinking. It is time to pause.

     Just one of 7.0 million Florida voters who will vote this issue in 2014!

     Sincerely,

     Name

     Address

TAKE A MOMENT TO SAY "THANK YOU"

Senator Hayes filed a bill that creates district level review committees for the oversight of curriculum materials at the country level. We need to thank him.

http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s11

This will take you to his page.  click on email this senator and leave him a message.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:  PLEASE READ
The House K-12 Committee, Chaired by Senator Adkins solution to Common Core was to CHANGE the name, not the Standards!!!.

How often have we seen our Congress men and women CHANGE THE NAME OF SOMETHING DISTASTEFUL BELIEVING THAT WE WILL NOT NOTICE OR BELIEVE THAT THEY CHANGED SOMETHING TO REFLECT OUR VOICE.????????????  READ THE ARTICLE BELOW AND IT WILL MOTIVATE YOU TO TAKE ACTION.

http://www.thefloridacurrent.com/article.cfm?id=36292622

 Hopefully this will prompt you call or write the legislators before it is too late.

ACTION ITEM # 2

FEDERAL LEVEL

Their solution? Keep the federal government out of the education business.

      Unlike Obama's takeover of our healthcare system, the federal takeover of education is not a done deal. During the ObamaCare debate, little was understood about the plan -- prompting a smug Nancy Pelosi to remark, "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."

        Common Core is different. We all know what it's about, and despite early support, gaping fissures are appearing and many are calling for a minimum of a two-year delay.

  This is a battle that can be won!

+ + 50,000 Petitions Needed For Immediate Delivery

      Only days ago, Grassfire launched the national "Stop Common Core" petition, and early response has been very strong.

Given the changing climate on Common Core, grassroots Americans have an opportunity to make a startling impact and keep Obama and the Left from taking more ground. But we must reach the crucial 50,000-petition threshold by next week!

If you oppose the implementation of national Common Core standards on education in Florida and the indoctrination of our children with the statist agenda, go here now to sign the "STOP COMMON CORE" petition:

www.grassfire.com/2014/02/stop-common-core

After signing, alert your friends and family by:

1. Sharing this petition on Facebook.

2. Forward this email alert to your family and friends.

  We must continue the fight to remove Common Core from our Schools. We must never stop communicating. This is a battle for the children and the future.

God Bless you and May GOD BLESS OUR AMERICA.

Leanne