I have brushed my teeth twice a day, almost every day for 45 years. During that time I have purchased and used scores of toothbrushes, miles of floss and gallons of toothpaste. Because of this experience, I now consider myself to be an expert in dentistry. And due to this expertise I will now determine what practices and tools YOUR dentist will use when he/she is working on YOUR mouth. And don’t try to convince me that my passion to fix dentistry is misguided. My opinion is all that matters….
Welcome to the twisted logic / worldview of the Anti-CSCOPE loony. You would think that these people would be ignored and they would crawl back to their bunkers and re-adjust their tin foil hats. That is what has always happed in the past. But now thanks to social media and a group of ambitious, pandering politicians, these people have had their craziness reinforced. So in the interest of reason and truth (which evidently in Anti-SCOPE Loony worldview, is no longer the American way), I will address some of their most compelling “facts,” presented in their own words. Ginger and Stacy, you are up.
StaceinTexas: Common core operatives in the U.S. Department of Education are actively pursuing CSCOPE as a way around the Texas legislative process.
Cain: I don’t even know how to respond to this. Common Core Operatives? Exactly, who are these people? Over the past twenty years, I have worked in Texas education from the classroom to the policy briefing rooms. I have met only one USDOE representative, Secretary of Education, Dr. Rod Paige (a Texas educator and mentor). He will be the first to explain to you that the USDOE has no real power. I’m going to trust Dr. Paige on this one. As for CSCOPE being groomed as the vehicle to implement the Common Core, don’t let the fact that CSCOPE predates the Common Core and the Common Core is less inclusive than the TEKS get in the way of a good conspiracy theory.
Gingerdr: Why would tax money be used to create a product then sell it back to the taxpayers (school districts)?
Cain: Blame your elected Republican representatives for this one. They not only cut funding to the Educational Service Centers, they then told them if they expected to survive, they had best adopt a business model and products that districts would be wiling to purchase. CSCOPE is just one of those products. Back when these decisions were being made, I was advising that CSCOPE should be state funded and provided to districts free of charge. But that would have required the adequate funding of education, and we haven’t voted for anyone who believes in that into state level office in Texas for the past 15 years. Also, to further illustrate that government entities selling services is not a radical, far left, education only idea… See every contract deputy program in effect in affluent communities across the state and state park admission fees.
Gingerdr: Where is the millions of missing money on this venture (CSCOPE)?
Cain: The “profit” from CSCOPE goes into the general budgets of the ESC’s to pay for such frivolous expenditures as electricity, water, paper and staff. Wasteful, I know. But what are you supposed to do, when the State does not provide adequate funding and support?
Gingerdr: have not heard anyone stanch supporter of CSCOPE voice concern of the parents who are pulling their students out of public school.
CAIN: Public school is only one education option available to parents. The choice to not educate your child in public school is driven by four primary reasons.
1. The desire for a morality-based instructional delivery model for your child – I both respect this choice and will defend your right to make it. 2. The desire for an “improved” peer group for your child – If you wish to cloak your fear and/or racism by calling it something else, fine. But we both know why you have really opted to not send your child to public school. 3. You want to avoid a consequence of your poor parenting – Again call it whatever you want, but we both know the “curriculum” is not the real issue. 4. Convenience – A non-public school is more assessable to your commute, home, etc.
Gingerdr: CSCOPE doesn’t even align with the TEKS.
Cain: This is where we cannot agree to disagree. Because you are wrong. In fact, it is the TEKS alignment that is the primary strength of CSCOPE. The lack of alignment occurs when teachers deviate from CSCOPE. When you bend a nail when attempting to drive it into a 2X4, this is not the fault of the hammer, it is a user error.
Gingerdr: this is worth the millions of dollars texas taxpayers are spending??
Cain: Yes. Take a random 3,000-student district. To provide this vertically aligned, TEKS correlated scope and sequence, with assessments and lesson resources (CSCOPE) will cost $21,000.00.
For the district to provide and support a lesser in-house product would require, at minimum, four content specialists and a secretary. This would require a minimum personnel expenditure of $350,000.00.
So as both a steward of taxpayers money and a taxpayer myself, I chose CSCOPE ten times out of ten. Which is why your paranoid delusions are so infuriating. By attacking CSCOPE, not only are you making the job of teachers exceedingly more difficult, you are costing me, and the state, money. Money that you and your ilk are unwilling to provide in the first place. At this point I don’t care where you go, as long as it away.
Think. Work. Achieve. Your turn…
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