Parents, go check your child's textbooks. Do you see it there on the publisher's page? No? Well, don't just assume it isn't published by Pearson even if it says another publishing company's name because Pearson bought up lots & lots of publishing companies, but still retained the former names. (Click HERE to see all the companies Pearson now owns. We bet you'll recognize quite a few!). Pearson has a monopoly on common core. And testing. And pre-testing. And textbooks. And workbooks. And technology. And remedial help for students who fail the tests created by Pearson. And Pearson just recently acquired a major ADHD testing company (can you say, "conflict of interest"???) THEY are the ones publishing most of the common core hoops our children are forced to jump through. And they are making a boatload of our tax money off of it.
Pearson isn't even a U.S. company. Yes, you read that correctly. They have offices on U.S. soil for business purposes, but they an international corporation from the United Kingdom. Pearson spends millions on lobbyists and all-expenses-paid lavish trips for our elected and appointed officials in the USA to influence them. It is obviou$LY working for them.
This may seem far-fetched to think about, but we can't help but wonder: The British aren't still mad at the USA over that whole Boston Tea Party & Revolutionary War thing, are they? I mean, the U.S. hasn't paid taxes to them in centuries, but now our tax dollars are flowing into British pockets. Kinda weird to think about. Wouldn't making the other countries dumber make sense? Is THAT what is going on? It sounds crazy, but what other reason can explain: why is our children's curriculum is being dumbed down?
Pearson isn't even a U.S. company. Yes, you read that correctly. They have offices on U.S. soil for business purposes, but they an international corporation from the United Kingdom. Pearson spends millions on lobbyists and all-expenses-paid lavish trips for our elected and appointed officials in the USA to influence them. It is obviou$LY working for them.
This may seem far-fetched to think about, but we can't help but wonder: The British aren't still mad at the USA over that whole Boston Tea Party & Revolutionary War thing, are they? I mean, the U.S. hasn't paid taxes to them in centuries, but now our tax dollars are flowing into British pockets. Kinda weird to think about. Wouldn't making the other countries dumber make sense? Is THAT what is going on? It sounds crazy, but what other reason can explain: why is our children's curriculum is being dumbed down?
Even more suspicious, the second-largest stockholder in the Pearson corporation is "The Soverign Fund of Libya." Hmmm... That could explain why parents & teachers across the country are noticing a strange Islamic emphasis in their children's textbooks. Florida parents and leaders were outraged and required Pearson to re-print World History textbooks because of the obvious inaccuracies and bias toward Islam.
Tennessee parents, too, are upset about Pearson's latest textbooks. After dedicated parents read and researched new Pearson textbooks all summer, they attended the TN Textbook Commission meeting armed with proof. "On October 7, 2013 the state textbook commission came forward in a packed house to announce they agree, none of these textbooks should be accepted. This was unprecedented! The commission was praised by every activist, parent, community member and any one else that knew the courage and honor it took to stand up and make the right decision." Hooray! But HERE is where it mysteriously gets fi$hy: "On October 23, 2013 the commission met for an emergency session. What was about to happen was disappointing, but more than that it was shady and dishonorable. The decision was overturned. 3 of the members of the commission that had originally had the courage to do the right thing, by voting against these textbooks, suddenly decided to change their vote. What happened between Oct 7 and Oct 13 remains to be seen, but with the disgraceful decision made, disappointed parents and community members were told by state officials to go back to their local school boards to demand change there."
Really?!? Go to our local boards? It is not the responsibility of locally elected boards to review and approve every single textbook in their district. That would take them 4EVR (said like a teenager with much drama) to read and compare every textbook option for every grade. Most school board members have full-time jobs during the day. There is no way they could do that. No, the job of researching and approving textbooks is clearly the job entrusted to the State Textbook Commission, and they are obviously just passing the heat to the local boards. Even worse, the Textbook Commission canceled their November meeting and won't meet until January 2014. Cowards. Or maybe they will all be out of town on one of those luxurious "training" trips to Australia, Singapore, London, or Rio de Janeiro paid for by Pearson? Momma Bears aren't saying they are, of course, but Pearson has been under investigation in New York State for illegally influencing leaders with some sweeeeeeeeet trips around the globe.
It is not just Pearson's textbooks that are upsetting parents... Last year on the PARCC corporate core test in New York, Pearson Publishing included at least half-a-dozen test questions with NAME BRAND PRODUCTS embedded in the question. Yep, they plugged name-brand products to thousands and thousands of consumers, oops, I mean, "children," who were forced to quietly concentrate on the test question. Hmmm... we wonder how much the sale of Mug Root Beer increased after that day of testing? or if the stock in LEGO increased that month? Are the Pearson test-makers so dumb that they can't substitute a brand name beverage for "lemonade" or even something healthy like "water"? No, they are brilliant marketing geniuses! Imagine the profit possibilities! And because teachers and parents are not allowed to ever see the test, nobody will ever know... Tho$e $neaky, $ly devil$!
The USA needs to wake up! We're smart enough to educate our own children. We need to kick those with profit motives out of our public schools before it is too late.
This quote by Valerie Strass in her Washington Post column is terrifying, but says it best:
"Future historians (if there are any) are going to shake their heads in disbelief. They’ll wonder how, in a single generation, the world’s oldest democracy dismantled its engine — free, public, locally controlled, democratic education. If they dig into the secretive process that produced the Common Core State Standards, most of their questions will be answered."
It is just a shame that OUR kids are in the middle of this. Not Bill Gates' children. Not British children. Our brilliant, funny, loving American children. This is too close to home for Momma Bears to ignore. It is gonna take American Mommas & Daddies from all races, neighborhoods, and political parties working together to make things right.
Tennessee parents, too, are upset about Pearson's latest textbooks. After dedicated parents read and researched new Pearson textbooks all summer, they attended the TN Textbook Commission meeting armed with proof. "On October 7, 2013 the state textbook commission came forward in a packed house to announce they agree, none of these textbooks should be accepted. This was unprecedented! The commission was praised by every activist, parent, community member and any one else that knew the courage and honor it took to stand up and make the right decision." Hooray! But HERE is where it mysteriously gets fi$hy: "On October 23, 2013 the commission met for an emergency session. What was about to happen was disappointing, but more than that it was shady and dishonorable. The decision was overturned. 3 of the members of the commission that had originally had the courage to do the right thing, by voting against these textbooks, suddenly decided to change their vote. What happened between Oct 7 and Oct 13 remains to be seen, but with the disgraceful decision made, disappointed parents and community members were told by state officials to go back to their local school boards to demand change there."
Really?!? Go to our local boards? It is not the responsibility of locally elected boards to review and approve every single textbook in their district. That would take them 4EVR (said like a teenager with much drama) to read and compare every textbook option for every grade. Most school board members have full-time jobs during the day. There is no way they could do that. No, the job of researching and approving textbooks is clearly the job entrusted to the State Textbook Commission, and they are obviously just passing the heat to the local boards. Even worse, the Textbook Commission canceled their November meeting and won't meet until January 2014. Cowards. Or maybe they will all be out of town on one of those luxurious "training" trips to Australia, Singapore, London, or Rio de Janeiro paid for by Pearson? Momma Bears aren't saying they are, of course, but Pearson has been under investigation in New York State for illegally influencing leaders with some sweeeeeeeeet trips around the globe.
It is not just Pearson's textbooks that are upsetting parents... Last year on the PARCC corporate core test in New York, Pearson Publishing included at least half-a-dozen test questions with NAME BRAND PRODUCTS embedded in the question. Yep, they plugged name-brand products to thousands and thousands of consumers, oops, I mean, "children," who were forced to quietly concentrate on the test question. Hmmm... we wonder how much the sale of Mug Root Beer increased after that day of testing? or if the stock in LEGO increased that month? Are the Pearson test-makers so dumb that they can't substitute a brand name beverage for "lemonade" or even something healthy like "water"? No, they are brilliant marketing geniuses! Imagine the profit possibilities! And because teachers and parents are not allowed to ever see the test, nobody will ever know... Tho$e $neaky, $ly devil$!
The USA needs to wake up! We're smart enough to educate our own children. We need to kick those with profit motives out of our public schools before it is too late.
This quote by Valerie Strass in her Washington Post column is terrifying, but says it best:
"Future historians (if there are any) are going to shake their heads in disbelief. They’ll wonder how, in a single generation, the world’s oldest democracy dismantled its engine — free, public, locally controlled, democratic education. If they dig into the secretive process that produced the Common Core State Standards, most of their questions will be answered."
It is just a shame that OUR kids are in the middle of this. Not Bill Gates' children. Not British children. Our brilliant, funny, loving American children. This is too close to home for Momma Bears to ignore. It is gonna take American Mommas & Daddies from all races, neighborhoods, and political parties working together to make things right.
