FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2013
SUBJECT: CSCOPE CURRICULUM
From: DAVID BRADLEY, State Board of education,
District 7
Contact: Theone Bradley
bttbradley@yahoo.com
409-745-9195
Many are asking questions about the
accessibility, content and structure of CSCOPE, which is now being used in 80
percent of Texas school districts. Some call it “curriculum,” while others
describe it simply as “lesson plans.” Its development began a decade ago when
teachers were looking for lesson plans to align with new standards being
adopted by the State Board of Education (SBOE). By law, curriculum is reviewed
by the SBOE, while lesson plans are not. In essence, CSCOPE is now an online
curriculum program marketed to individual school districts by members of the
Regional Education Service Centers. It was not coordinated through the Texas
Education Agency, and it was never reviewed or approved by the SBOE to assure
conformity with Texas curriculum standards.
Concerns regarding parental access stem
from the ten-page CSCOPE contract that teachers are required to sign prior to
using the curriculum. It prohibits educators from showing CSCOPE content to
parents. This directly conflicts with the state law assuring parents the right
to review any and all curriculum used in public schools to instruct their
children. In this same vein, it took the Chairman of our Education Board six
months to obtain an access password from CSCOPE developers known as the Texas
Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative (TESCCC). The TESCCC board is
comprised of the 20 executive directors of the 20 publicly funded Regional
Education Service Centers in Texas. Access to their meetings and minutes was
repeatedly denied until the Texas Attorney General insisted that their meetings
be posted and open to the public in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings
Act.
Reports of questionable CSCOPE content
range from viewing the Boston Tea Party as an act of terrorism to requiring
students to design a flag for a new socialist country. One document handed out
during a 2012 CSCOPE summer training session called for rigid compliance with
CSCOPE content, stating that steps should be taken to ensure that “individual
teachers do not have the option to disregard or replace assigned content.” Yet
today, the CSCOPE website claims that CSCOPE curriculum is “customizable” and
“aligned with” Texas state standards.
Also of concern is the fact that state
employees have used public funds to develop a product and are then turning
around and selling it to Texas schools. Texas taxpayers are essentially paying
for the work twice. And despite protestations that the Regional Service Centers
have yet to “break even on their investment,” any amount of money paid for
CSCOPE multiplied by four million Texas students is a hefty sum! In my mind,
there is an obvious conflict of interest when employees of the Regional Service
Centers decide to market their own product to a captive audience of school
districts that they are already employed to serve.
In order to cut costs and bolster
competition, SB 6 of the 2011 legislative session expanded the term,
“instructional materials,” to include hardware, software, etc. Textbook money
is now sent directly to individual school districts, which are no longer
required to purchase SBOE-approved curriculum that has been reviewed and
certified as conforming to state standards. This month, the Texas Legislature
took measures to regulate CSCOPE after learning of the issues described above.
Senators Dan Patrick and Donna Campbell filed SB 1406, which, if passed, would
require CSCOPE to come under the authority and scrutiny of the SBOE.
We have apparently come full circle. In
the quest for taxpayer savings, we are being double-billed, and higher state
standards are being set aside for online curriculum that can be changed with a
simple keystroke. In the short term, SB 1406 needs our support so CSCOPE can be
brought under the review of the SBOE to ensure content compliance for our Texas
students. In the long term, new legislation and contracts must be developed for
the new era of online education resources so we can continue to ensure Texas’ high
standards of content are met.
David Bradley
State Board of
Education, District 7
Representing
Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty,
Newton, Orange, Sabine, San Augustine and Tyler Counties
