Obama's Arne Duncan slimes women in Common Core attack - Rep. Stockman Calls for Resignation

the following is a press release I got from Congressman Steve Stockman today:

Stockman asks Obama to fire Duncan over anti-women comments
Obama education secretary says critics are just suburban moms with dumb kids

WASHINGTON -- Congressman Steve Stockman Monday asked President Barack Obama to fire Education Secretary Arne Duncan after comments Friday in which Duncan dismissed opponents of Common Core as suburban moms with dumb kids.

“The Obama administration is now using ‘suburban mom’ as a dismissive slur and even attacking the children of political opponents,” said Stockman. “It’s typical of the Obama administration’s disrespectful treatment of women who express differing opinions. He even called moms and dads with families ‘fringe groups.’”

“If there is a ‘War on Women’ the Obama administration just launched a tactical strike,” said Stockman. “Obama should fire Duncan for saying some opponents of Common Core should be dismissed because of their race and gender.”

“It’s fascinating to me that some of the pushback is coming from, sort of, white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were, and that’s pretty scary,” Duncan said in a speech Friday in Richmond, Va., addressing the Council of Chief State Schools Officers Organization.

“Common Core is Obamacare for education. It’s a top-down, one-size-fits-all that brings all children down to a common level,” said Stockman. “Opposition comes from men and women of all races who don’t want their children trapped in Common Core’s failure factory.”

Duncan’s remarks were confirmed by Education Department Assistant Secretary for Communications and Outreach Massie Ritsch and reported Saturday by the Washington Post.

“Opposition to Common Core must be led by the states. Texas may not have officially taken Common Core standards, but they did work with the same groups in the writing of the TEKS. Texas needs to kill CScope and reject Race to the Top funding if we are to get Washington mediocrity out of our schools,” said Stockman.

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Feds Eliminate Mom & Dad From Education Aid Forms

article below fro Todd Starnes of Fox News Radio: http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/feds-eliminate-mom-dad-from-education-aid-forms.html

By Todd Starnes
So long, mom and dad. Hello, Parent 1 and Parent 2.
The U.S. Dept. of Education announced new terminology for federal student aid forms to describe parents regardless of their marital status or gender. The new monikers will be used beginning with the 2014-2015 year.
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The 2014-2015 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will provide a new option for dependent applicants to describe their parents’ marital status as “unmarried and both parents living together.”
The new form will also use terms like “Parent 1 (father/mother/stepparent)” and “Parent 2 (father/mother/stepparent)” instead of gender-specific terms like “mother” and “father.”
“All students should be able to apply for federal student aid within a system that incorporates their unique family dynamics,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a statement. “These changes will allow us to more precisely calculate federal student aid eligibility based on what a student’s whole family is able to contribute and ensure taxpayer dollars are better targeted toward those students who have the most need, as well as provide an inclusive form that reflects the diversity of American families.”
The Dept. of Education said the changes were made because “gender-specific terms also fail to capture income and other information from one parent when a student’s parents are in a same-sex marriage under state law but not federally recognized under the Defense of Marriage Act.”
Gay rights organizations praised the move.
Shawn Gaylord, director of public policy for the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Network told the Washington Blade the change would ensure that sexual orientation and gender identity would not be used to discriminate against students.
Despite questions about whether these changes would result in cost savings for same-sex households, LGBT groups like the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network praised the move to include same-sex households in FAFSA.
“We’re thrilled by the Department of Education’s decision to allow students filling out the FAFSA to accurately describe the makeup of their family, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Gaylord told the publication.
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Obama's Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Used Incorrect Grammar to Criticize Governor Perry

The following is part of a letter I received from Donna Garner. Donna calls out Arne Duncan for using incorrect Grammar while Duncan criticized Governor Perry.Thanks for the info Donna! - David Bellow

ARNE, LET’S START WITH AN ENGLISH LESSON

U. S. Sectretary of Education Arne Duncan decided to take a cheap shot at Texas Gov. Rick Perry by saying, “Far too few of their [Texas] high school graduates are actually prepared to go on to college…I feel very, very badly for the children there.”

First of all, Arne Duncan, the highest-level education official in our land, used incorrect grammar to criticize Gov. Perry and our Texas education standards.  The word “badly” is an adverb to be used with an action verb; “bad” is a predicate adjective to be used after the intransitive linking verb “feel.”  Duncan should have said, “I feel very, very bad for the children there.”

Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott Calls Out Obama's Education Secretary Arne Duncan for Lying about Texas Education

The Following is a letter sent from Robert Scott (Education Commissioner of Texas) to Arne Duncan (Obama's Education Secretary) following Duncan's Misinformed Criticism of the Education Standards in Texas

Mr. Secretary,

I have read your recent comments criticizing Texas public education, and I am disappointed that you have never raised your concerns during any of our personal conversations. If you had, I may have been able to correct any misunderstanding you have about Texas public schools and the efforts of the 333,000 teachers and the 4.8 million students who have been striving to meet increasing standards and graduation requirements.

Your pity is misplaced and demeans the hard work that is taking place in schools across Texas. Texas students are doing very well and in many cases outperforming their national peers. Since you appear to be misinformed about the achievements of Texas educators and students I would ask that you consider the following information: 

-- In 2009, Texas ranked 7th in a 26 state comparison of the only states reporting four-year on-time graduation rates. That year Texas' on-time graduation rate was 80.6%. The Texas on-time graduation rate for 2010 is now 84.3%, an amazing 3.7 percentage point increase in a single year on the dropout indicator that you are now requiring all states to report to the Department. 

-- Texas is ranked 13th in Ed Week's Quality Counts report. Quality Counts gave Texas an "A" in "Standards, Assessment and Accountability," and an "A" in "Transitions and Alignment" of the Texas system with college and career readiness. This year's graduating class is the first to graduate under Texas' required 4x4 graduation requirements (four years of math, science, English language arts and social studies) and we are already seeing great things from the class of 2011. 

-- The Texas class of 2011 posted a record-high math score on the ACT college entrance exam. The Texas average math score was 21.5 and was higher than the national average of 21.1. ACT scores from 2007 to 2011 showed increases in all four subjects. 

-- The 2009 NAEP Science results were impressive, as well. Texas' African American eighth-grade students earned the highest score in the nation and our Hispanic eighth-grade students were eighth. Only eighth-grade students attending the Department of Defense schools scored higher than Texas' white students who were tied with white students in Massachusetts. On the fourth-grade test, Texas' African American students out-performed their peers in every state accept Virginia and those students attending Department of Defense Schools. Texas' fourth-grade white students were ranked third behind only Virginia and Massachusetts. 

-- We are also a leader in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. Texas has established 59 STEM schools, 7 STEM professional development centers and is a leading state in creating a national STEM network of states that want to pursue STEM education reform. Texas' STEM reform began in 2005, long before your administration decided to model this and other aspects of your reform agenda on the efforts that have been taking place in Texas for nearly a decade. 

Finally, I'm not sure where you are getting your information regarding class sizes in Texas public schools. Texas is experiencing a four-year trend of class sizes getting smaller across the board in both elementary grades and in core subjects in high school. If you would like to see the actual data, I would be more than happy to provide it for you. 

As you can see, Texas has a strong record, and I am proud of the accomplishments of Texas educators and students. It is clear that they have risen to the challenge of higher standards and expectations placed before them.

Rather than simply talking about education reform, Texas policy makers, educators and students have delivered. I look forward to seeing the student performance results of your efforts to centralize more control of public education in Washington, D.C.

Robert Scott

Commissioner of Education