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9.1.24 – from Carole Hornsby Haynes
“Important! Support New Curriculum -- Returning Texas to Traditional Schooling!”
By Carole Hornsby Haynes
ACTION STEPS:
Please send electronic testimony to the State Board of Education at testimony@sboe.texas.gov.
Ask them to: “Please adopt HB1605 curriculum without any amendments.”
Deadline for electronic testimony is 5:00 pm on Friday, September 6.
(Please share this email and urge others to send their testimony.)
WHAT IS OER AND IS IT TIED TO AMPLIFY (A HIGHLY QESTIONABLE CURRICULUM PRODUCT)?
Amplify (CKLA) is a NATIONAL product which has nothing to do with Texas and is not aligned with Texas curriculum standards (TEKS).
In response to COVID school shutdown, TEA issued an emergency Request for Proposal (RFP) and contracted with six of the respondents.
They were tasked with providing content aligned with TEKS for K-5 English Language Arts Reading (ELAR) and Math that could be used remotely, in-person, or hybrid.
Turnaround was short because of the school emergency, so review and revision was ongoing which can be found in Amplify ELAR Texas, Editions #1-4.
TEA ELIMINATED AMPLIFY AND GAVE NEW CONTRACT TO FLORIDA-BASED PUBLIC CONSULTING GROUP
Based on further feedback, TEA determined far greater changes were needed and issued another RFP with the contract going to Florida-based Public Consulting Group (PCG).
A vastly different curriculum was provided -- TEA Open Education Resources (OER) Edition #1. (See lessons at this link).
TEA Open Education Resources (OER) Edition #1 IS aligned 100% with the standards and must be approved by the SBOE prior to its use.
Review and revision will be ongoing.
IMPORTANT: In the near future, the name will be changed to distinguish it from any previous version and from Amplify.
WHAT THE TERM OPEN RESOURCES MEANS
TEA OER is NOT aligned with UNESCO, the U.N., Common Core, or the Every Student Succeeds Act.
“Open Resources” is a common tech industry term. Teachers have used open resources for decades. Texas schools have been using unapproved open education resources for more than a dozen years. Under Texas SB 6 (2011), the SBOE was stripped of control over content; only 50% of content had to be aligned with the standards.
Publishers were heavily influenced by teacher unions so textbooks were filled with academic content fused with Common Core, social justice, LGBT, Critical Race Theory, and wokeism.
Under SB 6, schools could start spending state tax money for non-SBOE approved materials.
District use of state funding for SBOE-unapproved technological products, especially online learning, literally exploded after 2011.
This began the shift away from textbooks to online learning and wide use of SBOE curriculum that the elected members of the Texas State Board of Education DID NOT APPROVE.
Since 2011, NAEP math and reading scores have declined in Texas. Extensive research shows digital learning has been a causal factor for the decline, especially in reading.
Texas HB 1605 is highly important for several reasons. (HB 1605 link.) The three-cueing word guessing game (whole language) is banned and phonics and cursive writing are “in.”
The SBOE has the authority to require 100% alignment with the standards, effectively getting rid of “wokeism.”
To see what their children are learning -- and how their tax money is being spent -- parents can login to a portal to view the lessons.
Although available digitally, the curriculum is designed to be printed. Districts are incentivized to use TEA OER rather than unapproved materials at taxpayer expense under SB 6.
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8.29.24 – “One State Could Lead the Way in Returning to Traditional Schooling” -- By Carole Hornsby Haynes
Excerpts from this WND article:
https://www.wnd.com/2024/08/1-state-could-lead-the-way-in-returning-to-traditional-schooling/
Vowing to "take back education" from the communism that has infiltrated it since the late 1950s, parents across the country have organized.
Where to start? Since dumbing down students was a key step in the 45 communist goals, tossing out socialist education and replacing it with traditional, classic learning is a critical first step.
Texas has the solution with its new TEA Open Education Resources (OER) for K-5 Reading Language Arts (RLA) and K-9 Math that return to hard-copy instead of digital lessons.
(Disclosure: I served as expert reviewer for OER-RLA.)
Lessons in reading and phonics are taught through age appropriate, highly interesting stories in history, literature, the arts and culture along with religion as a foundational tool for history and literature.
Nationwide, current public-school curricula subversively include communist goals: dumb down the curriculum; present homosexuality, obscenity and pornography as being normal; discredit the family; ban all religious expression, which supposedly violates the principle of 'separation of church and state'; discredit the Founding Fathers and the Constitution; discourage the teaching of American history; eliminate all good art and sculpture; and discredit American culture.
TEA/OER ELIMINATES RADICAL IDEOLOGY FROM CURRICULUM
The TEA OER curriculum eliminates all radical ideology designed to undermine natural law, separate families, and reshape societal values. OER returns public education to rigorous academic learning.
If OER is adopted by the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE), schools will be able to save millions of dollars by moving their curriculum from highly paid district and local staff who administer the SEL and LGBT programs.
Other groups who will lose their funding are the doctors who surgically remove young body parts. Big Pharma will lose funding from selling puberty blockers and the lifetime drugs for mentally deranged students.
With people no longer indoctrinated and dumbed down, those who seek control and power will have difficulty controlling a well-educated citizenry.
…Some demand that other religions [besides Christianity] get equal representation in schools’ curriculum. Why should they?
Our founding documents are based on Judeo-Christian principles.
Students learn the basis for the principle, "all men are created equal," found in our Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration is related to the Magna Carta, which is related to the most famous sermon in the world, the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus.
Students learn why the Sermon on the Mount is the primary building block of our Western civilization.
They learn the values and principles leading to the English colonization of North America, our founding, and the way our government was designed to function.
Students learn that, regardless of what is being bandied about, America is not a democracy but a constitutional republic with a representative-democracy system of governance.
It is important for students to become biblically literate because the Bible is the most widely read book in the world.
With the church being such a powerful influence throughout Western Europe during the Middle Ages, many references to Christianity and the Bible are found in history and literature.
Religious context is needed so students will understand literary references and historical events.
Do we really believe that countries where Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, or Islam are predominant will allow Christianity to be included in their school curriculum?
Why should America cave to the progressive socialist left that wants to annihilate the Christian religion to pave the way for a totalitarian government?
THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR COUNTRY
This nation is being hollowed out through the destruction of our Christian morality.
No amount of money or security guards will keep our schools safe from mentally ill shooters.
There will be violence until we instill moral values and positive character traits in our young so they understand love toward others and oneself and learn self-control.
WHAT OER TEACHES STUDENTS
OER-RLA does this through classroom activities and stories about the Golden Rule, the Good Samaritan and the Sermon on the Mount where children learn how to be good neighbors and the civilized way to treat others.
We will see more mentally healthy children as schools abandon radical sex lessons that lead a child down a dark path toward confusion and mental instability and, instead, teach the moral lessons in OER.
…With whole language and digital learning out and phonics and cursive writing back in, reading comprehension will improve. With highly literate workers, America can become competitive in the global market once again.
…OER-RLA presents many short stories about the Middle Ages including the building of magnificent cathedrals, artistic masters – including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello and Shakespeare – the Renaissance, and the history of Western culture.
Although many parents are pulling their children out of public schools, many will not.
…As districts adopt the OER, Texans will begin to see an upward swing in academic achievement and mentally healthy students capable of self-governance.
The good news is that this outstanding curriculum is free to download and use by anyone, including homeschoolers and other states. As Texas goes, so goes the nation.
MORE INFORMATION
5.29.24 -- “Texas Leading the Way Toward Character-Building Textbooks” -- By Donna Garner -- https://donnagarner.org/5-29-24-texas-leading-the-way-toward-character-building-textbooks-by-donna-garner/
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