[All states need to take notice of this article so that they, too, can turn the tables on Bill Gates and his other profit-making cronies.]

“An Unplanned Gift for Texas Public School Parents from Bill Gates”

by Donna Garner

3.6.15

Texas parents, here is an unplanned “gift” from EdReports.org, and Bill Gates helped pay for it! Gates manipulated and “drove” the Common Core Standards into our nation’s schools to benefit him and his many vested interests. Now he is trying to replace all instructional materials (IM’s) in America with Common Core curriculum. Think of the billions of dollars this will put in Gates’ pockets and in the pockets of other education vendors and lobbyists.

Without meaning to do so, however, Bill Gates has produced a “gift” which will help Texas public school parents to identify the IM’s which are ILLEGAL FOR USE IN TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOL. Over 5 million public school students in Texas are NOT to use the IM’s rated highly by EdReports.org because they are Common Core-aligned!

After the passage of HB 462 during the Texas 83^{rd Legislative Session, then-Senate Education Committee Chair Dan Patrick asked the Texas Attorney General for a ruling to make it crystal clear whether Common Core Standards curriculum materials are to be utilized in Texas public schools.}

On 6.17.14, the Texas Attorney General ruled, “Texas school districts are required to provide instruction in the essential knowledge and skills at appropriate grade levels, and pursuant to subsection 28.002(b-3) of the Education Code, they may NOT use the Common Core State Standards Initiative to comply with this requirement.”

The TAG ruling makes it very clear that IM’s in Texas public schools must follow the grade-level-specific/course-specific curriculum standards (TEKS) adopted by the elected members of the Texas State Board of Education. Since Common Core-aligned curriculum materials follow the Common Core Standards and not the TEKS, the following math IM’s are ILLEGAL IN TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOLS:

Eureka Math (Grades K through 8 – Great Minds)

My Math (Grades 4 and 5 – McGraw-Hill)

Go Math (Grades 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Expressions (Grades K, 1, 2 – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Digits (Grades 6 and 8 -- Pearson)

Math in Focus (Grade 8 – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

If the Texas public schools in your district are using these Common Core-aligned IM’s, then you, as a taxpayer whose dollars are helping to purchase these IM’s, have the right and the responsibility to file a complaint locally and with the TAG’s office. Ironically, you can take the ratings documented for free by EdReports.org to support your complaint.

EdReports.org next plans to review high school math and K-12 English Language Arts materials.

========

3.4.15 – Washington Post