I am definitely not a conspiracist. In fact, I've been known to light-heartedly tease friends and family for being "Fox News junkies." But today there is a concern that I think you should be aware of.
Thomas Ratliff is one of the 15 members of the Texas State Board of Education. He is also a paid lobbyist for Microsoft. This conflict of interest means that according to Title 2, Subtitle B, Chapter 7 of the Texas Education Code he is illegally holding the seat, but the Texas House of Representatives hasn't taken the proper action to impeach him.
The idea of a paid lobbyist illegally sitting on a government board that makes decisions that impact over 5,000,000 of our children is a little disturbing. But then you add the fact that Microsoft is one of the two companies that profits the most when a state adopts Common Core State Standards, and that sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Bill Gate's Microsoft and Pearson (the country's leading textbook publishing and education testing company), spent over $170million working with the U.S. Department of Education to develop the Common Core State Standards and now both companies are raking in the profits as they market their education technology and products, which they say are essential to success under these standards. (Source: http://www.workers.org/articles/2014/06/17/profit-tech-corporations-gain-common-core-testing/)
Texas hasn't adopted Common Core, but school districts across the state are purchasing Common Core-based curriculum and technology to instruct students on these new TEKS because the two sets of standards have such strong overlap.
During my research on Texas' new Math TEKS, I have heard from teachers and parents who like the TEKS and feel the rigor and abstract processes will lead to higher level thinking skills. I have also heard from teachers and parents who believe the standards are fuzzy and developmentally inappropriate. But no matter what side of that line you fall, everyone I talk to says they were implemented too quickly, leaving too many learning and instruction gaps. And leaving our children and teachers in a painful struggle to catch up.
So did Mr. Ratliff or someone like him have something to do with this abrupt shift in Math TEKS? It certainly profits Microsoft for Texas to take a giant leap to align with Common Core State Standards because then their many CCSS based products can be marketed all across our great state.
It's a question that I'm asking, not because a good conspiracy gets my heart pumping, but because I want the first priority of every member of the Texas State Board of Education to be my children.
I e-mailed my State Representative to let them know I don't like the conflict of interest created by a Microsoft lobbyist illegally holding a seat on the state board. You may want to let your State Rep know too.
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