What Can I Do?

Raising awareness is the main weapon we have against the destructive educational 'reform' known as the Common Core.  Local control begins with local knowledge.  

Here are some ideas for what you can do in your area:

1) Attend school board meetings.  Across our state, school board meetings are going on unnoticed by citizens.  I have heard from more than one board member how encouraging it is to see parents in attendance.  They have told me that it helps to remind them they are there to represent the community in education.

So grab your favorite caffeinated beverage and get to know your school board members and faculty at your next school board meeting.

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2) After you have familiarized yourself with how school board meetings run, you could take the next step and offer public testimony against the Common Core.  If you are anything like I used to be, and loathe public speaking, write out your three minute speech, practice it several times in front of someone you trust.  Work out the kinks and the nervous tendency to race through it.  

Your school board will usually require you to fill out a request to speak.  I have found it best to use a topic that is already on the agenda and tailor my speech toward that.  (Agendas are usually posted one to two weeks prior to the board meeting and can be found on your school's website.)

Speak from your heart.  Be confident.  (And it's okay if your knees knocking and your voice is shaking.  With practice, all that will fade away.) Take a deep breath and just do it!  Three minutes will seem like an eternity while you are up there, but you will also feel like it isn't enough time to get across your point.  Be succinct.

Make eye contact when possible.

And before you know it, you are done.  Congratulations, you have just spoken at your first board meeting!

Most school board members have not been exposed to the truth about Common Core, so you can also follow up with some helpful links in an email later on in the week.  You will find that most board members are willing to engage in constructive dialogue with the community.

3) Start a letter campaign to your senators and representatives.  Our elected officials need to hear from you!  Until they are inundated with thousands of emails, letters and phone calls from concerned citizens, they will not see there is a problem.  Remember that there are paid lobbyists filling their ears with the propaganda and rhetoric from the Common Core-proponents.

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4) Go to educational townhalls and ask questions.  When I first started doing that, I thought that I was going to get some answers from the elected officials that were in attendance.  I quickly realized that was not the reason to attend townhalls.  Use that time at the microphone to share information.  Preface any question you may have with a comment.  They can't interrupt you if you haven't asked your question yet.  Channel your inner windbag and d-r-a-w out the question. The idea is raise doubt in the audience about the efficacy of the Common Core.  The elected officals will have the talking points polished and at the ready, so don't bother trying to argue back and forth.  Just make sure your commentary prior to the question raises some eyebrows.  The goal is to get your audience involved in what you are saying.

5) Hold a mobile rally.  If you have enough like-minded individuals in your district, you could write some pithy anti-CCS points on your vehicle and go around to the local schools' pick up lanes,  baseball fields, etc.  Your vehicle will garner some attention for sure.  Pass out flyers to interested individuals.

(Photo credits Californians Against Common Core)

6) Start a blog. This is a very low-key/ high-impact way to be involved in getting information out.  Blogs are read from all over the world!  Be sure to utilize social media such as FaceBook, Twitter, Google +, etc. to publicize your posts. 

7) Use social media to the information out.  FaceBook and Twitter are very effective ways to increase the reach of your message.  Start posting pertinent articles on your FaceBook wall and engage your friends in a discussion.  Twitter rallies can be a lot of fun so brush up on your 140 character comments!

Joining FaceBook groups that are fighting Common Core is a great way to keep yourself encouraged and informed of what is going on across the nation.  You can find a master list of groups on the Parents and Educators Against Common Core Standards group.

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As you can see there are quite a few ways to get the information out there!  Choose one and go for it.