If the CCSS Had Been Around When I Was In School...

My friend and fellow Alabama educator, Jenny Moon, posted this on her Facebook wall yesterday, and I asked if I could repost it on my blog.  Very powerful message, one many need to hear.

If Common Core Standards Had Been Adopted When I Was in Elementary School…..

written by Jenny Moon,  Alabama Educator

I started thinking about what my parents would have done if Common Core Standards had been adopted when I was in Elementary School. I know my dad would have said, “You do what your teacher says.” You see I was raised in a time when teachers were respected by parents and the community. I was raised by hard working, middle class parents. My dad worked at Republic Steel and my mother worked with my grandmother at West Gadsden Cafe. My dad would have never questioned the integrity of the teachers or the school system.

I can remember a time when my dad worked second shift at the Steel Plant and helped paint (the outside) Elliott Elementary School in the mornings before he went to work. Could you see parents doing that now? I can’t.

When I was in Fourth Grade, guess what happened to education? NEW MATH! How many of you remember that. I can remember my dad saying he wasn’t sure he could help me, but he did. He supported the school and the school system. West Gadsden Cafe had many customers that were educators. My dad knew them and he knew they gave their all to the students in this community.

When did the teachers and school system lose the respect of the community? I guess it as a slow process. But whenever it happened, it was a sad day for children everywhere.

I would like to challenge everyone in this community to rally behind your teachers and school system. Let’s all work to make education in Gadsden and Alabama the best this nation has to offer! You have heard the saying, IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD? Well it takes a community to education the children in this community. I am challenging the citizens of Gadsden to rally behind teachers and the school system to educate our children, ALL OF OUR CHILDREN.

Will you join me?