by Tammy de Leeuw
If you're chomping at the bit to get off Facebook and out in the real world of common core, here are ten things you can do, right now, to push back.
1. Educate yourself. Know the FACTS and the FAQS and be able to articulate them to anyone and everyone you meet. Remember, it isn't just soccer moms in mini-vans who are affected by Common Core- it's ALL of us.
2. If you use social media, tweet and post useful comments and information. Don't just voice your displeasure. Tell others about available resources, local Common Core meetings, names and emails of people in your area who are pushing the Common Core agenda.
3. Find groups in your state devoted to opposing Common Core and support them any way you can.
4. Write to the people behind this monstrosity- not just Arne Duncan, but Melinda and Bill Gates, the Walton Foundation, Pearson, and others. Anyone and everyone you can find who is benefiting from Common Core.
5. Join as many anti-Common core groups on Facebook as possible. Join the groups in other states and let them know you stand with them in their fight. Post notes of encouragement, tell your success stories and challenges. Solidarity is paramount in this fight.
6. If you are a parent and your kid is being harmed by CC, tell your story. Scan in homework assignments and let other parents see what Common Core is all about.
7. Start your own blog and share it with as many people as you can. Fill it full of personal stories, videos, and links to resources.
8. Stay away from politics as much as possible and focus on the larger issue: the encroachment of the Nanny State on your parental rights. Look for like minded people on the opposite end of the political spectrum and join with them. This issues transcends mere politics.
9. Keep up the pressure. Let your local, state, and national elected officials know that they will LOSE votes. This seems to be the only thing that grabs their attention anymore.
10.Find, sign, and deliver a Common Core data opt-out to your school district office. Tell them your kid will NOT be taking their 20 plus tests and you will not be cooperating with building the database.
Now that the genie is out of the bottle on Common Core, I believe the ranks of those who oppose it will swell. We cannot allow ourselves to be marginalized or dismissed by a motley crew of corporate fat cats, bottom-feeding lobbyists, and parasitic politicians.
If this 15-year-old can do it, so can you!
