Editor,
After reading the Indy’s article last week on the school board candidates, I am astounded. It seems as if everyone has bought the idea that Common Core is a good idea. It isn’t. It is a program devised by the federal government (and we know how their programs turn out) to make all our kids the same, which will inevitably result in making everyone mediocre. Already three states have pulled out and more are considering it.
Ketta Brown states that teaching using the Common Core will make it easier for kids to adapt if their families move to another state. Really? Isn’t one of the things we are proud about in Laguna the excellence of our schools and the education our children receive? We really want to be in the same boat as Mississippi?
Both Brown and Carol Normandin, the candidate who was dragged into the race at the very last minute by current school board members, fully support this drive to mediocrity via the Common Core. To vote for them is to just march lock step into Common Core without regard for how it will affect our unique and exceptional students in Laguna. It means more of the same lack of transparency, more high spending on administrative employees, more expensive consultants to do the job of the unqualified employees that the current school board agreed to hire.
We need a school board who will question the Common Core implementation, hold open meetings and not vote unanimously on all agenda items. We need someone who will really look out for the kids and make sure that implementing this nightmare of a program won’t take away our exceptionalism in Laguna.
Two of my sons were taught by Dee Namba Perry and I know from personal experience that she is exactly the kind of person who not only puts kids first, but will listen to parents, spend our tax money on the kids and not administration and will question every item of Common Core.
I urge you to vote for Dee Namba Perry and get a school board that is responsive to Laguna Beach families.
Michele Monda, Laguna Beach
