The Tennessee Republican Assembly (TRA) has called for Tennessee legislators "to oppose the continued implementation of the Common Core Federal Mandates in Tennessee due to concerns about these federal standards and specific concerns about $700,000 recently spent to send Tennessee school principals to China to learn teaching methods that will be applied in our local Tennessee schools."
“We are already seeing the negative effects of Common Core Federal Mandates in our schools, and now we will have thinly veiled socialist and communist agendas promoted with Tennessee tax dollars,” noted Sharon Ford, president of the Tennessee Republican Assembly.
Ms. Ford cited the recent expenditure of $700,000 in “Race to the Top” money spent through Vanderbilt University to send 18 elementary, junior high and high school principals to China as an example of wasteful spending that is fueling a destructive agenda for Tennessee schools.
She said, “The Chinese Communist system does not value personal freedom and liberty, nor does it promote the free market system that is the backbone of American prosperity. China is neither as diverse nor as open to creativity and free speech as the U.S. It is not a political or cultural system we should replicate in Tennessee schools. When we see spending like this it underlines how Common Core can be called 'Commie Core'.
“We will see more examples of the liberal, anti-American agenda that is at the heart of Common Core Federal Mandates as more classroom assignments and testing materials are examined. Tennessee legislators need to follow the money and demand accountability in how our education dollars are spent, particularly when we see our money being used to instill anti-American campaigns in our classrooms.”
The TRA is a conservative wing of the Republican Party.