Tommy Crangle, state House candidate for Tennessee’s 27th District, today called for an investigation of the recent delay in TCAP scores.
He said, "Only a few days before students went home for the summer, the Tennessee Department of Education informed educators across the state that TCAP scores would be delayed. Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman offered a waiver releasing schools from including TCAP scores in students’ final grades, even though including those scores is required by law. Commissioner Huffman has also been a vocal proponent of another very unpopular education policy, Common Core.
"This is not the first mistake that has come out of this department. The Common Core rollout has been shrouded in secrecy, there has been little involvement by key stakeholders in local school districts, it has been driven by Washington D.C.’s desire to control yet another area of our lives, it has been fed by crony capitalism (Microsoft, Pearson, etc.), and has victimized the very people it was ‘designed’ to help --- students, parents, and our communities.”
"“The result has been a wholesale disregard for local community standards and needs. Parents are frustrated, teachers are leaving the profession, and taxpayers are wondering what they are getting for the hundreds of millions of dollars they are investing annually. The testing, voluminous paperwork, and constant changes being dictated from Nashville are forcing many excellent teachers to leave the classroom.
“Just the math piece of Common Core is a disaster. I’m an engineer and I know that the math I learned was the same math that sent men to the moon and back. Education is the ‘great equalizer’ for all our children to be successful in numerous fields of endeavor. We absolutely cannot leave our children to some fanciful experimentation without compelling data that proves that students need to learn differently.
“It appears that the Department of Education wants parents and teachers left out of this equation and I am committed to keeping them in it. We need better parent/teacher partnerships to make education the best it can be.”
Mr. Crangle, a professional engineer and former TVA executive, is on the ballot for the Aug. 7 election. Early voting begins Friday, July 18.
Tennessee House District 27 includes Soddy Daisy, Falling Water, Red Bank, Mowbray, Signal and Lookout Mountains, Lookout Valley and Walden.