Fordham’s Michael Petrilli: Manufacturing “Emotion” for Common Core
I am sitting in my easy chair on this Saturday afternoon, and I am trying not to write any posts. I know that I need a rest. Sure enough, though, I come across Common Core State Standards (CCSS) promotional slant from the brand-spanking new, non-teacher-practitioner president of the Gates-funded Fordham Institute, dedicated think tanker Michael Petrilli.
I plan to keep this post brief and get back to my chair.
On the eve of his first day as Fordham Institute president, Petrilli wrote this piece in which he dismisses the idea that anti-CCSS sentiment has “momentum,” one reason being that 42 states still have CCSS.
He states that only Oklahoma has really been “knocked off” of CCSS.
No insignificant event there, Petrilli.
The governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin, serves as the chair of the National Governors Association (NGA), one of the two organizations that own CCSS. At its annual meeting in Nashville in July 2014, NGA conceded that CCSS has “become divisive”; the Wall Street Journal notes that both political parties are “internally split” over CCSS. Therefore, NGA, one of two organizations that has been actively promoting CCSS since 2008, is taking no official position on CCSS in 2014.
Uh, oh.
Now, Petrilli does admit that he and others promoting CCSS “are getting our butts kicked… in the conservative media.” This acknowledgement is noteworthy since CCSS promotion is well funded with Gates money. In fact, Susan Berry of Brietbartnotes that CCSS has a fresh infusion of $10.3 million from Gates for a “PR blitz that supporters hope will promote similar ‘emotional’ fervor for the standards initiative.”
Here is that $10.3 million Gates grant, paid in May 2014 to the New Venture Fund:
New Venture FundDate: May 2014
Purpose: to support the successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards and related assessments through comprehensive and targeted communications and advocacy in key states and the District of Columbia [Emphasis added.]
Amount: $10,300,300
Comprehensive and targeted communications– and New Venture Fund is to do the job Fordham’s Michael Petrilli: Manufacturing “Emotion” for Common Core | deutsch29: