Are you a delegate to the IEA Representative Assembly?
Yes. This year and for the past 10 years.
You plan to introduce a New Business Item concerning Common Core?
Yes. It is my intention to introduce a New Business Item that directs the IEA Leadership to withdraw its support of the Common Core.
Have you been impacted as a classroom teacher by CCSS?
Yes. Immensely.
The biggest impact with regard to CCSS is the confusion with respect to its implementation. Where as just last year the teachers in my school district used to have deep meaningful discussions about lesson plan design, student work, individual students’ performance and needs – we have now spent an inordinate amount of time planning for the implementation of Common Core.
While I believe teachers generally have serious concerns and questions about the standards themselves, much of the frustration around the implementation of CCSS in school districts pertains to their close correlation the standardized testing and the PARRC assessments.
In other words, time that used to be spent focusing on locally-driven and teacher developed authentic measures of student performance is now spent preparing for a test that nobody seems to know anything about. It has made for wasteful professional development for the past two years.
Why do you think the NEA has been such an advocate of CCSS?
Money, possibly? Promises from powerful special interests to give money to schools? Maybe.
But mostly I feel the NEA and IEA leadership fear the consequences for standing alone if they do not in some way join with the special interests many of whom happen to be in the midst of a full frontal attack on public schools and public school teachers. It’s the same “being at the table” approach that brought us SB7 and SB1 her in Illinois.
Fred Klonsky 
I fully agree with Jerry. What has really disturbed me the most is that we have not had one discussion about whether we find the standards appropriate for our students. Not one. When I raise this concern to my administrator repeatedly in meetings, he just says he will write my concerns down. Our district and most districts just jumped on the Bill Gates and Arne Duncan train that will ruin public education for many years to come. I hope that once the PARCC field tests occur next month more teachers and parents will find their voice and speak out.