Under the Bus

Two thirds of our Alaskan K-12 students are now thrown under the bus by the
State school system which is attempting to incorporate the Alaska State
Standards (AKCC Alaska Common Core).
Clear data shows that:
One third of our current 9th graders will not finish high school in four years.
A few will become fifth year graduates. The rest will drop out for good. A
few of those dropouts will later attain a GED. Most will be stigmatized for
the rest of their lives. Extremely few if any of these students will later
attempt a 2 year, 4 year or certificate program.
One third of our 9th graders will finish high school and move on to
nonacademic ventures. A few of these students will change their minds
later and attempt a 2 year, 4 year or certificate program.
One third of our current 9th graders will immediately attempt a two year, four
year or certificate program. AKCC are, by their own declaration, designed
for this minority group of students, the college/career/tech bound. 23% of
those heading towards a four year program will finish. No data exists for
the others.
From 6th grade onward, most AKCC have little or no real life application for the
large majority of students who are going on to become retail employees,
construction workers, fishermen, radio talk-show hosts, small business owners,
food service workers, airline support personnel, oil field workers etc.
AKCC are aligned to the world view of upper level educators and social
engineers.
Throughout this booklet, I will:

Plead the case for 2/3 of the K-12 students whose needs are barely
addressed by the current broken paradigm. I affectionately call those
students the Dis-Served.

Demonstrate why the remaining 1/3, for whom the system is designed, are
also short-changed. I call them the Pseudo-Served, as the standards
claim to serve them, but actually do not.

Expose the multiple errors embedded in the AKCC.

Reveal the dysfunction of the testing system.

Expose what children are really learning in school.

Suggest a simple solution that is far easier than the complexity created by
the AKCC.
A short bio. My passion for this topic has matured during thirty-five years in
Alaskan education, watching students struggle to find purpose and meaning in
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lessons that have little or no relevance to their lives. I have taught in extremely
small villages, developed curriculum for decades, have traveled to many schools
across the state, and have formally trained many teachers in making lessons
locally/culturally relevant. I have authored many books, including Village Science,
Village Math, Accelerating Change etc. I have produced videos to encourage
students to get involved in higher level math and science.
I received a B.Ed. in Cross Cultural Education from UAF in 1979, and have
served in many statewide educational capacities including the Chairman of the
House Education Committee from 2010-2012. In that position, I watched how the
AKCC were forced upon the people of Alaska. My bill, HB 330 (2012), that called
for an intelligent conversation before their adoption was killed by Juneaus hidden
forces. All this entitles me to an opinion, but a very perceptive opinion that has
never bought into the Broken Paradigm. It is my fervent hope that the truth will
become self evident, and spread itself across the state.
Two Big Flaws. For millennia, adults have prepared young people for
participation in society. Only recently has that responsibility been seized from
parents and given to educational planners, most of whom have never made a
living in the practical world of firefighting, building, truck driving, shop tending, tire
changing, janitorial, tourism, store management, medical services etc.
College graduates design the pathway for the majority of students who have no
intention of following in their footsteps. The pathway of the majority 2/3 of
students should be designed by those already successful on that path.
As a result, two simple flaws in the AKCC stand out.
1) A preponderance of standards teach knowledge and skills perceived by
parents and students as irrelevant.
2) The few relevant standards neglect to demonstrate how to apply them to
real life situations.
Example.
8th grade Standard. 8.NS.A.3. Identify or write the prime factorization of a number
using exponents.
Does everyone need prime factorization using exponents in lifes toolbox? Does
anyone? Hardly.
My 8th grade grandson came home for Christmas vacation with eight pages of
math. One of the problems was, Five times your age plus four is your
grandmothers age. How old is your grandmother? Count the candles on her
cake, look at Grandmas ID, or ask Mom. Who would ever use that math problem
to figure their grandmothers age? You have to know her age in the first place to
concoct the problem. Problems like that as optional entertainment and challenge
are perhaps reasonable. Given as mandatory homework over a supposed
vacation, they are offensive.
Christmas problems involving miles per gallon (for shopping trips,) dollars per
pound (for the meal,) percent discount on Black Friday, cost of Grandmas plane
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ticket (plus tax) to visit, time-and-a-half holiday pay, and credit card interest are
all meaningful during the holiday season.
The reason students resist school, drop out, and why even the successful
ones have difficulty, is that a major portion of the curriculum appears worthless to
them. Figuratively speaking, teachers are tasked with selling sunscreen in
Barrow in January.
I had a conversation about the AKCC with a State Senator. He likes the AKCC.
I asked him why imaginary numbers are among the High School standards. He
looked at me rather shocked and said, as he walked away, Engineers make
really good money.
I have been on this planet sixty-nine years. I have met only two people in my
whole life who use imaginary numbers, both electrical engineers, who represent
0.1% of the U.S. population.
i squared = -3 is an imaginary number. Complex numbers are combinations of
imaginary and real numbers. Being able to manipulate complex numbers is one
of the standards that EVERY student in Alaska must encounter under AKCC.
How about an imaginary playmate? That would at least alleviate loneliness.
It is important to note that school aides, teachers, principles and
superintendents are generally not responsible for this conflict. They are victims
along with students and parents. They are tasked with carrying out that which
cannot be well performed: teaching standards few students are motivated to
learn.

Chapter 2
Clear Case Against the Alaska
Common Core Standards (AKCC)
Brief introduction/history. It is important to note why previous Alaska State
Standards were changed and why adoption of the AKCC was considered.
The Nations shift from norm based education to standards based education
was fairly complete by the late 90s. Norm based refers to how a student
performs relative to other students in the class or school, the norm on the Bell
Curve. This was a poor way to evaluate student accomplishment because being
surrounded by nerds or lazy people does not make a student accomplished or a
failure.
Standards based refers to how a student performs relative to a set of
standards, not relative to other students in the class. Either the student masters
the task or does not. Standards based education requires students to
demonstrate what they know, understand, and are able to do. There is nothing
inherently wrong with standards based education, but the standards must be
perceived as meaningful by students to gain their full participation.
Old Alaska Standards. For decades, Alaska standards were created and
modified by committees of professional educators. Math teachers developed
math standards, science teachers developed science, language teachers
developed language. Teachers chosen for those committees saw themselves as
defenders of the domain. I know. I was on and helped organize many districtwide and statewide curriculum committees,. The results were often ridiculous
compilations that vacillated from macro to micro in specificity, from useful to
useless in application. Most often, it was quid-pro-quo, Ill let your pet notion into
the standards if you let mine in as well. At one point, one of the adopted Alaska
Science Standards was that every child should be able to explain the Theory of
Relativity. and who would teach it?
The obvious cure would have been to have end-users in career destinations vet
the standards, but that never happened. Common Core authors recognized the
problems with the previous standards in all states, and attempted to teach fewer
standards, with a greater emphasis on the process of learning.
The cry for better standards was justified. The result has been horrific.
The following ten reasons beg every sensible Alaskan to reject the Alaska
Common Core Standards (AKCC):
Top Ten
1) As stated above, the AKCC are designed for the 1/3 going to college/career/
tech.They do not prepare the majority 2/3 who are entering a more
pragmatic lifestyle. 1/3 of students ride the bus. 2/3 are run over by the
bus.
2) Neither math or language AKCC distinguishes between essential
(necessary) standards and aspirational standards (those to which teachers
hope students would aspire.) This produces confusion on everyones part.
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3) The Math and Language standards are very different in format and
vernacular. One size fits all dominates both of them. Students heading for
construction get the same fare as students heading for Harvard.
4) The math standards, by design, are written in a language totally unreadable
by common, everyday people. This preempts parental involvement.
5) Concept vs computation. Confusion exists regarding the need to understand
a concept vs. the need to do the higher level math computations involved
in that concept.
6) The adoption of AKCC was based on several intentionally false assertions
by DEED. (Department of Education & Early Development.) Without that deception,
AKCC would likely not have been adopted.
7) The best research in the Nation, published by the Brown Center for
Education at the Brookings Institute in the Feb. 2012 report said the
Common Core Standards will make little or no improvement in student
achievement.
8) The AKCC are developmentally inaccurate and inappropriate. The
foundational assumption of the Common Core and AKCC standards is
flawed in a most critical manner, based on the false premise that moving
standards down in grades will challenge and motivate students. Greater
stress, not greater performance is the result.
9) Control over education has been taken out of the hands of local people,
seized by Nation-shapers and data gatherers far from local input. Juneau
mandated the takeover.
10) AKCC were adopted with no mention of the cost of implementation. While
any Legislative bill involving cost to the state must have a fiscal note,
AKCC were adopted with no revealed costs. Best estimates are between
$100-200 million. That is a lot of money for a program that the best
research in the Nation says will make no improvement.
A More Detailed Explanation of the Top Ten
#1 Under the bus. As stated above, AKCC do not prepare 2/3 of Alaskan
students for life after graduation. They actually create dropouts (force-outs)
because they do not engage students who need to see the purpose and
application of what they are learning. Those students intuitively know the
educational process exists for someone other than themselves.
#2 Aspirational standards are standards teachers wish every child would wish
to know. They will not be attained by all students, not even a majority of students.
The AKCC language standards are wildly aspirational, written perhaps for honors
students in a large high school who are going on to prestigious colleges. There is
scant little for the Dis-Served who are heading towards a pragmatic lifestyle.
Essential standards are those standards that are very important for every
student to attain. By definition, they are essential.
The AKCC standards are very unclear as to their own nature.

Are they:
1) Lofty goals teachers hope a few gifted students will attain (aspirational?)
2) Mandatory standards for every child, such that, if they do not master the
standard, they should not pass the grade or graduate from high school
(essential?)
3) A spectrum along which all students place somewhere? If they are on a
spectrum, accurate assessment becomes a challenge.
The following example for all students makes the point:
A-REI.7. Solve a simple system consisting of a linear equation and a quadratic equation
in two variables algebraically and graphically. For example, find the points of intersection
between the line y = 3x and the circle x2 + y2 = 3
That is an aspirational standard! Every child will not accomplish that standard If
the Alaska State School Board or Alaska State Legislature attempted that
problem, most would not be able to solve it. Yet this is an AKCC essential
standard for every child.
As a math teacher, I know how to solve simultaneous equations and find the
points of intersection of a line and a circle, but am absolutely stymied trying to
think of one real life example for the above, even for the upper 1/3 going to a two
or four year degree program.
If 2/3 of our students do not succeed on this and similar standards does that
mean they are ill prepared for life? Hardly.
AKCC were adopted, then DEED, behind closed doors, made private decisions
and has now identified the standards most often tested. This secretive in-house
rulership over the process omitted public input.
In reality, the AKCC math and language standards are the comprehensive
compilation of absolutely everything a college bound whiz kid should know when
entering MIT, Cal Tech, or Princeton. They are exhaustively thorough.
The crumbs that fall off the table of the college bound are not appropriate for
the 2/3 majority of our students, the Dis-Served. Those students will become the
heart, the essence of our communities and economic system. They must be
adequately prepared for adulthood by learning meaningful life skills. Suggestions
are on pp. 27-29.
3) Consistency. The math and language standards are very different from
each other in vernacular, organization, and format. They appear to have been
created on different planets. At the same time, the standards are inconsistent in
specificity.
This math standard is quite specific
4.MD.A.4 Solve real world problems involving elapsed time between time zones
(including Alaska Standard time.) (L)

This standard appears to be an afterthought inserted to persuade readers that

the standards have been Alaskanized.
Some standards are very broad, like this one:
Grade 3, Research to Build & Present writing. Write routinely over extended time
frames (time for research, reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single
setting, or day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes and audiences.
Some standards tell teachers how to teach. In the following, the teacher must
use tiling to teach computation of area. Note that this standard is for third
grade!
3MD.9 c. Use area models (rectangular arrays) to represent the distributive property in
mathematical reasoning. Use tiling to show in a concrete case that the area of a rectangle
with whole-number side lengths a and b + c is the sum of a b and a .
4) Unreadable Language. Very few people have read the math standards. An
even smaller percentage of those who have read them can tell you what they
mean. The individual words can be pronounced, but are baffling in context.
4.OA.A.2 (Fourth grade) Multiply or divide to solve word problems involving
multiplicative comparison (e.g. by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the
unknown number to represent the problem or missing numbers in an array.) Distinguish
multiplicative from additive comparison.
The Alaska State School Board performed the lemming lunge following fortyfour other states over the cliff on this one.
Imagine how the Dis-Served might apply the following 8th grade math standard.
8.G.3. Describe the effect of dilations, translations, rotations, and reflections on twodimensional figures using coordinates.
Most math teachers can read and understand this, but can most parents? Can
students see the purpose? That a student might be able to do the above activity
is possible, but to have the student actually describe the effect is another whole
level of thought far beyond most 8th graders.

The Webster definition of gobbledygook is appropriate. The Alaska State Math

Standards are gobbledygook. The fact that the standards are written in a
language that is not intelligible to intelligent parents is, in itself, sufficient grounds
for rejection.
Before adopting the AKCC, the Department of Education held public hearings
on the standards. I asked the Commissioner how they could be put up for public
7

comment when the public couldnt read or understand them. He told me that after
adoption they would be translated into language parents could understand. What
good comes from public comment on a document that is not intelligible by
intelligent people? Adding to the insult is the fact that Alaska has not translated
them into understandable English in the three years since adoption.
Why put standards in gobbledygook in the first place if they have to be
translated back into English to be implemented? It is not for precision. I think the
math standards are intentionally written in gobbledygook. Opponents are
silenced by intimidation.
Once readers look up all the words and squirm to understand them, they are
faced with the ultimate question, What for? Ponder this 7th grade standard.
Math 7.SP.B.3 Informally assess the degree of visual overlap of two numerical data
distributions with similar variabilities, measuring the difference between the centers by
expressing it as a multiple of a measure of variability; For example, the mean height of
players on the basketball team is 10 cm greater than the mean height of players on the
soccer team, about twice the variability (mean absolute deviation) on either team; on a
dot plot, the separation between the two distributions of heights is noticeable.
The following high school standard is simply written:
HSF-BF.A.2 Write arithmetic and geometric sequences both recursively and with an
explicit formula, use them to model situations, and translate between the two forms.
It might be added that, years ago, the Catholic Church had the wisdom and
concern to take the Mass out of Latin and put it in the language of the people so
they could understand. The AKCC math standards were taken out of the
language of the people and put into gobbledygook so parents will be too
intimidated to challenge them.
5) Concept vs Computations. The following point might seem a bit heady to
some readers, but is quite important, because Defenders of AKCC will bury
opponents with confusion if this distinction is not made.
Among the AKCC, are concepts that might be important (essential) for all
students to understand but not necessarily important for all students to compute
(therefore they are aspirational.)
The following two are among countless examples:
It is extremely important for students to understand the difference between:
1) a linear and
2) a quadratic equation.
A linear equation says one can of beans cost one dollar, two cans of beans
two
dollars, three cans three dollars etc.
A quadratic equation follows a steep curve. As one of the variables increases by

even steps, the other variable follows a curve which, at some point, soars wildly
upward. It is squared.
This is very important, because everything that moves above the quantum level
responds according to a quadratic formula i.e. Netwons third law, F=MA which is
expressed in ft/seconds squared.
The concept is vital, yet, none of the Dis-Served need to solve the quadratic
formula as required by the standards. There is a huge difference between
understanding the principle behind quadratic equations and solving the quadratic
formula.
All students should understand, look for and appreciate patterns like the
Fibonacci sequence. Yet, I cannot find one adult within my sphere of influence
who has once used a recursive math equation described in this standard:
F-IF.3. Recognize that sequences are functions, sometimes defined recursively, whose
domain is a subset of the integers. For example, the Fibonacci sequence is defined
recursively by f(0) = f(1) = 1, f(n+1) = f(n) + f(n-1) for n 1.
The Fibonacci sequence can be found in the leaf sprouts of a pineapple, the
flowering of an artichoke, leaf patterns and the arrangement of seeds in a pine
cone. For all students, knowing that pattern exists might be an important concept.
It may possibly be important for the Pseudo-Served to perform the computations
as college prep, but the actual computation of recursive formulas is certainly
irrelevant to the Dis-served.
Defenders of the AKCC math standards do not make the important distinction
between concept vs computation. The repeated challenge to such people should
be, Do students merely need to understand the concept, or do they truly need to
be able to do the computations? If this distinction is not made, AKCC Defenders
will continue to convince the world that wildly aspirational standards are truly
essential. Patterns are important, and the Fibonacci sequence is everywhere in
nature, therefore the students need to compute recursive formulas. They take a
pet notion, seek a far fetched application, and justify making it a mandatory
computational standard.
6) False information. Deception
A. The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) said the
Common Core Standards had been Alaskanized. I have gone through both the
math and language standards, page by page, standard by standard, word by
word, comparing the two, and there is very little Alaskan about them, with the
exception of the strange one that mentions Alaskan time zones. Two other
standards were added that have little Alaska flavor. Several more had a few
words added or deleted. The AKCC and the Common Core are identical twins.
Other states have played the same trick on their constituents, making minor
modifications to create the illusion that they have local standards. This deception

was perpetrated so the AKCC will not be associated with the Nationwide
awakening against the Common Core.
B. The Commissioner of Education said the math standards would be
translated into a language parents could understand after their adoption. It has
been three years.
To understand them, parents have to go to the North Carolina site:
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/common-core-tools/
DEED has not made an effort to inform parents of this resource, preferring to
keep the standards in gobbledygook.
C. The Standards claim to prepare all students and to have real life
applications. That sounds good. But, the proof is in black and white.
A-APR.4. Prove polynomial identities and use them to describe numerical
relationships. For example, the polynomial identity (x2 + y2)2 = (x2 y2)2 + (2xy)2 can
be used to generate Pythagorean triples.
I know what that says, but I do not know how it applies to anyones reality.
Another standard describes how to compute compound interest on a mortgage.
That sounds good, but everyone who works in a bank looks the data up on a
chart. No bank would ever trust its general employees to compute the figures
then quote the number to a loan recipient. Not one in a thousand students will
ever use it, and that would be after obtaining a Masters in Business Accounting.
The concept is important. The computation is not.
D. Industry involvement. AKCC claim to have included industry leaders in their
development.
Does the following sound like it was adequately vetted by industry?
G-CO.9. Using methods of proof including direct, indirect, and counter examples to
prove theorems about lines and angles. Theorems include: vertical angles are congruent;
when a transversal crosses parallel lines, alternate interior angles are congruent and
corresponding angles are congruent; points on a perpendicular bisector of a line segment
are exactly those equidistant from the segments endpoints.
7) The Best Research
AK DEED constantly insists that educational programs must be based on valid
research. In the February 2012 report, the Brown Center for Education at the
Brookings Institute, one of the most respected research and think-tanks in
America, clearly stated that the Common Core standards will make very little
impact, if at all, on student achievement.
Each member of the Alaska School Board saw the Brookings Institute report on
the Common Core before voting to adopt them. They saw, in yellow hi-lite, where
the best research in the Nation, using the NAEP test in which Alaska participates,
says the Common Core standards will not improve education.
The following quote is from that research report.

10

What effect will the Common Core have

on national achievement? The analysis
presented here suggests very little impact.
Just as the glow of consensus surrounding
NCLB* faded after a few years, cracks are
now appearing in the wall of support for the
Common Core.
Do not let the ferocity of the oncoming
debate fool you. The empirical evidence
suggests that the Common Core will have
little effect on American students
achievement.
The nation will have to look elsewhere for
ways to improve its schools. Brookings
Report 2012 page 14&16.
*NCLB (No Child Left Behind.)

8) Developmentally inappropriate
The basic assumption of the AKCC
Standards is flawed.
Everyone is aware that, if you believe in a child, the child will perform better.
You do not need a degree in education to know that.
The main assumption of the AKCC standards is that students were not
performing well in school, so they must be challenged more. In response, many
standards were moved downward several grades. Simultaneous equations have
been moved down to the eighth grade from high school. Kindergarten standards
include capitalization and punctuation:
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling when writing.
That is kindergarden? What happened to sandbox, sharing and naps?
The AKCC are developmentally inappropriate by a wide margin.
If students were disinterested in simultaneous equations in their HS sophomore
year, will moving that standard to eighth grade improve performance? .
Analyze and solve linear equations and pairs of simultaneous linear equations.
8.EE.7. Solve linear equations in one variable.
a. Give examples of linear equations in one variable with one solution, infinitely
many solutions, or no solutions. Show which of these possibilities is the case by
successively transforming the given equation into simpler forms, until an
equivalent equation of the form x = a, a = a, or a = b results (where a and b are
different numbers).
b. Solve linear equations with rational coefficients, including equations whose

11

solutions require expanding expressions using the distributive property and

combining like terms.
Can some 8th graders do this? Yes. Can all 8th graders do it? Absolutely not.
Learning should not be daunting and degrading.
If students werent succeeding in writing proper sentences in the fourth grade,
will making punctuation, capitalization, and sentence structure a kindergarden
standard improve their writing skills?
Here is a 4th grade language standard under Craft and Structure.
1. Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated,
including how the use of first or third person can change the way a reader might
see characters or events described.
2. Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral
presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific
descriptions and directions in the text.
Now, maybe a few 4th graders can do that, but not all.
There is a vast difference between believing in a child and putting more stress
on the student/teacher relationship.
Several 8th grade writing standards have all students identifying the theme of a
given piece of writing. although many 8th graders are not developmentally ready
to perform that level of abstract thought. Plots vs themes. They will be able in a
few years, but cannot do it in the 8th grade no matter how well they are taught.
If a spring track team is practicing, and the students are pole-vaulting 13-14,
and the bar is at 18, do will raising the bar to 22 make them jump higher? No.
They will get discouraged more quickly and go home.
The following standard is for EVERY 8th grader.
8th 1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and
usage when writing or speaking.
a.Explain the function of verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives) in general and
their function in particular sentences in order to apply the conventions of English.
b. Form and use verbs in the active and passive voice.
c. Form and use verbs in the indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and
subjunctive mood.
d. Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb voice and mood.*
Is it realistic to expect EVERY 11-12th grader to master the following standard?
1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
a. Introduce precise claim(s), knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of
the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an
organization that logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and
evidence.
12

b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most
relevant data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of
both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form that anticipates the
audiences knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as varied syntax to link the major sections
of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons
between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the
norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the
argument presented.
As a teacher, I would be thrilled if some of my students approached some of the
above and mastered them by the sophomore year of college. This is an
aspirational standard directed at an honors class of college bound students in a
big high school, not an essential standard for all students.
Moving standards down in grade level does not improve student performance.
It elevates stress. This is one of the main reasons the Brookings Report says the
Common Core is flawed and will not succeed. The Brookings report is on the
web. It is short. Read it. The Alaska State School Board, Governor Parnell and
his Commissioner were all given copies of that Brookings research in 2011
before the AKCC adoption. Still they forced the standards on the trusting public.
9) National Standard vs Local Control
Fourteen years ago, every Alaska School District had control of all aspects of
the education of its children. No Child Left Behind came along, and each state
was forced to adopt a single set of standards... of their own choosing. Since over
30% of the State educational budget is Federal money, Alaska had to comply.
Alaska had one set of standards.
Now, the adoption of the AKCC has brought Alaska back to the 1970s model of
State Operated Schools... dictatorial punitive education out of Juneau.
Additionally, since the Department had the wisdom to apply for an exemption to
No Child Left Behind, the waiver was granted with the condition that 30% of
teacher evaluations will be based on student performance on tests of the AKCC.
Teachers are compelled to teach them.
Who would aspire to be a teacher in the YK Delta when evaluations are based
on how well students describe verbals and do pythagorean triples? No wonder
there is a shortage of bush teachers.
Mandatory standards for ALL children with no significant alternatives, no real
options have been moved far beyond parental influence. Charter schools and
home schoolers must also comply with and be tested on the AKCC. Educational
standards have been turned into standardization, a Nationwide cookie-cutter.
Opponents of the Common Core and identical twin, AKCC, accurately point to
the data-gathering component embedded in the system that pretends to track
student progress for student benefit. In reality, the system feeds National
databases that threaten personal freedoms. The violation of 4th Amendment
13

rights by the Federal government in wiretapping and data gathering on innocent

citizens is unquestionable, and gives credence to the concern that AKCC and
Common Core will be used for data gathering and predicting behavior of all
students.
10 ) Funding. No one has yet made public the financial cost of implementing
AKCC. My best sources, with decades of experience in statewide education, say
that it will cost between $100-200 million to implement the AKCC. That is a
considerable sum of money for a maneuver that the best research in the Nation
says will make little or no improvement in student achievement. When a
Legislative bill is introduced, it receives a fiscal note from DEED, i.e. estimated
cost of implementation. However, DEED has never revealed the fiscal burden for
AKCC adoption. As a matter of fact, DEED has persistently avoided giving
straight answers when asked by the public and Legislators. Both would balk
immediately if the facts were known. Costs include multi-million dollar testing
devices, professional development for teachers and school districts, new textual
materials and curriculum development.
With severe budget restraints that now exist, how can such a move be justified
if the cost is great and the benefit nonexistent? The need for revision will become
apparent within a few years and the process will have to be revisited at additional
expense.

14

Chapter 3
A Few More Pieces
I have cut and pasted many of the AKCC standards into this text. They are
boring, but argue against themselves once they are exposed. I am trusting that
the obvious will speak for itself once it is made manifest. Having seen them, the
reader can make personal judgements and not have to rely upon my
observations and conclusions.
Quick review. Based on accurate Alaska Post Secondary Commission data
from 2012, of our current 9th graders:
One third will drop out of high school before graduation.
One third will graduate high school and move on to a pragmatic lifestyle.
Combined with the drop-outs, I call this group the Dis-Served.
One third will attempt a two year, four year, or certificate program. The AKCC,
by their own direct admission, are designed for the college/career/tech students.
In reality, under the AKCC, the dropout rate will increase, as the frustration level
is much higher than before.
The system claims to prepare students for college and career/tech.

Every child has a gift and is a gift. None are dispensable or disposable. The
Dis-Served are as important as the college bound. Hiring an aide to help the DisServed perform a curriculum designed for the college bound is does not meet
their needs, The purpose here is NOT to negatively label children, but to
demystify the system.
Of all our current Alaskan 9th graders, only 7% will actually finish a four year
degree program, yet it appears the whole AKCC system is designed for them.
15

The Dis-Served are not prepared by AKCC to be firefighters, electricians, boat/

airplane pilots, waitresses, bank tellers, store managers, heavy equipment
mechanic/operators, beauticians etc. They become collateral damage in the
system. Students who disconnect and drop out of high school are demoralized
and carry that stigma for the rest of their lives.
What if they change their minds and decide to go to college? This question
always arises. A few students do change their minds and want to attend college
after following a non-college bound pathway. There are three simple responses:
Are the students who change their minds so much more important than all the
others that the whole system must be designed for college/career/tech? Are the
crumbs that fall off the table of the upper 1/3 considered food for the majority?
What about the far greater number of students who try college and decide not
to finish? That much, much larger number fall back among the Dis-Served,
unprepared for life by a curriculum that was designed for the upper minority.
Many students entering college bound programs need remediation before
entering college. Courses below 100 level are already available in all post
secondary institutions for students who were not adequately prepared in high
school in order to ramp up their math and language skills. Welcome to the
pathway. It already exists.
The following analogy helps to visualize what the educational system attempts
to do.
Analogy. You go to the grocery store with a recipe for lasagna. You cruise the
aisles until you find all the ingredients you need for supper. You check out.
The next night you plan a bar-b-cue. Again you go up and down the grocery
store aisles taking from the shelves the ingredients needed to feed your friends
off the grill. Again you check out.
In theory, you can go to the grocery store with any recipe, and gather the
ingredients for whatever meal you might hope to prepare.
In theory, as educators, we are stocking students mental shelves with
knowledge and skills, so that, no matter what the circumstance (recipe,) students
can later access their mental shelves, gather the ingredients and prepare them in
proper proportion to meet lifes needs.
Even the college bound find the shelves filled with less than useful items.
F-BF.1. Write a function that describes a relationship between two quantities.*
a. Determine an explicit expression, a recursive process, or steps for calculation from
a context.
b. Combine standard function types using arithmetic operations. For example, build a
function that models the temperature of a cooling body by adding a constant
function to a decaying exponential, and relate these functions to the model.
Decaying exponential is more appropriate for a college physics thesis, No?

16

Under AKCC, students stock their mental shelves with twelve years of
unrelated academic fragments, then venture forth to apply them. However, they
soon discover that their shelves are cluttered with wind chimes, potpourri,
jewelry, exotic jellies and rare teas. There is not much healthy food on hand to
apply to lifes genuine situations.
This tragedy is ongoing because of a falsely placed trust in AK DEED. The
educational planners seldom encounter or live in the reality of those who build
bridges, landscape, drive trucks, operate small businesses, farm, run sawmills,
mine, fish, serve in a post office or otherwise contribute to the true economy of
the State and nation. Students are learning every abstract notion about math,
science, writing skills etc, but very little of how to build a life with them.
Here is an example of a real life application from the standards:
(7.SP.4) For example, decide whether the words in a chapter of a 7th grade science
book are generally longer than the words in a chapter of a fourth grade science book.
And who cares?
Different approaches
1) Fragment based education. The current system, which is fragment based,
is broken into academic disciplines, math, science, language etc. Those
disciplines are followed for twelve years in high school. College bound
students get a broad education for the firs two years, then start to specialize in
a major and a minor. Students gain knowledge and skills and are tested on
their retention primarily by multiple choice tests. The assumption is that
students can later assemble those fragments that are retained to apply to lifes
situations.
2) Theme based education. This approach, after the fundamentals are
learned in grades 3-4, presents students with chosen themes and embeds the
academic disciplines, math, science, language etc. into the themes, which
may be transportation, health, careers, hunting, whatever the community
thinks is best for its students. Students learn the math of tourism, the science
of tourism, the language involved in tourism, the social studies and economy
of tourism etc. This most closely resembles how students will approach
problems and interests in later life. It is more holistic than fragment based
education, and makes learning links and associations students are more likely
to retain. Student assessment is more accurately done on scoring rubrics that
evaluate student projects.
3) Place based education. This approach uses the students community, and
culture to present new learning material. It often follows the local calendar,
always referencing local activities then reaching out to other parts of the state,
country or world, exploring how people in other places approach and solve
comparable situations. Place based education may be fragment based, or
theme based. The research shows that students retain more if academic
concepts are related to their personal frame of reference.

17

Thousands, millions of people pass through their grown up lives feeling stupid
because they did poorly in some aspect of school. They think school smart is
life smart and since they did not do well in school, they feel degraded. They are
bewildered, but the process also denied them the intellectual skills necessary to
analyze what went wrong with the process and why they were not able to
succeed. However, the ability to acquire knowledge quickly and identify its
components on a multiple choice test do no indicate the students ability to apply
the knowledge to real life.
To those people who feel like they have failed I say, No. You are not stupid.
The System was/is stupid. It did not make sense then, nor does it now. Do not
belittle yourself. Consider the source of your feelings of inadequacy, and realize
that the ruler was bent when they measured you. Consider yourself a survivor.
Good for you. You made it!
The Simple Fix
One State law would fix 90% of educations problems:
Every state standard must have a demonstrable real life application. That
would fix it.
All the irrelevant content would have to be relegated to elective status. To follow
the above analogy, if no one has purchased a dust covered item on a grocery
store shelf for many years, remove it and make room for commonly consumed
items.
Teachers spend a huge percentage of their time fashioning carrots and sticks of
all colors, textures, sizes and appearance attempting to motivate students. The
problem is not that our students lack intelligence, or that teachers, as a whole,
are incompetent. The problem lies in the lack of student motivation rooted in the
inability to see the the application, of what is being taught. With all the knowledge
in the world that is critically important, why are we mandating for every child:
F-IF.7.b piecewise-defined functions, including step functions and absolute value
functions?
Teachers wish for greater parental involvement. How can parents get involved if
they have they have not used it in twenty years? How can they get involved if the
standards are intentionally written in obtuse language to exclude the common
person?
I would personally rather have my grandchildren learn adding/ subtracting,
multiplying/dividing, percent/decimals/basic-fractions, ratio/proportion, reading
graphs, conversion of units, and how to apply them to life than have them learn
all the math concepts possible and have no clue how to use them.
I want them to form and communicate their own ideas and come to their own
conclusions as they read and study topics of personal interest.
I made my grandchildren listen to and identify many pieces of classical music
when I homeschooled them, but I would never mandate that for all children. That
is a family matter.
18

Conclusion. AKCC take the previously flawed system to greater levels of

irrelevance than ever before.
The solution is simpler than the problem: let people rooted in reality vet the
standards. College graduates now design the pathway for the majority of
students who have no intention of following in their footsteps. The pathway of the
majority 2/3 of students should be designed by those already successful on that
path.

19

Chapter 4 Testing
The current testing system is misaligned and intentionally difficult to describe.
The following should simplify the matter and expose the myopic obsession with
scores on multiple choice tests. Most magic tricks are performed by diverting
attention to the wrong place. The current system is no different.
A business venture starts with a vision and goals.
The business then devises a plan to reach the goals.
Then the business develops a means to check on progress, to see to what
degree the devised plan is helping/hurting the business meet its goals.
1. Vison. What you want to accomplish, including the goals embedded in the
vision.
2. Plan. How you will accomplish the above goals.
3. Metric. How you will measure the effectiveness of the plan.
The current broken educational system is upside down.
1) Metric. It is driven by the metric, designed by a profit driven testing industry.
2) Method. The method/plan is totally dedicated to the metric.
3) Vision. A goal/vison statement is given occasional lip service.
This is inverted, backwards, disoriented. The true mission of the current system
is to get students to perform well on tests. It should be to create a pathway for
students to successfully enter any career path or lifestyle they choose.
Education is in constant upheaval. To increase profit, the textbook and testing
industries change their materials on a regular basis. The broken paradigm has
been in place so long, academic success is now equated with performance on
industry driven tests, shamefully lacking in vision.
If the mission/goals of our educational system were to create a pathway for
students to be critical thinkers, financially independent, lifetime learners and help
young people make their lives and communities a better place, would standards
include the Fibionacci sequence and polynomial identities? Hardly. Real life
problem solving, debating, trouble shooting, and investment strategies would be
forefront. Retaining the love of learning and natural curiosity would be
paramount.
Another way of looking at it.
How much of what makes anyone a good or successful person can be
measured on a multiple choice test? 5%? 10%? Not much more. Yet, school
success is measured by test scores.
Consider the Olympics. Some events such as downhill skiing, 100 meter foot
race, swimming, etc can be measured by a stopwatch. Others cannot. If the
olympics were limited to events that could only be timed or that rely upon scores
20

within a given time, exciting events would be eliminated. Figure skating,

gymnastics and acrobatic snowboarding all require subjective evaluations of
those activities that cannot be measured by stopwatches. Are science fair
projects scored by a stopwatch, tape-measure, ohm meter, titration etc? No.
They are subjectively evaluated by skilled evaluators and compared with each
other on a scoring rubric.
In life, some events can be measured objectively: Widgets/hour, tons/truckload,
truckloads/hour etc. Yet, carpenter foremen do not measure work in boards/hr.
and doctors do not measure their accomplishments in operations/day. Buildings
would fall and patients would die. Yet, in school we teach that which can be
measured on a test, not that which is necessarily important. It is like designing a
house around a tape-measure rather than the needs of future occupants.
A well known Anchorage educator said, Our kids deserve to know how they
compare with the kids in New York. Who cares how they score in an arena of
stark raving irrelevance? It is far more important if they can make good life
decisions based on good life facts,. You cant measure that on a multiple-choice
test.
No more than 20-30% of student assessment should be done on
comprehension/recall testing. The major portion of student assessment should
be done on subjective scoring rubrics as students work on meaningful projects.
AMP. Under AKCC, a new state testing system has been developed at
considerable expense1 AMP, Alaska Measures of Progress. This system claims
to rely less on multiple choice questions and have students analyze questions,
perform multi-step problems, solve problems, and apply what they know to new
situations. While this sounds good, they are based on the AKCC, and the
outcome are extremely questionable for three reasons.
1) AMP is based on the AKCC which, as this booklet has shown, has very little
meaning for the majority of students. Even if it is highly accurate, it will also be
highly irrelevant.
2) AMP is brought to you by the same people who brought you AKCC. The trust
level is suspect. While the AMP description uses all he right words to make the
test sound different from previous multiple choice tests, until actual test
samples are made public, it is not possible to determine whether AMP does
what it says and tests what is says it is testing. Trust us is not an option.
3) Students will do very poorly on the tests in the first few years. This will be
blamed on the transition from an inferior system to this better one. It will take
years to expose the shortcomings of AMP while AMP will be pointing to the
shortcomings of students.

The author heard in 2012 it would be $7M. True data not available.
21

From the internet:

Teacher's Resignation Letter Says His Profession 'No Longer Exists'
When Gerald "Jerry" Conti decided to retire from his teaching career
after 27 years at Westhill High School in New York, he went out with a
bang. On March 29, Conti, 62, posted the text of his resignation letter on
Facebook, along with a photo of Porky Pig saying "That's All Folks " The
letter lays out why, after several decades, Conti believed he had to call it
quits. Conti points the blame at legislators who "failed us by selling children
out to private industries such as Pearson Education," a testing company.
He argued the New York State United Teachers union failed its members
by not mounting an effective campaign against standardized testing, and
said there's now a "pervasive atmosphere of distrust" preventing teachers
from developing their own tests and quizzes. "After writing all of this, I
realize that I am not leaving my profession, in truth, it has left me. It no
longer exists," Conti wrote in the letter.
Soon after the letter made the rounds on Facebook, the Syracuse PostStandard picked it up. Conti told the Post-Standard his frustration isn't
directed at his local school district, but rather at the "larger forces" of
education reform. "This whole thing is being driven by people who know
nothing about education, Conti told the Post-Standard. "It's sad."
The current testing obsession will go down in history as the Dark Ages in
the History of Education. We yearn for the Renaissance, the awakening of
creativity and expression, the rekindling of fresh, practical thought,
reverence for the relevant. (emphasis by author)
Evaluate the Educational Paradigm Not Students. The system incessantly
assesses students while itself refuses to be evaluated. Students, parents and
school boards are deceived into thinking that testing students is somehow
measuring the effectiveness of the educational paradigm. They are two very
different matters.
How might Alaska truly evaluate its educational system?
I recommend:
A
post high school drop-out survey to see how the system missed meeting the
needs of 1/3 of our students.
A post-graduation survey of high school graduates, asking them what
percentage of what they learned was worth their effort and how to improve the
system.
A post graduation survey of college grads, to see how appropriate their posthigh school experience has been and how to improve upon that.
All of the above should include the question, What percentage of what you
were taught did/do you perceive as useful now that you are attempting to apply
your training to life?
An annual evaluation of DEED by all Alaskan school districts. DEED should
follow a supportive, not the current punitive model.
22

The above would simply be customer satisfaction surveys. How well does the
system, the Paradigm, prepare students for their future? How well does the
system serve the constituents?
Is education to be a pathway young people choose to prepare themselves for
life, or is education something the government does to all children?
My personal conversations on the subject reveal considerable, deep, enduring,
bewildered anger over several generations.
I am a parent. If a full 1/3 of my children are disruptive rather than contributors
to society, am I a successful parent?
I am a father, if I give all my resources to 1/3 of my children and ignore the
personal needs of 2/3 of my children am I a good father?
I am an educator. If a full 1/3 of my students do not complete my program, am
I a good educator?
I am a teacher. If a full 2/3 of my students felt the classroom experience was
not worthwhile, what is my excuse? Two-thirds collateral damage is a little
better than US drone strikes, but not excusable.
Conclusion. Evaluation of the Educational Paradigm should be done by the
end users, the customers, students and parents. People evaluating
government, not government assessing student compliance with a Broken
Paradigm.
Do not be distracted by the myopic obsession of measuring students
performance on multiple choice testing. Dig to the root. Answer the question, Is
the system preparing students for their futures, creating true upward mobility and
social stability by a well prepared populace?

23

Chapter 5
What Your Child Is Really Learning in School
Children are learning a harmful habits that are hidden in plain sight.
A Story.
This fictional story delivers a clear message.
Every day, a factory worker left the factory pushing a wheelbarrow full of
sawdust. Every day Security at the gate sifted through the sawdust looking for
whatever the worker was stealing from the company. Security was not able to
find a thing.
This went on for several months. Finally Security said to him, We will give you
amnesty if you tell us what you are taking. We know you are pilfering something,
but we dont know what it is. We promise not to prosecute if you tell us.
He said... Wheelbarrows.
... the obvious. They were sifting through the sawdust looking for theft when the
vehicle was the object being stolen.
The wheelbarrow. So, what are students learning in school? The answer is the
wheelbarrow, the vehicle, the obvious from the above illustration:
Compliance.
Students are learning compliance with arbitrary and capricious governmental
authority. That is the lesson taught every day when students ask, What do I
need this for? and are met with resounding silence. So, a diploma could as
easily and more accurately be called a Compliance Certificate.

I am here to tell you that no one needs linear inequalities in a half plane,
computations in base 2, or logarithms. Yet, here is a standard for every child:
F-LE.4. For exponential models, express as a logarithm the solution to abct = d where
a, c, and d are numbers and the base b is 2, 10, or e; evaluate the logarithm using
technology.
The common person has not used logarithms since the abandonment of slide
rules in the late 60s.

24

Google real life applications of the Pythagorean theorem. Immediately

preposterous examples will appear that were created by people who have never
personally done the proposed activities. When did a maintenance man use the
Pythagorean theorem to determine the length of his ladder to reach the top of a
8 painting while spanning over a 5 grate? Absolutely never. He gets his ladder
and hopes the bottom does not kick out.
In the best-case educational scenario, all students become fully aware of their
personal strengths and abilities, the existing and future career and lifestyle
opportunities, and attempt to align the two in their own personal way. Compliance
training and conformity should be that last thing on the agenda in times of radical
technological and sociological change.
In the late 90s, I traveled to Fairbanks to visit a professor at the University who
has a PhD. in Applied Mathematics. I asked for an interview so he could show
students real-life applications of higher level math concepts. He was (is) a very
pleasant and extremely intelligent person. I started the recording camera and
asked him to give me a few real-life applications for the quadratic formula. After
ten minutes, I turned the camera off. He couldnt think of one. Well, if he has a
Doctorate in Applied Mathematics and cant think of one, I rest my case. Yet the
AKCC requires every student to solve the quadratic formula. What for? It is called
rolling a peanut across the classroom floor with your nose.
What are students learning when they do a lesson for which there is no real life
application? Compliance.
Of course, later in life, students will have to do activities they do not want to do,
but that will be in a job or lifestyle of their own choosing, not in a one-size-fits-all
school system where there are no exits or options. And, if they are doing the
unpleasant in a business designed to make a profit, the assignment will make
financial sense.
Examples of Compliance Training with AKCC (i.e. irrelevant lessons)
The following examples show the lack of relevance of the AKCC, resulting in
their being a mechanism for reinforcing compliance with government.
Fourth grade. 4.OA.C.5 Generate a number, shape pattern, table, t-chart, or input/
output function that follows a given rule. Identify apparent features that were not in the
rule itself. Be able to express the pattern in algebraic terms. For example, given the rule
add 3, and the starting number 1, generate terms in the resulting sequence and observe
that the terms appear to alternate between odd and even numbers. Explain why the
numbers will continue to alternate this way.
Why on earth would someone do this to a child? And who on earth would do it
to a fourth grader? Discovering patterns is crucially important, but the fourth
grader is supposed to generate the number, shape pattern, table, t-chart, or
input/output function that follows a given rule? Then the fourth grader, every
fourth grader, identifies the features that were not in the rule and expresses it all
in algebraic terms?
The standards are replete with exercises that have no visible purpose.

25

Straight from the list of AKCC Standards:

4th grade. Determine whether whole numbers between 1-100 are prime.
5th grade. Find the volume of a right rectangular prism.
6th grade. Find the absolute value of a number.
7th grade. Describe two dimensional figures that result from slicing three
dimensional figures like right rectangular pyramids.
8th grade. Apply the properties of negative exponents to generate equivalent
numerical expressions.
The question for the above is, What for?
The Language standards are also riddled with questionable activities.
I have a friend who is highly educated. I love and respect her dearly. She
recently said, I dont see anything wrong with teaching students things that have
no real life application. I am not sure there is a cure for that. I tried to pin her
down on what percentage of the curriculum should not need to have a real life
application.
No answer.
My answer is 0%. There is so much out there that needs learning, why learn
something that has no application? The love of learning.
Great, then why not love learning something meaningful?
I personally estimate AKCC at 80-80.
80% of what is taught after the 6th grade is worthless to 80% of our students.
If a standard does not teach useful knowledge or skill, it should at least develop
an identifiable thought process that can be described to the students. Example:
Once students understands Brownian motion of atoms and molecules and the
relationship to heat, the students can apply that thought process to Boyles and
Charles Laws of pressure and heat. That is important. A diesel engine could not
fire without those principles, and without diesel engines, trains do not move,
trucks do not haul, and generators are without electricity.
When I asked a high school teacher about a geometry problem that had
absolutely no real life application, she told me, Well, they need to learn
persistence. I thought, You can learn persistence spading a garden, painting a
picket fence, or pushing a wheelbarrow uphill. There are many ways to learn
persistence. Maybe persistence for her is more closely linked to job security.
Right now, your children or grandchildren are learning compliance at an
alarming rate. Unfortunately, many parents and grandparents were themselves
trained in a comparable institutions, so, while they personally have unpleasant
memories, they lack the internal personal mechanism to challenge and change
the model. They were not given access to the thought processes necessary think
their way out of the trap. They have been neutralized by the Serenity Prayer and
accept the things they think they cannot change while the need for change is so
desperate.

26

Connection to village suicide. Traditionally, for Native people, the pathway

from childhood to adolescence then onward to maturation was marked with clear
objectives: hunting, butchering skills, boat and cabin building, trapping and
traveling, food gathering and preservation etc. That process has been hi-jacked
and replaced with an abstract obstacle course littered with less than useful
standards like those enumerated above.
Students committing suicide are communicating, My life is not worth living and
I do not see a way out. School should be a visible, beckoning pathway between
where any and all children are and wherever they might want to go. Education
should be the means to upward social mobility, social as well as financial stability.
Under the previous standards and worse with AKCC, school has become an
obstacle course cluttered with tasks and lessons that do not relate to students
perceived aspirations other than building endurance and compliance.
In states like New Jersey, who are two years ahead of Alaska in the adoption of
the Common Core, counselors say there is a great rise in previously normal
students cutting themselves, scratching until they bleed, and displaying anguish
in ways never before observed.
What children need to learn.
Your children need to become great readers, great solvers of lifes true
mathematical problems. Your children need to speak clearly and intelligently for
themselves, to be able to estimate and round off numbers in their heads, and
creatively use all resources available. Children need to understand basic science
principles and how to apply them, master conflict resolution skills, learn how to
live healthy lives and be good to their bodies. Your children need to think for
themselves, make good decisions based on good values permeated by respect
for others, and experience the natural euphoria that comes with creativity. They
must learn financial skills that will be useful when they become adults, including
ways of generating income apart from getting a job and making someone else
wealthy.
Suggestions.
Consider this list not in any particular order of importance:

Vehicle ownership. DMV, DUIs and consequences. Buying/selling a car/

truck. Using Kelly Blue book and consumer reports. Registration and
inspection.

Insurance: Car, health, house, life, boat etc. Everyone will make decisions
regarding insurance during their lifetime. Its all a mathematical gamble
requiring good analytical and math skills.

Housing: Advantages of buying, renting or building a house.

Consequences of compound interest and mortgages.

Personal finance. How money is made, spent and wasted. Budgeting,

Concept of disposable income. Identify scams. Investment portfolios.

27

IRAs, CDs, stock market, mutual funds, currency markets etc. How to
make money through investing.
Trend analysis. This skill is critical in times of accelerating change. Future
possibilities based on contemporary trends and how to prepare for
them.
Nonprofit organizations. What they are, what they do, and how they are
funded.
Entrepreneurship. How to start and maintain a small business. Many
Alaskans will either start, own, or work for a small business.
How to develop and upload a website. Everyone has something to say or
sell. Upload an informative YouTube video on a topic of personal
passion.
Knowledge of two-stroke, four-stroke and diesel engines. Every, I mean
EVERY Alaskan encounters engines on a daily basis, and needs a
basic understanding of why and how they work to keep from breaking
down or getting fleeced by mechanics.
Taxes: city, borough, state, IRS. No one will escape them.
Basic computational skills. Adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, basic
fractions, percentages, decimals, measuring, ratio/proportion,
estimating.
Everyday applications of these skills.
Basic science concepts and how to apply them to life: friction, Newtons
three laws, Boyle's & Charles Laws, latent heat etc.
Vocational certificates: Electrical, mechanical, fire-fighting, welding etc.
what they are, and how to get them.
Self reliance. Gardening. Hunting, fishing, animal husbandry. basic home
carpentry, cooking for yourself.
Troubleshooting equipment. Troubleshooting is a fantastic developmental
thought process.
Music, art, photography, graphic design, inventing, all modes of creative
expression. Cultural appreciation.
Government jobs. What skills, qualifications, are required.
The court system. Writing bills of sale. Signing contracts, impact of a court
record on future employability. Marriage & divorce laws. Trusts.
Wisdom in relationships. Marriage partners, peers, relatives.
Alaskan geography. Alaskan history.
The U.S. and Alaskan Constitutions & Bill of Rights.
Hunter and boating skills and safety.
Materials: synthetics, metals, woods, adhesives, fasteners. Every Alaskan
will either build or own equipment that requires maintenance. There are
scores of different fasteners for a multitude of applications, from
buttons to blind rivets.

28

Lubricants. Almost everything that moves involves lubricants of some kind.

There are scores of lubricants to choose from and severe
consequences for choosing wrongly.
Batteries. The whole world seems to run on batteries. There are different
kinds and maintenance issues with each one.
Office and computer skills. Basic word processing, data bases, & spread
sheets.
Communication skills. How to present an idea to small and large groups,
whether in a courtroom, church, or business meeting. Public speaking,
powerpoint and video editing.
Basic digital electronics. The future might be uncertain, but digital
electronics WILL be there.
Identify the major Alaskan careers: tourism, fishing, mining, oil & gas,
health, mechanics, communications, transportation, media etc. Know
what they do, what skills are involved, the advantages and
disadvantages of working in all of them.
Social media. Its uses and pitfalls.
Basic medicine. Traditional/alternative medicine.
Applying for loans, scholarships and financial help.
Knowledge of local Fish and Game regulations. Understand, comply with
and change regs.
Alaskas resources. Where to fish for hooligans, silvers, whitefish. Where
the major caribou herds are, where mineral and agricultural resources
offer opportunity.
Subsistence and survival. Like it or not, villages will be in existence for
decades. Why not help people become successful where they live
rather than the relocation program called public schools?
How to contact or become local Representative and Senator. How to
make government accountable.
Energy issues. Electrifying and heating homes and the viable alternatives.
How to stay healthy, including traditional and alternative Alaskan health
solutions. Nutrition, lifestyles and wise choices.
Hobbies and interests. Gardening, flying, skiing, hiking, hunting, fishing,
four-wheeling, snow-machining, art, music, dance, theater, carving,
boatbuilding etc.

The solution is simple. Align realistic state standards to the major Alaskan
career paths and lifestyles. Let real life people in those careers vet the
standards. Delete the irrelevant. Insert the relevant.

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Create a fast track for the 1/3 who aspire to a 2 year, 4 year, or certificate
program, but let all standards for all students be essential standards rooted in
reality, not a fantasy created in MacAdemia by elitists.2
UPS delivery people do a great job of delivering packages. No one would
expect the UPS worker to develop or install the computer software being
delivered. Educators know how to deliver knowledge. They do NOT know what
knowledge is important. Educators might be allowed to suggest standards, but
cannot be included in the development or vetting process or they will recreate the
existing Broken Paradigm without hesitation.
Mature people with boots on the ground in career destinations and Alaskan
lifestyles must identify the math, science, language and social studies issues.
Educators then turn those issues into lessons and deliver them to students.
People connected to Alaskas career paths and lifestyles identify what is taught.
Educators determine how it is taught.
Parents and students are free to challenge any standard they think has no real
life application and have it changed, by due process, to an elective.
Then, and only then, will teachers be able to go to students and say, We have
done our homework. The successful people at all career and lifestyle
destinations say you will need this knowledge and these skills. Let us help you
get there. Student engagement and success are guaranteed to skyrocket.
Pseudo-Served. While those heading towards a 2 year, 4 year or certificate
program follow a clearly marked pathway of their own, there is a long term need
to revise that system as well.
Of the 7% of our current 9th graders who will graduate from a 4 year degree
program, many will finish with $40-100K in student loans and find no employment
in their field of expertise. Clearly, higher education must be aligned with some
future reality. Comedian George Carlin suggested a 20 minute university where
students spend 20 minutes and learn everything useful offered by a four year
degree program. This humorous overstatement makes the point.
A simple survey of college graduates will reveal that many of the AKCC
standards for college bound students are merely mental exercise, not useful
tools, even within higher professions. Much of a four year degree program is
further compliance training. AKCC might be preparing students for college, but
college is not preparing them for the life that awaits them. Reflect on friends and
peers. Reflect on the standards cited above. How many standards are practical
in any career path or lifestyle?
Whatever the case, college bound students will be better off on a fast track of
their own rather than dragging reluctant peers down own their personal path.
2

MacAdemia. Macadamia is a type of nut. Academia is where many learned folks lack a firm reality
connection. Many academic concepts are birthed in MacAdemia where nutty ideas are grown and
harvested.

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Final Conclusion
The AKCC have been adopted by a very deceptive process. They put the upper
1/3 of our Alaskan students in the bus, throw the Dis-Served 2/3 under the bus,
then run over them. No child has more value than another.
If the purpose of schooling is to prepare students for real life problems and
solutions, then visible connections must be made to all career paths and
lifestyles.
The school system should exist for students benefit. Our students should not
exist for the textbook and testing industries benefit. The educational system must
itself be assessed on how well it prepares students for their futures.
The simple answer for essential standards for all students is to insist that every
standard have a demonstrable, real life application. Students will engage and
learn. A separate fast-track will meet the needs of the minority college/career/
tech bound students.
College graduates now design the pathway for the majority of students who
have no intention of following in their footsteps. The pathway of the majority 2/3
of students should be designed by those already successful on that path. Create
a new system by having boots-on-the-ground folks in Alaskas major career
paths and lifestyles determine what needs to be taught. Then allow educators to
determine how it is taught. This system will be simpler than the nightmare now
trying to happen.
And, by the way, get rid of the AKCC. Those standards are a ticking time bomb
that will soon end up in the scrap heap of educational fads. All who associated
themselves with AKCC will end up with a black eye down the road.
For all students: Make it meaningful and relevant, and they will come.

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