Textbook issue
These are the Cobb County school board members and how they voted at the April board meeting on whether to buy math textbooks.
Randy Scamihorn
Area: Kennesaw, Marietta, Acworth
Occupation: Retired School administrator
On board since Jan. 2013
Voted: No
Tim Stultz
Area: Smyrna, Mableton
Occupation: IT business analyst
On board since 2011
Voted: No
David Morgan
Area: South Cobb
Occupation: Former charter school principal, teacher
On board since 2009
Voted: Yes
Kathleen Angelucci
Area: North Cobb
Occupation: Event Planner
On board since 2011
Voted: No
David Banks
Area: East Cobb
Occupation: Retired IT consultant
On board since 2009
Voted: Yes
Scott Sweeney
Area: East Cobb
Occupation: CFO of Sweeney, Inc.
On board since 2011
Voted: Yes
Brad Wheeler
Area: Hillgrove, Powder Springs
Occupation: Retired school administrator
On board since Jan. 2013
Voted: No
Cobb County’s school board is considering having middle and high school math books redesigned to eliminate all references to “Common Core Georgia Performance Standards.” That would cost taxpayers $2 million.
It's one of three proposals by administrators to get the board past a political stalemate on Georgia's Common Core standards. The debate over math textbooks and other educational materials has pitted Cobb teachers and administrators against tea party members and other conservatives. The board is expected to consider the proposals Thursday.
Common Core is a set of curriculum standards that specify math and literature concepts students should learn by certain grades. Georgia and 44 other states are using the standards, which advocates say will help better prepare students for college and careers and ensure that students in all states learn the same concepts in the same grades. Opponents see them as an intrusion on local authority over what students are taught and say they aren’t stringent enough.
Common Core isn’t mandated by the U.S. Department of Education, but the Obama administration has given states grants to adopt the changes.
Cobb Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s staff proposed several alternatives last week after board members lambasted his staff for protesting the board’s decision in April not to purchase math textbooks.
When designing the proposed textbooks, the publisher printed “Common Core Georgia Performance Standards” icons throughout teacher and student books to indicate which lessons align with the standards. Removing the icons wouldn’t change the instructional content of the book or when students learn different math concepts.
“That’s just changing the name but not changing where we’re going,” said Susan Stanton, a Cobb resident and grandmother of a recent Cobb graduate. “We’d still have stupid children.”
The total cost of purchasing the revised textbooks along with online resources for other teachers would be $6 million.
“I’m brainstorming, to see if there’s a solution that all can live with,” said Randy Scamihorn, who came up with the idea of having the Common Core icons removed.
Instead of that, the board also could:
- Buy online resources for all teachers and only advanced high school textbooks that already contain no references to Common Core for $3.7 million; or:
- Buy online resources for all teachers, plus textbooks for just middle and high school students for $4.2 million.
This is not the first time textbooks have been controversial in the county. A decade ago, under a different board, Cobb made national news and got into a court battle when the board voted to place stickers in science textbooks that said in part, "evolution is a theory, not a fact."
In a tense board meeting last week, several board members stood firm on their stance against purchasing books, saying they aren’t sure how long Common Core will last, where state politicians stand on the issue or if hardbound textbooks are even needed in the 21st century.
Other board members and a vocal group of teachers say “math has become politicized” and that without the books the district’s already lagging math test scores will continue to suffer.
“I object to the way the board was hijacked by special interest groups,” said David Banks, a board member who said the board may be asking for trouble with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the district’s accrediting agency. “We’re not there to put politics in the classroom. We’re there to put textbooks in the classroom.”
Elementary students won’t receive textbooks under any of the proposals, although their teachers will receive online resources.
The state Board of Education voted in 2010 to have Georgia adhere to Common Core.
Gov. Nathan Deal signed an executive order last month affirming Georgia's right to educate its children without federal interference, although both Deal and Georgia School Superintendent John Barge have maintained their support for Common Core.
Barge was recently part of a panel discussion in Fayette County in which Common Core was debated. Barge told the crowd he supports the standards but said the state reserves the right to make changes when educators express the need for change. On Monday, Fayette’s school board approved purchasing new math textbooks despite tea party protests.
Cobb board members said they are still confused on where state officials stand on the issue.
“We did that (delayed the purchase of textbooks) to be sure that we don’t spend $7.5 million and regret it based on what the state says,” said board member Kathleen Angelucci.
Administrators say Cobb students have struggled with math in recent years as the state has changed curriculum and standards. In 2012, 71 percent of Cobb high school students didn’t pass the end-of-course geometry test and 37 percent didn’t pass the algebra part of the test.
Many teachers say that without textbooks, and the resources that come with them, they will be forced to put together lesson plans piecemeal using free websites, and students without Internet access at home will suffer.
But board members have questioned why online resources alone can’t help raise those scores.
“I do find it odd that we’re pushing (online) programs and laptops and tablets and yet we’re still insisting on carrying a heavy hardbound book,” said Scamihorn, the board chairman.
The issue has become a talking point among parents throughout the district. “The board needs to listen to parents and teachers in the system and not be influenced by outside groups who thrive on fear,” said parent Kelly Duncan.
Administrators are working to figure out how to pay for the alternatives if the board approves any of them next week. The board originally planned to pay for the books with special sales tax money but administrators hinted that some of the proposals may have to be paid with the district’s general funds.
“The materials we have now are outdated and not ideal for the current curriculum,” said Hinojosa. “Even if the state should go in a different direction from Common Core, I believe that the new materials we have recommended would be much more effective than what we have now.”
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