End of CSCOPE Means Hardship for Some Texas Schools
Beginning Aug. 31, the state’s curriculum support system, known as CSCOPE, will no longer be a source of lesson plans for the 875 school districts that rely on it. The system, developed by a coalition of 20 publicly financed education service centers, will revert to being a scheduling tool for educators.
The move, part of an agreement with state lawmakers near the end of the most recent legislative session, was a victory for activists, including the conservative talk-radio host Glenn Beck, who have said that CSCOPE advances an anti-American agenda. But in the districts that use the lessons, primarily smaller ones, some officials said the decision would force them to spend already scarce funds developing unnecessary new materials.
“It’s starting back from ground zero,” said Mary Ann Whiteker, the superintendent of East Texas’ Hudson Independent School District, which has about 2,600 students. “It’s two and a half months before school begins again, and we don’t have the resources to bring teachers back to work this summer.”
Over the last eight months, opposition to CSCOPE has inspired a cottage industry of grass-roots opposition that has propelled discussion from school board meetings to the highest levels of state government. It has been the focus of discussion at the State Board of Education and extensive legislative hearings, where parents have testified about the pro-Islamic, socialist and environmentalist indoctrination promoted in its lesson plans.
More at http://www.texastribune.org/2013/06/03/end-cscope-means-hardship-some-texas-schools/ .
[font color=green]Waivers from the state accountability ratings are being discussed within individual school districts because of this change.[/font]
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