MINOT, N.D. — On Thursday, June 4, my colleague, reporter Jeremy Turley, published a profile piece about the three candidates vying to be North Dakota’s next Superintendent of Schools. As typical of Turley’s work, it was thorough and enlightening, but it had a problem. It wasn’t terribly timely. By the time thousands of newsreaders were perusing the…
LegitSlater: Common Core Has No Place in ND
Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been a hot topic recently both in state and across the nation as a whole. Several states have either dropped out of, or are considering dropping out of, the CCSS; and bills calling for North Dakota to withdraw will likely be considered during the 2015 session. Opposition to CCSS…
DPI Spokesman Mocks Common Core Critics As "Tiny Tribe" In Emails Not Turned Over As Open Records
Last week Superintendent of Public Schools Kirsten Baesler apologized during an interview with me for her office’s handling of the Common Core issue. The apology came after it was revealed that a spokesman for her department, former Associated Press reporter Dale Wetzel, had been using an anonymous email to send information attacking Common Core critic…
North Dakota's Common Core Debate Gets Ugly
Advocates looking to stop common core in North Dakota recently invited Dr. Duke Pesta, a homeschooling advocate, to the state to talk about the issue. Update: Superintendent Baesler called me this evening to say that her office has not sent out anything critical of Pesta from DPI and that her department deals with facts and…