Included in the record is how state legislators voted on:

• The Mother’s Health & Safety Act, HB 2036, which bans abortions after 20 weeks.
• HB 2800, which guarantees that federal tax dollars that pass through the state do not go to abortion providers.
• SB 1047, which creates a new tax credit to give children on waiting lists the opportunity to attend the school of their parents’ choice.
• HB 2625, which protects religious employers from being, forced to violate their religious beliefs and pay for abortion-inducing drugs and contraception.

Center for Arizona Policy supported the legislation contained in the Family Issues Voting Record. Since the organization was founded in 1995, 114 CAP-supported bills have been signed into law.

If we’ve learned anything from the last few elections, it’s that Arizona is a pro-life and pro-religious freedom state. Because Arizonans turn out to vote their values, we have a state legislature that has taken important steps to make our state a better place for families.

The Family Issues Voting Record contains how state legislators voted on 12 pieces of legislation. For a complete recap of all CAP-supported legislation, click here:

Arizona Senate Voting Record: http://bit.ly/J6EKSO

Arizona House of Representatives Voting Record: http://bit.ly/Jth789

(PHOENIX, AZ) –Arizona Republican Party Chairman Tom Morrissey announced the list of Arizonans who will represent the State of Arizona at the Republican National Convention in August. These 28 individuals were elected as alternates during Saturday’s Quadrennial Convention meeting.

Commissioner Gary Pierce – Mesa
Senator Gail Griffin – Hereford
Mayor Hugh Hallman – Tempe
Hon. Lou-Ann Preble – Tucson
Deborah Belnap – Queen Creek
Lauren Blevins – Tucson
Arthur Cooper – Scottsdale
Susan Davis – Phoenix
Robert Doughty – Casa Grande
Shirley Dye – Payson
Kathy Hedges – Phoenix
David Hoefferle – Tucson
Alex Judd – Snowflake
John Lesko – Tucson
Kristin Middleton – Phoenix
Lee Miller – Phoenix
Cassandra Mooneyham – Lake Havasu
Samuel Moorhead – Globe
Matthew Morales – Phoenix
Steven Neil – Mesa
Douglas Nicholls – Yuma
Ed Parker – Tucson
April Ann Riggins – Scottsdale
Cathy Schwanke – Phoenix
Edward Vallejo – Phoenix
Gregory Weisman – Scottsdale
Cody Whitaker – Tucson
Rev. C.T. Wright – Fountain Hills

###

(PHOENIX, AZ) –Arizona Republican Party Chairman Tom Morrissey announced today a list of Arizonans who will represent the State of Arizona at the Republican National Convention this August. These 29 individuals were elected as delegates at Saturday’s Quadrennial Convention.

• Governor Jan Brewer – Glendale
• Governor Gregory Mendoza – Gila River Indian Community
• Secretary of State Ken Bennett – Phoenix
• Treasurer Doug Ducey – Paradise Valley
• Senate President Steve Pierce – Prescott
• Speaker of the House Andy Tobin – Paulden
• Joseph Abate – Phoenix
• Donna Alu – Tucson
• Kim Beneli – Concho
• Jose Borrajero – Phoenix
• Pamela Burruel – Roosevelt
• Carolyn Cox – Tucson
• Kevin DeMenna – Phoenix
• Marla Festenese – Prescott
• Debra Jean Forrest – Mesa
• Elaine Gangluff – Phoenix
• Paul Gilbert – Paradise Valley
• Alberto Gutier – Phoenix
• Kip Kempton – Safford
• Laura Knaperek – Tempe
• Kory Langhofer – Phoenix
• John Laurie – Gilbert
• Jonathan Lines – Yuma
• Lorraine Pellegrino – Phoenix
• Randall Pullen – Phoenix
• Constantin Querard – Avondale
• Heather Sandstrom – Mesa
• Parralee Schneider – Tucson
• Jill Skayfel – Concho

“We are extremely proud that our delegation is comprised of a diverse group of Arizonans from across the State. We look forward to a continuing growth of our party as we enter the Primary and General Election and the defeat of President Obama,” said AZGOP Chair, Tom Morrissey. “Governor Mitt Romney, who overwhelmingly won the Arizona Presidential Preference Election, is presenting a powerful case for constitutionally-based Republican Party Platform positions that will result in a great victory in November for all Americans,” continued Morrissey.

While this list only names 29 individuals as delegates, the Arizona Republican Party and Republican National Committee continue to discuss completing the full complement of 58 delegates to the national convention. Any additional names will be released depending upon the outcome of those discussions.

###

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona
Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Treasurer consulting with attorney to figure out how to stop $975,000 taxpayer payout to Wilcox for “stress”   Judge Wake improperly bypassed statute requiring county treasurer to approve such payouts

by Jeremy Duda Arizona Capitol Times May 15, 2012   (we can only print excerpts in order to avoid copyright violations) Maricopa County Treasurer Charles “Hos” Hoskins will meet with an attorney to determine whether he can take legal action to stop a $975,000 settlement to Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. Hoskins said County Attorney Bill Montgomery will assign an outside attorney to him to help him determine whether he has legal grounds to challenge a federal judge’s ruling to award the money to Wilcox as compensation for Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas’ investigation and indictment of her.   The crux of his argument is whether U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake improperly bypassed the requirement in state statute that the county treasurer approve all such settlements. “If I just sat idly by and did nothing, you as a citizen could bring an action against me for not upholding the law. Now, that’s the question,” Hoskins said. “If I am correct in that assumption, then the next step will be to decide what action I can take to uphold that provision of the law.” The Board of Supervisors in 2010 authorized then-County Manager David Smith to negotiate settlements stemming from cases involving Arpaio and Thomas’ investigations. But Hoskins said ARS 11-626, which states that all claims against the county by a member of the Board of Supervisors must have the approval of at least one other supervisor, “and of the county treasurer.” “The court seemed to think the board de facto approved the claim whenever they appointed Smith to resolve the issue back in 2010,” Hoskins said. “Supervisor approval is only the second step of the process. You don’t get closer until the third step, which is the approval by the treasurer.”

The Democrat, Ron Barber, has been trying to attack Kelly on the Medicare and Social Security issue. After seeing this new ad from Citizens United, Barber may be sorry he brought up the topic.

Click here to view the embedded video.

 
Read more coverage of the Citizens United buy in this Politico story.

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona
Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Former County Manager David Smith gave away large settlement amounts of taxpayers’ money out of anger (for being forced to resign?)  Judge who dismissed criminal charges against Wilcox admitted he never adjudicated it on the merits

Supervisors did great political botch job by Laurie Roberts Arizona Republic May 15, 2011   Take a bow, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. You, Max Wilson and Andy Kunasek and Fulton Brock. Special accolades to Mary Rose Wilcox for a job exceedingly well done. Oh, it won’t rate the coveted Golden Rule in Government Award. I think we can rule that one out, based on her decision to trample the “do unto others” clause on her march to nearly a million dollars — of our money, that is. But overall, applause all around. Hands down the best political botch job I have seen this year, and given that this is Arizona, that is saying something. In the end Wilcox got her money, and Wilson, Kunasek and Brock got caught with their pants down. And the taxpayers? We got played. As usual. U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake on Friday ruled that we owe Wilcox $975,000 — plus whatever the cost of her legal fees for having to return to court to pry loose her bonanza. On Monday, the supervisors were busy tugging on their Sansabelts, pondering how they got outmaneuvered and whether to appeal. “I still think it requires a board member to sign off on it,” Kunasek said. This particular piece of political theater began in December 2009 when Wilcox was charged with 42 criminal counts, stemming from allegations that she voted to grant public funds to Chicanos Por La Causa while obtaining loans from one of its subsidiaries. Three months later, a Pima County judge dismissed the charges, citing prosecutorial misconduct, but noted that he never considered the merits of the case against Wilcox. Cue the pain, the suffering and the inevitable lawsuit against us. Wilcox claimed that she suffered terribly, losing not only her restaurant but her Golden Rule in Government Award, an honor withdrawn by the Arizona InterFaith Movement after she was indicted. She joined fellow Supervisor Don Stapley and seven others in filing $46 million worth of claims against us for mistreatment at the hands of then-County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. In June 2010, the supervisors — the three who weren’t preparing to sue us — authorized then-County Manager David Smith to settle the claims. In February, Smith talked about paying only their legal fees. Then suddenly last month, as one of his last acts before retiring, he began doling out big money: $500,000 to retired Judge Barbara Mundell and Stapley’s secretary, Susan Schuerman. Then, the shocker: He offered Wilcox $975,000. “David Smith was leaving and he didn’t care if he angered the board,” Scott Isham, Wilson’s chief of staff told me on Monday. “This was an ‘Fyou’ out the door.” County Attorney Bill Montgomery advised that the Wilcox windfall would have to be approved by one of her colleagues and the county treasurer. When her colleagues refused, Wilcox headed to federal court, hoping to convince Wake that she didn’t need anyone’s approval to cash in on her pain and suffering. On Friday, Wake agreed with her. It was almost hard not to, given the anemic defense put on by Steve LaMar, the attorney hired to defend the county. He acted as if he’d never heard of Montgomery’s legal opinion, which, in any case, the judge said “clearly doesn’t apply.” And LaMar’s argument — that any outlay over $200,000 needed board approval — fell apart when Smith testified that $500,000 checks had already been cut to Mundell and Schuerman. Bottom line: Wake found that the supervisors long ago handed Smith a blank check to settle the claims as he saw fit. Kunasek told me on Monday he always believed that Wilcox’s settlement would have to be approved by at least one board member. “If I want to get reimbursed for cab fare, I need to have another board member sign off on it,” he said. Both he and Wilson signed affidavits noting that they advised Smith that any Wilcox settlement would be subject to board approval. They just didn’t show up in court Friday to defend that point of view — a fact duly noted by the judge. Meanwhile, Smith was there to testify that he doesn’t recall ever being told any such thing. “My authority was to settle claims and, acting within that authority, that’s what I did,” he said. It took Wake about two seconds to order us to show Mary Rose the money, and an elated Wilcox proclaimed that justice prevailed. “I will rededicate myself to being the best county supervisor I can be,” she told a reporter. Of course, the best county supervisor she could be would be one who declines to take money from the people who for decades have been electing her. Yeah, that’ll happen. Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8635. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2012/05/14/20120514roberts0515-supervisors-did-great-political-botch-job.html#ixzz1ux7Zm9Z5

Paid for by The Arizona Republican Party

Here’s the video of Saturday’s Republican Party Convention where Ron Paul fanatics caused chaos and havoc in an attempt to take over the convention. Keep in mind that the woman who they attempted to elect as National Committeeman is a 911 Truther.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona
Sunday, May 13, 2012

Three other county supervisors, Bill Montgomery, and Hos Hoskins refused to sign off on $975,000 settlement for Wilcox    Wilcox sneakily hires Colin Campbell, former presiding Judge of the Superior Court to appeal decision to a federal judge who rubberstamped her settlement

In a move right out of the mafia movies, corrupt County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox figured out how to go around the system to get almost $1 million awarded to herself for “stress” over being prosecuted by Arpaio/Thomas. Even the other Supervisors refused award her the money! Fulton Brock, Andrew Kunasek, and Max Wilson stood up to her and would not authorize the settlement (Don Stapley could not vote since he was conflicted out, having his own lawsuit against the county for stress). County Attorney Bill Montgomery issued an opinion which said the $975,000 settlement would need authorization by one county supervisor and the county treasurer. County treasurer Hos Hoskins, friend of the Tea Party, first refused to sign off on it, and the rest followed suit. When Wilcox found out that not even one of them would authorize the settlement, she went out and hired Colin Campbell, the former presiding judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court and a liberal Democrat, to sue the county and force it to give her the money. His crony on the bench, Judge Neil Wake, handed over not only $975,000 to Wilcox but her attorneys fees too. That’s right, for successfully using taxpayers’ money to fight off any investigation or prosecution against her, Wilcox is awarded more taxpayers’ money. Wake has a long history of ruling against Arpaio and should have recused himself from deciding whether to award money to one of Arpaio’s enemies. Everyone knows that Wilcox is corrupt but has successfully been able to avoid prosecution by filing complaints with the Justice Department to stop Arpaio from investigating her, and filing bar complaints against any prosecutor who tries to prosecute her. Wilcox claims that her restaurant El Portal was shut down because of the negative publicity in order to get sympathy, but the truth is it had racked up numerous food violations. Her other restaurant stays in business at Sky Harbor Airport because she finagled a minority-owned business exclusive franchise to it.Wealthy Wilcox an oppressed minority? Wilcox is doing so well financially courtesy of us taxpayers she recently bought a SECOND late model Corvette. While most of us are struggling, barely affording older, average cars, Wilcox is riding high on the taxpayers’ dole buying additional sports cars. We don’t even know what her husband drives. Guesses anyone? A Cadillac is our guess. Already, the supervisors’ hatchet man David Smith has awarded hundreds thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money to five of Wilcox’s cronies who have sued the county over “stress.” Talk about a conflict of interest! Even Arpaio/Pearce protester Randy Parraz got in on the gravy train, and was awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars for “stress” for protesting at a protest he wasn’t even at. One deputy county attorney lost her job over objecting to the payoff, which was designed to smear Arpaio. Next up: How much will Don “the Don” Stapley get in his settlement for “stress”? Predictions anyone? $2 million? $1.5 million? What about Conley “the Con” Wolfswinkel, Stapley’s former business partner and a convicted felon. We hear he’s next on the gravy train. Expect Colin Campbell to get a generous retainer for representing them too. After that, look for Wilcox or Stapley or one of their cronies to file a bar complaint against Bill Montgomery, since he dared to stand up to Wilcox.

Jill Skayfel
David Guthrie
Richard Gaydosh
Jelaire Richardson
John Laurie
Razi Berry
Donna Snodgrass
Deb Wells
Jeanne Manwiller
Michael Becker
Kim Beneli
Kenneth Biehl
Joseph Buckley
JoAnne Dutton
Pace Ellsworth
Michael Fink
Michal Haynes
Nancy Kellander
Ben Kruse
Seraphim Larsen
Joan Lewis
Patricia Lewis
Juanna Mahoney
Janelle Neil
Matthew Papke
MaryAnn Platt
Jeremy Saxey
Gianluca Zanna
John Lesko
Joanne Diggins
Blythe Guvenen
Nathan Richardson
Annette Freeman
David Fitzgerald
David Snodgrass
Adam Henriksen
Franklin Fiedler
Azita Afsharimehr
Paul Diggins
Robert Doughty
James Dutton
Morgana Gallaway
Alex Judd
Steven Kellander
Easton Kelsey
Thurane Khin
Anna Larsen
Steven Neil
Meg Rodney
William Snodgrass
Tina Stephens
Catherine Vallecorsa
Ed Vallejo
Gregory Weisman
Tom Westbrook
Cody Whitaker

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona
Friday, May 11, 2012

Contrary to false rumors in the blog Western Free Press, which supports Russell’s new challenger Bob Worsley, a Republican with questionable credentials and questionable motives for running for office, Russell Pearce is still running for his old Senate Seat. We don’t like the Arizona Republic, but at least they put the smear article to rest today. Russell is having a fundraiser tomorrow night in Fountain Hills, only $25.

Joseph Abate
Diana Arendt
Secretary of State Ken Bennett
Jose Borrajero
Governor Jan Brewer
Pamela Burruel
Carolyn Cox
Kevin DeMenna
Doug Ducey
Marla Festenese
Debra Forrest
Elaine Gangluff
Paul Gilbert
Alberto Gutier
Kip Kempton
Laura Knaperek
Kory Langhofer
Jonathan Lines
Governor Gregory Mendoza
Loraine Pellegrino
Senator Steve Pierce
Sherry Pierce
Randall Pullen
Constantin Querard
Heather Sandstrom
Parralee Schneider
Representative Andy Tobin
Ed Hedges
Donna Alu
Michael Holland
Debbie Belnap
Lauren Blevins
Shawnna Bolick
Susan Davis
Milt Wheat
Shirley Dye
Robert Garcia, Jr.
Senator Gail Griffin
Mayor Hugh Hallman
David Hoefferle
Kristin Middleton
April Riggins
Lee Miller
Drake Mitchell
Sam Moorehead
Matthew Morales
Peggy Neely
Commissioner Gary Pierce
Hon. Lou Ann Preble
Ed Parker
Judith Rustin
Supervisor Buster Johnson
Douglas Nichols
Trey Basha
John Wright
Rev. C.T. Wright
Marilyn Zerull
Paul Lycos

zany : comical in an endearing way; imaginatively funny or comical, especially in behavior 

Jeff Bales, a Ron Paul supporter and Member at Large of the Pima County GOP has called for the resignation of RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. Bales is alleging that Priebus is showing favoritism towards Mitt Romney, and claims that Ron Paul is still in the race.

“Due to an alleged violation of the national GOP’s Rule # 11 (bans favoritism of one candidate while more than one candidate exists), an Executive Committee member within the GOP calls for the resignation of RNC Chairman Reince Priebus,” writes Bales.

Bales, who describes himself as a “simple” man, hopes to win the Ron Paul revolution through Facebook and other social networking sites including CNN ireport. Bales is being supported by a fringe group. The GOP has been under attack by many fringe elements including failed Tucson mayoral candidate Shaun McClusky who now claims to control the url of the Pima GOP.

One Paul supporter, who asked to remain anonymous, has come forward with concerns about the group’s bigger plan for this weekend, as a result of what she believes are “less than honorable tactics” employed by her fellow Paul supporters. “Their lack of intellectual contribution to the GOP has begun many to speculate there may be Dems in their midst,” she told the ADI.

The stealthy Paul contingent plans to nominate Ron Paul delegates at this weekend’s Arizona Republican Party Convention to send to Florida this summer. They have quietly arranged for Republican delegates for Paul to act like Romney supporters in order to be elected by their unsuspecting fellow Republicans to attend the Republican convention in Florida this summer.

One Paul supporter, Rachel Owen Tyson, claims that “Romney people that have been dressing up as Paul supporters and passing out fake slates of delegates to vote on.”

Tin foil hats are soon to be in short supply in the Paul ranks.

According to various sources, the Paul supporters intend to invoke “Rule 38” which states that States and Congressional Districts cannot “bind” their delegates in the case of a second ballot.

Bales posted on Facebook a video of a news report in which “Rule 38″ is discussed, and wrote “sshhhh” to his “friends.”

The Ron Paul contingent includes over 100 Arizona Republican delegates. Notable Ron Paul donors and/or supporters include:

• Azita Afsharimehr, Scottsdale
• Alan Albert, Gilbert
• Cheri Albert, Gilbert
• Jeffery Bales, Tucson
• Loretta Hunnicutt, Tucson
• Jennifer Reynolds, Chandler
• Kenneth Rineer, Tucson
• Stacey Salvaggio, Apache Junction
• Jeremy Saxey, Mesa
• Harold Shull, Phoenix
• Amanda Sipes, Tucson
• Kim Beneli, Concho
• Gary Benkendorfer, San Tan Valley
• Bryan Berkland, Mesa
• Razi Berry, Scottsdale
• Kenneth Biehl, Mesa
• Leslie Briggs, Paulden
• Robert Briggs, Paulden
• Janna Campbell, Mesa
• Ashley Carter,Tempe
• Travis Carter,Tempe
• John Cunningham, Phoenix
• Beth Dean, Phoenix
• Tony Dean.Phoenix
• Joanne Diggins,Tucson
• Paul Diggins, Tucson
• Robert Doughty, Casa Grande
• Pace Ellsworth, Mesa
• Matthew Papke, Tempe
• Adrian Erwin, Prescott Valley
• Ben Fiedler, Phoenix
• Michael Fink, Phoenix
• David Fitzgerald, Phoenix
• Yukari Fitzgerald, Phoenix
• Annette Freeman, Gilbert
• Richard Gaydosh,Tucson
• Mark Gogan, Phoenix
• Paul Gregory, Phoenix
• David Guthrie, Tucson
• Rebecca Guthrie, Tucson
• Dory Harrington, Gilbert
• Luara Hatton, Gold Canyon
• Michal Haynes, Phoenix
• William Haynes, Phoenix
• Jill Henderson, Tucson
• Preston Hicks, Kingman
• Diane Holthaus, Chino Valley
• John Huggins, Mesa
• Benjamin Jones, Flagstaff
• Thurane Khin, Phoenix
• Scott Killian, Phoenix
• Adam Koelsch, Tempe
• John Kulak, Scottsdale
• Anna Larsen, Florence
• Seraphim Larsen, Florence
• Kyle Lauing, Phoenix
• Natasha Lauing, Phoenix
• John Laurie, Gilbert
• John Lesko, Tucson
• Patricia Lewis, Kingman
• Thomas Lindsay, Gilbert
• Vitaliy Maksimov, Phoenix
• Jeanne Manwiller, Phoenix
• David Mason,Prescott Valley
• Gloria Mason, Prescott Valley
• Lori McKenna, Yuma
• Cassandra Mooneyham, Lake Havasu City
• Dragos Neagv, Surprise
• Joseph Neglia, Tempe
• Steven Neil, Mesa
• Janelle Neil, Mesa
• Karyn Nelson, Fountain Hills
• Adam Nollmeyer, Phoenix
• John Olson, Tucson
• Lance Packer
• Vinod Paul, Scottsdale
• David Peterson, Tempe
• Patrick Petrini, Surprise
• Mary Ann Platt, Glendale
• Sarah Platt, Glendale
• Tom Platt, Glendale
• Jill Skayfel, Concho
• James Smith, Tucson
• Tina Stephens, Phoenix
• Sherri Stryker, Phoenix
• David Tallman, Scottsdale
• Thomasita Taylor, Phoenix
• Brian Theobold, Peoria
• Cassandra Tourville, Tucson
• Catherine Vallecorsa, Glendale
• Pamela Webe, Mesa
• Deborah Wells, Peoria
• Tom Westbrook, Mesa
• Cody Whitaker, Tucson
• David White, Paulden
• Margot Wittenberg, Carefree
• Russ Wittenberg, Carefree
• Katherine Yeniscavich, Tucson
• William Yeniscavich, Tucson

Loretta Hunnicutt contributed to this story. You may contact her at editor@Arizonadailyindependent.com

In a few weeks, at the end of the U.S. school equivalent of ninth grade, in June, all students enrolled in the French National education system worldwide are required to sit for the National Brevet Diploma Exam to demonstrate academic competencies in order to continue to the next grade, which would be ‘Seconde’ – the equivalent to the U.S. tenth grade level.

Students have two chances to pass, a fail generally requires repeating the ninth grade for another attempt. Students who pass continue study for three more years towards the Baccalaureate which is given at the end of the U.S. equivalent of 12th grade and is meant for entry to university.

A number of students pass the Brevet and simply graduate at age 15-16 with the Brevet Diploma, leaving school for work or trade schools, better equipped in math, reading and writing required for quality trade skills than their American counterparts who graduate  with a high school diploma two-three years later at age 18.

The Brevet is a required end of ninth grade exam, but exceeds most American high school senior requirements. Most countries in Europe have a very similar structure and expectations by grade for their students, so even though the French Brevet is used as an example, it reflects what is typical across Europe. French-speaking students, enrolled in certified French education systems in Africa and Asia all sit for the Brevet. It is administered in a manner similar to the SAT, everyone takes it on the same days, at designated testing venues, but unlike the SAT it is not optional and it’s not a computerized exam. Teams of teachers grade the Brevet exams of other schools; they are not permitted to grade their own students.

Students worldwide have just completed a practice exam, called the ‘white Brevet’ or ‘Brevet blanc,’ and have a few more weeks before the actual 2012 Brevet. It’s a two day exam, covering rhetoric (writing, reading, essay and grammar), history and math. There are no multiple choice or true/false questions, all answers are written out.  That’s written, as in cursive, which is being dropped out of many US public schools as the excuse goes … ‘irrelevent’ to modern life.  Calculators are allowed for the math section, but they are no substitutes for compasses, which most American students have never even held in their hands in 12 years of schooling, much less learned how to use to reproduce a complex geometric figure or simply demonstrate how to perfectly bisect an angle, something that the typical student outside the USA learns before 5th grade.

Above, the graphic shows a typical pair of geometry problems at the Brevet level. The English translation was added. The French have one standard for students, no ‘low’ ‘middle’ or ‘advanced’ separations as American schools have done. French and European students are competitive in math with Chinese and Japanese students, yet without the stressed, unbalanced, over-studying cram lifestyle that is such a problem in Asia.

Typical history/geo/social-studies questions of the Brevet (choose one):

1) What were the political entities which formed the Popular Front? What were the principal measures announced by Leon Blum? What types of obstacles did the Popular Front encounter?  Using the information in the documents provided and the information you know, write an argumentative paragraph of at least twenty lines discussing the successes and also the political fragility of the Popular Front.

2) What were the two great changes made by Mikhail Gorbachev to reform the Russian society? Define these in a precise manner. In what manner did these changes affect the political situation in Czechoslovakia? What were the changes going on in the Soviet block at the end of the 1980s? Which were the consequences of this revolution for the political career of Mikhail Gorbechev and for the USSR?
Drawing from the information in these documents and what you know, write an argumentative paragraph of twenty lines describing the end of the Soviet block from 1985 to 1991.

Language/Rhetoric composition: Brevet Level

“Jules was great friends with a soldier in the French army. His nephew decides to write about his uncle including how these two people met. Write, in the point of view of the nephew, a narrative of the encounter of these two characters.” Grading criteria: Complexity of ideas, the paragraphs are well organized, use the proper verb tenses (employ the correct usages of the verb tenses: imperfect, composite past or simple past), spelling, grammar and punctuation.

Source: Hachette 3eme Livre 2007

Regarding Math instruction:
The teacher, who has a demonstrated competency certificate in math, introduces a new concept to the class. He/she then explains and demonstrates the problem on the board, followed by a short lecture so the students write the lecture points into their notebooks, which are tightly supervised to be extremely structured and thus serve as excellent study guides. The remainder of the class is spent by students practicing working the problems at the board or in their notebooks under the supervision of the teacher. The teacher may assign a couple of extra problems for homework, requiring only a few minutes at home. No computers in the classroom, no teaching assistants, no ‘smart boards.’ The teacher grades all exams and checks all notebooks for neatness and completeness. Exams are not multiple-choice and require the frequent use of compasses, rulers, right angles, protractors … and erasers. The typical class size in better schools locally is 25-30 students, all handled by the teacher, no assistants.

Answers to the geometry problems in the graphic above:
#4: requires usage of the Pythagorean Theorem and the Theorem of Thales.
The Section A’B’C’D’ is thus a square with the length of a side x = (25√94) ÷ 47  cm

#5. Circumference C corresponds to the length of the circle 2(pi)R.  C = 2(pi) x 6370 = 12,740(pi) or about 40,024 km  … then  x =( 40 024 x 33) ÷360  thus length of the arc AB is 3669 km.

If your freshman, sophomore, junior or senior high school graduate cannot solve these problems or is not able to answer or write out responses appropriate to the history or rhetoric questions, then he or she, despite enormous amounts of financing to our schools,  did not receive training in a level of math, history and rhetoric required as national standards in most other developed countries at ninth grade … delivered at less cost, shorter school days, and far less homework.  The proposed national CORE standards double down on worthless, seemingly constructed by political ideologues who prefer to perpetuate ignorance in the classroom and ignorance of the reality outside our borders.  Our schools love to talk ‘globally competitive’ but don’t actually teach the nuts and bolts skills required for it: readin’, ritin’ and ‘rithmetic.  We haven’t even touched on foreign language requirements outside the Brevet … the students taking the Brevet are also required in 9th grade to study English plus another language such as Spanish or German.

And when was the last time our own school history textbooks put on their covers our victorious, liberatin’ American G.I Joe soldiers with guns getting hugged by appreciative, pretty French babes?  Our young teenage American male was quite surprised to see his textbook for 2011-2012.  History suddenly was a bit more interesting.

Source: Hachette Education 3eme, Source: Plan Brevet Maths 3eme Editions Magnard

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