Get a majority on your Board of Education. Circumvent the administration and vote IB out. It's easier said than done. As you will see in this article, even the local press will attempt to loudly amplify the pro-IB voices. They never go quietly. But the way they account for IB in the New Albany-Floyd County school district, IB costs 10X what the AP Capstone Program costs. Congratulations, NAFC!
FLOYD COUNTY — The New Albany-Floyd County Schools board has taken action to replace the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Floyd Central High School.
The NAFCS board voted 4-3 Monday to remove the IB program at Floyd Central in the 2024-25 school year. The program will be replaced with the Advanced Placement Capstone program, and juniors and seniors at Floyd Central will be able to complete their IB diploma.
Floyd Central began offering the IB diploma track in 2013, and it is the only school in Southern Indiana to offer the program. The IB program is a curriculum for high school juniors and seniors involving high-level courses, hours of community service, an extensive research paper and other requirements.
The AP Capstone diploma requires students to earn a score of 3 or higher on four AP courses of any subject area, as well as a 3 or higher on the yearlong AP Seminar and AP Research courses during their junior and senior years.
For those who voted in favor of removing IB at Floyd Central, the lack of growth in the program was among the reasons mentioned. The recommendation to replace the program came from the school board instead of the NAFCS administration.
Board members Lee Ann Wiseheart, Jenny Higbie, Donna Corbett and Elizabeth Galligan voted to replace the IB program, while members Elaine Murphy, Joe Brown and Rebecca Gardenour voted against the replacement.
Wiseheart said the conversation about whether to continue with the IB track has been ongoing for multiple years. She said the program has not “been growing where it needs to be to financially support it,” and she feels the board has the fiduciary responsibility to take action.
She also discussed the timing of the board’s recommendation to replace the program.
“The reason it’s coming on the agenda now is that the former superintendent delayed and would not have it on here and because there’s time sensitivity to adjust and make sure kids can adjust their schedule if there’s a change,” Wiseheart said.
The board action followed many public comments from students and parents urging the board to keep the IB program in place. Floyd Central junior Reid Coleman, an IB student, is among those who spoke out in favor of the program, and he said he is disappointed in the board’s decision.
“I think that the people for the elimination didn’t have the best arguments and the best evidence to back it up,” he said. “I know they spent years talking about it, but I think they should have more consideration about adding both the AP Capstone and IB program.”
Murphy, the NAFCS board president, said she sees great value in the program, and she feels it’s “a service we can offer that other schools do not offer.”
“I think that it serves our students well, and I support that program 100%,” she said. “I personally would hate to see it go away.”
Higbie, the NAFCS board vice president, believes replacing IB with the AP Capstone will provide a “more inclusive” program for students. She said she has talked to multiple families who have faced difficulty in balancing extracurriculars with the IB schedule, and the AP Capstone makes it easier to reach students pursuing STEM.
“I have done my homework,” she said. “We have been talking about this literally for years…we want what’s best for kids,” she said.
Higbie’s son graduated last year from New Albany High School with an AP Capstone diploma, and her daughter is also pursuing the program. She said her family “found it to be exceptional.” The AP program is focused on research, critical thinking, discussion and collaboration, she noted.
Floyd Central Principal Rob Willman said he has been involved in the IB program since it began, and he is “very much in favor of it.”
“Yes, it’s a rigorous curriculum there, but the kids who have gone through it — I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody that’s had a negative experience with the program,” he said. “It has been valuable to a lot of people. They are getting what it is they want.”
The dues for the IB program are $11,650 versus $1,250 for the AP Capstone. However, NAFCS Chief Financial Officer Chris Street said the most relevant cost consideration regarding IB program is more of an “opportunity cost,” since a teacher could teach another course if they were not teaching IB. He said he personally wouldn’t recommend cutting the IB program.
I'm a 16 year old IB student in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. I was raised in Germany and lived there for most of 15 years; I was never able to fully experience neither my true country I always saw myself part of, nor my language. To this day I'm still struggling to speak in Bulgarian. Lately however, due to the utterly totalitarian and extremist situation in Germany, I have decided to move with my family to my home country and permanently settle here. I enrolled in a school offering the IB programme in pursuit of an English-speaking education mainly. I saw the seemingly high professionalism listed in their website as a mere plus, rather than a prerequisite as to why I chose it.
The school year began just a couple weeks ago, thus I'm still very fresh in experiencing IB as a whole. Although I will continue giving the education chances, I have started to notice certain... ideological influences and contradictions inside the core of the IB; already at such an early stage. IB seems to want people to question knowledge itself and help them find truth easier, but how can that be when, as I have seen in the TOK book (Stanford), clearly and indisputably leftist positions are seeded in young students? I'm talking about the sexual revolution, feminism, political correctness, socialist environmentalism, and especially a deep opposition to christianity and alternative opinions to mainstream controversies and/or conspiracies.
I myself, probably thanks to the conservative nature of the Bulgarian nation, have not had any major conflicts due to the IB programme. As long as I ignore the official material, the teachers are very tolerant of criticism of the programme; the students themselves, albeit sometimes quite liberal, abstain from using social violence and exclusion to express their political thoughts; the education itself is mostly pretty neutral and academic. However, it is very obvious it nevertheless has its creepy vines bundled around certain classes. For example, Computer Science is infected wholly by trying to show some sort of universal, tolerant way of solving problems, in the end not really teaching anything related to IT.
I have thus began to search for resources to further analyze the IB programme in more suspicious lenses, and stumbled across the TAIB website. First of all, regardless of any position on the IB discourse, I find it admirable and respectable the way you manage to continue to combat an institution you deem harmful throughout many years with strict opposition.
I have read some of the e-mails sent by IB enthusiasts, which quite honestly prove exactly your words. The IB seems to attract people who are especially happy to use violence, coercion and intimidation to "debate" in an argument; a classic characteristic of the left since the French Revolution. I must tell you; I wholeheartedly agree that the IB is very probable to spawn values contra to the values of the American nation. Virtually every post I have seen discrediting the notion of IB being politicized and ideologized themselves don't see the controversy in their opinions they believe to be universally true and indisputable... because they are somehow global? This seems to be the idea of "knowing why we know" - In the end it is expected that we learn and embrace the motives and ideas of how liberal ideas came to mind. Preaching the acceptance of multiple opinions and preaching the opinion of acceptance are two fundamentally different practices.
You might think to yourself why a Bulgarian student is interested in Americanism. I will always pledge allegiance to the Bulgarian flag and always consider myself a Bulgarian citizen first and foremost, but I am positive that the United States were founded on a basis that is several degrees superior to that of the mainly feudal and/or Napoleonic one European countries build themselves on. Not only Bulgaria, nor just the Balkans, or Europe, but the entirity of the world should seriously take the United States as an ideal image of a free yet united people. Believing that all countries are equal and deserve the same respect is simply idiotic; American Exceptionalism has every merit to exist. The liberty and resilience yielded by its exceptional culture also should never ever be taken lightly or as a joke in case of possible disruption or attack, as I have seen with many calling you "deluded" or "fearful". Even if, we have every right, and duty, to fear and anticipate attacks on our moral fabrics, especially when it involves children.
I will continue to prospect through the website, and eagerly await new content. I wish you the best of luck and resilience against the seriously indoctrinated and godless mob that never talks, but merely spits and belittles.
Note:
If you would decide to publish my email on your website, I would give you full clearance and my biggest gratitude if it weren't for my belief that my anonymity would be compromised, and thus I would ask to not be published directly, but instead to be quoted indirectly if possible with confidential information redacted. - Also, it is 01:35 am, I am hungry and tired; I apologise deeply for any bad or informal English in my e-mail.
Truth About IB (TAIB) represents the most comprehensive compilation of investigative research on the International Baccalaureate® (IB) program available on the Internet. The purpose of this site is to provide factual information and resources to parents and taxpayers who have unanswered questions about IB. If you are unable to locate the answers to your questions, please feel free to e-mail us at: info@truthaboutib2.com
September 25, 2021
Chart of International Baccalaureate Diploma Candidates and actual Recipients since first class in 2006, at Locust Valley High School, New York.
#1 Threat - IB TAIB has obtained a copy of an internal memo in Locust Valley Central School District which identifies "NEGATIVITY TO IB DUE TO COST" ..... as the primary internal threat. Our source is reputable, but shall remain anonymous. Now that Superintendent Anna Hunderfund is out of the way, there is nothing to prevent a change in programming.
Now is the time for the LVCSD Board of Education to establish a fiscally and academically sound educational path forward for our students.
LVCSD has burdened the district with this threat for 15 years, 15 years too long.
LVCSD Internal Threats
2019 Locust Valley HS IB & AP Exam Reports
The results of the Spring, 2019 IB & AP exams have finally been released as per a Freedom of Information request. Unfortunately, a detailed analysis cannot be provided as LVCSD found it necessary to redact many exam results, allegedly because somehow YTAIB could magically determine which students took which exams. Ridiculous. Nothing should be redacted, they are just numbers, no names.
This year, the results on the AP exams were actually up. There was a 50% pass rate. However, a full 20% of the students still only scored a '1', 30% earned '2's'.
For IB, 17 of the 28 full IB Diploma candidates earned the IB diploma. The global pass rate is approximately 80%, LVHS is down to 60%.
There needs to be a cost/value analysis of both "programs", In 2019-2020, IB has rescinded the $172 per pupil registration fees, freeing up approximately $20K already budgeted for IB. Unfortunately, since LVCSD does not assign a Code to IB items in the budget, coming up with a cost/value analysis is impossible.
Let's be clear. No amount of tutoring, make-up classes or extra help will make International Baccalaureate (IB) courses "appropriate" for many children with special needs. IB is proudly billed as "rigorous". The definition of "rigorous" is; extremely thorough, exhaustive and/or accurate. For a child who suffers from dyslexia, blindness, neurological disorders, even ADHD, there is absolutely no reason to subject them to the kind of stress and mental strain that IB places on even non-LD students.
Furthermore, public schools in NY forcing students to take IB History in 11th and 12th Grades are not meeting the NYS Graduation requirements for High School. These requirements include a .5 year of Economics and a .5 year of Participation in Government. These are foundational courses which students with disabilities could handle, but it appears they are being denied the opportunity which is mandated by NYS.
Another BoE Meeting will be held on 12/5/18. If you are in a position to help the good parents in RVC who oppose the IB mandate for special education students, please attend and speak up.
The LI Herald article was brought to the attention of Jay Mathews of The Washington Post and author of Supertest; How the International Baccalaureate Can Strengthen Our Schools. Once corroborated, Mr. Mathews stated,
"It makes no sense to force IB, even one course, on a student that doesn't want it .... And if they do try and force kids to take IB in violation of their IEP's, that would be a column." ~Jay Mathews
Oldest IB High School on Long Island, Rockville Centre, NY
The 2018 IB/AP Exam Reports for Locust Valley High School are presented in the box to the right of this text. You will note there are a number of redacted lines. The district claims it is legal for them to redact numbers of 5 or less because we might somehow, magically, be able to identify students. It should be noted that the minimum class size policy is 8, so if LVHS is running classes with fewer than 8 students, it is violating its own policy.
It should also be noted that a complaint has been filed with whistleblowing@ibo.org against LVCSD for its unauthorized use of the IB PYP and MYP. More to follow when this situation is addressed.
If this is your first visit to Truth About IB, a few words. My apologies for not actively reviewing and updating links within this site over the past year. Unfortunately, IBO completely redesigned its site, burying, obscuring, deleting and making it virtually impossible to provide helpful links for those seeking information on fees, regulations, past speeches, etc. Other info may be a couple of years out of date. If you have specific questions that you are unable to find the answers to, please email me at info@truthaboutib2.com. I still check the e-mail and will reply as soon as possible.
In terms of the site itself, I am leaving it up online as a resource for newcomers to explore, but will not be adding new articles. With the advent of Common Core in the U.S., most folks understand that IB is merely Common Core on steroids. On occasion, I will check and update the number of IB programs in the U.S. It does my heart good to know that despite the millions of taxpayer dollars wasted on IB, there are still fewer than 900 Diploma programs in the U.S.
This e-mail, received from an IB student in Michigan, should be a wake-up call for any administrator who claims they are implementing IB "for the children". Educators who are truly "for the children" shouldn't want to stress them out to the point they consider suicide.
To: info@truthaboutib.com Date: 10-07-2015 11:58 PM Hello, my name is Mathew, and I am currently a senior at the International Academy of Macomb (IAM) in Michigan. I just saw your website and thought I could give you my personal experience from the IB programme and the misery it has brought me. Once introduced to the DP program as a junior, I had chosen considerably very difficult courses. This includes HL Math, HL Physics, HL English, SL Spanish, SLS Music, and SL History (20th century Europe and Middle East). Contrary to what one might assume about my choices, I had absolutely no problems with Math, Physics, Music, and History. To be honest, the content portion of the IB programme (excluding the political bias) is well within my capabilities. Math and science are my strongest subject despite the difficulty. History and Music are my favorite subjects. However, this is probably the only things I find satisfactory about the programme. Let me begin with the teachers and their methods of teaching. They would assign you a reading from a packet or IB textbook and expect you to educate yourself from that. There would be no lecture, no activities, nothing. History, once my favorite subject in public middle school, is almost unbearable because of the workload and the teachers' failure to actually teach his/her class. The only ones that do teach are math and science teachers. Some of them do their job very well, and I acclaim them for my abilities in the respective subjects. It is all of the other teachers that cause me to struggle. For that, I am a B or C student overall. The problem with the technicality of IB is their leniency of qualifying teachers for their curriculum. All they have to do is receive training for a single weekend. Some teachers at my school don't even have degrees in the subject that they teach, yet IB still considers them qualified just for attending "training". As for the curriculum itself, there can be many improvements. Personally, I am content with Math and Science. There are plenty of options and levels in which a student can choose from, and most IB schools provide these options. My problem is with the other subjects. There isn't even a curriculum for IB Music. All they have is a list of what students should be prepared for come the IB exam and the requirements for Internal and External Assessments. This makes it difficult not only for the student, but for the teacher as well. My music teacher does his job very well, but he has to stay up late at night aside from concert, jazz, and marching band at a nearby high school. He is one of the only teachers that does more work than the actual students, and I applaud him for that. Literature is another course that I am dissatisfied with. The reading my teachers assigns me are books, plays, and/or poems that are not traditionally read in high school, let along college. For example, In the past 6 months we have read novels titled Their Eyes Were Watching God, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and Woman at Point Zero. Most students in secondary or higher education would not even know these titles, and even if they have, I doubt they would consider it literature. The plots are bland, the style and literary elements are poor, and the theme is way too subjective. This makes the course difficult to get a good grade. It is because of this class that my GPA is suffering and am most likely not going to be accepted into my preferred university (University of Michigan). Finally, the history curriculum is the most flawed of all. The textbooks and the presentation of the content is clearly biased towards the left wing of the political spectrum. For example, when learning about Soviet Russia and the rise of Stalin, it was said that Stalin's version of Communism was dissimilar, even opposite, to Marx's and Lenin's traditional theories. They are able to glorify an extremist ideology like Communism using false interpretations of Stalin's rule. This is only a small topic in the large curriculum. I would assume different topics such as The Americas or World History would attack classical liberalism or even Christianity. My personal experience with IB has been the most stressful and toughest moments in my life. There had been so many times I had though of returning to my old public school district and take AP (even then I'll probably get more college credits). I have even went as far to consider suicide. I have heard that many actually have committed suicide as a result of the stress IB gives its students. The fact that someone would think or even do that because of the programme itself clearly demonstrates the horrid nature of IB. Although I am a senior and am very close to completing high school, I am serious on leaving and going back to my home school. My grades are the worst they have ever been, and I am discouraged about doing my homework due to the amount I receive each day. There needs to be more awareness of IB and the serious flaws within it. I support what you are doing and am glad more and more people are understanding the true nature of the programme because of you guys. Sincerely, Mathew XXXXXX
"Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body & mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day."
FAIR USE NOTICE This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of education issues vital to a republic. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C., Chapter 1, Section 107 which states: the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright," the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use" you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
