This petition is to hold the Chandler Unified School District accountable for its poor decision to forcibly implement i-Ready curriculum into our public schools, and to formally express parent’s serious dissatisfaction with the district's approach to the new math curriculum referring to the use of i-Ready and the instructional methods associated with it. 

The i-Ready curriculum, while marketed as an innovative solution to enhance learning, fails to adapt to the diverse needs of students. It emphasizes standardized testing and computer-based learning, instead of providing students with effective and most importantly evidence-based math curriculum that prioritizes foundational skills, fluency, and academic mastery.

Parents are deeply concerned that the district's current choice in curriculum places too much emphasis on visual models and multiple ways of solving basic arithmetic problems, without emphasis on direct instruction, repetition, accuracy, and mastering standard mathematical procedure. The new curriculum is so convoluted that parents with college degrees are turning to chatGPT to figure out first grade math. 

Various studies have shown that reliance on computer-based programs like i-Ready can lead to decreased motivation and engagement in students. A 2019 report by the National Education Policy Center highlights how such curriculums lack efficacy in significantly improving student performance. Instead, their implementation often results in frustration and disengagement among students, affecting their overall academic experience.

It is crucial for CUSD to prioritize the welfare and educational success of our children by investing in proven and adaptive educational practices, instead of what is currently on trend. We urge the district to remove i-Ready. We want a curriculum that will achieve fluency in basic arithmetic, mastering standard mathematical algorithms, rather than merely learning to demonstrate multiple strategies with no mastery. 

Lastly I am demanding that Chandler Unified School District immediately initiate a formal, independent investigation into Curriculum Associates and its i-Ready platform in light of the serious allegations raised in the pending student data privacy lawsuit, M.C. v. Curriculum Associates. This lawsuit raises deeply troubling questions about whether children’s personal identifying information, demographic details, academic assessment results, learning activity, and online usage data have been collected, analyzed, and transmitted to third parties without legally sufficient informed consent. These allegations must not be dismissed simply because Curriculum Associates disputes them. The issue is whether the district has adequately investigated what information is being collected from our children, where that information is going, who has access to it, how it is being used, and whether every aspect of these practices complies with applicable student privacy laws, including FERPA and COPPA. I demand that Chandler Unified disclose the specific student data it provides to Curriculum Associates, identify all authorized third-party recipients, release the relevant data privacy provisions of its contracts, explain how parental consent is obtained, and clarify what independent security and privacy audits have been conducted. The district must also establish whether student information is retained indefinitely, used to develop commercial products or student profiles, or shared for purposes extending beyond the educational services families have been told are being provided. Parents should not have to rely solely on assurances from a company whose practices are the subject of active litigation. I am calling for an independent review by qualified data privacy and cybersecurity professionals, consultation with appropriate state and federal oversight authorities, and a public report detailing the findings and corrective actions.

Our children only have a limited number of years to build a strong mathematical foundation that they will carry with them for life. We cannot treat their education as an experiment without clear evidence of success. Sign this petition to have CUSD prove and provide transparent answers supported by data and research, and prove that the current chosen curriculum is serving the best interest of our children, otherwise they need to remove the forced curriculum which is i-Ready.