John Birch Society's American Opinion Foundation pays Common Core Opponents from out-of-state to speak, block local pro-Common Core Education Officials.

State Rep. Christine Sinicki, resigned  from the Assembly Select Committee on Common Core, headed up by partisans  Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt, Senator Paul Farrow. She wrote:

This letter is sent to you to tender my resignation … While I respect my fellow
Democrats’ stamina in remaining on the Committee, I believe it is time for me to end an

association with what is sadly a deeply biased hearing process, not an objective policy review.

It has become painfully clear that this committee and its activities are occurring at the behest of interested parties outside of this Legislature, and even this state. I believe that this SCCCS is primarily a roadshow ... The general criticisms of the Common Core Standards here in Wisconsin echo the extreme statements coming out of the RNC, which is a campaign organization.

This extremism about common standards, not to mention public education in general, seems to emanate from the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party. And in turn, they have attracted another extreme and very rich ally in the national John Birch Society (JBS), which is conveniently headquartered here in Wisconsin. Each of the SCCCS’s informational hearings have featured speakers suggested to the SCCCS chairs by the JBS, and whose travel expenses from distant parts of the country have been paid for by the American Opinion Foundation (AOF), a proud arm of the Birch Society.

On Wisconsin Eye video of the Eau Claire SCCCS hearing, these invited speakers from other states say, bizarrely, that they don’t know who it was that called and invited them but that, upon arrival, they were handed expense checks issued by AOF (which they then show the committee members).