Our new Common Core standards once again promise "College and Career Ready." It's interesting to watch clips of presidential races in years past. They all, Republicans and Democrats, exhort about how they are going to improve the schools. This is a joke, it never happens. Why doesn't it happen? It doesn't happen because the Federal Government does not belong in the schools. The Federal Government does not know about education. Education is a local and personal thing, personal to teachers and their students, and to parents and their children. The Federal Government can do a few things kind of well, like the military, which is within its' purview under the constitution "provide for the Common Defense", however, the Federal Government's attempt to take over the schools is tragically destroying public education in America. Let's talk about "College and Career Ready."
I went to school in the fifties and sixties. We were trained early to be college and career ready. The leftists call this the "Factory Model." Yes, we had to get up early everyday (no excuse about being a "night" person, or a teenager who likes to sleep in and is more awake after noon!). It wasn't all about you. You learned respect for the rules and to follow through because it was expected. You dressed appropriately and if you weren't dressed appropriately you were sent home. Boys did not wear beards to school, girls did not wear low cut tops. There were no "dress down Fridays". Teacher's set the example by dressing appropriately for their position. No one got tattoos or had piercings all over their bodies. Drugs were almost unheard of. There was right and wrong, good and bad, and no relativity. You did one thing if you saw or heard about someone doing drugs, you called the police. Girls did not come to school pregnant. They were ashamed of getting pregnant outside of marriage. This is "College and Career Ready", responsibility and respect that encourage the discipline to work hard, to follow through, and to follow the rules, like getting to work on time and meeting deadlines.
Times change and there are many new ways to teach and teaching styles that may fit with new ideas, but it's hard to imagine how kids are being prepared to be"College and Career Ready" when they are taught every day to be suspect of big businesses and corporations. Under the new Common Core they will be taught that fossil fuels pollute and cause global warming as early as kindergarten. So I guess none of them will want to work in the natural resources industry. They won't want to work in obstetrics either because the world is "overcrowded". "Social Justice" will be taught in the new "Social Studies", so I guess these kids won't want to work for these "greedy corporations". They won't want to work for the timber industry or the construction industry because "they are destroying the environment". I guess farming and ranching are out too because they supposedly waste natural resources and pollute too. Wall Street is all "Corporate Greed" as are banks. Gee, what's left? Everybody can't work for Planned Parenthood , the Government and government nonprofits.
It's hard to see how the cultural rot now being acted out in our schools could ever prepare children to be "College and Career Ready."I'm guessing businesses might want respectful employees who don't suck on a water bottle all day and sue them for sexual harassment if their boss tells them they "Look nice today." They'll probably want people who respect their business and won't be participating in trying to destroy the company because they think the owner is the evil rich. They'll probably want someone who can do the work because they have the personal discipline to focus, work hard, and do what they're told without excuses and without expecting to be entertained. If our public schools want to prepare students to be "College and Career Ready" they'll need a cultural redo, and that includes withdrawal from the "Common Core Curriculum"!!
Tuesday 31 July 2012
Wednesday 25 July 2012
WAKE UP CALL
The socialists have found the believers in freedom snoozing this time. It's hard to imagine that people like Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Governor Chris Christi of New Jersey would hand over our freedoms to the radical left in such a blithe and easy way, as to endorse Common Core Standards. I'm sure the socialists, who understand that a NATIONAL CURRICULUM is as much a cornerstone of their plan to SOCIALIZE AMERICA as is their NATIONAL HEALTHCARE can't believe their luck!!
I'd like to offer some smelling salts to these governors and WAKE THEM UP!! I'd like to start with a little story told to me by a friend who visited East Germany while it was still in the hands of the Soviets. She was on a bus of tourists and the COMMUNIST WELCOMING AGENT got on board the bus to welcome them to East Germany. She extolled the virtues of communism, they had NO UNEMPLOYMENT, they had FREE DAYCARE FROM BIRTH, they had FREE HEALTH CARE- wow governors- sounds like a great place- maybe we should be like them. But, wait a minute- they also had long handled brooms with mirrors attached to the end so they could check under the bus and make sure that no one was trying to escape. You see governors, no one was fighting to get into East Germany as they fight to get into America- they were trying to escape. Communism sounds good on paper, as the idea of a national curriculum might, but in reality it is a nightmare of lost freedoms. As I said, a NATIONAL CURRICULUM is a CORNERSTONE OF THE NEW SOCIALIST AMERICA that our friends on the left are trying to build.
Now governors, let's talk about the PROPAGANDA that is already in the standards that were written BEHIND CLOSED DOORS WITHOUT PUBLIC INPUT. Yes governors, a new study shows that 70% of Americans don't even know what COMMON CORE STANDARDS are- Communists don't go to the public for their O.K. or their advice. Let's start by saying that one of the first lies of the Common Core writers was that they would not do Science and Social Studies because this would be too controversial- sorry governors- just a few months later they already have the Science standards written and the Social Studies standards are "mostly done". So what's in them?
The CONGRESSIONALLY CHARTERED NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (NRC) DEVISED A FRAMEWORK TO GUIDE THE STANDARDS. It is a violation of Federal law for congress to be involved in curriculum writing- period. In language directly lifted from the NRC framework the draft science standards say "Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in the Earth's mean surface temperature ('global warming')." Man made global warming is a hotly contested scientific THEORY. There is significant skepticism in scientific ranks that the earth is warming or certainly that it is warming because of fossil fuels. This is why there are laws against CONGRESS or the FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION getting involved in curriculum writing or supporting the efforts thereof. HOW MANY WAYS CAN I SAY PROPAGANDA GOVERNORS.
The draft standards integrate global warming and the overplayed worries about human impacts on the planet, starting in KINDERGARTEN. No wonder there was such a push to get full day Kindergarten nationwide- so much propaganda , so little time! The early grade push will create a foundation for ideas that build on long links of suppositions: catastrophic,man made global warming; the evils of fossil fuels("explain differences between renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy" in fourth grade) and the need for the Environmental Protection Agency and other government agencies to strangle human liberties in order to "save the planet."
Fifth graders will examine Earth's temperature increases and believe they destroy penguin habitat and erode coral reefs. Middle schoolers will have to accept that "human activities have significantly altered the biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere" and agree continuous monitoring is necessary to undergird "social policies and regulations that can reduce these impacts." They also must acknowledge the "disciplinary core idea" that "human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in the Earth's mean surface temperature ( global warming)." High Schoolers will have to understand that "though the magnitudes of human impacts are greater than they have ever been, so too are human abilities to model,predict and manage current and future impacts." High schoolers will also be told that our rising global population makes "land for agriculture or drinkable water ...scarcer and more valued."So maybe kids shouldn't want to grow up and have families because the Earth is overcrowded? According to whom? This is not teaching for an informed and educated student body, this is PROPAGANDA FOR AN AGENDA! Is that what school will be now governors- agenda driven rather than best practices for good education?
The writers of Common Core say they want "open ended" questions on tests rather than those old pesky fill in the bubble tests where children simply display that they know the information. Now the testers can subjectively determine if the student is UNDERSTANDING WHAT THEY ARE BEING TOLD. This is pathetic brainwashing and it has no place in the United States of America. I am ashamed of these governors who did not take the time to think, to get informed, and to OBEY THE LAW. The Federal Department of Education did not write the standards, BUT THEY FUNDED THE TESTS!!
Students in Kindergarten are not ready to discuss opinions. They may know how late they want to stay up or what they want to eat, but parents monitor that for a reason, THEY ARE CHILDREN. Adults who know (or should know), for example, that Social Justice has many downsides such as taking away the freedom of the individual to pursue his own happiness with his own private property(loss of freedom), and what history tells us from Mao to Lenin about the savagery of government centralized control, are in a position to propagandize little ones who do not know these things and love their teacher. In the Common Core world children will not be "researching their opinion on non-fictional material" they will be discussing propagandized outcomes. You, as conservative governors, should have known what you were signing up for here. Time to WAKE UP, SOUND THE ALARM AND GET YOUR STATES OUT OF THIS!!!
I'd like to offer some smelling salts to these governors and WAKE THEM UP!! I'd like to start with a little story told to me by a friend who visited East Germany while it was still in the hands of the Soviets. She was on a bus of tourists and the COMMUNIST WELCOMING AGENT got on board the bus to welcome them to East Germany. She extolled the virtues of communism, they had NO UNEMPLOYMENT, they had FREE DAYCARE FROM BIRTH, they had FREE HEALTH CARE- wow governors- sounds like a great place- maybe we should be like them. But, wait a minute- they also had long handled brooms with mirrors attached to the end so they could check under the bus and make sure that no one was trying to escape. You see governors, no one was fighting to get into East Germany as they fight to get into America- they were trying to escape. Communism sounds good on paper, as the idea of a national curriculum might, but in reality it is a nightmare of lost freedoms. As I said, a NATIONAL CURRICULUM is a CORNERSTONE OF THE NEW SOCIALIST AMERICA that our friends on the left are trying to build.
Now governors, let's talk about the PROPAGANDA that is already in the standards that were written BEHIND CLOSED DOORS WITHOUT PUBLIC INPUT. Yes governors, a new study shows that 70% of Americans don't even know what COMMON CORE STANDARDS are- Communists don't go to the public for their O.K. or their advice. Let's start by saying that one of the first lies of the Common Core writers was that they would not do Science and Social Studies because this would be too controversial- sorry governors- just a few months later they already have the Science standards written and the Social Studies standards are "mostly done". So what's in them?
The CONGRESSIONALLY CHARTERED NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (NRC) DEVISED A FRAMEWORK TO GUIDE THE STANDARDS. It is a violation of Federal law for congress to be involved in curriculum writing- period. In language directly lifted from the NRC framework the draft science standards say "Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in the Earth's mean surface temperature ('global warming')." Man made global warming is a hotly contested scientific THEORY. There is significant skepticism in scientific ranks that the earth is warming or certainly that it is warming because of fossil fuels. This is why there are laws against CONGRESS or the FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION getting involved in curriculum writing or supporting the efforts thereof. HOW MANY WAYS CAN I SAY PROPAGANDA GOVERNORS.
The draft standards integrate global warming and the overplayed worries about human impacts on the planet, starting in KINDERGARTEN. No wonder there was such a push to get full day Kindergarten nationwide- so much propaganda , so little time! The early grade push will create a foundation for ideas that build on long links of suppositions: catastrophic,man made global warming; the evils of fossil fuels("explain differences between renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy" in fourth grade) and the need for the Environmental Protection Agency and other government agencies to strangle human liberties in order to "save the planet."
Fifth graders will examine Earth's temperature increases and believe they destroy penguin habitat and erode coral reefs. Middle schoolers will have to accept that "human activities have significantly altered the biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere" and agree continuous monitoring is necessary to undergird "social policies and regulations that can reduce these impacts." They also must acknowledge the "disciplinary core idea" that "human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in the Earth's mean surface temperature ( global warming)." High Schoolers will have to understand that "though the magnitudes of human impacts are greater than they have ever been, so too are human abilities to model,predict and manage current and future impacts." High schoolers will also be told that our rising global population makes "land for agriculture or drinkable water ...scarcer and more valued."So maybe kids shouldn't want to grow up and have families because the Earth is overcrowded? According to whom? This is not teaching for an informed and educated student body, this is PROPAGANDA FOR AN AGENDA! Is that what school will be now governors- agenda driven rather than best practices for good education?
The writers of Common Core say they want "open ended" questions on tests rather than those old pesky fill in the bubble tests where children simply display that they know the information. Now the testers can subjectively determine if the student is UNDERSTANDING WHAT THEY ARE BEING TOLD. This is pathetic brainwashing and it has no place in the United States of America. I am ashamed of these governors who did not take the time to think, to get informed, and to OBEY THE LAW. The Federal Department of Education did not write the standards, BUT THEY FUNDED THE TESTS!!
Students in Kindergarten are not ready to discuss opinions. They may know how late they want to stay up or what they want to eat, but parents monitor that for a reason, THEY ARE CHILDREN. Adults who know (or should know), for example, that Social Justice has many downsides such as taking away the freedom of the individual to pursue his own happiness with his own private property(loss of freedom), and what history tells us from Mao to Lenin about the savagery of government centralized control, are in a position to propagandize little ones who do not know these things and love their teacher. In the Common Core world children will not be "researching their opinion on non-fictional material" they will be discussing propagandized outcomes. You, as conservative governors, should have known what you were signing up for here. Time to WAKE UP, SOUND THE ALARM AND GET YOUR STATES OUT OF THIS!!!
Monday 16 July 2012
MUDDY WATERS
I remember when the Strategic Plan came out under the Clinton's in the early nineties. As teachers we sat in stunned silence as we were told we didn't have an education plan in our schools and so they were going to give us one. Of course at that time they at least pretended that these were state standards which would comply with the United States Constitution which DOES NOT GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE SCHOOLS TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. We of course investigated and found that -lo and behold- every state had almost identical standards!Today though, they are hiding behind the States Governors Association and the School Chiefs Association, they come right out and say that every school district in the United States and in the WORLD will have exactly the same standards. But let's get back to this idea that we didn't have a plan in the schools before the Federal Government socialists took over.
The teachers were stunned because, of course, we had a plan, a very detailed scope and sequence that was updated every 5 years. We had curriculum committees for every academic area and we reviewed and updated curriculum constantly, along with updating curriculum materials in this 5 year time frame. The Carnegie standards required a certain number of credits in major academic areas such as Science, Math, English, and Social Studies, to be accomplished before a student could graduate from high school. Now the same people, under Common Core, are at it again. Our standards are too muddied, we need them to "streamline" our standards. REALLY?? In New York educators are finding that 4 standards are being "streamlined" to fifty under Common Core. And guess what? There's no mechanism in place for review and updating as we always had before with our scope and sequence. Do the authors of these standards think they will just be good forever?? But let's talk about muddied education.
How about mainstreaming? This was an idea from the Federal Government. So now, children with IQs of 60 are in regular classrooms, often against the wishes of their parents who know they are not being served well there. The schools are operating under the burden of hiring full time staff for each disabled child. Here's another idea from the school reform crowd ,"individualized" instruction. SERIOUSLY? The teacher is going to teach to the strengths and weaknesses and learning styles of 25 students at a time all individually?? Talk about muddying the water. I have news for you, this is not "straight forward education". But let's talk about curriculum.
What has happened to curriculum since the school reformers took over. Well you don't just teach basic academics anymore,I can tell you that.The Federal Government geniuses with their nanny state mind set have eliminated a good deal of the time that was supposed to be spent learning to read and write. Mental health is a big item now and children who don't behave in class are LABELED AS MENTALLY ILL!!! ALL students get mental health intervention as counselors have once a week programs to train children in anti-bullying programs. Students leave their classes regularly for Buddy programs, going to other classes in the building and sometimes to other schools.Breakfast at Title one schools is served AFTER THE BELL RINGS and the teacher must set aside time for government healthy snacks too.Many schools have community service programs so students are taught this program and often have to leave school to do service. Artists in residency come in and take over classes sometimes for an hour a day for a week or more. Elementary schools have gardening programs now too. Then there's the Dare program and the Sex Ed program which is mandatory for 7th and 8th graders for one class for a whole semester each year. Who's MUDDYING THE CURRICULUM here? It's a wonder students can learn anything at all at school. And yes, the teacher trying to "individualize" to every student is dumbing down the curriculum. First reports from students about Common Core English texts is that they "didn't learn anything". Parents are up in arms about kids reading one novel a year and spending lots of time on Movie clips that are PG13 and have very dubious subject matter. Some teachers have commented that we are gradually destroying 200 years of education building in the United States.
It sounds like the only people who are really set to gain from Common Core are the EDUCATION INDUSTRY. That's right we have an EDUCATION INDUSTRY now like we used to have an Airline Industry or a Banking Industry. The tech people (you see why Bill Gates funded this) and the textbook people and the consultants are already cashing in and they are so happy because it's all centralized now- no more catering to states and locales or having to worry about all that pesky competition. The amount of bureaucracy is mind numbing. Schools now have academic officers and support officers and innovation offices and instructional specialists and instructional coaches and student program divisions - need I say more? WHOSE MUDDYING THE WATER HERE??
One teacher described it this way - it's kind of like that miniseries Deadwood about the Black HIlls Gold Rush, "There's gold in them thar hills!""The miniseries would prepare those in the education field for the likely eventual outcome- one or two big winners holding most of the gold, scores of others working for these winners, and a devastated landscape pocked with the scars of enterprise." Let's really unmuddy these waters- TEACHING IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE AND STATES CAN DO IT JUST FINE WITHOUT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. In fact, achievement in our public schools has been flat since the Federal Government got involved. I, for one,am tired of the excuses, lies and manipulations of control mongers that want our schools. Don't listen to them America, nothing they say is true and you can run your own schools just fine WITHOUT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OR ANY CENTRALIZED CONTROLS!! Get our schools and our curriculums out of the muddy water by giving the centralized planners their PINK SLIP!
The teachers were stunned because, of course, we had a plan, a very detailed scope and sequence that was updated every 5 years. We had curriculum committees for every academic area and we reviewed and updated curriculum constantly, along with updating curriculum materials in this 5 year time frame. The Carnegie standards required a certain number of credits in major academic areas such as Science, Math, English, and Social Studies, to be accomplished before a student could graduate from high school. Now the same people, under Common Core, are at it again. Our standards are too muddied, we need them to "streamline" our standards. REALLY?? In New York educators are finding that 4 standards are being "streamlined" to fifty under Common Core. And guess what? There's no mechanism in place for review and updating as we always had before with our scope and sequence. Do the authors of these standards think they will just be good forever?? But let's talk about muddied education.
How about mainstreaming? This was an idea from the Federal Government. So now, children with IQs of 60 are in regular classrooms, often against the wishes of their parents who know they are not being served well there. The schools are operating under the burden of hiring full time staff for each disabled child. Here's another idea from the school reform crowd ,"individualized" instruction. SERIOUSLY? The teacher is going to teach to the strengths and weaknesses and learning styles of 25 students at a time all individually?? Talk about muddying the water. I have news for you, this is not "straight forward education". But let's talk about curriculum.
What has happened to curriculum since the school reformers took over. Well you don't just teach basic academics anymore,I can tell you that.The Federal Government geniuses with their nanny state mind set have eliminated a good deal of the time that was supposed to be spent learning to read and write. Mental health is a big item now and children who don't behave in class are LABELED AS MENTALLY ILL!!! ALL students get mental health intervention as counselors have once a week programs to train children in anti-bullying programs. Students leave their classes regularly for Buddy programs, going to other classes in the building and sometimes to other schools.Breakfast at Title one schools is served AFTER THE BELL RINGS and the teacher must set aside time for government healthy snacks too.Many schools have community service programs so students are taught this program and often have to leave school to do service. Artists in residency come in and take over classes sometimes for an hour a day for a week or more. Elementary schools have gardening programs now too. Then there's the Dare program and the Sex Ed program which is mandatory for 7th and 8th graders for one class for a whole semester each year. Who's MUDDYING THE CURRICULUM here? It's a wonder students can learn anything at all at school. And yes, the teacher trying to "individualize" to every student is dumbing down the curriculum. First reports from students about Common Core English texts is that they "didn't learn anything". Parents are up in arms about kids reading one novel a year and spending lots of time on Movie clips that are PG13 and have very dubious subject matter. Some teachers have commented that we are gradually destroying 200 years of education building in the United States.
It sounds like the only people who are really set to gain from Common Core are the EDUCATION INDUSTRY. That's right we have an EDUCATION INDUSTRY now like we used to have an Airline Industry or a Banking Industry. The tech people (you see why Bill Gates funded this) and the textbook people and the consultants are already cashing in and they are so happy because it's all centralized now- no more catering to states and locales or having to worry about all that pesky competition. The amount of bureaucracy is mind numbing. Schools now have academic officers and support officers and innovation offices and instructional specialists and instructional coaches and student program divisions - need I say more? WHOSE MUDDYING THE WATER HERE??
One teacher described it this way - it's kind of like that miniseries Deadwood about the Black HIlls Gold Rush, "There's gold in them thar hills!""The miniseries would prepare those in the education field for the likely eventual outcome- one or two big winners holding most of the gold, scores of others working for these winners, and a devastated landscape pocked with the scars of enterprise." Let's really unmuddy these waters- TEACHING IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE AND STATES CAN DO IT JUST FINE WITHOUT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. In fact, achievement in our public schools has been flat since the Federal Government got involved. I, for one,am tired of the excuses, lies and manipulations of control mongers that want our schools. Don't listen to them America, nothing they say is true and you can run your own schools just fine WITHOUT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OR ANY CENTRALIZED CONTROLS!! Get our schools and our curriculums out of the muddy water by giving the centralized planners their PINK SLIP!
Saturday 7 July 2012
CHICANERY
From Webster's Dictionary- Chicanery: mean or unfair artifice to perplex a cause and obscure the truth;stratagem. Why would anyone use chicanery? Why would the Obama Oligarchy use Chicanery? Are they using it because they're too clever by half? Are they using it because they are in the minority and have no hope of doing the things they want to do by being honest? Are they doing it because they have no respect for our constitution, our government, our culture, our capitalist economy or our founding fathers? Maybe they are doing it, as Jonah Goldberg so eloquently explained in his book LIBERAL FACISM, because, they believe, as all fascists do, that they are so absolutely right that their ends justify their means. Law in this case, or morals, or patriotism, or righteousness, or anything at all, simply does not matter, because their cause is so absolutely right that they respect nothing except their cause and they believe they are justified in doing whatever they think they need to do. It's frightening to realize that this is how Hitler justified his lies and his murders. Where does this kind of lawless thinking end? Perhaps Obama's Oligarchy's purpose in acting the way they do, is caused by all of the above. Let's look at some of the Chicanery. No one knows all of it, certainly I don't, but I know some, particularly as it relates to the schools, and I will share what I know.
Under the Dodd Frank bill that the democrats passed, acting at the behest of the radicals that have taken their party, the FEDERAL RESERVE will have ALL FUNDING POWER OVER THE ENACTMENT OF THE LAW. Congress is not necessary. There will be no need to worry about money bills initiating in the House of Representatives as decreed by our constitution. No need to worry about the congress at all, it will all be taken care of by the obscure Federal Reserve, OUT OF THE PUBLIC EYE , OUT OF THE PUBLIC CONTROL, AND OUTSIDE OF THE CONTROL OF OUR LAWFULLY ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES AND OUR CONSTITUTION, WHICH IS THERE TO PROTECT OUR FREEDOMS. And who will put controls on what the Federal Reserve decides is under it's jurisdiction inside of this law?
This is only the beginning. I guess everyone who pays attention at all knows that the Obama Oligarchy has told the governor of Arizona that the Federal government WILL NOT obey the law as approved by the State of Arizona and THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, as regards controlling immigration. Arizona will not even be allowed to share data bases to determine citizenship, as other states do, and as has been the practice. WOW. I guess the left is really scratching for those illegal votes these days, they may just need them to send them over the top on election night, if ACORN ( or whatever their new name is) can't cheat quite enough. The Obama Oligarchy WILL NOT recognize the defense of marriage act which was LAWFULLY passed by congress. The new Obama Oligarchy Health Bill gives one unelected woman, Kathleen Sibelius, staggering powers to MAKE LAW regarding what our health care will be and what we will pay. Cass Sunstein (part of the oligarchy) couldn't wait to become the regulations czar. In a huge government like we have today, he can control almost anything through his regulatory controls. The United States Attorney General Eric Holder has been voted in contempt of congress and the justice department will do nothing at all to stop his cover up, his refusal to turn documents over to the congress giving full disclosure of what he's been up to. Our Attorney General who is supposed to uphold the law of the whole United States, refuses to obey the law, and his department will not prosecute him. They won't investigate the national security leaks that have put our country at risk either.
But let's talk about the schools. The Obama Oligarchy couldn't get a national curriculum passed now that the Republicans hold the house, so they just had the School Chiefs Association and the National Governors Association sponsor it. Then they went ahead and made grants out of their huge slush funds from the "stimulus package", no need for action by congress.They even have the gall to lie about it, laughing all the way I'm sure (They certainly tricked stupid old Jeb Bush), "This isn't a federal government action, why we have nothing at all to do with it!" ha, ha, ha. They can't believe how easy it is to just circumvent the law. But where else are they getting the money to fund this CHICANERY? How about $18,000,000 from GE for David Coleman just to get started. Then, another $8,700,000 just recently to Erie Pennsylvania. Remember Jeffrey Immelt? He's the CEO of GE and the Obama Oligarchy's good buddy. The money comes from the GE FOUNDATION. GE made 14.2 BILLION dollars in 2010 and they have laid off 19,000 people since 2000. GE stock is down 60% since 2000 but they still have money in the FOUNDATION to keep their friends in high places happy. What do they get for spending money on the National Curriculum (Common Core)? They paid NO TAXES in 2010 on 14.2 billion dollars in PROFIT. I guess that's what you call CORPORATISM.
Meanwhile the National Curriculum (Common Core) propaganda fest rolls on. Parents are up in arms with new English texts that teach children the "Social Justice" nonsense with NO OPPOSING VIEW!!WOW. This is higher level thinking skills?? The baloney coming from the smarter than the rest of us by half Obama Oligarchy is that this is "academic rigor" that will magically make ALL students college and career ready. Give me a break. A mom teaching at home could do, and does do, better than these socialists with all their cash. One of the National Curriculum (Common Core) standards is that 4th graders will do RESEARCH. I taught 4th grade for many years, and we did assign reports. This wasn't integrated research, this was a report, and it was hard to get a page or two out of them. Plagiarism was a word we had to teach over and over. One blogger had a wonderful point " Hey David, if you want these kids to do evidentiary research where's your evidence that any of this is going to work?" Ya David, you came up with all this nonsense pretty fast, where are your trials and research? This is the same old game that public schools have done from time immemorial, new programs with NO PROOF. Can you imagine your doctor acting this way, offering you a cure that no one had ever proven ACTUALLY WORKED ?!! Maybe now that the Federal Government controls your health care this will happen,just like in the public schools. Socialists don't need proof, remember they are just right because they say so. Have you seen any of the books they write as NON FICTION with NO FOOTNOTES !! Quite amazing, but nothing seems to stun anymore, it's all so crazy.
I'm just reading about Mary Queen of Scots once again this summer. When the Northern Lords rose up in revolt against Queen Elizabeth , and the Spanish Armada, which had promised to support the Lords effort, failed to show up, the Northern Lords QUIT. They were far and away the majority but they got scared and Elizabeth held her throne. The conservatives are the majority in this country and the Obama Oligarchy in all their smartness know it. That's why they have to cheat at the voting booth, circumvent the law, and lie to you. Stand up, Say the truth, DON'T BE BACKED DOWN, get the word out, and VOTE. Let's end the CHICANERY and get our country back. This country is NOT ABOUT HANDING OUT FREE COATS, OR A FREE LUNCH, no matter how many socialist organizations call themselves, "The American Way". This country is about having the opportunity to get your own coat and feed your own family. FIGHT BACK AMERICA, DON'T LET CHICANERY WIN!
Under the Dodd Frank bill that the democrats passed, acting at the behest of the radicals that have taken their party, the FEDERAL RESERVE will have ALL FUNDING POWER OVER THE ENACTMENT OF THE LAW. Congress is not necessary. There will be no need to worry about money bills initiating in the House of Representatives as decreed by our constitution. No need to worry about the congress at all, it will all be taken care of by the obscure Federal Reserve, OUT OF THE PUBLIC EYE , OUT OF THE PUBLIC CONTROL, AND OUTSIDE OF THE CONTROL OF OUR LAWFULLY ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES AND OUR CONSTITUTION, WHICH IS THERE TO PROTECT OUR FREEDOMS. And who will put controls on what the Federal Reserve decides is under it's jurisdiction inside of this law?
This is only the beginning. I guess everyone who pays attention at all knows that the Obama Oligarchy has told the governor of Arizona that the Federal government WILL NOT obey the law as approved by the State of Arizona and THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, as regards controlling immigration. Arizona will not even be allowed to share data bases to determine citizenship, as other states do, and as has been the practice. WOW. I guess the left is really scratching for those illegal votes these days, they may just need them to send them over the top on election night, if ACORN ( or whatever their new name is) can't cheat quite enough. The Obama Oligarchy WILL NOT recognize the defense of marriage act which was LAWFULLY passed by congress. The new Obama Oligarchy Health Bill gives one unelected woman, Kathleen Sibelius, staggering powers to MAKE LAW regarding what our health care will be and what we will pay. Cass Sunstein (part of the oligarchy) couldn't wait to become the regulations czar. In a huge government like we have today, he can control almost anything through his regulatory controls. The United States Attorney General Eric Holder has been voted in contempt of congress and the justice department will do nothing at all to stop his cover up, his refusal to turn documents over to the congress giving full disclosure of what he's been up to. Our Attorney General who is supposed to uphold the law of the whole United States, refuses to obey the law, and his department will not prosecute him. They won't investigate the national security leaks that have put our country at risk either.
But let's talk about the schools. The Obama Oligarchy couldn't get a national curriculum passed now that the Republicans hold the house, so they just had the School Chiefs Association and the National Governors Association sponsor it. Then they went ahead and made grants out of their huge slush funds from the "stimulus package", no need for action by congress.They even have the gall to lie about it, laughing all the way I'm sure (They certainly tricked stupid old Jeb Bush), "This isn't a federal government action, why we have nothing at all to do with it!" ha, ha, ha. They can't believe how easy it is to just circumvent the law. But where else are they getting the money to fund this CHICANERY? How about $18,000,000 from GE for David Coleman just to get started. Then, another $8,700,000 just recently to Erie Pennsylvania. Remember Jeffrey Immelt? He's the CEO of GE and the Obama Oligarchy's good buddy. The money comes from the GE FOUNDATION. GE made 14.2 BILLION dollars in 2010 and they have laid off 19,000 people since 2000. GE stock is down 60% since 2000 but they still have money in the FOUNDATION to keep their friends in high places happy. What do they get for spending money on the National Curriculum (Common Core)? They paid NO TAXES in 2010 on 14.2 billion dollars in PROFIT. I guess that's what you call CORPORATISM.
Meanwhile the National Curriculum (Common Core) propaganda fest rolls on. Parents are up in arms with new English texts that teach children the "Social Justice" nonsense with NO OPPOSING VIEW!!WOW. This is higher level thinking skills?? The baloney coming from the smarter than the rest of us by half Obama Oligarchy is that this is "academic rigor" that will magically make ALL students college and career ready. Give me a break. A mom teaching at home could do, and does do, better than these socialists with all their cash. One of the National Curriculum (Common Core) standards is that 4th graders will do RESEARCH. I taught 4th grade for many years, and we did assign reports. This wasn't integrated research, this was a report, and it was hard to get a page or two out of them. Plagiarism was a word we had to teach over and over. One blogger had a wonderful point " Hey David, if you want these kids to do evidentiary research where's your evidence that any of this is going to work?" Ya David, you came up with all this nonsense pretty fast, where are your trials and research? This is the same old game that public schools have done from time immemorial, new programs with NO PROOF. Can you imagine your doctor acting this way, offering you a cure that no one had ever proven ACTUALLY WORKED ?!! Maybe now that the Federal Government controls your health care this will happen,just like in the public schools. Socialists don't need proof, remember they are just right because they say so. Have you seen any of the books they write as NON FICTION with NO FOOTNOTES !! Quite amazing, but nothing seems to stun anymore, it's all so crazy.
I'm just reading about Mary Queen of Scots once again this summer. When the Northern Lords rose up in revolt against Queen Elizabeth , and the Spanish Armada, which had promised to support the Lords effort, failed to show up, the Northern Lords QUIT. They were far and away the majority but they got scared and Elizabeth held her throne. The conservatives are the majority in this country and the Obama Oligarchy in all their smartness know it. That's why they have to cheat at the voting booth, circumvent the law, and lie to you. Stand up, Say the truth, DON'T BE BACKED DOWN, get the word out, and VOTE. Let's end the CHICANERY and get our country back. This country is NOT ABOUT HANDING OUT FREE COATS, OR A FREE LUNCH, no matter how many socialist organizations call themselves, "The American Way". This country is about having the opportunity to get your own coat and feed your own family. FIGHT BACK AMERICA, DON'T LET CHICANERY WIN!
Sunday 1 July 2012
COMMON CORE EQUALS SOVIET GROUP THINK
I read a comment on a blog about our new national curriculum "Common Core" and it was one of those aha! moments. The moment when you finally really realize something. I retired from teaching in 2005, NOT BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT ANYMORE, but because I COULDN'T STAND working in the new system. Virtually every teacher I talked to said the same thing "It's not the kids, it's the administration". The comment on the blog said that our schools have become a dictatorship and that our best teachers are retiring or quitting as soon as they can. This comment was dead on target, our teachers now work in a dictatorship.
When I was behind the wall in Romania in 1975 they had a little joke that went something like this "The Russians can't even go to the toilet alone". The Soviets did not believe in the individual. The individual had no value to them. In fact, their purpose was to stamp out any individualism at all (remember the uniforms?), and coerce everyone to think the same ( remember the reeducation camps?). Karl Marx represented these ideas of sameness . How are our schools falling into this world of Marxist coercion to sameness?
Let's look at the Common Core. In Bedford, Massachusetts - "Bedford schools will see changes in how teachers are evaluated.These revisions are due to the new national Common Core Standards....". The new regulations require school "committees" to "establish evaluation systems and performance standards for ALL teachers" in order to sic "promote teacher growth and development and to place student learning at the center of education." ALL TEACHERS need growth and development? The best teachers in the school that everyone loves need to have a committee to tell them how to teach? What makes this committee so special and where did they get their training to all of a sudden become the experts? What a bold statement to say this committee will teach these teachers to PLACE STUDENT LEARNING AT THE CENTER OF EDUCATION!!! Are you seriously kidding me- ALL hardworking teachers of whatever number of years, need a committee to ensure that they put student learning at the center of education?? Who determines what "putting student learning at the center of education" is? Come on David Coleman, is this you and your behind closed doors committee again? Did your benefactor Bill Gates or Charles Johnson put you up to this, or was it Barrack Obama and all his billions from Washington ($250,000,000 just to Massachusetts here) and his minions (Bill Ayers, Bernadette Doran, Cass Sunstein) that gave you the crown of educator in chief?
The evaluations are also intended to "recognize excellence in teachers and 'educational leaders', to set a high bar for professional status and to shorten timelines for improvement". If you are a good boy or girl you get a lollipop , but if you're not, you better watch out! ALL TEACHERS, PRINCIPALS, AND ADMINISTRATORS MUST ATTAIN A RATING OF PROFICIENT, AT LEAST. Everyone's on a short leash now- you better do everything we say just the way we say it- or else!
The schools have been pushing "collaboration" for a long time. Teachers had to do things the same, the individual who goes rogue is not accepted- take it from me- the rogue teacher was the good one. Teaching is an art and a lot of it comes from the heart, it's more a vocation than a profession if you're a good teacher. There are as many good ways to teach as there are good teachers. No matter how much the federal government tries to make this one size fits all approach, people are still individuals and they always will be. It's just that the teachers who are good at compromising all their standards will be the only ones left standing in public education when all of this is done.
In case you think all this Soviet Style group think is for the best here's a comment from an educator of more than 50 years from Kansas "Over my more that 50 years in public education I've come to know young children pretty well, and I am sure that 8-9 years olds are not ready to 'describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect' as decreed by one of the standards for third-grade readers informational text." I think I would have liked that lady as my teacher. I'm sure she's retired now too. How will public education attract the best and brightest among us when this is how teachers are treated? One comment to the blog was that "Everything must be done in stealth, except the teacher bashing". Haven't the communists always done things stealthily?
Soviet Group Think is not the way to run our schools. Let freedom ring in our schools. Go back to the constitution and put control of our schools back to the states where it belongs. The federal government doesn't run schools any better than it runs economies. Free markets work and so do free schools. Governor Romney, trash your "education plan"and simply refuse to reenact the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act). The Soviets never did have any good ideas!
When I was behind the wall in Romania in 1975 they had a little joke that went something like this "The Russians can't even go to the toilet alone". The Soviets did not believe in the individual. The individual had no value to them. In fact, their purpose was to stamp out any individualism at all (remember the uniforms?), and coerce everyone to think the same ( remember the reeducation camps?). Karl Marx represented these ideas of sameness . How are our schools falling into this world of Marxist coercion to sameness?
Let's look at the Common Core. In Bedford, Massachusetts - "Bedford schools will see changes in how teachers are evaluated.These revisions are due to the new national Common Core Standards....". The new regulations require school "committees" to "establish evaluation systems and performance standards for ALL teachers" in order to sic "promote teacher growth and development and to place student learning at the center of education." ALL TEACHERS need growth and development? The best teachers in the school that everyone loves need to have a committee to tell them how to teach? What makes this committee so special and where did they get their training to all of a sudden become the experts? What a bold statement to say this committee will teach these teachers to PLACE STUDENT LEARNING AT THE CENTER OF EDUCATION!!! Are you seriously kidding me- ALL hardworking teachers of whatever number of years, need a committee to ensure that they put student learning at the center of education?? Who determines what "putting student learning at the center of education" is? Come on David Coleman, is this you and your behind closed doors committee again? Did your benefactor Bill Gates or Charles Johnson put you up to this, or was it Barrack Obama and all his billions from Washington ($250,000,000 just to Massachusetts here) and his minions (Bill Ayers, Bernadette Doran, Cass Sunstein) that gave you the crown of educator in chief?
The evaluations are also intended to "recognize excellence in teachers and 'educational leaders', to set a high bar for professional status and to shorten timelines for improvement". If you are a good boy or girl you get a lollipop , but if you're not, you better watch out! ALL TEACHERS, PRINCIPALS, AND ADMINISTRATORS MUST ATTAIN A RATING OF PROFICIENT, AT LEAST. Everyone's on a short leash now- you better do everything we say just the way we say it- or else!
The schools have been pushing "collaboration" for a long time. Teachers had to do things the same, the individual who goes rogue is not accepted- take it from me- the rogue teacher was the good one. Teaching is an art and a lot of it comes from the heart, it's more a vocation than a profession if you're a good teacher. There are as many good ways to teach as there are good teachers. No matter how much the federal government tries to make this one size fits all approach, people are still individuals and they always will be. It's just that the teachers who are good at compromising all their standards will be the only ones left standing in public education when all of this is done.
In case you think all this Soviet Style group think is for the best here's a comment from an educator of more than 50 years from Kansas "Over my more that 50 years in public education I've come to know young children pretty well, and I am sure that 8-9 years olds are not ready to 'describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect' as decreed by one of the standards for third-grade readers informational text." I think I would have liked that lady as my teacher. I'm sure she's retired now too. How will public education attract the best and brightest among us when this is how teachers are treated? One comment to the blog was that "Everything must be done in stealth, except the teacher bashing". Haven't the communists always done things stealthily?
Soviet Group Think is not the way to run our schools. Let freedom ring in our schools. Go back to the constitution and put control of our schools back to the states where it belongs. The federal government doesn't run schools any better than it runs economies. Free markets work and so do free schools. Governor Romney, trash your "education plan"and simply refuse to reenact the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act). The Soviets never did have any good ideas!