How do you get a REPUBLICAN to push a LIBERAL EDUCATION AGENDA?

I wish I had written this, alas, I have not. This is from Suzie Schnell, in Utah. It is absolutely fabulous and I hope you spread it far and wide. She has single-handedly identified why it is that REPUBLICANS are falling IN DROVES for a LIBERAL education agenda! Please, again, post, re-post and send to any legislators to which you feel this could apply!

If you are a Progressive Educator or leader on the National/Federal level and want to get your Education Agenda through quickly to as many states as possible,

you need the support of conservative Republicans. 

So...

1. You push this agenda through individual "states" instead of at the "federal" level because conservatives like state's rights. 

2. You appeal to their desire for "higher standards" because conservatives believe in an educated populace.

3. You talk about modernizing schools with the latest technology and equipment.

4. You partner with private institutions since it appeals to their sense of capitalism and free enterprise.

5. You talk about college and jobs because this is foremost on their minds in a failing economy with failing schools.

6. You hold national conferences to teach these ideas to state and local school boards and get them to buy into it. You give them all the tools they need to bring this into their own states. You start this process years before you actually bring it into the public's view and then you push it through legislation quickly because "Education is in a crisis". 

7. You write the national standards, assessments and curriculum through gov't partnered organizations so it doesn't seem like the govt is writing them directly. After all, you know it's illegal for the federal government to do much of it so you let huge corporations like the Bill Gates Foundation do it for them and fund it. 

8. You help each State Office of Education write their own bills for implementing this plan by giving them model legislation so all states are coming up with the same laws throughout the land, using the same language, but think they are being independent. The public will believe that each state wrote them independently of the others.

9. You advertise this as a Governor's and State's program to the general public so no one looks behind the curtain.

10. You get as many Republican and conservative legislators and governors to sign on to your agenda using these key words and phrases of "higher standards" and "state initiated", but the best part is that conservatives won't know till it's too late that they are setting up the foundation for a federal takeover of education. Families and citizens don't question these conservative legislators, but trust they are only after state's rights and what is good for the children. Without realizing it, these good legislators have enacted laws to usher in this progressive agenda.

Problems:

1. This whole idea was set up by the Federal Gov't, USOE and dangerous national interests who are working together, like the Bill Gates Foundation, Pearson, Hewlett Foundation and other large private interests set on making billions by partnering with the federal govt, states and local districts for a guaranteed income for years. These Public Private Partnerships (PPP) threaten not only local control, but also real free enterprise for smaller businesses that have not been chosen by the govt for these contracts. What the Federal Gov't cannot legally do, and visa versa, the other partner can accomplish. We have been tricked into thinking this is a locally grown program in each state using local textbook companies, etc.

 In Utah, for example, the Dept of Ed has partnered with BYU's McKay School of Education to come up with online curriculum for the state. They are completely funded by the Hewlett Foundation (http://www.hewlett.org/), a global environmentalist and pro-population control organization based in the Bay Area of California, to write online textbooks for the entire state. Math and Science texts will be coming from C K Foundation (http://about.ck12.org/about/), another Bay Area, CA company which highlights their goals of teaching environmentalism, climate change, and global warming in their Probability and Statistics chapter featured on the home page.

2. The next phase in this federal takeover process is to develop Century 21 Community Schools (http://www.communityschools.org/) which will invite more Public Private Partnerships (PPP). Big corporations contract with federal, state and local school entities to go into these community schools full time, 6-7 days a week, and provide services of free healthcare and dental, PreK-12 education, job placement programs, recreation, daycare, 3 meals a day and every service you can think of for the entire family. This has already started in Ogden School District and Ogden's plan is to make every school in it's district a full service community school. Arne Duncan speaks a lot about this plan and thousands of these schools are popping up all over the nation. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuO_nB7WY9w) All of this data (healthcare, psychiatry records, academic scores, meals, recreation, etc) will be a part of the state and national data base because these families go to a one-stop community center with every amenity they need. No need to go home or church or extended family. 

3. Right now, we're just talking about collecting school records from Pre-K to college to career. That's bad enough. But by setting up extensive data collecting technology, we are easily setting ourselves up for the next step of education when full-service 21st Century Schools will be the growing phenomenon and all that data from all those extra-curricular programs will be included because all these services will be housed together in one place.

4. FERPA, the 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects your children's school records from being seen by anyone but local school officials and parents, has now been changed as of Jan 2012. State and local education authorities are now allowed to share data with other government agencies that are not under their direct control, as long as those other agencies are involved in federal or state supported education programs. http://www.forumfyi.org/files/First_Look_FERPA.pdf. Arne Duncan said in a 2009 speech that he would "push states" into sharing student's private information with research firms.

5. Utah State Office of Education has chosen global leader, Pearson, to set up the "federally funded" data collecting technology we need to implement longitudinal data systems to collect massive and complicated data from our schools. http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1999361/utah_state_office_of_education_partners_with_pearson_for_new/

Please look beyond just the phrases "Common Core", "higher standards", and "state-led program" and compare what is really going on. See how Utah is implementing Obama's National Education Goals. Look to see what these bills in Utah are setting up in the bigger scheme of things for the future.

Simple, local and parent-centered are the answers. We must protect our local control of education, putting parents first in the choices they make for their own children.

Thoughtfully,

Susie Schnell