A Visit With The Women of Broken Trust - What You Don't Know Can Hurt Your Kids and Your Family

In the video above, Sherrie tells us that because of Oklahoma government and private companies, we've essentially put price tags on the heads of our kids. We're not educating them anymore, we're selling them as commodities to vendors who want to use them to make money.

In the video below, Roberta Lewis tells the story of how her son was essentially kidnapped from her family and put into a state mental health facility because of a SnapChat post. If this doesn't show you how much power our government has - that it shouldn't have - I don't know what will.

To follow up our post, we reiterate the fact that children are not being cared for or taught so much in Oklahoma anymore, unless there is a way to make money from them. This has to stop.

Check out the full LIVE video on Rumble and YouTube. Find Broken Trust at BrokenTrust.website

Enid Residents Sue City Council For Not Doing Their Jobs

During the podcast for Friday, October 25th, NeeAnn Clinton from Enid, in Garfield County, talked with us about the 5000 acre solar installation that is being planned for just north of Enid. Many residents are not in favor of this kind of installation because of the many risks to the community that come from solar installations - including long-lasting lithium battery fires that give off toxic fumes, use millions of gallons of water to fight and require expensive, special firefighting equipment. Unfortunately, so many of the 'green agenda' projects coming in droves to a city near you in Oklahoma, are not being regulated by Oklahoma regulatory agencies, allowing 'green energy' companies coming into the state - mostly from outside - to do business as they like. This leaves citizens trying to protect their property and individual rights without any assistance from the government they pay to protect them from unregulated industry. In this episode, NeeAnn talks about desperately trying to find an Oklahoma regulatory agency to help them stop the private company NextEra, from turning 5000 acres of productive farmland into a toxic wasteland devoid of life and finally having to SUE the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission to make them follow their own regulations. Make no mistake - this is taxpayers paying a taxpayer-paid group of elected officials to do the jobs they were elected to do. How does this happen in RURAL RED STATE OKLAHOMA?

City Councils Can't Obstruct The Public View Of Tax Dollars; Wendi Dial - ROPE Report Short

Wednesday, July 3rd, Michael and Jenni had their favorite geologist/election integrity supporter, Wendi Montgomery Dial, on to talk about an organization called Westwin Elements attempting to build a plant in Lawton, Oklahoma that would refine nickel and cobalt. We've received reports about the organization and its presence in Lawton from several viewers. Indeed, there are many questions surrounding the company and its proposed function.

Westwin Elements is a new, private organization entering Lawton. It claims to be a metal refinery for cobalt and nickel. 

The City of Lawton has given this private organization - according to one publication - $24 million dollars in taxpayer dollars, though Westwin's website says $3.

Citizens have asked for information regarding the deal and some have reported that the Lawton City Council has not been as forthcoming as they would like with millions of taxpayer dollars in the mix. 

Wendi points out in this video that City Council members take an oath to the Constitution which, before anything, protects the citizens, not private organizations.

The Failure Of Schools To Protect Their Students Costs Taxpayers Money - ROPE Report Short; Rep. Sherrie Conley

Oklahoma Representative Sherrie Conley was on with Michael and Jenni this morning (5.10.245). She talked about the ramifications of her bill to stop school officials from texting privately with a child without permission from a parent and where she wants to go with this legislation once she's out of the legislature and a private citizen next year.

In this clip, Rep. Conley makes it clear that, because Oklahoma has mandatory reporting laws for child endangerment, the Superintendents and Principals who know/knew that children are/were being sexually abused by school employees, should be brought up on criminal charges once investigations have been completed and school employees formally charged with child predation.

See the full video on our Rumble and YouTube accounts.

 

Judge Denies Stillwater Public School's Dismissal Request - ROPE/Chaffin Lawsuit Scheduled for Pre-Trial Hearing in November

 

Stillwater Parent Brice Chaffin, ROPE President Jenni White, Attorney Maria Seidler

In an awesome victory for ROPE's case with Stillwater parent Brice Chaffin against Stillwater Public Schools (SPS) and Stillwater School Board members filed May 4th (2022), Maria Seidler successfully argued against the dismissal of our lawsuit requested of the court by SPS.  ROPE and Chaffin, led by attorney Seidler, will meet SPS again in court in November for a pre-trial hearing.

Larry White, Executive Director Of The Oklahoma Metropolitan Library Commission Responds To Taxpayer Criticism Of Pride Month

Dr. Larry White, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Library System, responded to my recent criticism of the MLS' celebration of Pride Month sent via contact form at the MLS website, with a very long and what appeared to be 'canned' response.

I say 'canned' response because a friend who also sent an email via the contact form, received virtually the same email as I, though with a twist.  Attached to her email was the following photograph:

I copied and pasted the email in its entirety below.  Under each paragraph I have responded in red. I felt this important because I thought it might help people understand why using tax-supported programs to advance agendas like BLM, or LGBTQ is wrong.

ACTION OPPORTUNITY: Oklahoma Metropolitan Libraries Use Taxpayer Funds To Bring Us Pride Week With Drag Queen Story Hour

Recently, The Oklahoma Council for Public Affairs published an article about Oklahoma Metropolitan Libraries support of Pride Month, complete with 'virtual' Drag Queen Story Time.

Yes, it's true.  Here in Oklahoma.  

According to the MLS, "the Metropolitan Library System is committed to highlighting LGBTQ2S+ reading or listening recommendations and other resources, along with offering programs that amplify LGBTQ2S+ voices and stories".    

OEA Makes Oklahoma Public Education Funding A Moving Target With No End In Sight

Photo from NewsOK story: also pictured, Randy Weingarten and Ed Allen

As the teacher's walkout in Oklahoma continues into its second week for many schools in the state, the questions which really need to be asked at this point are "Why?" and "What exactly do teachers want?"

2018 EDUCATION FUNDING LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Dirty Little Education Secrets Part 5: Teacher and Administrators Engage In Politics Using Taxpayer Funds

 

Fact Checking the OEA Meme Campaign To Force Teacher Pay Raises

 

Because the OEA has spent significant time and taxpayer resources (Yes, how else do they get their funds? Teachers pay membership and teachers are paid by taxpayers.) creating this elaborate campaign to convince taxpayers it is necessary to tax the public to create a pay raise for teachers, I thought it might be a good idea just to fact check a few of their memes. Let's take the one above. 

How Do We Know Teachers Need A Raise If We Don't Do Our Homework?

In case you've been under a rock and haven't learned about the West Virginia teachers who have apparently inspired teacher walkouts in Arizona, Kentucky and Oklahoma, I thought it important to make sure anyone who wanted to do more than hear talking points and rhetoric have direct access to OSDE data.

In my next few blogs, I'm going to try and hit some of the talking points pushed by OEA (Oklahoma Education Association - the state arm of the National Teachers Association (NEA) - the UNION pushing the walkout), doing the calculations right in front of you and providing links to check my figures. I want to make sure readers have direct access to some of the more important links I'll be using for fact checking, however, so all this is public.

Social Impact Bonds to Fund Pre-School and the Price Tag of Unintended Consequences

 

 A recent Hechinger Report article covers a new concept for providing revenue streams to various public programs ostensibly without tax increases. Unfortunately, Social Impact Bonds as they are called, are yet another example of how well-meaning individuals and legislators believe they can micromanage all aspects of our lives to make life fair for everyone while soaking the American taxpayer.

Superintendents Using Public Email Systems To Endorse Step-Up Tax And Direct Teacher Advocacy

Recently I was provided an email written by Mid-Del Superintendent Rick Cobb, apparently sent to faculty at Mid-Del Schools. It read:

The Dirtiest Little Secret In Education - How the "Step Up Oklahoma" Plan Doubles Down

Once again, it's the start of the yearly Legislative session and once again I begin my Charlie Brown-like moan mantra of, "Good grief".

Taxes, Taxes, EVERYWHERE - Governor Mary Fallin and Fellow Republican Taxaholics Are Not "Conservatives"

UPDATED with legislators opposed to the tax increase at the bottom of the post!

On the heels of her very exciting announcement that she had badgered Amazon.com into collecting sales tax from Oklahomans who buy from sellers using the platform, Governor Mary Fallin ended her 2017 State Of The State address, to a chorus of weeping, wailing and gnashing teeth from actual CONSERVATIVE Republicans in the audience. 

Factors Creating Failing Public (Government) Schools

For decades education reformers have attempted to 'restore' luster to the eroding results of government run schools that began in the 1960's with the first federal involvement in state and local education programs (Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 1964, Lyndon Johnson). Just as we've seen of late with the Common Core State Standards Initiative, individual programs have been instituted at various times over the years toward this end, yet all have resulted in lackluster or poor outcomes for the money, training and resources provided.

Why? Because none of the issues effecting government run schools today can be solved by a single initiative, or by throwing money at one or two issues like spaghetti at a wall.

Below, I've attempted to identify a number of items - some of which I've witnessed personally, as a former teacher and parent - that must be addressed in order to return to the pre-60's educational excellence seen here in America for hundreds of years.

Changes to schools and instruments of schooling must come from the local level.

• Urban schools and rural schools aren't similar in socio-economic composition or community needs, yet laws created at the state or federal level force change on all schools.
• Traditionally, school boards allow parents the ability to assist in directing their children’s educations – shifting the responsibility from parents to the state conditions parents to become further removed from the process of educating their children.
• Parenting failures cannot be legislated as these tend to result from lack of values training best addressed by programs provided via churches and charities.

Laws created to address failing schools rarely address the fundamental issues behind the failures.

• Systemic failure results as one ineffective/unproductive law is replaced or augmented by another and then another – in attempt to bring about results largely unattainable via legislative means.

Teacher/Superintendent/School Board organizations are used to draft public school legislation which favors the needs of the educational ‘system’ and not the student and/or parent.

Education legislation and programming features a paucity of education history and research, instead focusing on the newest ‘trends’/programs in education.

• Integrating technology (computers/ipads, etc.) into elementary classrooms actually produce results antithetical to those desired, yet are utilized with consistency and touted as ‘cutting-edge’, which, also, ironically creates a nonexistent need for more funding.
• Replacing veteran teachers with Teach for America teachers replaces tried and true teaching methodologies with unproven methods utilized by skimpily-trained young people.

Today’s education focus is completely wrong-headed.

• Students should not be educated ‘for’ college or the ‘workforce’.
• Classically-based education programs featuring broad-based studies in United States and world history, science, classical literature, the arts and music, have, historically, created students ready and able to take on any challenge presented them.

Though taxpayers should work to create accountability in government, education is not a government function; education is a function of the individual first and community second.
American public education was created from an ideal articulated by both Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.

• Both men believed schools should be created to teach students unable to afford the private tutoring system primarily utilized in their day.
• They believed schools should teach the Bible (the model upon which our Republican form of government was created), America’s very particular system of 3-branch government and free-market economy, and the history of America’s founding.
• Schools were to be created by and through churches or individual community organizations – not as a function of government.

Government has assumed the role of educating its citizens, creating numerous problems.

• Funding:  Each school receives the same amount of money for each student in a seat. This invalidates the principles of America’s free-market economy and creates a system in which mediocrity flourishes because excellence is neither expected nor demanded by those paying for its services.
• Partisanship:  Once education becomes a function of government, it begins to utilize tenets ascribed to government by popular culture, such as “political correctness”.

• This gives rise to a culture lacking in personal responsibility where administration and teachers refuse to make students responsible for their work and grades rather than deal with difficult parents.

• This situation also produces a lack of willingness to hold students responsible for their behavior, creating school climates in which bullying of students and teachers is unchecked.

• Usurpation of parental rights and responsibilities:

• Moving the responsibility for education to the state (and often federal) level relieved parents of their duties to provide for the education of their children by replacing their authority with that of a government official.

• State-empowered school officials necessarily had to create the notion that parents were inadequate to direct the education of their children in order to justify a government wage.

• Parents quickly became trained to see public school as a babysitter rather than a partner in the education of their children as the authority of school officials grew with government funding.

• Usurpation of student rights and responsibilities:

• Once government became responsible for education, education became relegated to a series of hoops (tests) through which a student must jump in order to complete their next task: move to a next grade, graduate, get a job.

• Students are never shown the value of obtaining an education for themselves so education becomes something a student does to please others, not to make their lives better.

• Susceptibility to educational ‘trends’ including:

• Common Core State Standards vs those tailored to meet the educational priorities of parents/students at the local/state level.

• Whole word language assimilation vs reading taught by phonics and an understanding of English phonemes.

• Reformist, community-inspired, explanatory math vs learning traditional, fact-based algorithms and skills.

• World history vs American history

• American history from 1877 to the Present vs American history from the Pilgrims and Founding, to present

• Civics taught in high school vs developmental civics across each grade and stage

Federal government intervention has further usurped the influence of the state, local community and parents, and is now itself responsible for many of the ills plaguing public education today such as:

• Lack of student privacy:

• More and more personal student data must be collected by schools to satisfy the compacts of states with the federal government.

• Digital records are nearly impossible to redact, leaving student records exposed to future employers and educational prospects.

• A perceived need for increased funding:

• The more federal initiatives for which states apply (or are foisted onto them) the more personnel are required to fill out the ever-increasing paperwork necessary to keep the initiative, leading to loss of funds for teachers and needed materials that directly affect the classroom.

• Less flexibility to teach with proven methods and personnel:

• The federal Civil Rights in Education initiative for Teacher Equity forced onto all public school districts for example, is coercing teachers to move among schools dependent upon a set of federal race guidelines set for teachers in relation to student populations, violating the Civil Rights of teachers/students and causing many older teachers to quit the teaching profession.

NON-GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS:

Private organizations in every city can help to create educational excellence by addressing the foundational pillars underlying education failure (as previously described) by devoting resources and funds toward any or all of the following ends:

• Support the ideal that state/federal legislation is not the way to move the needle on educational excellence – that partnering with local charities, churches and non-profits can produce results one-size-must-fit-all legislation cannot

• Community based adult and student English and financial literacy programs are an excellent example of successful business/community partnerships

• Support legislation (or repealer legislation) that:

• Stresses local control of education and prevents intrusion by the federal Department of Education at the state and district levels

• Supports parental rights and responsibilities

• Seeks to move accountability for education from the state/federal level back to the parent/local level 

• Resists the urge to narrow curricula and standards – allowing for classical studies and schools to bloom

• Creation of individual and/or community programs that:

• Develop bridge relationships among schools and businesses to create mentoring/intern opportunities

• Delivers business/vocational leaders who can speak to classes, or in assemblies and share their experiences with students on their level

• Provide scholarship opportunities in areas such as engineering

• Partner with job training programs to identify vocational skills gaps and educate students who desire the training, on how to attain these skills

• Identify private programs that produce educational excellence and partner them with businesses willing to mentor/intern students

• Empower parents to advocate for their children via tuition breaks or educational/job opportunities not available to the general population

Education for those who cannot afford private, individual education (or desire not to utilize a private system) should be provided in America. It should not be paid for in perpetuity via taxpayers, but by parents - whether they are allowed to keep their money for themselves (no earmarked taxes for education) or returned earmarked funds to spend in whatever manner is best for their child. Until parents are allowed (and returned) responsibility for the education of their children, status quo will remain and poor educational outcomes should be expected.

Ghost In The Machine

And this, my friends, is how it’s done.  This is how Progressives/Liberals have changed America right in front of our faces – right before our very eyes.

Just today, EdWeek ran this article, “National Service Can ignite School Turnaround Efforts”.  

“Oh, this sounds great!” you think as you begin to read.  After all, what in the world could possibly be bad about “turning around” schools?  We all know they are in horrible shape!  Yes, yes, sending workers from the community out into the community to help kids stay in school!  This is awesome!

Unfortunately (or fortunately – I guess it depends upon where you sit on the ideological fence) I tend to see this kind of thing coming immediately.   

After becoming acquainted with the idea of Community Organizing and Saul Alinsky some years ago, I have an extreme alert hit my heads up display when I hear something – anything – that has the word/s National and/or Service in the title.

It seems particularly well-timed, in fact, that yesterday my friend Kaye Beach posted this on my Facebook page – “The Turning of the Tides” by Paul W. Shafer and John Snow – written in 1953.   

This document lays out how the Intercollegiate Socialist Society and the League for Industrial Democracy (still going strong TODAY by the way) along with UNESCO and John Dewey, took over the public schools.  It literally made me sick to my stomach to scan the document, however, once I had been turned on to that one, I quickly found, “Vital Speeches of the Day – Education for the New Social Order”.  Interestingly enough, this speech (printed February 26, 1948) had a subtitle called, “Tragic Results Now Apparent”.

This speech absolutely puts the nail in the coffin of our thesis four years ago as we began ROPE, that our public schools have completely brainwashed kids in US History so that they have no real knowledge of civics, our Republic and/or the Constitution.  The speaker, Augustus G. Rudd, Chairman of the Guardians of American Foundation and delivered before the National Society of New England Women in New York, clearly lays out the mechanism by which American young people were so brainwashed.  It began in college with the inception of liberal professors from Columbia University (instructed by John Dewey) and filtered down into secondary schools through TEXTBOOKS. 

In fact, the National Education Association sponsored such a set of textbooks called, “Building America”.  The Sons of the American Revolution in California so detested these books, that they took the NEA to court to get an injunction against allowing them in schoolrooms.  This was the opening salvo of their court case, 

“Building America is a subversive publication in that it undermines principles essential to our form of government.”

Under the heading “Scheme of Indoctrination” Rudd writes,  

“Briefly, that is how it happened – how the radical teachers captured the citadel of learning, while parents did not realize what was going on, and consolidated their position by means of great organizations such as the NEA.”

Goodness!  There is absolutely NOTHING more descriptive than that particular paragraph as far as I’m concerned.  This point is driven home further when one remembers that our own State Superintendent, Janet Barresi, has hired a former OEA/NEA president and lobbyist to work for her in the Oliver Hodge Building and has singlehandedly brought about more state and federal control over Oklahoma’s public education than her predecessor Sandy Garret did in 20!

And so, with these little pearls of wisdom tucked carefully into our hat bands, let us review the article concerning how ‘National Service’ organizations can ‘fix’ public schools.

So, what is “National Service”?  Well, we’re told about the disparity in education between the rich and the poor right away, so it takes a bit of time to get to the meat of “National Service”, but apparently, the writer believes, it happens through community organizations such as “Citizen Schools”, “College Summit” and “Diplomas Now”.   

He cites AmeriCorps as ground zero of this effort, 

“Again, working through AmeriCorps, City Year AmeriCorps members—who receive a small living stipend and modest funding for their educations—serve students in grades 3-9 in nearly 250 schools across the country. They work with students before school, after school, and throughout the school day, delivering targeted academic interventions aligned to the common-core standards, and social-emotional support.”

Again, that sounds so awesome!  And cheap too!  What are we thinking NOT to attempt this in OUR state/community? 

Well, it actually goes back to a sentence the writer inserts right after the one above, 

“As near-peer (close in age) mentors, corps members are uniquely positioned to build strong relationships with students that can help them identify and report issues requiring more-intensive services.” 

Yes, they may be uniquely positioned...TO INDOCTRINATE THESE YOUNG PEOPLE ON AN IDEOLOGY COMPLETELY OFFENSIVE TO CONSERVATIVES.   

The writer goes on to say that the Diplomas Now turnaround model, 

“…brings together smart school design, the idealism of national-service members and trained case managers to tap community resources.” 

Fortunately, the writer is honest.

I did a bit of a search on these “idealistic”, “National Service” organizations.

City Year – run by AmeriCorps.  City Year use AmeriCorps members as tutors, mentors and role models through Academic Support, Attendance and Positive Behavior Encouragement and Community and School Improvement projects. Their mission is to 

“build democracy through citizen service, civic leadership and social entrepreneurship. It is through service that we can demonstrate the power and idealism of young people, engage citizens to benefit the common good, and develop young leaders of the next generation.”  

Build…DEMOCRACY?  Guess you’d really have to read the articles above to find out why I object so strenuously to this ‘model’.  Here’s another one for you, 

“City Year’s work in schools is strengthened by its deep history in community service. Since 1988, City Year has been a leader in the growing national service movement, leading to the establishment of AmeriCorps, the passage of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, and the creation of Voices for National Service.”

How about AmeriCorps?   

“In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the National and Community Service Trust Act, which established the Corporation for National and Community Service and brought the full range of domestic community service programs under the umbrella of one central organization. 

This legislation built on the first National Service Act signed by President H.W. Bush in 1990. It also formally launched AmeriCorps, a network of national service programs that engage Americans in intensive service to meet the nation’s critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment.”   

It is funded by taxpayers (so, as usual, the government can turn on those of us that want it ONLY in its Constitutional role!), but there is much room for people who would like to donate – such as the venerable George Soros!  I thought I might go on, but this article really hits the nail on the head of what a despicable organization really is AmeriCorp.

What about Citizen Schools?  Well, I’ll just go ahead and give you the “about” page from their website.  I think the number of organizations with which Eric Schwarz (the Co-Founder) has been involved will make it easy for you to make up your mind about his ideological bend.

What about College Summit?  Well, just troll around this website for a bit.  Look under leadership and staff.  Note that Barrack Obama has donated a large chunk of his Nobel Peace Prize (snicker) to this organization.  Note that Bill and Melinda gates are prominent supporters.  Note that College Summit has applied for and received a Race To The Top grant for districts.  Lots and LOTS of federal involvement here!

What about Diplomas Now?  This is a 

“national campaign to put all students on the path to high school graduation”.   

Certainly a lofty cause and the one thing going for them is that they appear to be solidly non-profit – taking no taxpayer money.  Apparently, Diplomas Now is funded by the corporation so fully in the pocket of Barrack Obama that they changed their logo to match his during the last election cycle.  Give up on who that could be?

And so my friends, there you have it.  Now - especially if you’ve never heard ANYTHING reported in this little expose - go to the mirror, point your finger at yourself and realize that you are the reason we stand a chance of losing a limited government Republic genetic only to this particular chunk of soil, to a man/party who would create his/their own flag they detest America so.

If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a THOUSAND times – RESEARCH EVERYTHING!  

Our fathers, mothers and grandparents quite apparently trusted the idea that schools were a bastion of all that was good in America to our very sincere detriment.  It must have been swimming upstream for these writers in the late 40’s and early 50’s to come out with their research.  I can just imagine the finger wagging, scoffing and cocked heads they met.  Sad that today they are fully vilified.  

Today, we see the fruits of their research. 

If Americans can ignore what stares them right in the face – the metered, specific, planned destruction of their country through its educational system – then, unfortunately for me and those of us that are fully awake and believers, we’ll get the fascist we deserve come November, 2012 and really see for what they have planned so long and so well.

PS: The picture I have used to depict the “ghost in the machine” is from the movie Metropolis.  I had heard of the movie, but never read anything about it.  I pulled up Wikipedia for the movie and found that, interestingly, the plot of the movie isn’t too very far from the plot actually pulled off in American public education.

Who's Really Oppressing OWSers?

By the way, I hope everyone had a very happy and enjoyable Christmas holiday. I certainly did, but it sped by at an unimaginable - breakneck, even - pace. Now, with my husband back at work and my kids back at their schooling, I can again, think my thoughts out loud.

Today, I received an email from a man who has been a college professor. He was commenting on an article, "Queer and Then?" published in the Chronicles of Higher Education.

After commenting on how generally awful today's colleges are, he says,

You do not fix academia by bashing academics in general. You fix it by getting society to work right.

I tend to agree.

My father is a journalism professor at a big state college. He is a WONDERFUL professor and, at 77 years of age, gets better reviews than any of the younger profs! He is no pushover and certainly in no way puts up, or commiserates with, the liberal/progressive profs on campus, which puts him in the DEFINITE MINORITY!

For the record, I'm neither horrified by this article, nor the journal in which it was published.

I AM horrified that this garbage is allowed on campuses paid for by unsuspecting taxpayers and parents who choose to pay for their student's education without continuing to parent that student dependent.

If I were to pay for my kids' college education (and I haven't the older and won't the younger) I would DARN sure make sure I knew, A) what courses my dependent was taking and B) what exactly that dependent intended upon doing with the education I was proffering up for them.

To parents who feel their child is OWED a higher education, God bless you, but you are either a Progressive/Democrat or woefully ignorant of the world of today and unbearably indulgent. The courses they teach in PUBLIC universities are, generally, as dumbed-down as they are in public secondary schools and as irrelevant as the Progressive/Democrats who teach them. If you don't believe me, PLEASE get the book, One Party Classroom by David Horowitz and read about some of the classes offered on PUBLIC college campuses today.

I don't care WHAT they teach at private universities! I don't pay for that. It's the PUBLIC institutions that bear intense scrutiny today, as they churn out more and more liberal graduates using MY money to pay for classes that in no way resemble my world view.

I hope, when the Occupy Wall Street'ers have finally been robbed and raped enough by their own, they will realize they are not ultimately fighting big corporations, but BIG EDUCATION who has lied to them and stolen from them (and/or their parents) by telling them if they paid for classes in Women's Studies they would even SORT of be employable and enjoy any kind of well-paying job in the real world.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Obviously, ROPE is beyond ecstatic that Oklahoma was NOT granted a Race to the Top grant for Early Childhood Education. As opposed to Governor Fallin, I do not feel ANY disappointment that Oklahoma was not chosen for the grant.

In fact, I STILL can't even conceive of the fact that Oklahoma would go begging to the ABSOLUTELY BROKE (meaning 'in debt', 'no working capital', 'owned by China', etc.) federal government (who takes money from the pockets of Oklahomans and then makes us beg to get it back) for money to fund programs that should absolutely, unquestionably be funded by private organizations and churches.

Interestingly, though Dr. Barresi made large cuts to her budget earlier this year, she must have climbed aboard her Unicorn and trotted out onto the rainbow bridge. Apparently, from there she discovered a money tree that can be accessed at will by the State of Oklahoma, because she has now asked for 158 million more dollars to be added to the State Department of Education in her first ever budget.

Of course, some of this will go to fund the things she UN-funded from the previously-mentioned activities budget. Interesting. They weren't necessary in June, but after significant public outcry, they are in December?

It is interesting to note that Dr. Barresi had this to say on her campaign blog,

“We must restructure Oklahoma’s State Department of Education to ensure that dollars are getting into the classroom, rather than concentrating critical funds on administrative overhead. I intend to transform the State Department of Education from being primarily a regulatory agency into a service organization for parents and children. I’ll also move quickly to conduct a financial and performance audit of the department.”

Was the promised audit conducted?

If so, why weren't the results presented before the budget was prepared?

If an audit was not accomplished, why move forward with the budget?

Upon what data were the figures originated?

Why is the department now asking the state to fund specific functions that the Superintendent chose to do away with in the OSDE activities budget?

Was an RTT application made because Oklahoma didn’t have enough money to fund the desired programs or was it simply because the grant was seen as “free” money for which Oklahoma could find a use? Either way, can Oklahoman's believe that our current state administrators have any kind of a grip on Oklahoma's part in this country's entirely real and looming economic Armageddon? I don't and that truly concerns me.

In fact, there are way too many unanswered questions here that I see Oklahoma taxpayers having to eventually answer out of their pockets - and no one I know has a Unicorn.

Smart Start Oklahoma Conference Review, Commentary and Research

First Annual Smart Start Oklahoma Conference

“Champions for Change” or

How Much More Than The Already-Allotted One Billion Dollars Per Year Can “Champions” Justify Spending On Unproven Early Childhood Programming In Oklahoma?

(sorry, due to the copious pages of data from the Oklahoma Policy Institute that had to be scanned in, this document can only be viewed through our Scribd account.)