Common Core and Eroding Education - an extensive excerpt

It would appear our power grabbing U.S. government survived the backlash against the controversial implementation of Common Core State Standards in our education system. Sadly, many citizens have no idea what this is all about. The stage had to be set years ago and the players had to be in place in order for such a radical agenda to be enacted.

To parallel education, there has also been a tragic moral decline since author of the First Amendment, Fischer Ames, made this statement in 1800:

We’ve become accustomed of late to putting little books in the hands of children containing fables with moral lessons. We are spending less time in the classroom on the Bible, which should be the principle text in our schools. The Bible states these great moral lessons better than any other man made book.

The whole point of education standards is to drive curriculum. Standards – in this case, Common Core tests – are the road map that determines what gets taught nationwide in the classroom; the curriculum simply adds the details. This is certainly not a new battle.

Longtime member of the American Federation of Teachers, author of the Humanist Manifesto, and progressive philosopher, John Dewey (1859-1952), has had tremendous influence on American education. Dewey said “You can’t make socialists out of individualists.”

John Dewey was able to influence public school curricula with the help of grants from the Carnegie and Rockefeller Foundations through which he implemented teacher training programs. It appears several of the goals of these foundations were similar to Dewey’s agenda: to mold young people through the public school system, eliminate tradition and scholarship, create a strong class (or caste) system, overthrow faith and family values (the influence of Christianity), and prepare children for a future global job market.

The “class system” ideology is a tenet of Marxism and should be cast from our shores forever, but many Americans have been manipulated by the marketing of class warfare and socialism. Some Americans may not see the recent education transformation because it has been gradual and too many citizens have become apathetic.

Testifying before the Colorado State Board of Education last November, Chinese immigrant and mother of three, Lily Tang Williams declared:

“Common Core, in my eyes, is the same as the Communist core I once saw in China. I grew up under Mao’s regime and we had the Communist-dominated education — nationalized testing, nationalized curriculum, and nationalized indoctrination.

“I came to this country for freedom and I cannot believe this is happening all over again in this country,” she continued. “I don’t know what happened to America, the Shining City on the Hill…”

To be honest, many Americans don’t know what happened to this country either!

Williams went on the share her concerns and explained that Chinese children are trained to be massive skilled workers for corporations rather than independent thinkers. It appears with the invasion of Common Core we are taking a page out of history.

It was John D. Rockefeller who once said, “I don’t want a nation of thinkers. I want a nation of workers.”

The following is an excerpt from The Cost of Our Silence, chapter 12 – “Common Core and Eroding Education.”

From American patriots to world dictators to the average citizen, people have understood education is crucial to a society. For over a century, individuals have been seeking to capture the minds of children through public schools.

In the mid-1990s during the Clinton administration, an effort was underway to push through national education standards, starting with the subject of history. The standards contained such anti-American and politically correct material, the agenda failed miserably. This led to Senate Resolution 66 (S.RES.66), “A resolution to prevent the adoption of certain national history standards,” and on January 20, 1995, the United States Senate voted against the proposed history standards, 99 to 1.

From their failed attempt, national curriculum advocates and the Left learned several things, including: Do not refer to the curriculum standards as “national” or “federal;” implement the standards quickly and quietly before parents, legislators, taxpayers, and teachers have a chance to review them; do not begin by trying to change a controversial subject such as history; and start with less threatening subjects such as English and math.

We should have seen obvious red flags regarding the government’s implementation of Common Core State Standards in public schools. It was a recipe for confusion and corruption when (1) Most American parents had never heard of Common Core, (2) Many teachers didn’t even know how to explain the standards, and (3) The Left vehemently attacked anyone who opposed Common Core. The entire project was funded by a power-hungry government, special interest groups, and wealthy elites – not necessarily in that order.

Joy Pullmann of the Heartland Institute warned:

People who characterize Common Core as anything other than a national takeover of schooling are either unaware of these sweeping implications or are deliberately hiding this information from the public.

The education exodus from Judeo-Christian principles has been by design and has now become the norm. Humanism, Islam, and atheism have been welcomed while Christianity has been expelled.

Recent history, [including public school policies], has proven Jesus Christ will not be tolerated by the National Education Association (NEA). This is not to say there are no committed Christian teachers or administrators in public schools, but at best they are missionaries with little influence in a pagan system. We need to pray for the small number of our brothers and sisters in Christ whose hands are tied, but are trying to do their job as educators while remaining faithful to the Lord at the same time – a daunting task.

Plenty of information is now available on Common Core, much of it extremely concerning, and yet people have little idea what the controversy is about. Americans generally give others the benefit of the doubt on most things – including changes in education. Parents tend to trust those in charge of enacting laws and making decisions regarding public schools. Most American parents would never have considered the possibility the government would force its way into the education system to influence, program, and teach children anything other than what would benefit them after high school. This is part of the problem because a naïve, blind trust breeds apathy and ignorance.

…The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is run by progressives, and the liberal NEA is a far cry from the teacher’s union of years ago when both of my parents were educators. The NEA is a major progressive lobbying group for the Democratic Party, having supported every single Democratic presidential candidate from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama. In the lopsided education system, liberal values are encouraged and promoted while conservative values are discouraged and often attacked.

Knowing government supports the antithesis of Christianity, if the ED is not allowing, endorsing, or teaching principles and standards from the Bible, whose standards do you suppose they are supporting – and at what cost?

Studies reveal more money is not the answer as per-student spending has tripled while test results remain stagnant; federal spending on education is at record highs; student learning and test scores are low or mediocre at best, and polls show the public has lost confidence in the American schools…

Can you recall news reports on Common Core in the mainstream media that reflected negatively on the standards and exposed valid concerns? I can’t either. Local media often take their cues from national headlines, reports, and the biased Associated Press. One reason for people’s ignorance of the subject is the awful lack of balance in media “coverage.” The press is happy to use interview clips of Common Core supporters, but they often fail to interview academic experts who can offer informed counterpoints. As a result, half of the story is not being told.

In Wisconsin for example, legislative hearings were held in which academic experts were asked to validate the Common Core standards in English and math, but they refused to do so because the experts were concerned about the contents of the standards. By ignoring the testimonies of those who have experience creating successful standards, local media chose not to inform parents and the community. Few honest public debates about Common Core standards were held and this will have very real consequences, especially for our children.

Despite the participation of the National Governor’s Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (NCSSO), the Common Core standards are not state-led initiatives as proponents would have us believe. This national project was created and signed off on, essentially in secret, without any input from qualified teachers or state legislatures.

Why so many concerns and how did we get here?

Common Core is an abbreviated term used to refer to the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a set of national standards for English and mathematics (with science and history/social studies guidelines forthcoming) written and copyrighted by the National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. The standards were released to the states in June 2010; they are copyrighted, and therefore, unalterable. Most states were rushed into making a decision to sign off on the standards in order to receive federal money during the tough economic times in 2010.

Proponents may refer to Common Core as state standards, but they are not state led. The standards came about when Bill and Melinda Gates first began funding their vision for national educational standards through a $1.7 million grant to the James B. Hunt Institute. They also funded the Washington D.C. based nonprofit Achieve, Inc., which wrote the standards (in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education). In 2013, grants were awarded, including $3.2 million to the New Venture Fund to help promote Common Core to the public and a $2.5 million grant to the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Fund.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent an estimated $200 million and counting toward the implementation of Common Core, a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) global education agenda. In the long run, with all the computers and technologies the new curriculum requires, the Gates Foundation and particularly companies such as Microsoft stand to make back the millions they’ve invested, and more. Because of Common Core testing requirements, states will incur massive costs in order to acquire and maintain necessary equipment and technology. (The government is very generous with taxpayer money.)

When Bill Gates partnered with UNESCO in 2005, they devised some basic goals for new standards in America that included making environmental education a priority. The Common Core standards are to line up with “sustainable development” as defined by the United Nations.

Because of this, the emphasis on the planet and efforts to “save the earth” will soon be integrated in nearly every school subject. This is another way to teach children to idolize nature rather than worship the One who created all things.

Current Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is a strong supporter of UNESCO. In conjunction with the radical, progressive Tides Foundation of San Francisco, Bill Gates had the standards ready to be unleashed by the time Barack Obama was elected president.

Common Core was first introduced five years ago with the help of teacher’s union “payback” funds courtesy of the 2009 Obama administration stimulus bill. Common Core funding was implemented without full knowledge and consent of Congress. This is why most U.S. representatives knew little or nothing about the standards when questioned by their constituents. About $4.35 billion in federal grant money was used to persuade states to adopt the administration-backed, nationalized K-12 English and math standards and tests.

States were bribed, I mean offered, cash if they switched over to Core education standards, plus other incentives were dangled before them such as exemptions from the failed No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program.

Let’s clarify here; the states were not allowed to wait until the standards were available so they could see what was in them. States were basically coerced to sign on the dotted line quickly; otherwise they’d forfeit the chance for some federal cash. The result: constituents were left in the dark.

It’s worth noting in 2010, the Gates Foundation received the “Population Award” from the United Nations Population Fund, which has also awarded Planned Parenthood for their abortion efforts. Congress investigated the UN fund and found it was facilitating the Communist Chinese’s “one-child policy” which forced women to abort their babies if they already had a child.

Elites such as Bill and Melinda Gates call abortion and birth control “family planning” and “reproductive health.” These rich people have committed over $76 million to help teachers implement Common Core, a Trojan horse for special interests and outside groups, including Planned Parenthood, the National Sexuality Education Standards, the UN (Agenda 21), and others such as textbook publishers.

One obvious danger of Common Core is having any alignment or partnership with UNESCO. Their goal is a New World Order through the vehicle of global socialism. To fulfill this agenda, education must be redirected and philosophies must be re-framed to eliminate any remaining biblical values…

Aside from it being the furthest thing from what our founders envisioned for education, taxpaying citizens (including parents of young children) have had no say in the standards being implemented! The adoption of Common Core State Standards is flat-out government overreach. In addition to federal control comes a loss of state and parental input and local autonomy.

Beyond the continuing educational mediocrity in public schools, elaborate plans are in place to use the required national assessments within the Common Core standards as a tool to institute massive data collection on American school children. This means an alarming amount of data collected that has nothing to do with education and everything to do with government intrusion.

… Another area for alarm is the mandated cooperation of Common Core with the enforcement of ObamaCare. Even Nancy Pelosi probably didn’t know the 2010 healthcare bill, aka the Affordable Care Act, includes mandates for assessing children’s education and development records under the guise of health.

The 2009 Obama stimulus bill referred to earlier not only contained guarantees of grants from the government to selected recipients, but also had an earmark which required state databases to begin tracking students’ religious affiliations, family income, family voting status, health care history, and disciplinary records. These will span preschool to workforce entry and be linked to Common Core tests.

The government will now [through school tests] have access to private records and sensitive information about the student and his or her family including the following:

1. Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or parent.
2. Mental and psychological problems of the student or the student’s family.
3. Sex behavior or attitudes.
4. Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, and demeaning behavior.
5. Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships.
6. Legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as lawyers, physicians, and ministers.
7. Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or the student’s parent.
8. Details of Income.

You may be wondering if it is legal for government to gather and track personal data on students. No. The ED is prohibited by federal statute from maintaining a national student database. So how then can they do what Common Core requires? The feds get around the law by making the states collect the data, and they in turn share it with the government.

… It is becoming clear why the ED did not want to take the necessary time to introduce and implement the changes in education curriculum incrementally. If parents, teachers, experts, and policy makers had time to review and evaluate the standards, we would not be having this conversation.

In addition, the SAT will be aligned with Common Core State Standards. Questions are being added to the ACT as well. The GED has been redesigned for the first time since 2002 to incorporate “practices and skills from the Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practice.” Students taking the redesigned SAT, ACT, or the Iowa Tests could soon encounter progressive ideologies, including social engineering and alternative lifestyles.

If you want to change society and worldviews, start with education and the tests. It has been said by many knowledgeable educators, “people who control the standards and control the assessments control education.”

Big-government bureaucrats typically maneuver to gain power, and Common Core has been exposed as a political agenda that nearly eliminates parents’ rights and state sovereignty…

The next time you hear someone say Common Core is good for kids, ask them to prove their claim by providing results or locations in which the standards were in place and tested. They weren’t. Be prepared for an uncomfortably long pause. Think of how absurd it would be if a different government agency such as the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved the use of a new drug for all American citizens – a drug that has not been tested – without being concerned about possible harm, side effects, or unintended consequences.

Brought to you by the states and taxpayers!

We haven’t heard much about the fact Common Core will cost states more money than they were aware of because many states signed up without any cost analysis. States will spend up to an estimated $10 billion up front for the standards. Not only that, states will pay as much as $800 million every year for the first seven years Common Core is fully implemented. Among the costs are new textbooks, curriculum, teacher training, and technology upgrades.

The test creators have said that by 2016 they expect Common Core assessments to be taken online which is not only more expensive, but could present a whole new slew of problems for poorer and rural schools in particular. The online testing will require new hardware, such as computers, tech labs, microphones and earphones in addition to Internet connections, tech support, and upgraded operating systems.

In early 2014, Fox News reported that education officials in Maryland estimated it will require $100 million to upgrade computers statewide in order “to support the testing that is the centerpiece of Common Core.” And Maryland is not that big of a state. Georgia and other states have found costs are far too high to implement the new standards, while California estimated about $35 million per year (about $30 per student in testing costs alone) due to Common Core.

The study done by Accountability Works, a nonprofit education advocacy group, estimated schools nationwide will need to fork out nearly $7 billion for technology, over $5 billion to train teachers, $2.47 billion for textbooks, and $1.24 billion for assessment testing over the first seven years Common Core is up and running. Sticking uninformed taxpayers with the bill for a government takeover of education is something progressives had dreamed about for decades.

…Is the expansion of socialism and humanism in American education a necessary step to ushering in the end times and the New World Order? It’s been happening for over a hundred years.

Man’s way always seems right to him, but its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12). Jesus said, Whoever is not with me is against me (Luke 11:23), so we cannot be ignorant regarding enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ any longer.

Socialism has no room for God, and we’ve seen its fruit not only in our schools but in our culture as well. The government replaced Christianity with the promotion or teaching of everything related to globalism and diversity.

Founding Father, Benjamin Rush once said:

The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effective means of limiting Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools.

Remove God and anything goes.

Along with a lack of discipline, the new school environment has erupted with disrespect, profanity, cheating, violence, and even murder. Students drink, steal, and use drugs. These hyper-sexualized kids deal with rape, STD’s, and unwanted pregnancies. In the face of depression, some turn to occultism and suicide. Maybe the Ten Commandments weren’t so bad after all!

“Ideas are more dangerous than guns. We don’t let our people have guns. Why should we let them have ideas?” – Joseph Stalin

Self-avowed secular humanist, John Dunphy, wrote an essay entitled “A Religion for a New Age” that speaks volumes. It can be found in the January/February 1983 edition of the Humanist magazine. He stated:

I am convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith… teachers must embody the same selfless dedication of the most rabid fundamentalist preacher, for they will be ministers of another sort, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subject they teach, regardless of the educational level – preschool, daycare, or large state university. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new – the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism, resplendent in its promise of a world in which the never-realized Christian ideal of “love thy neighbor” will finally be achieved.

Is there any good news? A Rassmussen poll revealed only 34% of parents support Common Core.

Nearly two dozen states have pending bills rejecting parts or all of the standards. While this is good news and more states may follow, the primary ways to resist further government influence and control are to repeal Common Core completely, eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, and vote conservative in elections. Education is a Christian, ethical, and moral issue: Schools are teaching kids an anti-biblical worldview.

President Obama is a committed leftist supported and surrounded by globalists and progressives. He is influenced by powerful lobbyists, anti-American radicals, and wealthy foundations and organizations. Education will continue to be a primary focus for them.

State and local governments are relying on concerned parents and citizens to help inform others. Many encouraging signs that the public is catching on are appearing, but still not enough.

We can’t force people to care, but we can work to raise awareness. Parents need to get involved in the community, attend school board meetings, and rally other parents. We cannot remain silent.

Let’s revisit some history: for centuries parents educated their children on the Bible, which was the pillar of our republic. The good news that does not make the headlines is millions of young minds are currently instructed on Christian principles and history by godly parents in private schools and in home schools. …those children are being taught to apply the cause and effect principles of Scripture to family, economics, government, and all areas of life and society.

Through the centuries, children have also been the main target of all kinds of evil. One way we can look at it is the end times are drawing much closer. For Lighthouse Trails, author and researcher Berit Kjos helps put this in perspective:

We can no longer count on the American Constitution, which was based on moral and just values, as it is daily being redefined … May God show us how we can best equip our children to stand firm in Christ in the midst of the coming battles. Let us remember that our Lord still reigns! In the midst of this spiritual war, He will surely provide His strength, wisdom, and comforting nearness to all who choose to trust and follow Him!

Being informed and willing to participate in the political process is good, and the people may be gaining some ground back, but as vital as these surface battles are, they are merely symptoms of an underlying worldview war. Regardless of what happens in education, government, media, politics, or culture in the future, we trust in a sovereign God and have assurance we are on the side of Truth. May we speak the truth we know.

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! … things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments (PSALM 78:1, 3-7).

*This is a portion of the extensive 33-page chapter on Common Core, and though I am by no means an expert, this selected information will give you an overview to share with other concerned citizens. For book info. check out The Cost of Our Silence on Amazon.