Thread: "Common Core" And The All-Too-Common Tendencies Of Heavy-Handed Government

Oppose Common Core? You’re Probably Some Nutjob Creationist, Says Bill Nye


September 10, 2014


By Robby Soave Bill Nye the Science Guy (“He’s not our Science Guy!” the Reason audience retorts) has waded into the Common Core debate. Per usual, he thinks those who disagree with him are—almost by definition—anti-science.
After conceding one criticism of the national education standards—that they could shackle teachers and make learning boring—Bill Nye opines that much of the opposition to Common Core comes from Creationists who don’t want evolution being taught in schools. As he says in his video:

The concern is, and I understand this, you would keep students from having fun and getting excited about anything. But the other reason people seem to, my perception of what people don’t like about Core curricula, is it forces them to learn standard stuff when they could be teaching their kids things that are inconsistent with science. I’m talking about people who want to teach Creationism instead of biology and that’s just bad.

Since Bill Nye doesn’t mention any of the other criticisms against Common Core, he implies by omission that this is it: Core opponents are just evolution deniers in disguise.
(To clarify, the Common Core tackles math and English, not science. The national science standards technically were published under a different title, the Next Generation Science Standards, though many of the same people were involved. NGSS has received a lukewarm response, even from some groups that vigorously support Common Core.)
Oppose Common Core? You’re Probably Some Nutjob Creationist, Says Bill Nye [continued]

Read more at http://libertycrier.com/oppose-commo...SDRyidDBul7.99



Who is calling who a nut job????

Tuesday, 09 September 2014 15:06

Homeschoolers Outnumber Private-school Students in North Carolina

Written by Bob Adelmann





News from North Carolina marks another milestone toward developing an informed, politically active citizenry familiar with the basic fundamentals of the American Republic.

Homeschooled students now outnumber private-school students in North Carolina. This represents an increase of more than 14 percent from the year before, and a 27 percent increase from just two years ago. The state estimates that there are nearly 100,000 homeschoolers in North Carolina, while private school enrollments have been dropping ever since the beginning of the Great Recession. According to the Charlotte News Observer, this extraordinary growth is due to parental concerns about school violence, the lack of a religious focus in public schools, and the large classroom size.

But it also has to do with the accelerating pushback against the Common Core nationalized curriculum. Beth Herbert, the founder of Lighthouse Christian Homeschool Association, said, “Common Core is a big factor that I hear people talk about. They’re not happy with the work their kids are coming home with. They decided to take their children home.” This concern is bleeding over into the state’s General Assembly, which just passed legislation in July to create a commission to recommend a strategy to replace the Common Core curriculum in the state.


Noted Kelli Swinney, a former homeschool mom and blogger:
Common Core is a big factor nationwide. As a retired homeschool mom and a member of an education advocacy group, I have learned a lot of what’s going on in the education world. Common Core is bad, plain and simple. It’s a one-size-fits-all program and kids just aren’t that way.
There is plenty of dissatisfaction with public schools in the United States, which explains the virtual explosion in homeschooling from just 13,000 students in 1973 to well over two million at present. When asked to define that dissatisfaction, parents have expressed concerns about the school environment, the quality of the academic instruction being offered, the curriculum being followed, classroom bullying, and with the inability of public schools to cater adequately to their child’s individual needs. When pressed on the matter, many were concerned about the lack of religious or moral instruction being offered, along with student safety, availability of drugs, and the ever-present negative peer pressure to conform.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 91 percent of parents quizzed expressed a concern about the public school environment, while 77 percent of them expressed a desire to provide more moral instruction, with 64 percent of them wanting to provide more religious instruction for their children. Seventy-four percent expressed dissatisfaction with the academic instruction in public schools.

Two Supreme Court cases, Meyer v. Nebraska and Runyon v. McCrary, opened the floodgates to allow homeschooling to gain a foothold against public education. In Runyon, the court stated that it had "repeatedly stressed that ... parents have a constitutional right to send their children to private schools and a constitutional right to select private schools that offer specialized instruction,” while in Meyer, a majority stated that the “liberty” protected by the Due Process Clause “denotes not merely freedom from bodily restraint but also the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, to marry, establish a home and bring up children, to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and generally to enjoy those privileges long recognized ... as essential to the to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.”

Since 1999, the number of children who are being homeschooled has increased across the country by more than 75 percent. Part of the increase is driven by the continuing proof that homeschooled students are receiving a superior education. According to Education News, “Homeschooling statistics show that those who are independently educated typically score between the 65th and 89th percentile on [standardized assessment] exams, while those attending traditional [public] schools average at the 50th percentile.”

Such education carries over into college as well. A 2010 study by Dr. Michael Cogan of the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota found that college students who have been homeschooled fare better than those who have attended public school on a number of levels: They achieve a higher first-year GPA than the other students, their fourth-year GPA bests the overall average, and they have a higher college graduation rate compared to the rest of the graduates.

Homeschool graduates, in addition, are more involved in civic affairs and vote in much higher percentages than their peers. According to the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), “76% of those surveyed between the ages of 18 and 24 voted within the last five years, compared with only 29% of the corresponding US populace. The numbers are even greater in older age groups, with voting levels not falling below 95%, compared with a high of 53% for the corresponding US populace.”

The momentum behind the homeschool movement continues to grow. According to Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute (NEHRI), the number of students homeschooling in the future will increase because “a large number of those individuals who were being home educated in the 1990s may begin to homeschool their own school age children and [because of] the continued successes of home educated students.”

All that being said, however, the biggest impetus driving parents toward educating their children at home is the Common Core agenda being pushed by educrats interested only in homogenizing and dumbing down America’s students. In an interview with TNA, Alan Scholl, director of Freedom Project Education (FPE, an online "classical" homeschooling program), noted that his school has grown from 22 students just three years ago to more than 700 students currently. Scholl added, “We had to turn down 130 students after the final enrollment date ended in August. That means we’re likely to have more than 1,000 students starting in the fall of 2015.” When asked how much the opposition to Common Core was adding to the momentum at his school, Scholl responded: “At least half!”

When asked about the dangers of Common Core, Scholl referred to the FPE website, which explains:
In brief, each of the 50 states has been bribed by the federal government to accept the copyrighted and thus unalterable common core standards — even though most Americans have no idea what they entail — by offering those states millions....

To date, 46 states have accepted common core money, ceding curricular control to the federal government and taking it away from parents, teachers, and local school boards. Beyond the educational mediocrity the Common Core standards will further enshrine in public schools, there are elaborate plans to use the required national assessments within the Common Core standards as a tool to institute massive data collection about American schoolchildren that has nothing to do with education, and everything to do about government intrusion and control.

As the pressure mounts to implement the Common Core curriculum across the country, so does the pressure not to conform. This is being reflected in the massive growth of homeschooling in North Carolina, and the exponential growth at FPE.


A graduate of Cornell University and a former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American magazine and blogs frequently at www.LightFromTheRight.com, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at badelmann@thenewamerican.com.



http://www.thenewamerican.com/cultur...252a-287785873

DC School Assignment Asks 6th-Graders to Compare George W. Bush to Hitler


Share this Tweet this Google +
September 11, 2014 9:12 am

• Education

(BizPacReview) – Taking liberal indoctrination to a whole other level, a District of Columbia public school gave sixth-grade students a homework assignment asking them to compare former President George W. Bush and Adolf Hitler.
The offensive assignment was issued at McKinley Tech Middle School, according to The Washington Times.
Incredibly, the text places the Iraq War on similar footing as the Holocaust, and described Bush and Hitler as “two men of power who abused their power.”

The Times reported that the text on the assignment read:

“Now that we have read about two men of power who abused their power in various ways, we will compare and contrast them and their actions. Please refer to your texts, ‘Fighting Hitler — A Holocaust Story’ and ‘Bush: Iraq War Justified Despite No WMD’ to compare and contrast former President George W. Bush and Hitler. We will use this in class tomorrow for an activity!”

“I think trying to compare Adolf Hitler to an America president is just not right,” a parent who asked not to be named told the Times. “I didn’t agree with Mr. Bush or his policies, but that was over the line.”
After complaining to the school, the parent said they were told the assignment was part of a curriculum unit approved by the school system.
According to a D.C. Public Schools spokeswoman, it was all just a big “mistake.”
Spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz told the Times that a teacher combined two readings that were not meant to be compared as assigned.
“The teacher deeply regrets this mistake, and any suggestion to malign the presidency or make any comparison in this egregious way,” Salmanowitz said.
An image of the assignment was posted on social media:

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2014/09/...-hitler-144891
- See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/dc-school-as....FHVP8LQ7.dpuf


Now if it said the past 5 or 6 administrations being compared to Hitler..Maybe, now that would be interesting to see you don't ya think? But to single Bush himself out ...not really. roll them all in to one together and then compare, that would be one heck of a comparison....

Common Core’s Latest Campaign Is Awfully Lame

Filed in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on September 11, 2014 • 0 Comments

Common Core still hasn’t found its softer, fuzzy side.
Opponents have video of exasperated kids, we don’t need to produce a video with actors when we can talk to real moms, dads, and kids. On the other side Six One Seven Studios, a group of filmmakers who want to help get the word out about Common Core, made this two minute video.




They describe the video, “Pop-pop takes Hector late to his first day of school to meet his teacher Mrs. Johnson and gets a lesson in what (Common Core) it’s really about.”
Look how they portray “Pop-pop” – old, cantankerous, overly talkative, rude, interrupts a lot, and not very smart. He says “I’m a little worried about this Common Core stuff I’ve seen on TV, you are not going to make him read stuff just because Bill Gates said so are you?
Teacher… “no, I a.”
“Pop-pop” interrupting… “Because I understand…. I’ve been hearing about these standards where they have been making these kids into machines career-ready and college so they can go to work in his computer factory. And frankly, he ain’t making the best computers anymore. Just saying.”
Hector – “No Pop-pop it’s not that.”
“Pop-pop” says, “The master speaks. Look I was in the service fighting for our freedom. And I don’t want this nice school and this very nice teacher, Mrs. Jenkins…”
He gets her name wrong and she corrects… “Mrs. Johnson being told what to do by these rich computer guys and the nerdy glasses.”
Wow. Talk about misrepresenting Common Core opposition. Mrs. Johnson who to has obviously been patient listening to this guy talk responds, “You are so right Mr. Scarlotti the best thing for Hector this year is for he and I to get together to find the types of things he likes to read and then get him interested and really good at reading them.”
“Pop-pop asks, “No checking in with this iPod guy right.”
The teacher shakes her head, “No, no just Hector and I making reading choices that are good for Hector and then working with him to get better at it every day.”
“Pop-pop” says, “Well ok, sounds good to me Hecto.”
Hector asks, “will it be more than an hour a day?”
Pop-pop and the teacher laugh and nod yes….
Then on the screen you see…. “Common Core, It’s Better Than You Heard.”
This video is unmitigated nonsense. First off they didn’t even address Common Core, unless they think teachers didn’t help struggling readers pre-Common Core. Secondly they portray Common Core as being individualized which it most certainly is not. Third, what 7th grade classroom is this? This conversation would make sense if Jr. High/Middle Schools were run like elementary schools, but they are not. Middle school students have teachers, not just a single teacher.
But hey, Common Core, it’s better than you’ve heard…. Trust them. *Snort*




About the Author (Author Profile)

Shane Vander Hart is the Editor-in-Chief of Caffeinated Thoughts, a popular Christian conservative blog in Iowa. He is also the President of 4:15 Communications, a social media & communications consulting/management firm, along with serving as the communications director for American Principles Project’s Preserve Innocence Initiative. Prior to this Shane spent 20 years in youth ministry serving in church, parachurch, and school settings. He has taught Jr. High History along with being the Dean of Students for Christian school in Indiana. Shane and his wife home school their three teenage children and have done so since the beginning. He has recently been recognized by Campaigns & Elections Magazine as one of the top political influencers in Iowa. Shane and his family reside near Des Moines, IA. You can connect with Shane on Facebook, follow him on Twitter or connect with him on Google +.

http://truthinamericaneducation.com/common-core-state-standards/common-cores-latest-<acronym title="Google Page Ranking">pr</acronym>-campaign-is-awfully-lame/

High Schoolers Receive ‘Welcome Bags’ Including Condoms


Share this Tweet this Google +
September 12, 2014 6:51 pm

• Education

(Watchdog) – North Carolina’s Carbarrus County is handing out condoms in its “Welcome Bags” to high school students.
GET ‘EM HERE: Condoms were included in a “Welcome Bag” in one North Carolina school dsitrict.
A representative from Cabarrus County Schools, however, said the school itself did not distribute them. Instead, the condoms came form Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, which gave out these “Welcome Bags”.
FAX BLAST SPECIAL:Take Action! Shock the Washington establishment by participating in the “No More Red Ink” campaign. Fax Blast all 535 members of Congress demanding they vote “NO!” on increasing taxes and out of control spending.
Information regarding the Gay-Straight-Alliance, which according to a parent, was being actively promoted by a teacher at a Cabarrus school, also has been requested, though there has been “no communication” on that topic that the Cabarrus official was aware of.
GSA is listed as an extracurricular activities club at Cox Mills High School.
http://watchdog.org/169685/best-condoms-school/

Share this Tweet this Google +
Comments

---

Please help us stay spam-free. Mouse over a spam post and click the X to report spam.

- See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/high-schoole....zvKolB3p.dpuf

Kindergarten Teacher Refuses To Give Standardized Test To Students, Says It’s Act Of Civil Disobedience

September 14, 2014

By Valerie Strauss Teachers are increasingly speaking up about the onslaught of standardized tests that students in all grades — including kindergarten — are required to take in public schools today. Some are refusing to administer the tests, which can result in a teacher being dismissed for a breach of contract. Here is a letter that a Florida kindergarten teacher, Susan Bowles of Lawton Chiles Elementary School in Gainesville, Florida, posted on Facebook to the parents of the students in her class, detailing the tests she is expected to give to 5-year-olds and problems that have developed in administering the tests. She also explains why she will no longer give the Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading, or FAIR, tests to her students anymore – even if it cost her her job. She gave me permission to publish it.)

Bowles is getting a lot of support on Facebook. The Gainesville Sun reported that “Alachua County Public Schools administrators, the School Board, the teachers union and hundreds of parents and other teachers have expressed support on social media for Bowles.”

To the parents of the boys and girls in my class,
I wrote you a letter over the weekend to let you know that I am refusing to administer the FAIR test [Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading] to your precious little ones. I had hoped to send you an email or letter, but it would not be professional of me or allowed by the district for a letter to go out letting you know that I am doing something that is a breach of contract and therefore against the law. I want you to know that for the 26 years I have been a classroom teacher, I have been a good employee, and have always complied with my superiors. I also want you to know that this is not in any way being done because our principal or superintendent are mandating these tests. This is a government issue. So this decision does not involve anyone I work for. It is an act of civil disobedience.
I am hoping for government change in policy regarding testing.

Kindergarten Teacher Refuses To Give Standardized Test To Students, Says It’s Act Of Disobedience [continued]

Student image from Shutterstock.com
Read more at http://libertycrier.com/kindergarten...AQwlWluDjrd.99



Kindergarten teacher: ‘There is a good possibility I will be fired but…’ (update)

By Valerie Strauss September 11


(Marlon Correa/The Washington Post)
(Update: Statement from superintendent of district in which teacher works has been added)
Teachers are increasingly speaking up about the onslaught of standardized tests that students in all grades — including kindergarten — are required to take in public schools today. Some are refusing to administer the tests, which can result in a teacher being dismissed for a breach of contract. Here is a letter that a Florida kindergarten teacher, Susan Bowles of Lawton Chiles Elementary School in Gainesville, Florida, posted on Facebook to the parents of the students in her class, detailing the tests she is expected to give to 5-year-olds and problems that have developed in administering the tests. She also explains why she will no longer give the Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading, or FAIR, tests to her students anymore – even if it cost her her job. She gave me permission to publish it.)
Bowles is getting a lot of support on Facebook. The Gainesville Sun reported that “Alachua County Public Schools administrators, the School Board, the teachers union and hundreds of parents and other teachers have expressed support on social media for Bowles.”

To the parents of the boys and girls in my class,
I wrote you a letter over the weekend to let you know that I am refusing to administer the FAIR test [Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading] to your precious little ones. I had hoped to send you an email or letter, but it would not be professional of me or allowed by the district for a letter to go out letting you know that I am doing something that is a breach of contract and therefore against the law. I want you to know that for the 26 years I have been a classroom teacher, I have been a good employee, and have always complied with my superiors. I also want you to know that this is not in any way being done because our principal or superintendent are mandating these tests. This is a government issue. So this decision does not involve anyone I work for. It is an act of civil disobedience.
I am hoping for government change in policy regarding testing.
Here is the letter I comprised:
September 7, 2014
Dear Parents,
I need to inform you of a professional decision I have made which may impact your child this year. I have decided to refuse to administer the FAIR test to my students. As you might be aware, there is a lot of testing that goes on these days. Some information of which you may not be aware is how much instructional time is lost because of all the testing. You also might not have knowledge of how many assessments are required.
These are the assessments given in kindergarten:
• Beginning of the year assessments given by classroom teachers to determine their knowledge of letters, sounds, phonemic awareness, sight words, number recognition and number sense. These are tests that all good Kindergarten teachers give. It is useful information for us to use in planning for instruction and in pulling small groups for instruction. Usually at this time of year at Chiles, we would have children in their reading groups. This year we have assessments mandated by the state which are so time consuming, it will be weeks before we can instruct.
• Baseline reading test from the Reading Street series (the county adopted reading program for elementary schools).
• FLKRS assessment [Florida Kindergarten Readiness Screener]– In the past this has been a checklist for determining how effective VPK (Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten education program) is. This year we were told to take anecdotal records by observing 45 performance indicators across five developmental areas. This is to be completed within the first 30 days of school. The demographics portion of this assessment is available online for teachers. The WSS (Work Sampling System) part where we enter data on the 45 performance indicators is not yet available. Monday will be the 15th day of school. Presumably they will have it up and running before day 30.
• FAIR testing – We have given the FAIR assessment in the past but this year it was revamped. It does provide useful information, but nothing significantly superior to what a typical kindergarten teacher would observe in her students. This year, it is more time consuming and more difficult. Kindergartners are required to take it on the computer using a mouse. (While testing a child last week, she double-clicked which skipped a screen. This little girl double-clicked three times and triple-clicked once. There is no way for the teacher to go back. Neither is there a way for the school administrator to go back and make a correction.) While we were told it takes about 35 minutes to administer, we are finding that in actuality, it is taking between 35-60 minutes per child. This assessment is given one on one. It is recommended that both teacher and child wear headphones during this test. There is no provision from the state for money for additional staff to help with the other children in the classroom while this testing is going on. If you estimate that it takes approximately 45 minutes per child to give this test and we have 18 students, the time it takes to give this test is 13 ½ instructional hours. If you look at the schedule, a rough estimate would be that it requires about one full week of instructional time to test all of the children. Our kindergarten teachers have been brainstorming ways to test and still instruct. The best option we have come up with is for teachers to pair up, with one teacher instructing two classes while the other teacher tests one-on-one. So now we are looking at approximately two weeks of true instructional time lost, because we cannot teach our curriculum, pulling small groups and targeting each child’s educational needs. FAIR testing is done three times a year.
*THIS IS THE TESTING I AM REFUSING TO DO. I KNOW I MAY BE IN BREACH OF MY CONTRACT BY NOT ADMINISTERING THIS TEST. I CANNOT IN GOOD CONSCIENCE SUBMIT TO ADMINISTERING THIS TEST THREE TIMES A YEAR, LOSING SIX WEEKS OF INSTRUCTION. THERE IS A GOOD POSSIBILITY I WILL BE FIRED.
• Discovery Education tests. These are given four times a year.
• Chapter assessments in math, which give us information regarding how well the children have mastered the material.
• Math benchmark tests – There are three of these.
• Reading unit tests
• Beginning this year, end of course tests are required of all students K-12. These subjects will be tested on in kindergarten: reading, math, social studies, science, music, art and physical education.

I think you can see this is not only a lot to ask of five year olds, it is also taking away hours and hours of instructional time. I am not opposed to assessments, and am for accountability in schools. But enough is enough. I keep asking, when will the insanity stop? When will someone speak up? God has put it on my heart that I am to take a stand. This means I may be giving up my beloved profession. I may lose the chance to delight in seeing the excitement and joy that comes from meaningful learning. I will no longer be able to say, when speaking of salary, “I’m rich in hugs.”
I especially want to apologize to each and every one of you, for the disruption this may cause your dear children if I am replaced by a teacher willing to submit to giving these tests. Even though I have only been their teacher for a short time, they have captured my heart. When asked about my job, I have always told people I have the best job in the world. Words cannot express the depth of sadness I feel in possibly giving it up.
Thank you for reading such a lengthy letter.
In gratitude,
Susan

Here is a statement from Owen Roberts, superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools, regarding Susan Bowles and FAIR testing:

With all of the recent media attention surrounding the decision by local teacher Mrs. Susan Bowles not to give the state-mandated FAIR test to her students, I wanted to ensure that parents, teachers and other citizens understand the district’s position on this issue.
I have met personally with Mrs. Bowles, and the district has heard from parents praising her as an excellent teacher. I certainly appreciate her concerns regarding FAIR testing. I have said clearly and publicly that I believe there is too much standardized testing here in Florida, and that much of it doesn’t offer a significant educational benefit for children.
However, Florida law requires that all kindergarten students take the FAIR test during the first 30 days of school. Until the law changes, the district is obligated to administer the test.
That being said, I am very concerned about the current technical issues with the FAIR test, which is given online. They cropped up a few days ago, and as of Thursday morning, we had yet to receive official notice from the state that they have been resolved. Those issues are making an already difficult situation for teachers and students even worse.
I know many parents and others have questions about Mrs. Bowles’ status, which at this point has not changed. The district is reviewing this situation, and while that review is underway, Florida law says that we are not allowed to discuss it. But I certainly appreciate the concern that has been expressed on behalf of Mrs. Bowles, and I know she does as well.
In the meantime, I would encourage anyone who has issues with the FAIR test in particular or testing in general to contact their local legislators and other state leaders. This School Board has shared its concerns with those leaders for the past several years, as have I. However, they also need to hear from parents and other citizens about this very important issue.

Valerie Strauss covers education and runs The Answer Sheet blog.

related

Education Dept. offers 9/11 teaching materials -- but won't guarantee their accuracy

Education Dept. offers 9/11 teaching materials — but won’t guarantee their accuracy

By Valerie Strauss September 11


Teachers looking for materials to help them devise lesson plans on the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks can find a lot of them on the Internet. There are lesson plans on the website of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, as well as materials on Scholastic. org and on the New York City schools website, and on The National History Clearing House at George Mason University, created with U.S. Department of Education funds.


The Education Department itself offers a list of resources on its website, but there is something atop it you don’t find with the others: a disclaimer saying that it can’t actually guarantee that the materials are accurate.


Here’s what the disclaimer says in full:

Disclaimer — These materials were developed by federal grantees and agencies in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001. The materials are provided as a convenience for teachers and others seeking resources for teaching about September 11. ED does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of these materials, nor does the inclusion of links to these materials represent an endorsement of these materials or organizations that created them.

Aren’t 9/11 materials something you would want to be certain are accurate, relevant, timely and complete?
Valerie Strauss covers education and runs The Answer Sheet blog.








Valerie Strauss | September 11


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/09/11/kindergarten-teacher-there-is-a-good-possibility-i-will-be-fired-but/


Wake up America!!!

How Progressive Education and Bad Philosophy Corrupted The People & Undermined The Constitution of The United States http://ow.ly/BtSI2


How Progressive Education and Bad Philosophy Corrupted The People & Undermined The Constitution of The United States - Sons of Liberty Media
ow.ly
How Progressive Education and Bad Philosophy Corrupted The People & Undermined The Constitution of The United States



How Progressive Education and Bad Philosophy Corrupted The People & Undermined The Constitution of The United States

Published on: September 14, 2014

Throughout human history, the prevailing belief system changes from time to time & place to place; most people unthinkingly absorb whatever happens to be the prevailing dogma of their time & place. Here, I will show the radical differences between the philosophy of our Founding Era and the philosophy of today. And when I have done so, you will understand why our Country is declining and what you can do about it. In a nutshell, the Enlightenment philosophy of our Founding Era, which was based on Reason and the recognition of the existence of Fixed Principles, was taken away from us; and replaced with the subjective philosophies of Pragmatism & Existentialism, both of which reject Reason and deny the existence of Objective Truth & Fixed Principles. These are now the prevailing dogma of our Time; and unless we promptly repudiate them, we will fall.
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, & John Jay (authors of The Federalist Papers), and others at the Federal Convention of 1787, embodied the best aspects of The Age of Enlightenment. They were well educated, exquisitely knowledgeable in statecraft & political philosophy, embraced the concepts of Objective Reality & Fixed Principles, knew Logic, and could think. George Washington, a man renowned for his Moral Character, which was based on Judeo-Christian ideals, presided over the Convention.
The Fruit of the Philosophy, Religion, & well-trained Minds of our Framers was a Constitution which ordained and established a Federation of States which united only for THE LIMITED PURPOSES enumerated in the Constitution: national defense, international commerce & relations; and domestically, the creation of an uniform commercial system: Weights & measures, patents & copyrights, a monetary system based on gold & silver, bankruptcy laws, and mail delivery. ¹

Progressive “Education” & the Conditioning of the American People

But during the 19th Century, Progressives took control of public schools & teachers’ colleges. They then conditioned teachers and children to abandon our Founders’ Enlightenment philosophy of Reason, Fixed Principles, & Judeo-Christian ideals; and to accept a new ideology which replaced Reason with “feelings” and denied the existence of an Objective Reality & Fixed Principles. They thus primed the objects of their conditioning to accept whatever attitudes the Progressives chose to instill in them. And the objects of this conditioning did not – do not – know what was done to them!
Samuel L. Blumenfeld explains the two opposing philosophies of education:

the “progressives”…viewed public education primarily as a tool for social and cultural reform to be achieved through the remaking of human nature; and the traditionalists …viewed education, public or private, primarily as a development of an individual’s intellectual skills in combination with moral instruction based on Judeo-Christian ideals. ["Is Public Education Necessary?", Ch. 12]

Thanks to the traditional education they received, our Framers knew history, political philosophy & statecraft, Logic, Judeo-Christian moral ideals, and could think!
Thanks to progressive “education”, Americans have been so dumbed-down that they can’t read, ² know nothing, and can’t think. After the Progressives ripped moral instruction based on Judeo-Christian ideals out of the public schools, and replaced it with the view that morality is a matter of subjective personal opinion or group consensus, ³ we became an amoral people who kill babies, reject altogether the concept of personal responsibility, insist on a claimed “right” to live at other peoples’ expense, and believe that the only guide for our conduct is our own likes, dislikes, & “feelings”: “I like it” or “I don’t like it”; “I feel like it” or “I don’t feel like it”. We became so shallow and morally blind that we elect fools & tyrants to high office. Thanks to “self-esteem” classes, we believe that our views & “feelings” on subjects of which we have no knowledge whatsoever are as important as anybody else’s.
With our untrained & empty minds and instilled amorality, we were rendered incapable of resisting the conditioning of the Progressives. And this, Folks, has been the purpose of public “education” ever since the Progressives took it over.

2000 years of Western Philosophy on Metaphysics & Epistemology ⁴ in One Paragraph

So! In Western Civilization, we had the Age of Faith (There is an Objective Reality & Truth ⁵ and they are revealed in the Bible & Works of Creation); the Enlightenment (There is an objective Reality & Truth and we discover it by use of Reason); the Age of Romanticism (“Truth” is found in your emotions & feelings); and now, Pragmatism & Existentialism (There is no Objective Reality; “Truth” is a concept which has no meaning; there are no fixed principles, there is only “opinion” and one man’s “opinion” is as good as another’s).

Pragmatism & Existentialism

During the late 19th century, the philosophy of Pragmatism (William James, Charles Saunders Peirce, John Dewey) arose. It rejected the concept of an Objective Reality with its Timeless Truths. Instead of concerning oneself with the question of whether something is “True”, the pragmatist asks, “What difference will it make in my life whether I believe it or don’t believe it?” So one looks to the “utility” of believing it or not believing it. If it has a good result for me, it is “true”. If it has a bad result for me, it is not “true”. What is “true” for me may not be “true” for you, so an idea can be “true” for some and not “true” for others. Furthermore, what is “true” for me today may not be “true” for me tomorrow, so “truth” evolves.
Do you see? They tossed the concept of Objective Truth – Objective Reality – Fixed Principles & Standards – out the window.
Pragmatism morphed into Existentialism (Jean-Paul Sartre). Existentialism rejects an objective basis for life in favor of a subjective basis: ⁶ Humans are merely biological organisms living meaningless lives, making “choices” on the basis of no criteria whatsoever other than their own likes or dislikes. Since there is no basis for any external Principles or Standards to which we must conform, people are free to do whatever they want.
Again, it was the Colleges of Education and the public schools which were the vehicles for dumbing-down the American People and conditioning them to reject the Philosophy of our Founders, and to accept the pragmatist & existentialist mind-set.
A friend recalls an incident which happened around 1960 in English class in an American public high school. The students read a story. The teacher asked each student to say what the story meant to him. Whatever a student said was praised by the teacher. But my friend said, “It doesn’t matter what it means to me. What matters is what the author says.” The teacher was most displeased with that remark.
Do you see? Under the pretext of teaching literature, the teacher indoctrinated her students into rejecting the concept of Objective Reality & Fixed Principles, and accepting a subjective world-view devoid of objective meaning. The teacher most likely had no idea what she was doing – she was just following her teacher’s manual. She was thus one of the millions of useful idiots who graduate from our Colleges of Education and set about assisting in the destruction of the minds & morals of the American People. ⁷
Do you not remember hearing over & over in your public schools, “There is no black or white, there is only gray.” “What’s true for me may not be true for you”. “If it works, it’s right.” “What does it mean to you?” And when one is facing a moral decision, one is asked, “How do you feel about it?” One’s “feelings” are set up as the criterion for making moral decisions! There is no appeal to objective standards of Right & Wrong. That was ripped out of the public schools by the Progressives. And we are mystified by the high crime rates among our children? ⁸
Most Americans are now existentialists, even though they never heard of John Paul Sartre. We see our own “likes”, “dislikes”, & “feelings” as the only standard. We just want to “feel good”. That our personal likes & dislikes are irrelevant when they conflict with objective Standards of Good & Bad, Right & Wrong, is unthinkable. I’ll illustrate: It is painful, but we have no time left to pussy-foot:

Standards of Conduct: What’s Right By Objective Standards? Or, What do I like?

Talk to an obese person about what he eats: He will most likely say something like, “I’ll eat what I like.” He thus follows a subjective standard: his likes & his dislikes. Because he is an existentialist (though doesn’t know it), he rejects the idea that there is an objective standard by which one can decide what to eat and what to avoid: That of health – Is the food healthy? Or unhealthy? And if you tell him of this objective standard, he’ll say, “I don’t care – I’ll eat what I like.” The essence of the existentialist mind-set is that the existentialist sees no reason why he should set anything above his own “feelings”, likes, or dislikes.
There was a stay-at-home Mom. When her young children were hungry, she tossed them a box of crackers or cookies, or took them to a fast food joint.. Why? Because she didn’t like to cook. That she had a DUTY to provide her children with healthy food, never entered her mind. She didn’t “like” cooking, she “felt like” going to the mall instead, and that was the end of the matter.
Couch potatoes don’t exercise because they “hate” exercise. They reject the objective fact of Reality that exercise is necessary to be healthy.

Pragmatism, Existentialism & Federal Judges

So! With the rise of Pragmatism & its conception of evolving and subjective “truth”, American lawyers abandoned the concept of Law as a body of fixed principles (set forth in The Declaration, The Constitution, Blackstone’s Commentaries, Natural Law &/or the Bible), and embraced the concept of an “evolving” law and an “evolving” Constitution which means whatever they – the judges – say it means! Remember! To the pragmatist, “truth” evolves. ⁹
So THIS is the philosophical basis for judges on the supreme Court tossing out The Federalist Papers as the objective standard of the meaning of The Constitution; and substituting their own opinions. When they were in school, they were conditioned to reject the concept of Objective & Fixed Standards, and to accept Pragmatism & Existentialism; and I bet you few (if any) of them ever thought it through. They did not resist the conditioning – they just accepted what their Manipulators instilled in them.
We teeter on the brink of disaster. YOU must rise to the occasion. Our Country & our Posterity depend on YOUR repudiating the destructive philosophies your conditioners foisted on you; and reclaiming the rational Enlightenment philosophy & Judeo-Christian morality of our Framers. We can not save our children unless we close the public schools. ¹⁰ Education must be privatized, and we better do it now. PH
Postscript added July 22, 2011: Melanie Phillips shows how the abandonment of the concept of Objective Principles & Standards and the embracing of moral relativism & multiculturalism is leading to the islamization of England: Watch it!



My friend, Nancy Coppock, understands also how relativism is destroying Our Country.


Endnotes:

¹ Our Constitution follows the Biblical model: a civil government with defined powers which is subject to – under – the Law. Civil government is not the source of Law! The law comes from a higher authority: God is the source of Law in the Bible; The Declaration of Independence & The Constitution are the Source of Law in our Country. Acts of the three branches of the federal government are lawful or unlawful depending on whether they are consistent with the Declaration & authorized by The Constitution. These are the standard of what is “lawful” – NOT the fiat of the brain-washed judges who sit on our courts.
Lex, Rex by Rev. Samuel Rutherford (1644), is a masterwork of which modern American pastors are ignorant. Rev. Rutherford proves that civil authorities have legitimacy ONLY to the extent they obey The Law. We see all around us the results of our pastors’ ignorance of these Biblical teachings.
² Two/thirds of Wisconsin 8th graders can’t read proficiently! Yet their teachers are screaming for more benefits to be paid for by the taxpayers, while lying about being sick. With the public schools, we have financed our own destruction. And most Americans who can read, are unable to read The Federalist Papers. Yet The Federalist is essential for a correct understanding of the objective (genuine) meaning of our Constitution & they were published in Newspapers in 1787-88!
³ “Values clarification” is the version of “moral guidance” foisted in the public schools on our children since the 1960′s. Public school teachers are telling children that they are “… free to choose ethical and moral behavior that resonates with them.” They thus “liberate” children from “authoritarian” teachings on morality.
⁴ “Metaphysics” deals with the nature of Reality; “Epistemology”, with theories of Knowledge. The Ayn Rand Institute has an excellent lexicon for philosophical terms. Rand was a non-theist; PH is a Christian theist. Hence, there are some differences. But both see “Natural Law” (Physics, Mathematics, Logic, Morality, Politics, etc.) as woven into the Fabric of Reality. Both see the Universe as governed by LAW; and that the duty of man is to learn & to obey these Laws.
Thus, the Great Divide is between those who accept the concept of Divine or “Natural Law”; and those, such as Progressives, Libertarians, Pragmatists, & Existentialists, who reject it. They deny the existence of any standard other than their own “feelings”, likes & dislikes.
⁵ “objective reality” means this: “Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man’s feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.” In other words, things are the way they are regardless of what you like, don’t like, agree with or don’t agree with.
⁶ “subjectivism” is “…the belief that reality is not a firm absolute, but a fluid, plastic, indeterminate realm which can be altered, in whole or in part, by the consciousness of the perceiver—i.e., by his feelings, wishes or whims. It is the doctrine which holds that man—an entity of a specific nature, dealing with a universe of a specific nature—can, somehow, live, act and achieve his goals apart from and/or in contradiction to the facts of reality, i.e., apart from and/or in contradiction to his own nature and the nature of the universe…”
⁷ In “The Abolition of Man“, C.S. Lewis illustrates how the concept of “objective value” was ripped out of the hearts of British school children by their teachers. He also discusses the “Natural Law” and how it has been universally recognized. His book is only 113 pages, double-spaced, & one of the most important books ever written. Read it. Outline it. Tell all in your spheres of influence.
⁸ But at least we can take comfort in the knowledge that our children are not being taught in public schools such things as, “thou shalt not kill”, “thou shalt not steal”, “thou shalt not bear false witness”, “thou shalt not covet”, and other such “authoritarian” & offensive rubbish.
⁹ In “The Second American Revolution“, attorney John W. Whitehead (Rutherford Institute) writes of this. This is a valuable book which shows how bad philosophy corrupted our judges.
¹⁰ Glen Beck and others are showing that under the pretext of teaching reading, progressive “educators” are now telling our children the Lie that our Constitution institutes socialism!
Don't forget to Like SonsOfLibertyMedia.com on Facebook, Google Plus, Tea Party Community & Twitter.


Read more at http://sonsoflibertymedia.com/2014/0...VWRkxlxF6to.99

Anti-Americanism, Marxism, Porn, Pedophilia Now Available in the Classroom

by Sara Noble • September 13, 2014

And A Tea Party Leader Who Was Forced to Use the F-Word
“Did you know that ‘our bodies, being products of eating, are immoral by essence’, and ‘consumption not only bites the world but lessens the leftovers for everyone else’? [...] “procreation has become an unintentional act of aggression against the fellow multitudes already cramming the planet.” ~ from The American Experience, a propagandized high school literature text
Leftist revisionist history is seen through a negative, bleak, self-flagellating prism and it is now permeating our schools thanks to Common Core.
Periodically, I post an article about one of the texts or supplementary materials being used under Common Core that promote propaganda, and anti-American ideas. America Now is one such book.
America Now by Robert Atwan is a book of essays from recent periodicals, which is being used in AP English classrooms in numerous high schools and in undergraduate college classes throughout the nation. It is Common Core aligned. It is typical of the type of indoctrination that is becoming part and parcel of the Core. It has less to do with English than it has to do with perpetuating the leftist vision of America – the new America, America Now!
America now is an America that abandons traditional America and takes up a new, improved Leftist America. Common core is the vehicle by which this new America can be rapidly and widely spread.
Parading around as English literature, it is simply leftist propaganda. The theme capitalism is evil runs throughout.
Big Government and government agencies are extolled. The rich are demonized, Southern people are demeaned, man is described as too costly, man is an agent of destruction on earth, and illegal immigration is promoted.
Happiness is something to be attained by adapting to the Marxist perspective.
A telling quote from the book: “One cure–for those who feel that their pursuit of happiness has been sent on a long detour through the labor camps of American and international capitalism–is the institution of a government department that has as its only priority the happiness of all Americans.”
Another article, on the sticky post on our front page, deals with yet another vile, unAmerican book called The American Experience.
A Tea Party leader, Becky Gerritson, who testified before Congress last year and who told Congress “they had forgotten their place,” testified before an Alabama Senate Education Committee in support of a bill to allow local school districts to opt out of Common Core.
Her testimony concentrated on the widely-used literature text, The American Experience: 1900-Present by Prentice Hall. It is Common Core aligned. When she read one paragraph from a recommended novel that was incorporated into the book, it was so pornographic even the senators wouldn’t listen to it. She reminded them that this is being taught to 16 and 17 year olds.
The following is excerpted from Becky Gerritson’s Testimony on SB443 in March of this year.

Terrence Moore, a professor from Hillsdale College, dedicated an entire chapter in his book called The Story Killers to this very textbook.
It’s easy to see the political bias in this book as well as the mediocre teaching of literature. Due to my time constraint I can only list a few examples found in this book.
Students are led to believe that our founding fathers were promoters of slavery. They are not told the truth that slavery had been around for thousands of years and up until the 1700’s our founders and the Quakers were the only distinct voices advocating the abolishment of slavery.
Students are led to believe that Benjamin Franklin thought the Constitution was a bad idea. It’s important to note that the US Constitution is nowhere to be found in this book.
America is portrayed as barbaric murderers when they dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Students not taught about the thousands of pamphlets that were dropped on the city urging people to flee-or that the action was done to save millions of lives, nor are Students told even how the war started.
In this book, students will read Jonathan Edwards’s famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Yet they have deleted 21 out of the 22 Biblical references.
Even though this is a literature book, students are diverted away from literature and asked to do research activities on how scientists are addressing deep-space travel for humans.
Let me turn the corner and talk about something else. Many opponents of Common Core have serious concerns about the recommended reading list which contains politically biased and obscene books. It is known as “Appendix B” or “Common Core’s Text Exemplars”. AL State Superintendent, Dr. Bice tried to calm our fears about this reading list saying that we had nothing to worry about because he removed it from our course of study. However, removing the list did nothing because these books and their authors are featured and promoted in this very text book.
On page 1095 the featured author is Toni Morrison, she wrote a book called The Bluest Eye.
It’s a story of an 8 year old black girl. This book is about rape, incest and pedophilia. One of the characters is a priest who likes having sex with little girls and the scenes are graphically described.
The depictions are from the perpetrator’s point of view. The author wanted the reader to feel as though they were a “co-conspirator” with the rapist. She describes the pedophilia, rape and incest “friendly,” “innocent,” and “tender”, but never as wrong.
You might think I am over exaggerating when I say that this book and others like it are vile and inappropriate. Let me read you an edited excerpt; only 6 sentences, from The Bluest Eye. This is recommended for 16 and 17 year olds.
Pages 162-163: (Again these crimes are perpetrated against children.)
“A bolt of desire ran down his genitals…and softening the lips of his a***. . . . He wanted to f*** her—tenderly. But the tenderness would not hold. The tightness of her v***** was more than he could bear. His soul seemed to slip down his guts and fly out into her, and the gigantic thrust he made into her then provoked the only sound she made. Removing himself from her was so painful to him he cut it short and snatched his genitals out of the dry harbor of her v*****. She appeared to have fainted.”

When Ms. Gerritson, who said the “F-word” is absent from her vocabulary, read the passage from the book, which included that and much worse, there were gasps in the room and she was asked to stop. She made the point that the content is so vile it couldn’t be uttered at a public meeting room full of adults, yet this filth is recommended under Common Core to minor children to read and discuss in class.
Her testimony, which is under five minutes, is worth listening to:



One 6th grade teacher in D.C. recently had to apologize for insisting students compare President George W. Bush to Hitler for homework.

“Now that we have read about two men of power who abused their power in various ways, we will compare and contrast them and their actions,” the assignment reads. “Please refer to your texts, ‘Fighting Hitler – A Holocaust Story’ and ‘Bush: Iraq War Justified Despite No WMD’ to compare and contrast former President George W. Bush and Hitler.”
Then there is the following very problematic assignment out of California: “Did the Holocaust really happen?” or was it “a propaganda tool used for political or monetary gain?”
In a Southern California district, Rialto Unified, eighth graders were told to use three sources — including one that calls the murder of Jews a “hoax” — to research the “debate.” Then they were to write an essay, citing their research, to “explain whether or not you believe the Holocaust was an actual event in history, or merely a political scheme created to influence public emotion and gain.”
The school defended this propaganda. People don’t seem to know what is fact and what is bias any longer. There are no lines being drawn.
Coincidentally, the Rialto students are Latino and the interim Superintendent is Mohammad Z. Islam.
Since when can people draw their own conclusion on this? Joanne Jacobs quotes Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts,”
Expect a lot more propaganda and far fewer apologies. Eventually, we will grow numb to it and propaganda will become the norm unless we stop it now.
Dr. Terence Moore of Hillsdale College, in his book Story Killers, exposes Common Core’s abandonment of our great stories in literature. Not only are they abandoning them, they have abandoned our great story of freedom, fought for and won.
The following is paraphrased or excerpted from a book review by What Is Common Core.

Dr. Moore’s book asks questions like this one: Why does the new Common Core edition of the American literature textbook, The American Experience, by Pearson/Prentice Hall 2012, contain sections on government forms, and an EPA report? Is this the new and “more rigorous” literature that will prepare our children for college? Or is it an attempt to “keep the nation’s children from reading stories, particularly traditional stories that run counter to the political ideology” of the authors of Common Core?
Dr. Moore points out that a widespread, fraudulent adoption of Common Core brought us the fraudulent reading (and math) theories upon which Common Core Standards rest. Common Core was never pilot tested as it should have been, before virtually the whole country adopted it.
“You know how long it takes for a new drug to get on the market before it receives approval from the FDA,” he writes, “Yet here is the educational medicine, so to speak, that all the nation’s children will be taking every day, seven hours a day– and no clinical trials have been done.”
Dr. Moore points out, too, that “most of the money that funded the original writing of the standards came from the deep pockets of Bill Gates. Perhaps related to this fact, the Common Core will have students working far more with computers… the people behind the Common Core also have a hand in running the tests and stand to gain financially…. the other people who stand to make out like bandits are the textbook publishers. If that’s not enough to get one wondering, it turns out that the actual writing of the standards was done in complete secrecy.“
Dr. Moore reminds us that controlling stories (or the lack of stories) is the same thing as controlling people: “Plato pointed out in his Republic– a book never read in today’s high schools, nor usually even in college– whoever writes the stories shapes –or controls– the minds of the people in any given regime.”
The book’s title describes the killing of two important types of stories:
“The great stories are, first, the works of literature that have long been considered great by any standard of literary judgment and, second, what we might call the Great American Story of people longing to be free and happy under their own self-government. The Common Core will kill these stories by a deadly combination of neglect, amputation, misinterpretation…”
Then, “On the ruins of the old canon of literary and historical classics will be erected a new canon of post-modern literature and progressive political doctrine. Simultaneous to this change, fewer and fewer works of literature will be read on the whole. Great literature will be replaced with ‘information’ masquerading as essential ‘workforce training’.”
Moore explains that the proponents of Common Core hold up “the illusion of reform” while continuing to “gut the school curriculum” and to remove its humanity.
Grade school children will only get 50% of their grade from reading literature in English and high school children will get 70%. Instead, they will read informational texts.
Dr. Moore implores others to fight for great literature.
“There has never been a great people without great stories. And the great stories of great peoples often dwell on the subject of greatness. They dwell on the subject of plain goodness as well: the goodness that is to be found in love, marriage, duty, the creation of noble and beautiful things. It is patently obvious that they authors of the Common Core are uncomfortable with these great stories of the great and the good. They are plainly uncomfortable with great literature. And they are even more uncomfortable with what might be called the Great American Story.”

Our stories are becoming like our cars, mundane, common, alike. We are to believe we are not great, we are common to the core. We are meant only to redistribute and exist only to participate in the common good.
At the beginning of The Standards, it says this, “The Standards are intended to be a living work: as new and better evidence emerges, the Standards will be revised accordingly.”
They’ve only just begun, revisionist history and literature will continue to morph.
Oh, goody.

http://www.independentsentinel.com/a...the-classroom/


Wake up America and stop Common Core. Stop these kind of people from the taking over of your children's minds and learning...Home school or at least re-inforce their education at home with your own morals and teachings. We must stop this kind of thing going on in our schools..

Planned Parenthood Sex Ed


The Making Proud Choices! sex-education program in schools is promoted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and was developed in association with Planned Parenthood. The program is funded in states in part by PREP (Personal Responsibility Education Program) grants as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, commonly called Obamacare. It is also funded by businesses and philanthropies.
“Federal funding for comprehensive sex education . . . has been at least four times the amount designated for abstinence programs. More than two-thirds of public schools (68%) teach comprehensive sex education.” (American Thinker, 8-28-14) Comprehensive sex education programs teach students everything possible about sex.
Select Media sells Making Proud Choices! school-edition curriculum for $648. They also sell ten other sex programs aimed at children and teens.
Some parents are disturbed by the content of Making Proud Choices! What schools say they will teach and what parents agree to allow their children to learn often differs from the controversial content actually taught to students. In some cases, legislators and parents have been denied access to their children’s sex education curricula.
Secret Hawaiian Sex Ed
In Hawaii, two state legislators heard parent and teacher complaints that a University of Hawaii and Planned Parenthood-piloted sex-education program was too graphic, favored alternative sexual lifestyles, and was inappropriate for 11-, 12-, and 13-year-old students. The legislators independently attempted to obtain “Making Pono Choices!” a middle-school curriculum that received almost $1 million in teen pregnancy prevention grant money from the federal government. (EAG News, 1-18-14) In Hawaii, Making Proud Choices! is called Making Pono Choices! Pono is a Hawaiian word that loosely translates to “the right way.”
Hawaii state representative Bob McDermott and state senator Sam Slom were denied the opportunity to independently review the Making Pono Choices! curriculum. They were only offered the option to see the program “under supervision.” Slom said this was disrespectful and likened it to treating legislators like children. McDermott stated that it is “outrageous that a state legislator . . . as an elected official and a father of public school children, cannot get this information.” Slom said, “A government that hides public information is antithetical to democracy.” A Hawaii DOE spokesman, defending the refusal to release the documents, claimed that “the curriculum is sensitive in nature and can be misinterpreted.”
The Hawaii Department of Education (DOE) temporarily halted the program in November 2013, but after a two-week investigation, the program was restarted and expanded to 30 more schools. A Hawaii DOE spokesman “affirmed that the curriculum meets department standards, and also showed that Making Pono Choices! is a culturally responsive curriculum that has resulted in positive outcomes for students.” (EAGNews.com, 1-18-14) It is unclear how adequate a two-week investigation could be or how results were measured in such a new program; middle schools began pilot programs in 2011.
The Hawaii DOE Making Pono Choices! website claims that the sex-ed curriculum was reviewed for medical accuracy. But a report prepared by Representative McDermott finds several ways the program is medically inaccurate. Once he won his fight to review the curriculum, McDermott issued a five-page press release on January 9, 2014. He claims that, “[Making] Pono Choices! diverges from medical accuracy sharply and tries to redefine various body parts to suit its focus on recreational sex and lifestyles as opposed to biological reality.”
McDermott states that Making Pono Choices! presents homosexuality as the norm for one-fourth of all people, “a gross exaggeration of the real world numerically probability (which is between 2-3%).” McDermott continues, “This deceptive presentation is designed to ‘desensitize’ the student and portray same-sex relationships as ‘normal,’ thus undercutting the parents’ moral values.”
McDermott says:
[Making] Pono Choices! presents unprotected male/female sex and male/male sex as ‘equally’ risky. This is also totally false and misleading. Male/male anal sex poses an approximately 1800% greater risk of HIV transmission. The ‘politically correct’ portrayal of associated risk is completely distorted in order to encourage the perception of ‘equality’ for the various behaviors.
McDermott has eight children, including an eleven-year-old son, whom he does not want exposed to the controversial taxpayer-funded sex-education program. He states: “The parental opt-out forms are woefully inadequate. They lack clarity and transparency by concealing some controversial aspects of the material.”
North Carolina “Fun Condoms”
The debate over Making Proud Choices! is also being played out in a rural area of North Carolina. In the town of Statesville, NC the sex-ed curriculum has been taught at county schools for about four years, after school and on weekends. Reports indicate that students receive $100 incentives to participate and that the district received $4 million in federal funding to participate. (ExposeSexEdNow.com, 1-9-14) The Statesville school district is considering expanding the program to all the district’s freshman students.
A school board member who requested material was denied access and prevented from examining what students will be taught. Once the curriculum was made available, many found the program objectionable, saying it encourages teen sex, as illustrated by the chapter titled, ”How to Make Condoms Fun and Pleasurable.”
A Solitary Voice in Charleston
South Carolina’s Charleston County School Board Education Committee voted 4-0 to table Making Proud Choices! when one brave woman attended a meeting with the actual curriculum. Faced with a room full of proponents of comprehensive sex education, including representatives of Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Tell Them SC, Mary McClelland read the actual curriculum to board members.
Board members were sufficiently convinced after McClelland’s presentation that they did not move forward. But Making Proud Choices! is approved by the school board’s Health Advisory Committee and can be brought forth again in the education committee and presented to the full school board at any time. The curriculum is already being used in five South Carolina school districts. McClelland remarked that Making Proud Choices! is “sexual foreplay curriculum.”

http://www.eagleforum.org/publicatio...od-sex-ed.html


Parents are up in arms over this all over the country!!!!!

Education Briefs


The Garden City, Kansas school district spent $105,000 to send staff to Walt Disney World Resort for a Model Schools conference in June. The district spent about $1,750 on each attendee who went to exchange ideas with other schools that have similar “diversity,” based on the number of students who receive free and reduced-price lunches. Sessions included Common Core language and math training. More than 25 other school districts attended the resort-based conference. (EAGnews.org, 8-2-14)


More than one million students have stopped eating school-prepared lunches because of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act nutrition standards, touted by Michelle Obama. Although the Department of Agriculture claims the revised lunches are “popular,” a Government Accountability Office audit reveals that the standards are problematic for many. According to the GAO, 321 school districts have left the school lunch program and 48 of 50 states “face challenges complying” with the dietary regulations. (Washington Times, 3-6-14)


Four New York City teachers who are banned from classrooms earn a total of $363,271 a year, plus benefits, for not teaching. One is a former history teacher and tennis coach who was accused of improperly touching and making sexual comments to two girls. Tenure laws demanded by unions make it impossible for the state Department of Education to fire him, so he works in a position that forbids student contact. (New York Post, 7-13-14)


Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration over Common Core and the $4.3 billion grant program and waivers that the federal government used to cajole states into adoption of the federal standards. “Common Core is the latest effort by big government disciples to strip away state rights and put Washington, DC, in control of everything,” Jindal said. (NewsMax.com, 9-1-14)



http://www.eagleforum.org/publicatio...on-briefs.html


A few Buzz words to remember, "diversity, & sustainable"..All part Agenda21...