The Catalyst Message: Are God’s children returning Him to public schools? [+Video]

There is a student lead high-school campus coalition that is bringing God back to public school campuses across the United States. It is a living, breathing adventure. A real life adventure as explained by Jean Carlos Diaz in the below video.

Watch Jean Carlos Diaz explain this movement, a grand adventure:

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Jean Carlos Diaz

Alice Patterson, President of Justice at the Gate, reports:

A coalition of youth pastor networks and students forged a movement that is touching high school campuses across the nation. It started with a freshman at Blaine High School in Minnesota in January 2011. Jean Carlos Diaz, born in Puerto Rico and raised in Iowa then Minnesota is the catalyst that Jean Carlos used to start the movement. Jean Carlos attended See You at the Pole at his high school. That led him to a Bible study of 25 students that dwindled to 6 by year end. When the leaders graduated, he was asked to lead what was left of the group. Shortly after that the group went on a missions trip to Kansas City. They were fired up, sad to leave and came home with a heart to impact their school. So they had a sleepover with three guys where they worshipped, prayed and dreamt all night. They wanted to pray something big, so they prayed, “Jesus, would You finish the Great Commission in our generation?”

At the same time they were praying for the Lord to use them on their campus, a network of youth ministers called Allies Ministries, led by Dan Buschow in Minneapolis, were praying for the youth of Minnesota. They sensed that the Lord wanted them to keep praying and not initiate anything.

God was doing the initiating through Jean Carlos. From the very beginning, everything was student-led and student-driven. It was a movement for students by students. We had learned from our mistakes and were able to teach and train other students. Since we were only teenagers in the eyes of the world and in the eyes of the church, God was the only one who could get the credit. We didn’t want to be a class about God; we wanted to be an agent of change in our school. We changed our focus, our name and started the first Catalyst.

As youth pastors prayed and waited, students stepped up and led. Shortly after that, a coalition between Catalyst and Allies Ministries, other shepherds and caring adults was formed. The first year Catalyst grew from 1 school to over 15 and from 30 students to over 500. Catalyst has now grown to over 50 groups and is spreading past Minnesota to 20 in Iowa and to Illinois, New York, Maryland, Arizona, California and Texas.

Read more.

“Tanscending” the idea of “American History” and Forgetting D-Day

Recently, Cal Thomas, in what has become a journalistic ritual, bemoaned the loss of knowledge about American history in a column titled “D-Day=Dumb Day for Many.” This historical occasion was the 70th anniversary of D-Day on June 6. Thomas cited a study by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni that showed only 70 percent of recent college graduates knew that D-Day occurred during World War II. This and other dismal statistics revealing historical ignorance were attributed to the fact that very few colleges require survey courses on American history.

But Thomas, and others similarly concerned, might be surprised to learn that not only is American history being overlooked, but that a movement among many history professors has been underway to eliminate the very category of “American history,” and even the idea of the United States as a legitimate nation. While attending the annual conference of the Organization of American Historians, I learned about such “reframing of history.”

The OAH claims to be “the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history,” but its members seem to have a limited view and that is of the United States as an overwhelmingly oppressive, unjust – and illegitimate – nation.

This year’s conference theme, “Crossing Borders,” focused on slavery and segregation in the past, and on supposed persecution of “immigrants” (illegal aliens) in the present. Assumptions reigned among the panels I sat in on: ACORN was good, objections to forced busing for school integration were bad, the 1964 presidential election that allowed Lyndon Johnson to institute metastasizing federal programs was a positive counterforce to the election of Richard Nixon and the rise of the “right-wing.” The Plenary Session, “Remembering and Reassessing the Mississippi Summer Project” included activists from that summer of 1964, Dorie Ladner, Rita Bender, and Charles E. Cobb, singing praises to Julian Bond, Stokely Carmichael, Tom Hayden, John Lewis, Harry Belafonte, Noam Chomsky, and Frantz Fannon. In the sprawling vendors area, publishers plied books for high school and college, including the graphic adaptation of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of American Empire, Eric Foner’s Who Owns History?, and paeans to Margaret Sanger, Mother Jones, Hugo Chavez, and Earth Day.

The strategies for teaching to the new A.P. U.S. History exam, discussed in one panel, were in keeping with the conference’s theme. But the genesis for such anti-Americanism became apparent in another session called “Internationalizing American History: Assessment and Future Directions”; it focused on the deliberate effort to teach American history from a “cosmopolitan” perspective, with that meaning incorporating the views of foreigners who do not believe in the legitimacy of this nation. At that session, I heard the phrase “what used to be called” prefacing “Early American History,” “the American Revolution,” and the “creation of the American republic.” The promotion of Common Core as presumably “internationally benchmarked” is no coincidence: historians have been working on imposing the “cosmopolitan” perspectives of history, a specific aspect of Common Core criticized by George Will.

The Prevailing View

Panelist Jane Kamensky of Brandeis University started off by declaring that American history needs to be “rescued from not only the national but from the nationalist framework” and that we must study a “diasporic” revolution involving “freedom struggles against imperial masters” of indigenous peoples.

Johann Neem of Western Washington University dissented by offering Hegelian theories about particularity and relationships as an argument for retaining the category of “nation.” He noted that works of the eighteenth-and-nineteenth-centuries are filled with “tolerance” for diversity, even though our national identity is mostly white Protestant. Neem is author of Creating a Nation of Joiners: Democracy and Civil Society in Early National Massachusetts.

The next panelist, Kristin Hoganson of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, challenged the idea that American history should be a national history. She cited three books that reveal how “partial” our histories have been: Taking Haiti: Military Occupation and the Culture of U.S. Imperialism, 1915-1940, The Blood of Government: Race, Empire, the United States & the Philippines, and Colonial Crucible: Empire in the Making of the Modern American State. Apparently, no history of “what used to be called the United States” is complete without a reference to occupation, imperialism, blood, and empire. Hoganson gave credit to Thomas Bender (New York University), the commentator on the panel, for making a “powerful case” for the “need for more transimperial history,” with his book, Rethinking American History in a Global Age.

Kiran Klaus Patel of Maastricht University in the Netherlands suggested a more European, “transnational” approach to the study of American history, and destabilizing boundaries. Fortunately, to him, in the 1980s and 1990s cultural history transformed all of history, including diplomatic history.

Judy Tzu-Chun Wu of The Ohio State University, where she has a joint appointment in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, asserted that there is need for more “global, gendered analysis,” for example, of how women opposed the Vietnam War, the subject of her second book, Radicals on the Road: Internationalism, Orientalism, and Feminism during the Vietnam Era. Her first book was Dr. Mom Chung of the Fair-Haired Bastards: The Life of a Wartime Celebrity.

Thomas Bender, considered the founder of the “transnational turn,” approvingly asserted, “The panel has embraced the international historiographical approach”– “except for one skeptic on the panel” (Neem). Bender suggested pushing students in the new direction of “entanglement with the planet, people, and nations,” requiring them to learn foreign languages like Arabic and Chinese. Jobs in the future, he said, will be in history that transcends the idea of “American history.”

The History of the Transnational Turn of History

I was shocked that history professors would want to eliminate American history as such. But then I learned that this “transnational” effort began in 1996. Under the direction of Bender, the Organization of American Historians and New York University’s International Center for Advanced Studies jointly established the Project on Internationalizing the Study of American History. They then met in Villa La Pietra, New York University’s Center in Florence, Italy, in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000.

According to “The LaPietra Report,” the historians spent the first year at the Villa planning, then the next discussing “the theoretical issues that attended the project’s reconsideration of the assumptions that determined the temporal and spatial scales of conventional national historical narratives.” The third conference resulted in “exemplary” essays “probing either particular themes or reframing conventional historical movements or periods from a more international perspective.” The final meeting, in 2000, put attention on the “practical implications of the intellectual agenda.”

The Practical Implications

The practical implications include a “reframing of American history” in college and in K-12 education.

Such reframing includes preparing “globally competent citizens,” the aim of Common Core. The as-yet voluntary “College, Career, and Civic Life (c3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards” replace knowledge about American history with activism and follow those set for college in the Department of Education’s 2012 report, “A Crucible Moment” (roundly criticized by the National Association of Scholars in a special issue of Academic Questions). Replacing factual questions of traditional “national historical narratives” are loaded questions, as high school, and even younger, students are asked to evaluate primary and secondary sources, think “critically” and “deeply,” and “grasp the relevance of widening the lens of social analysis.”

It is no wonder that History Literacy rates continue to plummet.

Unlike the vast majority of professors at OAH, Robert Paquette, Hamilton College History Professor who co-founded the independent Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, teaches his students “that the United States was founded on the principles of limited government, voluntary exchange, respect for private property, and civil freedom.” In a recent SeeThruED article, he criticized the neglect of American history, noting that not one of the eleven New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) schools requires that undergraduates attend a single course in American history and “a substantial majority of these eleven elite colleges do not even require of their majors in history as many as one American history course.”

Paquette warns, “The United States cannot survive as a nation if the traditions and principles that made it cohere as a prosperous and distinctive country are distorted and marginalized.”

Cal Thomas makes a similar point in his column, remarking poignantly about the World War II veterans visiting the beaches of Normandy, probably for the last time in their lives: “if they could have foreseen what America would become and how little their descendents know, or care, about their sacrifice, would they have done what they did?”

But student ignorance is the aim of professors and teachers meeting at conferences that we pay for in taxes and tuition. While the Greatest Generation remembered D-Day, influential professors spent summers in an Italian villa discussing how to destroy the very idea of the United States in history classes. And then they congratulated themselves at a conference in Atlanta in 2014.

Little Muslim girls raped at Florida ‘Light of Islam’ Academy

The Nur ul Islam Academy (NUIA) is a Florida accredited Pre-K, Elementary, Middle and High School. Nur ul Islam is the Arabic phrase for “Light of Islam.”

According to its website the NUIA “[F]ocuses on a complete education that emphasizes excellence in academics and Islamic morals and values. Students can pursue their interests and learn to balance a rich variety of activities along with traditional Islamic values.” Located in Cooper City, Florida the NUIA was founded in 1996 and enrolls more than 335 students.

tariq ahmad

Tariq Ahmad, 35, who worked at Nur-Ul-Islam Academy, Florida, has been accused of the sexual abuse and rape of two middle school female pupils. Photo courtesy of Creeping Shariah.

Creeping Shariah reports:

Police are hunting the former head teacher of a private Islamic school accused of the sexual abuse and rape of two middle school female students.

Tariq Ahmad, 35, who worked at Nur-Ul-Islam Academy, Florida, has been charged with five first degree counts after the alleged abuse which left one student needing ‘substantial surgical repair’.

The girls were aged 14 and 15 when Ahmad allegedly forced them into sexual relationships, according to a lawsuit.

Their attorneys said Ahmed would use text messages, social media and even code on the chalk boards in the classroom to set up meetings with the girls.

They also claim the Academy officials knew of Ahmed’s illegal conduct for years and did nothing until now.

[ … ]

The attorneys for the two students are asking anyone who may have information as to where Ahmed might be to contact Pembroke Pines Police immediately.

A LinkedIn profile in Ahmad’s name said he most recently served as the ‘head of high school’ at the academy, where he started working in August 2006.

Robert Spencer in an October 31st, 2014 Front Page Magazine article writes:

The UK’s Guardian reported Wednesday that “sexual exploitation of vulnerable children has become the social norm in some parts of Greater Manchester,” and the denial and obfuscation about what is really causing this problem is thicker than ever.

In the very same sentence in which it broke this terrible news, the Guardian stated that this phenomenon is “fuelled by explicit music videos and quasi-pornographic selfies, an MP has warned.” The MP in question, former social worker Ann Coffey, has issued a report on the sexual exploitation of children in Britain that she said would “make painful reading for those who hoped that Rochdale was an isolated case.”

It was in Rochdale that a group of Muslims were involved in a large-scale sex trafficking ring involving young non-Muslim girls. Coffey is right: there is already abundant evidence that it was not an isolated case, as 1,400 British non-Muslim children were gang-raped and brutalized by Muslims in the British city of Rotherham alone, and there are numerous other documented cases in Britain of Muslim sex trafficking and rape gangs, of which the victims were non-Muslim girls.

Read more.

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Young girls converted to Islam and then married to Boko Haram fighters.

The treatment of women by Islam has become front page news in the Middle East. News Nigeria reports on Boko Haram converting captured little girls to Islam and then marrying them off to their fighters.

Quran 4:3 –

“And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry those that please you of women, two or three or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then one or those your right hand possesses.”

There is growing concern that Mohammedans, like Tariq Ahmad, are doing what is ordered by Allah. Muslim women and Muslim little girls are treated like objects rather than human beings.

RELATED ARTICLE: ‘I Have to Check Her Teeth’: Chilling Footage Shows ISIS Fighters at Slave Girl ‘Market’ Bartering for Young Women…

RELATED VIDEO: Minimal Muslim – What does it mean if a Muslim says that they are not extremist, but just practice the Five Pillars?

Eye on U.S. Education: The Complete Parent’s Guide to Common Core

For a few years, people and organizations throughout the State of Florida have been fighting the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).  For the most part, focus has been on trying to convince legislators in the House and Senate – along with the Governor – to remove these Standards or to, at least, “pause” its implementation until there is further analysis.

Unfortunately, informing the parents about CCSS has been almost completely ignored.  Ask a parent what they think about Common Core and you will probably get a “blank expression”.   What they may know about CCSS is what the backers of these Standards have been providing to the media.

The POWER to make a change lies with the PEOPLE.  If legislators think that their constituents are not concerned about an issue (and their elected position is not in jeopardy), they may not take any action.  Also, they are continually influenced by lobbying organizations and political/financial pressure.

Eye On U.S. Education (EUSE) has decided that parents need to be informed about the “Florida Standards” – which is really another name for CCSS.   We have made up a PowerPoint presentation called “The Truth About the Common Core State Standards”.    This presentation, although written for parents in Florida, can easily be edited for those in other States.  We also have made up an initial Announcement Notice and hand-outs for use after the presentation.

To obtain your free downloadable copy of The Complete Parent’s Guide to Common Core please click here.

If you have a website, EUSE gives you permission to upload it.  The object is to get the word out to as many people as possible.

RELATED RESOURCES FOR PARENTS, GRAND PARENTS AND CONCERNED CITIZENS:

 A Closer Look at Common Core

What You Can Do to Fight Common Core

A Common Core Flyer

RELATED ARTICLE: Pro-Common Core Math Instructor: Kids Are ‘Clean Slate,’ Parents Must Be ‘Retrained’ (+video)

Common Core Architect David Coleman’s Imperial College Board

What happens when a school board decides not to implement the new AP U.S. History standards wholesale and insist that such courses not present a distorted anti-American version of history?  Common Core is creeping into college, taking over the rightful role of professors, as I report at the Selous Foundation, in my article, “Common Core: K-16 Education.”  It’s also creeping in via the AP exams that give students college credit.  The College Board, which directs the AP coursework and exams, under the direction of its president David Coleman, “architect” of Common Core, is now using its muscle to usurp local boards of education.  The most recent example comes from the Denver area, in Jefferson County.

Several days ago, the teachers union, objecting to the school board’s decision to review the standards, manipulated high school students into staging a multi-day walkout.  While most newspapers simply reported that students objected to “censorship” or a biased “conservative” version of American history, Michelle Malkin reported the real story of teachers using the controversy to recruit students to protest for their own aims, keeping the leftist history standards and doing away with teacher evaluations.

The teacher union activists’ agitation has had its effect.  It’s chilling to the idea of local representative government. USA Today reports that the review of the standards has been shelved for a compromise proposal, which will now include administrators, students, and parents.

Flannery-OConnor 1947

Fannery-O’Connor 1947

 Dissident Prof reminds readers of Flannery O’Connor’s famous essay about allowing eight-graders to choose the literature they’d like to read, “Total Effect and the Eighth Grade,” wherein the wise woman reminds the adults, “Ours is the first age in history which has asked the child what he would tolerate learning. . .”

The Devil of Educationism: This is a problem of “Educationism,” a “devil” which can be “‘cast out only by prayer and fasting.'”  She notes that at one time children’s attention was held by Homer and Virgil, but “our children are too stupid now to enter the past imaginatively.”  What would she say now that school board members, parents, and teachers are asking students what they want to learn in history?  Back then, 50-some years ago, O’Connor posed, “No one asks the student if algebra pleases him or if he finds it satisfactory that some French verbs are irregular, but if he prefers Hersey to Hawthorne, his taste must prevail.”

The taste for takin’ it to the streets has prevailed, and it seems that protest, or mob action, has had the intended effect.

What also probably “helped” was the directive last Friday from the College Board, under the leadership of David Coleman.  It began:

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program® supports the actions taken by students in Jefferson County, Colo., to protest a school board member’s request to censor aspects of the AP U.S. History course. The board member claims that some historical content in the course “encouraged or condoned civil disorder, social strife, or disregard for the law.”

Do these minors have the maturity and judgement to make decisions about protesting?  Well, if they agree with the College Board’s radical agenda, yes.  In fact, their lawlessness is cast as being the pinnacle of patriotism:

These students recognize that the social order can—and sometimes must—be disrupted in the pursuit of liberty and justice. Civil disorder and social strife are at the patriotic heart of American history—from the Boston Tea Party to the American Revolution to the Civil Rights Movement. And these events and ideas are essential within the study of a college-level AP U.S. History course.

Are “civil disorder and social strife” at “the patriotic heart of American history”?  Many would differ.  Many would take issue with aligning students skipping class with the brave men facing possible death in a war.  The opinions on civil disobedience are not unanimous.  But in the classroom, it is now taken as doctrine that mob protest, shouting, placard-carrying, and civil disobedience are the highest forms of civic action.  This is no accident.  Teachers and textbooks have been promoting this line for decades, and Common Core is accelerating this view, much of it through substituting group work and social justice activity for reading and writing.  So the students are right because they agree with the College Board’s view of history.  Did I mention that logic is also being shirked under the Common Core conglomerate?

Ignoring evidence and the historical record of its work, the College Board then presented an altered version of its own history:

The College Board will always listen to principled concerns based on evidence—and in fact has announced a public-review process for the AP U.S. History course framework. But in light of current events, an important policy reminder is in order:

Insisting that teachers and college faculty “collaborate” in designing the AP courses and exams, while allowing them “flexibility” to examine local topics, the College Board reminds those who resist the detailed 98-page directive,

To offer a course labeled “AP” or “Advanced Placement,” a school must agree to meet the expectations set for such courses by the more than 3,300 colleges and universities across the globe that use AP Exam scores for credit, placement, or consideration in the admission process.

The final boot comes down with a threat:

As vital context for the courageous voices of the students in Colorado, the AP community, our member institutions and the American people can rest assured: If a school or district censors essential concepts from an Advanced Placement course, that course can no longer bear the “AP” designation.”

The bold is in the original.  Perhaps a review of some texts from the Soviet Union might be in order in this curriculum in order to give students some perspective.  With video games, informational texts, such as EPA directives, and Common Core comic books replacing foundational works like the Federalist Papers, and, fiction, such as Animal Farm and 1984, students might be misled into believing that those who toe the line of a powerful agency, supported by millions of dollars of government funds, and federal diktats over “equal access” are really “courageous voices.”

Common Core: Victim to the “Well Meaning Technocrats”?

What now for the Common Core?

That is the question that the three hoping to Save the Core asked on the October 22, 2014, AEI panel.

Of course, their answers completely gloss over the fact that the Common Core (CCSS) is a bureaucratic attempt to frankenstein “success by standardization” out of a failed, high-stakes-test-driven No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

On October 26, 2014, I wrote my first post on this AEI panel, but there is just soo much nonsense emanating from them, I had to write a second post.

I haven’t even gotten to the actual panel discussion yet. The first post was on the event summary, and this second is on the video description.

In that description, AEI “scholar” Rick Hess rose tints his view of CCSS concoction, with his words being taken from another CCSS discussion:

In 2010, the Common Core State Standards were widely supported. But 60 percent of Americans now oppose them, and several states are rethinking their earlier stance. In a recent National Affairs piece, AEI’s Rick Hess argues, “The trouble with the Common Core is not that it was the handiwork of nefarious, anti-American ideologues or self-dealing, anti-teacher dogmatists,but that it was the work of well-meaning, self-impressed technocrats who fudged difficult questions, used federal coercion to compel rapid national adoption, and assumed that things would work out.” [Emphasis added.]

Love how Hess paints those “technocrats” as “well meaning.”

How kind. And how accountability-exempt of Hess: No problem. Let’s just organize a panel to promote the salvaging of their techno-crap.

crapRepackage the crap, and the flies will still buzz around it.

At least the public is not yet fully aware.

Indeed, even as panelists note that the public is not generally aware of CCSS (see the AEI panel event summary), they cite CCSS as being “widely supported.”

So, who has been responsible for all of that “previous wide support”? Well, in 2009, 46 governors and state superintendents signed on for a nonexistent CCSS, and US Secretary Arne Duncan was already cheering for the unwritten standards and even dangling federal money for future CCSS assessments. And billionaire Bill Gates was supporting CCSS because CCSS edupreneur “lead writer” David Coleman and CCSS “owner” organization, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) President Gene Wilhoit asked Gates to pay for CCSS. Then there were both national teachers union leaders endorsing the freshly-minted-though-unpiloted CCSS.

Let us also remember standards-grading Thomas B. Fordham Institute and its favorable “grading” of CCSS in July 2010– one month after the finished-and-never-tested CCSS product was birthed.

All of that “wide support” was outside of the school house and the local community.

In Fall 2014, Arne Duncan still pushes for CCSS, as do Bill GatesDavid ColemanFordham Institute, and both national teachers unions. A Gates-funded survey notes that most state superintendents are still pro-CCSS. The governors, well, they’re a shaky bunch, with many having second thoughts about this marvelous CCSS that they signed on for before a CCSS existed and some trying to distance themselves from a CCSS they inherited.

In short, those originally Core-happy– who happen to be outside of the classroom and therefore untouched by *CCSS excellence*– tend to stay Core-happy.

The governors might be finding that CCSS to be a pain in their career paths.

Let us move on to another term Hess uses in the above defense of those responsible for CCSS: He declares them as not being the “hanidwork” of the “self- dealing.”

Not so.

Consider David Coleman, a self-confessed non-teacher who had no background in standards writing and declared himself and others involved in the inner circle of CCSS writing as “that collection of unqualified people who were involved in developing the common standards.”

How did Coleman get in on this CCSS gig in the first place?

I answer that question in my CCSS book (due for publication April 2015). However, the short of it is that Coleman has connections to Arne Duncan that go back to 2002 and Duncan’s days as Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO. Coleman’s then-brand-new “data-driven” assessment company, Grow Network, was contacted with CPS for over $2 million in data-driven “consulting” in the heyday of NCLB.

Coleman rode the NCLB wave until 2007, at which time he created Student Achievement Partners (SAP)– the “silent partner” on the inside of CCSS development.

SAP is now a nonprofit exclusively dealing in CCSS– and for which all five CCSS standards-writing “leaders” work– Zimba, Pimentel, McCallum, and Daro– except for Coleman, who has moved on to the presidency of CCSS-insider organization, the College Board– where he has dumbed down the SAT to force-fit it to CCSS.

Not “self-dealing”?

Already the stage is set for what I am certain will be an enlightening hour-and-a-half video.

Feel free to watch it. I will be writing about it soon.

I can hardly wait.

Emailgate: United Teachers of Dade properly uses email system. Why not Sarasota?

We have written about the Sarasota Classified/Teachers Association (SC/TA) using the Sarasota County School District email system for political purposes. We have pointed out that this practice violates district policy and is prohibited by Florida Statutes. This practice is considered a First Degree Misdemeanor.

We are now reporting that this practice is being used by a teachers unions in another school district. What is different? The email is from the United Teachers of Dade (UTD) private email system and was sent to the private email of the receiver. There is no provision in the UTD contract for use of the Miami-Dade School District email system.

We have suggested that the Sarasota County School Board consider taking the SC/TA off of its system. UTD is doing it right by having their own email system.

Page 186 of the UTD contract states:

Section 23. Electronic Mail Hook-up for UTD

In pursuit of the M-DCPS/UTD goal of professionalization of teaching/education and increasing collaboration, as well as consensus management, the parties have agreed that electronic mail equipment and privileges will be provided to UTD. This equipment is on loan to UTD for an indefinite period of time. UTD will assume all phone line costs associated with its use.

Trevor Colestock, a librarian in the Miami-Dade School District, received the following unsolicited email from the UTD:

From: “Fedrick Ingram” <FedrickIngram@utd.org>
To: twcolestock@comcast.net
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2014 2:39:19 PM
Subject: UTD Recommends Charlie Crist for Governor

Dear TREVOR, (220610)

Public education in Florida needs new leadership. We need a Governor that will improve funding for public education, not cut $1.3 Billion. We need a Governor that supports public schools, rather than a Governor that diverts all possible public resources into the hands of for-profit “education reformers.” We also need a Governor that will reevaluate the state’s testing scheme. I could go on, but you are already aware of the problems we face.

I am writing today to encourage you to Vote and Vote Early. This election is all about turnout. If we stay home, we will be part of the problem. You can get information about absentee or early voting at: http://www.utd.org/information/upcoming-election-election. Once you have voted, remain a GOTV advocate. We need you to encourage friends and family to “Get Out The Vote” as well.

I have included some links below to the Herald endorsement of Charlie Crist, the Sun-Sentinel endorsement of Charlie Crist and a couple youtube videos of Mike Fasano’s endorsement of Charlie Crist. I included Mike Fasano because he is a longtime Republican lawmaker that is not only very supportive of Charlie Crist for Governor, but blasts the false allegations and attacks that have been used in this election cycle. Make no mistake, the tone of the current Governor’s campaign is designed specifically to reduce voter turnout and further radicalize/polarize politics in Florida.

Take a Stand, Vote!

In Unity,

Fedrick Ingram

Note that the email is sent from the UTD.org email server to Mr. Colestock’s private email system. While the email was unsolicited, it does not appear to violate Florida State Statutes.

Perhaps Sarasota’s elected school board members should take note of this and use this as an example. Even the “perception” of using publicly funded resources for political purposes violates district policy and raises the issue of violating state the laws and fairness. If one person can use the district email system to endorse one candidate why not allow others use it to endorse the opposing candidate?

The Sarasota County School Board has opened a Pandora’s box. Perhaps it is time to close the lid before more damage is done?

A Revelation Regarding the Common Core Sale: Evidence is needed.

On October 22, 2014, the corporate-reform-friendly think tank, American Enterprise Institute (AEI), hosted a panel discussion entitled, What Now for the Common Core? Below is the description of the panel participants and the *implementation-focused* conclusion is actually what should have happened before the Common Core (CCSS) was adopted by any state and certainly before CCSS was ever proclaimed as “ensuring college and career readiness for all students:

Evidence that it works.

A profound revelation, no?

Here is AEI’s entire event summary spiel:

What is the current state of the Common Core, and what is its future? Moderator Michael McShane of AEI posed these questions to a group of experts at an AEI event on Wednesday. Frederick Hess of AEI, Chris Minnich of the Council of Chief State School Officers, and Catherine Gewertz of Education Week largely agreed that districts and schools are at very different stages of the implementation process, that the public is still underinformed, and that the Common Core comprises more states and has been more federally driven than anticipated.

Hess and Minnich dove into the issue of federal involvement, with Hess emphasizing that the effort should focus on ensuring comparability and rigor across states, not on recruiting as many states as possible. Minnich agreed that governors and school chiefs must take the Common Core out of federal hands.

Gewertz said that most teachers focus on making the Common Core work in their classrooms, not on debating its political implications. One of the biggest impediments has been finding high-quality, Common Core–aligned materials.

To conclude, McShane asked panelists what must happen for the Common Core to be successful. All of the panelists focused on outcomes: there needs to be evidence that students are performing better and that this progress translates into greater college and career readiness. [Emphasis added.]
–Jenn Hatfield

A couple tidbits: First, “moderator” McShane co-authored a CCSS-promo book with Hess in November 2013, entitled, Common Core Meets Education Reform.

That title is redundant.

Second, it is interesting that the above AEI panel summary includes zero discussion of the public rejecting CCSS because CCSS is a top-down, imposed product that teaching practitioners and parents, among other stakeholders, genuinely do not want. Period.

No, no. According to the three non-teacher-practitioner individuals on this panel, what CCSS needs in 2014– four years after it was rushed to its hardly-transparent finish in 2010– is “evidence that students are performing better.”

The horse continues to push the corporate reform cart.

Indeed, the CCSS Promise of College and Career Readiness as being “research and evidence-based” goes back to before CCSS was written. That term– “evidence based”– is a term that can easily serve as a bait-and-switch for what should have happened given the very-high-stakes nature of CCSS: a subjecting of the CCSS product to empirical testing.

Here is the full CCSS announcement from July 4, 2009:

The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a joint effort by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) in partnership with Achieve, ACT and the College Board. Governors and state commissioners of education from across the country committed to joining a state-led process to develop a common core of state standards in English-language arts and mathematics for grades K-12. These standards will be research and evidence-based,internationally benchmarked, aligned with college and work expectations and include rigorous content and skills. The NGA Center and CCSSO are coordinating the process to develop these standards and have created an expert validation committee to provide an independent review of the common core state standards, as well as the grade-by-grade standards. The college and career ready standards are expected to be completed in July 2009. The grade-by-grade standards work is expected to be completed in December 2009. [Emphasis added.]

Yeah, the top-downers “jointing this effort” thought they would be done six months before they actually were– and even with the delay in completion until June 2010, this CCSS product has “rush job” stamped all over it.

In June 2010, America got a press release.

In place of empirical evidence, America received a short list of endorsements.

Endorsements are not evidence.

No readily available site or search engine to offer the public a comprehensive view of that supposed “research base,” and no empirical “evidence” because, well, there just isn’t any.

Now, this Hunt Institute set of CCSS talking points for governors to use in promoting CCSS– a doc that happens to be posted on the USDOE website (hmm…)– states that there is “evidence.” However, nothing listed includes any practical, real-world testing of CCSS to demonstrate the proclaimed “ensuring” of “college and career readiness.

What is offered is a lit review justifying the idea of CCSS, not its actual utility.

No evidence prior to the June 2010 proclamation that CCSS was a product ready to be used and guaranteed to deliver.

But in 2014, the AEI panel states that evidence is needed. 

Meanwhile, the CCSS website continues to advertise the CCSS Guarantee. Here it is, on a page entitled, “What Parents Should Know”:

Today’s students are preparing to enter a world in which colleges and businesses are demanding more than ever before. To ensure all students are ready for success after high school, the Common Core State Standards establish clear, consistent guidelines for what every student should know and be able to do in math and English language arts from kindergarten through 12thgrade. [Emphasis added.]

What complicates the “evidence is needed in 2014″ issue is that one month after CCSS was released, in July 2010, the standards-grading Thomas B. Fordham Institute proclaimed CCSS as “the winner” despite its own grading of CCSS as lower than or equal to existing state standards– a grading that is further complicated by an utter lack of any logical connection between state results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)– and a proclamation that CCSS were “clearly superior to those currently in use in thirty-nine states” based upon the *evidence* of “our observations.”

And when a state such as California had highly-esteemed standards in Fordham Institute’s view yet low NAEP scores– former Fordham Institute President Chester Finn blamed (go ahead and guess)– faulty implementation.

For any CCSS supporter, the “faulty implementation” card is the gift that keeps on giving.

But if California has great standards and poor NAEP scores, and other states have “poor” standards and above average NAEP scores, then is it possible that the entire standards-driven idea is too rudimentary to capture the education enterprise?

Here is another hard-hitting question: Is it possible that CCSS cannot be “properly implemented,” period?

Anyone who answers definitively that CCSS is fine and that “implementation is the problem” is only offering an opinion. It might be a fiscally-fueled, ego-stroking, well-publicized opinion, but no number of high-profile endorsements or USDOE talking points will transform it into empirical evidence.

Know who wins in the absence of empirical evidence to support a standards-to-promised-CCSS-results connection given that the nation is now in the middle of the CCSS mud?

For one, the peddlers of CCSS materials– tests, curricula, professional development, and (let us not forget) data collection.

Pearson wins.

AEI panelist and Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) CEO Chris Minnich has Pearson connections… and his CCSSO is one of the CCSS owners.

A thought with which to leave readers.

There is much more that I can write about this AEI meeting of the pro-CCSS minds (yes, Hess, that includes you), but I will save it for another post.

America – Going, Going, Gone!

Are you confused about why our government can not come up with clear policies? Why no one takes responsibility for their actions? Why there is a lack of COMMON SENSE? Lack of clarity?

Policies that fail to make sense but are expensive? Why Americans are ignored? Why America is ignored? Why Americans are made to feel guilty about hard-work ethics? Why reading and math skills are lacking? Why American Patriotism is demonized?

Everyone is asking why this is happening, yet no one has an answer?

The answer of that question is simple…SCHOOL

Common Core Standards (CCS) accomplishes the goal for a Global workforce. The purpose of education is: To confuse, so the child will only be capable of pressing an APP for answers. Ignorant people require less of their government. The government becomes the “NANNY STATE”, taking care of…and CONTROLLING… the ignorant populace!

CCS creates total reliance on the government with individuals incapable of making decisions. They can only make choices, the “choices” provided by their government.

Isn’t it curious that all of the talking heads can shout, “Close the border, Keep Americans safe.”

Yet legislators just talk with little accomplished. No commentator asks, “Why are our elected officials allowing the Destruction of America?”

The answer is simple: “THIS IS WHAT IS LEARNED IN SCHOOL.”

As Abe Lincoln said, “Whatever is learned in school today – is in government tomorrow.”

So what do our students learn?

America is not special. Eliminate borders. Bye, bye, America. Americans are Evil. Evil Americans who caused all of the world ills, must pay for those ills.  School instills an American guilt complex.  Therefore, America must be replaced with a New World Order – with a One-World Government, controlled by the United Nations. There are no truths, only values made up as we go along. Whatever works for that moment is fine as long, as you feel good about it. You are only one individual, your voice doesn’t count. You, alone, cannot make a difference. You must act as part of a group, for the sake of the group…for FAIRNESS, for SOCIAL JUSTICE.

Think of Star Trek, Spock’s Illogic: “The Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few”

The ends justify the means, so if I have no ethics and morality, that is OK – as long as I get my way. Actions have no consequences. You are not responsible for anything. Blame others for whatever happened to you, someone or something made you do it. The government must control your destiny because you are incapable of making decisions. The government must equate all problems to race and make Americans guilty so they will be willing to give up their freedoms, liberties and property…to those less fortunate. You now work to give away what you earn to those who don’t work. You must do without.

You must give to pay for those in power, to support their multiple houses, planes, vacations. You must give so the Elite can have. ONLY THE GOVERNMENT CAN SAVE YOU and TAKE CARE OF YOU, BECAUSE YOU ARE TOO DUMB TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! Don’t pay attention to Debt, the government will print more money. THE PLANET IS CROWDED AND MUST BE DEPOPULATED!

In 1989 –Bush 41 was President and bill Clinton was President of Governors Association (GOA). Both wanted global governance.

Dr Shirley McCune (McREL Foundation) at GOV Assoc meeting stated:

“Students are HUMAN CAPITAL. Education’s purpose is to train students to work. Purpose of Education is to Transform Society from individualism to collectivism. Fact-Based Education is no longer the primary focus of education.”

Education in the National Curriculum Standards is no longer about maintaining individual freedom and liberty as America. Instead, education has become about indoctrinating our children to accept citizenship in a future Global Village, which must be sustainable (controlled). Schools will teach work so individuals will be trained to fit into a Government sanctioned corporate job. DOE school programs over the years are the same, they just get fancy new names.

Goals 2000, Schools to Work, No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top follow International Benchmarks created by UNESCO. Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 embraces all ways in which people learn about the world around them, to develop values and lifestyles and assume their responsibilities as a Global Citizen to prepare for the future.

The purpose of education is: REPLACEMENT…

  1. To replace the Family with School
  2. To replace God with Government
  3. To replace the U.S. with the UN.

There is only one way to “bring America back” – Replace the curricula. Americans can’t fight for America if they have no idea what America means.

For the last 100 years Americans have been led down the communist/progressive path. Bringing truth and American values back to the schools is the “peaceful revolution”. The behavior modification demonizing America is now part of our government compliments of the government schools. Unless we equate every government policy and issue back to school and show how this faulty value driven education has eliminated common sense while destroying America, we will never regain anything.

Example: Why does our Ebola policy not make sense?

It makes perfect sense to a Global citizen. Every country is the same. America is not special. We are citizens of the world and have no geographical boundaries. If the cure is in America then that is where victims should go. Who cares about the people living in America, NO ONE. After all there are too many people on the planet. Ebola will thin the herd only the strong will survive. John Holdren, Bill Gates, Ted Turner and Ron Klain to name a few continually talk about depopulation.

Stalin: “The death of one is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic.”

Students learn, individuals do not count – only the collective. You are only as good as your ability to work for the state. The sick and elderly are merely USELESS EATERS.

Don’t believe me? Check out this link:

“If we wish to reclaim public life from the small number of people who have captured it, we must also reclaim the language in which it is expressed. To know what we are talking about: this, in more than one sense, is the task of those who want a better world.”   “Cleansing the Stock” | George Monbiot

Education is big business: Money, Power and Control.

Every district could eliminate CCS by refusing to implement the unfunded mandates…  

Why are you taxing yourself… to implement programs you hate?

Why are you voting for the lesser of 2 evils when both support common core and you hate it?   

Because YOU are part of the problem!

YOU believe the government / the party!

Ask your School Board: “How much money do you get from the feds/state to implement that program?”  

I usually get an answer, 10-30% of budget. Then I ask how much does it cost you to implement the government program? 50-70% of budget is the answer. So you get 20¢ and you are forced to spend 50¢ – Does that make sense?

The answer is always NO.

“Where are you going to get the extra funding to implement this program?” More taxes is the answer.

Why are you agreeing to tax yourself to implement a program you hate?

Because school told people to do what the government commanded, not to think for yourself.

“Do you hate the Surveillance and Data Mining?”

Yes is the answer… Then why are you installing more bandwidth for education?

What do you think will come of that?

Answer:  More Surveillance and Data Mining. More CONTROL!

If you want CCS stopped, STOP supporting higher taxes!!

CCS can not be fought intellectually. Trillions have been invested worldwide to make this program possible!! It will not go away easily or quietly.

Gates signed a contract – with UNESCO to implement 

WORLDWIDE COMMON CORE!  

Think of all the money Gates will make, forcing all of the SHEEPLE… YOUR KIDS… to think as HE commands!

To do nothing means you agree.  Pay attention to what your child is reading and doing. Correct all mistakes. Stop paying for meaningless education programs.  Protect your children, your family and country.  If not you, then who?

Can Sarasota School Board candidate Ken Marsh be ‘Trusted’?

Ken Marsh is a life long public school bureaucrat who has worked for two school districts, most recently for 25 years in Sarasota County. The corner stone of his campaign is the slogan “Trusted Education Leader”. But can Ken Marsh be trusted?

Dictionary.com defines trusted as “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.”

What if a person repeatedly violates school board policy during their campaign? Can you trust such a person?

marsh at booker middle school

Photo from the Ken Marsh for School Board Facebook page. Photo courtesy of Ken Marsh. For a larger view click on the image.

Let’s look at the facts. Sarasota School District policy 9.40 — Advertising in Schools states:

School facilities shall not be used for advertising or otherwise promoting the interests of any commercial, political, or other non-school agency; or individual organization; nor shall School Board employees or students be employed in such a manner.

Here is what we know about Ken Marsh, those supporting him and his campaign:

  1. Ken Marsh’s Campaign Facebook page shows a photo (upper right) of Marsh sitting on the steps of the Booker Middle School Amphitheater, in violation of SB Policy 9.40.
  2. A Ken Marsh for School Board campaign flyer (below) uses images of five public schools, also in violation of SB Policy 9.40
  3. A Ken Marsh for School Board absentee ballot mailer uses an image of the Marsh photo on school board property in violation of SB Policy 9.40
  4. Ken Marsh and his campaign have benefited from individual’s using the district email system for political purposes in violation of the Sarasota County Schools Information Technology Guidelines and Procedures.
  5. Ken Marsh and his campaign have benefited from individuals using the district email system to endorse him for school board.
  6. Ken Marsh and his campaign have benefited from the District Director of Communications Gary Leatherman receiving, reviewing, editing and returning a Ken Marsh campaign flyer, for which Leatherman was reprimanded by the District Superintendent Lori White.
  7. Ken Marsh and his campaign have benefited from School Board member Shirley Brown’s email inviting Austin Jambor, a financial adviser at Morgan Stanley, to a Ken Marsh “reception” she is hosting “on Oct 1 in Prestancia” using the district email system.
  8. Ms. Brown notified the Ken Marsh campaign of a homosexual marriage event hosted by Equality Florida. Brown suggests that Ken Marsh and others from his campaign attend the event.

Is this the kind of behavior that demonstrates Marsh is a man of “integrity”, a man who can be trusted?

To date Ken Marsh has not denounced any of these violations of school board policy. To our knowledge Marsh has not asked any of his supporters or campaign staff to stop violating school board policies.  Marsh should know that each of the above is a violation of multiple School Board policies. He was a director in the school district and, as he points out in his website, is a bureaucrat with “35 years of public education experience.”

Would a man of integrity stay silent? Can you trust a man who sees wrongdoing and takes no action?

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

Perhaps Mr. Marsh does not believe in his own campaign’s rhetoric?

Ken Marsh is asking people to call him directly at 941.586.9526. If you would like to call Mr. Marsh perhaps you can ask: Ken, are you aware that your campaign is violating Chapter 9.40 of School Board policy by using images of schools in your political mailers?

KEN MARSH FLYER:

Marsh Mailer 1 (1)

Ken Marsh campaign flyer. For a larger view click on the flyer.

KEN MARSH ABSENTEE BALLOT MAILER

Ken Marsh Mailer

Ken Marsh absentee ballot mailer with photo of Marsh on his campaign Facebook page. For a larger view click on the image.

FL, GA Education Ethics Differ on Sexual Harassment?

Based on primary source documents and information from the Education Practices Commission of the State of Florida and the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, the penalty for a specific sexual harassment case seems to vary greatly with a wide range of extremes between the two states.

Former Miami-Dade County Public Schools assistant principal at Miami Central Senior High School and current principal/director with Clayton County (GA) County Public Schools Melvin K. Blocker received two vastly different outcomes stemming from a case of alleged sexual harassment from the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years.

According to the Florida EPC’s Final Order:

During the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years, Respondent served as a principal of a public school in the state of Georgia. During this time, Respondent sexually harassed a teacher. Respondent’s conduct included, but was not limited to, stating that the teacher “was the kind of girl [he] and [his] friends would have run a train on in college,” or words to that effect.

Respondent retaliated against the teacher for seeking conciliation of her grievances. Respondent stated, “teachers who went to [Georgia Association of Educators] about issues no longer work at [Respondent’s] school,” or words to that effect.

As a result of this conduct, Case PSC 09-7-11 was opened, and the Georgia Professional Standards Commission found probable cause against Respondent.

The Georgia Professional Standards Commission and Respondent entered into an agreement with respect to Case PSC 09-7-11. On or about June 30,2010, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission issued a Consent Order suspending Respondent’s educator’s certificate for five days, from June 8, 2009 through June 12, 2009.”

The Georgia Professional Standards Commission did indeed suspend his certificate for five days, which seems to many like a slap on the wrist.

To Florida’s credit, the Education Practices Commission permanently revoked his Florida Educator’s Certificate on October 15, 2014.

Why the stark difference?

According to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, Mr. Blocker may indeed be in trouble given the teacher certification rules, which state:

The Clearance certificate is issued at the request of a the employing Georgia local unit of administration (LUA) to educators who satisfactorily complete fingerprint and background check requirements and do not have a certificate that is currently revoked or suspended in Georgia or any other state. All educators employed by a Georgia LUA must hold a Clearance certificate. There are no academic requirements necessary to qualify for this certificate. All holders of this certificate are subject to the Georgia Code of Ethics for Educators.”

Strangely enough, the Florida EPC Final Order states copies were furnished to other related Florida Department of Education entities but not to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission- unless a separate communiqué was sent and not mentioned.

It will be interesting to see what course of action the Georgia Professional Standards Commission decides to take.

A reasonable person may conclude that they would not want a female relative or significant other in Mr. Blocker’s employ or purview.

Though these incidents have occurred 5-7 years ago, has Mr. Blocker truly learned the error of his ways or have other incidents occurred and were covered up and/or repressed afterwards?

Time, and a thorough investigation, will tell.

Emailgate: Did Sarasota School Board Member Shirley Brown violate Florida Law and her oath of office?

Elected officials make policy and have a responsibility to obey the policy they make. Every Florida elected official takes an oath of office to “[S]upport, protect, and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States and of the State of Florida” and to “well and faithfully perform the duties on which I am now about to enter.”

What if it is discovered that an elected official violates the policy they make? What if an elected official unfaithfully performs their duties?

Sarasota County School Board member Shirley Brown sent a series of emails to Ken Marsh and the Ken Marsh campaign for school board using the district email system. These emails include:

  • Inviting Austin Jambor, a financial adviser at Morgan Stanley, to a Ken Marsh “reception” she is hosting “on Oct 1 in Prestancia.”
  • Touting campaign endorsements by local firefighters of Ken Marsh, Jane Goodwin and herself on the eve of the August 26th Florida primary elections.
  • Notifying the Ken Marsh campaign of a homosexual marriage event hosted by Equality Florida. Brown suggests that Ken Marsh and others from his campaign attend the event.

Florida Statutes 104.31 – Political activities of state, county, and municipal officers and employees, states:

(1) No officer or employee of the state, or of any county or municipality thereof, except as hereinafter exempted from provisions hereof, shall:

(a) Use his or her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election or a nomination of office or coercing or influencing another person’s vote or affecting the result thereof.

[ … ]

(3) Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

[Emphasis added]

The Sarasota County Schools Information Technology Guidelines and Procedures, page 28, under the heading “Appropriate Use of E-mail” states the following:

Sarasota County Schools guidelines prohibit certain types of e-mailThese include mail that may be perceived as harassment, political campaigning, or commercial solicitation. Chain mail is also prohibited. Violators will be subject to loss of computer access privileges, as well as additional disciplinary action as determined by the Sarasota County Schools disciplinary procedures. Certain types of e-mail, including but not limited to harassing e-mail, may also subject the sender to civil or criminal penalties. [Emphasis added]

It is important for elected officials to avoid even the “perception” of using public resources for “political campaigning”, particularly if that elected official implemented the policy forbidding it. It is important for elected officials at every level to abide by Florida state statues so as not to “coerce” or “influence” another person’s vote or to interfere with an election. It is important for elected officials to “faithfully perform their duties.” If not, then our Constitutional Republican form of government is in peril.

If elected officials give even a “perception” of violating policy, state statues or their oath of office, then what signal does that send to those who work for them?

John Adams, American lawyer, politician and second President of the United States, in his 7th “Novanglus” letter, published in the Boston Gazette in 1774, wrote that we are “A government of laws, and not of men.” Some elected officials have forgotten this maxim.

What will happen to Ms. Brown now? Will she publicly apologize for her actions? Will she resign from office? Will this be investigated by the proper authorities?

We will continue to report on this ongoing scandal truthfully and without fear of retribution.

REFERENCES:

Brown invitation to reception for Ken Marsh

Brown touting campaign endorsements

Brown notifying the Ken Marsh campaign of a homosexual marriage event hosted by Equality Florida.

Common Core Opponents Endorse Governor Rick Scott — Blame Crist for Common Core in Florida

Florida parents and grassroots organizations leading the opposition to the adoption of the controversial Common Core education standards have endorsed the reelection of Governor Rick Scott in a public letter.

“On November 4th an important choice will be made by Floridians that will have implications for years to come. That choice is clear. It was Charlie Crist who brought Common Core to Florida and wholeheartedly still embraces it,”said Laura Zorc, State Coordinator and Co-Founder of Florida Parents Against Common Core.

“We have fought too hard to give up now and we face very real setbacks on myriad levels if, in our fervor to rid Florida of Common Core, we inadvertently help elect Crist,“ said Zorc.

Governor Scott recently announced an education plan that calls for an independent Florida Standards Review Committee to review standards, assessments and adoption of instructional materials by local school districts. According to Zorc, this will provide an opportunity for parents, teachers and grassroots organizations to be at the table for adoption of better standards and policies.

A growing number of grassroots County leaders who have vocalized their concerns about Common Core say that the re-election of Governor Scott is the only way to ensure the continuing evaluation of education standards and testing and meaningful local control over instructional materials.

“Governor Scott has committed to this review and we will work with him and the legislature to make the changes needed to achieve the best policies for the education of our children,” said Kate Boland, Chair of the Martin County Republican Party.

Both leaders stressed the need to consider all of the critical issues facing the state and the country in this election. They cite the policies of Governor Scott that have made Florida a national leader in job creation and economic growth in sharp contrast with the damaging economic policies of President Obama and Democrats.

“The stakes are too high for this to be a one issue election. Governor Scott has done an outstanding job for Florida. The ability to finance meaningful education reform is key and for that we need a strong tax base in our state,” said Boland.

Florida will play an important role in the 2016 Presidential election. “We are committed to electing public servants committed to reaffirming the primacy of state and local control of education in our country. To accomplish our education reform goals, we must begin by reelecting Governor Scott in November,” Zorc concluded.

School board caves to atheists over statue — When will someone stand with resolve?

I have always maintained that one of the most important elected positions in America is on the school board — and a recent decision validates that assertion.

Previously we reported on the Madison County High School football team’s monument, donated by a private citizen, that drew the ire of the Wisconsin-based atheist group, Freedom From Religion Foundation. The monument featured two Biblical verses, Romans 8:31 and Philippians 4:13. This atheist organization of offended individuals demanded the monument be removed, covered, or altered. The decision was to be taken up by the county school board, and yesterday they ruled – the wrong way.

madison high school monumentAs reported by the Washington Times, “A controversial monument at the entrance of a Georgia high school football stadium will be altered to remove its biblical scripture after atheists complained it was offensive. The Madison County school board voted unanimously Tuesday night to have the monument altered, following a nearly two-hour closed session to discuss the issue, Madison Journal Review reported. The monument gained national attention when it was erected in August. Two different groups sent letters to the school system arguing that it violates the separation of church and state and demanding it be removed. Board member Robert Hooper made the motion to have the Bible verses removed or covered up, saying he did so “with great consideration and concern for all students”, Madison Journal Review reported.”

I just have to ask, why was the school board meeting held in closed session? This was a community issue and why were these elected officials not willing to deliberate and make their decision before the community — the people who elected them to represent their interests on local educational governance?

And I will be completely forthright and ask, when will we have any group that will stand up to these secular humanist atheist groups and tell them to “pound sand” and go away? If they bring forth a lawsuit do not comply. There has to be a point when these destructive but vocal minority groups are met with resolve.

What would have been the problem with bringing the decision before the Madison County High School student body? Who gave the FFRF, a private advocacy group from Wisconsin, any dominion over what is happening in Georgia?

Was there a student or group of students who filed a complaint to FFRF asking their interests be defended? If this religious monument which currently reads, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” from Romans 8:31, and, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” from Philippians 4:13 was offensive — can someone state why?

I don’t think the folks in Wisconsin are coming down to Madison County High for some “Friday night lights.” And nowhere is this monument promoting an establishment of religion or forcing anyone to adhere to the verses displayed. If you don’t like the monument, well, don’t look at it.

According to the Times, “the local newspaper said that as soon as the announcement was made, there was a mass exodus of about 150 people who had showed up, most in favor of the monument. “We are not here as haters, we are here to love all,” said Theresa Gordon, who was invited to speak during the closed session, Madison Journal Review reported. “It seems as if these [atheist] groups are here as haters, willing to spend millions to remove God from [our society], which means they are antichrists by definition – they must have hatred in their hearts to fight so hard to remove him from this small object that was placed for others to enjoy.”

I agree wholeheartedly with Ms. Gordon. The definition of tolerance for the progressive socialist Left — to whom secular humanists are allies — is that they only tolerate that which they define as tolerable.

Imagine if Christians attempted to force their beliefs upon the Left — heck, there are some secular humanists like Mikey Weinstein who believe Christians in the military who profess, witness, or display their faith are guilty of sedition and should be court-martialed.

What hatred does this Wisconsin-based group possess in order to target a religious monument in sleepy Madison County, Georgia? What is becoming of our First Amendment right of “freedom of religion and the free exercise thereof?” Oh, I guess the secular humanist leftists will define and declare what freedom of [from] religion is and where there can be a free exercise.

Even more disgusting to me is the lack of moral courage to look these atheists in the eye and simply state — how can something you don’t believe exists be offensive?

I’m deeply disappointed in this school board and its decision because what these folks just did was reinforce and reward the abhorrent behavior, actions and tactics of the Freedom From Religion Foundation who are laughing at them and seeking out the next Christian target to devour — no different than the lions of the Roman coliseum.

If the Freedom From Religion Foundation challenged the Obama administration giving $9 million to a Catholic organization to defend illegal aliens — a violation of church and state, using American taxpayer dollars to conduct “political activity” – maybe I wouldn’t be so critical.

FFRF is an atheist bully organization that relies on Christians just taking it and turning the other cheek. Sometimes the only way to deal with a bully is to fight back — something the school board of Madison County, Georgia pathetically failed to do.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.

Dirty Books and Corporations in the Classroom

Thomas More Law Center Fights Common Core with Resource Page for Parents and Teachers.

From recommended literature that celebrates pedophilia, and math standards that ignore simple arithmetic, to “new” history, and the infiltration of corporations and advertisers in the classroom and student records, the Common Core aligned curricula, tests, and data are filled with horror stories.

In an effort to empower parents and concerned teachers, the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, MI, has launched a Common Core Resource page which combines commentary and analysis from leading experts along with documentation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) worst offenses. These offenses include “grooming” children by presenting graphic descriptions of pedophilia, incest and rape as literature, selling American education to the highest bidder, and turning students into lab rats whose data can be shared with any agency using the right code words.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of TMLC, commented: “Our resource page is only a start. And I invite concerned parents and teachers to check it out and notify Catherine McMillan at cmcmillan@thomasmore.org if we have left out an important resource. It goes without saying, I’m grateful to the parents and teachers who have preceded us in this particular fight for the future of our children and nation.”

Click here to go directly to the resource page.

The resource page also includes the Law Center’s comprehensive Student Privacy Protection Request form to assist parents in opting-out of Common Core aligned curricula, data mining and the release of student’s personal information including test scores, religious and political beliefs, biographic, biometric, and psychometric data, such as fingerprints, DNA and information related to children’s personality and aptitude. The form is available as a general reference and guide for all concerned parents.

In addition, for parents seeking to network with others in their state who are also working to eliminate Common Core and its effects, the resource page contains a listing of Stop Common Core groups by state.

As documented in TMLC’s resource page, since its inception, the CCSS have come under heavy fire, from parents and educators, for a variety of grievances including: political, inappropriate, and incomprehensible assignments; costly ties to big corporations; in-test advertising; the elimination of locally appropriate standards; and the emphasis placed on standardized testing.

Additionally, concerns about the alarming explosion of data mining within the classroom have been raised in connection with Common Core. State databases, often referred to as P-20 systems, are designed to gather information and follow students from their entry into pre-Kindergarten up through entry into the workforce. These databases, through a complicated network of contracts and agreements, can then be shared with the federal government, contractors, researchers and other outside agencies. In some instances, these databases can contain over 400 individual data points per student including health-care histories, income information, religious affiliations, voting status, blood type, likes and dislikes and homework completion.