Ted Cruz: “We Need To Repeal Every Word of Common Core”

If you are a public figure, and are wanting to throw some red meat out into to the crowd of Conservative Republicans you happen to be speaking in front of, then bring up Common Core, and let the political feeding frenzy begin.

More and more top tier conservative politicos and legislators are piling on the anti-Common Core education standards movement, including Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX).

Last weekend in Miami, Florida, Ted Cruz told Miami-Dade Republicans at the annual Lincoln Day dinner what need to be done with Common Core.

“We need to repeal every word of Common Core.”-Sen. Ted Cruz

Yup, Cruz received a standing ovation.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/F1j-PIMgOPU[/youtube]

 

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on The Shark Tank.

States Push Back Against Common Core in Their Schools

It’s vacation time for the nation’s school kids and, while they play, states are beginning to push back against the latest effort of the federal government to exert total control over the nation’s schools; Common Core, whose curriculum standards and content rapidly revealed it to be a nightmare.

As I frequently note, the word “education” does not appear in the U.S. Constitution because the Founding Fathers knew full well that education was the job of localities and states to ensure quality and the opportunity that it provides everyone willing to learn the basics and beyond. From its earliest days, Americans would create a town, build a church, and follow up with a school. Until liberals complained about it, school days began with a prayer.

US-DeptOfEducation-SealLiberals know that whoever controls schools controls the future. Dictatorships of all descriptions in particular place heavy emphasis on raising new generations with the kind of indoctrination that only the early years in school can impart. It should come as no surprise that the last failed liberal President, Jimmy Carter, ushered in the creation of the U.S. Department of Education

Still largely unknown to the general public is the control of the Department by teachers unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, and their support of the Democratic Party. This accounts for much of the well documented decline of education in America. The union’s chief concern is higher pay and benefits for teachers, not the welfare of the children in their care. Their focus is on politics, not teaching.

In March, the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom issued a new study on “Academic Performance and Spending over the Past 40 years” which revealed that “the average state has seen a three percent decline in academic performance despite a more than doubling in inflation-adjusted per-pupil spending.” Sometimes the spending increases are astonishing as in the case of New York State in which spending rose by 115%. California and Florida are not far behind with an increase of 80%.

Common Core has rapidly become a political hot potato as parents have let their state governors and legislators know how bad it is. Writing in the Heartland Institute’s May edition of its newsletter School Reform News, Joy Pullmann, its managing editor, reported that Indiana Gov. Mike Pense was the first to sign a bill in March rejecting Common Core national standards, “but the parents and curriculum experts whose criticism led to the change also criticized the first draft of replacement standards for looking very similar to the Common Core mandates it is meant to replace.”

commoncorebookIn a Heartland booklet, “The Common Core: A Bad Choice for America”, Pullmann notes that “States may not change Common Core standards, must adopt all of them at once, and may only add up to an additional 15 percent of requirements. The standards themselves have no clear governance, meaning there is no procedure for states to follow to make changes they feel are necessary. It is highly unlikely individual states would control or greatly influence any such process.”

At the very heart of the debate concerning Common Core is the notion that every single school in America should teach the exact same thing in the exact same way. That’s not how real education works and any teacher will tell you that different students learn at different rates and some require some extra help. Schools free of such one-size-fits-all thinking educated generations of Americans who made the nation the greatest economic power in the world.

Thus far, in addition to Indiana, state legislatures in Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Missouri have approved measures to exit Common Core’s national standards. Louisiana’s Gov. Bobby Jindal in mid-June said “We want out of Common Core” and is taking steps to reject it.

Common Core is the fulfillment of liberal’s dream of education. It was developed in 2009 by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. It was quickly incentivized by the Obama administration with $4.35 billion in Race to the Top competitive grants and waivers from the federal No Child Left Behind law for states that signed on. Minus the states that have rejected Common Core, there are still 42 who have adopted it.

Ron Paul, commenting on the Oklahoma opt-out, said “Common Core is the latest attempt to bribe states, with money taken from the American people, into adopting a curriculum developed by federal bureaucrats and education “experts.” In exchange for federal funds, states must change their curriculum by, for example, replacing traditional mathematics with ‘reform math.’ Reform math turns real mathematics on its head by focusing on ‘abstract thinking’ instead of traditional concepts like addition and subtraction. Schools must also replace classic works of literature with ‘informational’ texts, such as studies by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Those poor kids!”

Common Core’s curriculum standards are testimony to why abandoning local control over a community’s or city’s educational program is a very bad idea and why, once again, the federal government has demonstrated why it makes worse virtually any program that should be left to the states.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

The United Way Now Promotes the Common Core

United Way Worldwide offers the following as its mission statement:

United Way envisions a world where all individuals and families achieve their human potential through education, income stability and healthy lives.

Our mission: To improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities around the world to advance the common good.

The goal of the United Way is to “advance the common good.”

As of June 2014, it is an organization that is “advancing” a new “common”:

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

Yep. That’s right.

And one guess who forked over $1.2 million to make that happen.

Bill Gates.

Straight from the Gates Grants search engine:

Date: June 2014
Purpose: to build support for the Common Core State Standards by engaging stakeholders and community leaders nationally and locally
Amount: $1,212,571

In a March 2014 interview,  Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post questioned Gates’ motives in financing CCSS. After some tense interaction, here is his response:

I’m saying, and I’ve, I hope I can make this clear, I believe in the Common Core because of its substance and what it will do to improve education, and that’s the only reason I believe in the Common Core. And I have no, you know, this is giving money away. This is philanthropy. This is trying to make sure students have the kind of opportunity had. [Emphasis added.]

Gates had an education that defies the agenda he promotes for public education.

Both he and his children attended a private school in Seattle, Lakeside School.

Read here to see the utter absence of anything resembling CCSS at Lakeside.

And yet, Gates continues to enlist major organizations to “build support” for that which he and his children will never know firsthand.

RELATED COLUMNS: 

Common Core Memorandum of Understanding Not Just for “Development”
Transcript of Gates’ March 2014 Washington Post Interview

ABOUT MY NEW BOOK

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Blacks Need More Racists

A few weeks ago, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) made a stunning announcement that caused a lot of consternation in the Black community. UNCF had accepted a $25 million contribution from Koch Industries and the Charles Koch Foundation.

Under normal circumstances, David and Charles Koch – the brothers who control the two entities – would be applauded for their generosity.  But some Blacks have labeled the Koch brothers as racist simply because they are White, conservative, and libertarians who believe in smaller government, lower taxes and ballot integrity.

However, when the critics are asked to specify what has the Koch family done that is racist, they draw blanks. They equate philosophical disagreements with being a racist. Even if that were the case, why reject money that will actually benefit Black students? The gift is one of largest in the history of UNCF. The UNCF is the primary fund-raising organization for students at private, historically Black colleges. UNCF President Michael Lomax had no problem accepting the check, saying, “… We believe that our cause is a cause that all Americans can and should support regardless of their views on other matters.”

The money will be allocated as follows:

$18.5 million will be used to create the UNCF/Koch Scholars Program, which will provide funds to “exemplary students with demonstrated financial need and an interest in the study of how entrepreneurship, economics, and innovation contribute to well-being for individuals, communities, and society;” $6.5 million will provide general support to the UNCF and historically black colleges of which $4 million of those funds will be reserved to help the 37 UNCF member institutions help students who have been hurt by the denial of PLUS loans (a parent loan program).

Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO of the UNCF, is being criticized for accepting these funds from the Koch brothers  essentially because they oppose virtually everything Obama stands for – and are willing to spend billions of their own money to help their cause. It’s their money and they can do what they please with it. Everyone should be happy that they chose to support Black colleges.

Many are quick to criticize the Koch brothers but don’t have the courage to criticize  the brother in the White House. Obama’s policies have had a devastating impact on Black colleges.

Last month, I wrote a column titled, “Why Black Men Need More White Women.” I pointed out that two conservative White women were supporting policies more beneficial to African Americans than the nation’s first Black president.

Now you have two Koch entities trying to correct a different policy from the same Black president that is destroying the Black community.

In October of 2011, Obama’s Department of Education quietly and without public notice changed the underwriting standards for the very popular PLUS loan.  The changes created more stringent requirements on a parent’s ability to secure a loan for their child.  This shifts in PLUS eligibility standards has resulted in many parents of students at Black colleges having their loan applications denied and those denials have been cited as the reason many Black students have dropped out of school.

According to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Finaid.org, “Based on last year’s trends [2011], nearly half of would-be PLUS borrowers this academic year [2012] might be turned away…The denials have hit particularly hard at historically black colleges and universities, presidents of those colleges, as well as higher education associations, say. They have warned that some students might not return because they can’t get the loans to pay for college.”

When the Education Department switched entirely to direct lending, the high approval rates for direct loans continued. In 2010-11, the first year when all loans were direct loans, 72 percent of PLUS applicants were approved, and just 28 percent were denied, according to department data. At the same time, the loans continued to grow, from $7.6 billion in 2008 to $10.4 billion in 2011, according to Education Department disbursement data.

“The change was made quietly — the department didn’t convene a rule-making panel or issue a letter to colleges explaining it — but the impact was dramatic,” Kantrowitz said. “Some creditors will put accounts in collections if a payment is only 30 days late. Parents who had previously been eligible for the loans found they had now been turned down.”

“Denials for PLUS loans jumped after the new requirement took effect, midway through the 2011-12 academic year. According to preliminary Education Department data, 38 percent of applicants for the loans were denied — 10 percent more than in the previous year.”  If the new criteria had been in effect all year, Kantrowitz estimated, 44 percent of applicants would have been turned down.

At least $4 million of the Koch contribution will go towards trying to remedy this Obama created disaster for these worthy college students.  It is estimated that this money will help 3,000 students stay in school.  So once again, we have a White persons coming to the rescue of the Black community when their supposed “leaders” have come down with laryngitis yet again.

Dr. Duke Pesta on the Shocking K-12 Common Core Sexual Education Standards

dr duke pesta

Dr. Duke Pesta

If you have young children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, are an educator, are a therapist, are a religious leader, are an elected official of any party, or care about very young children getting an excellent education in grades K-12, you should take time to listen to the below videos by Dr. Duke Pesta.  Dr. Pesta’s discussion is about the indoctrination of students in the Common Core curriculum.  Common Core does not encourage students to read the greatest novels in history, it’s not about teaching students to think outside of the box, nor is it about teaching students to excel beyond the capability of their fellow students in their grade, and it is not about mentoring gifted students.

Common Core teaches students it is not fair for some students to highly achieve beyond the ability of their fellow students—it is about teaching students that everyone should achieve equally and collectively together, resulting in that students’ progress in learning at the lowest possible common denominator so no one is left behind.  Common Core is the plan by the federal government to take over the control of local school board’s education programs and what is taught in the local schools, it pushes an agenda controlled and tested by the Department of Health Education and Welfare and results in recording specific details on “each student’s” thinking, religious beliefs, patriotic beliefs, and family beliefs, in violation of privacy laws.

Common Core is much more than the new math. For quite some time, I seriously tried to understand the new math without success (my math skills are excellent, I have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering, a Master’s Degree in Operation Research, and an MBA in Finance).  All my grades in math were always straight “A” as I excelled in math in grammar school, in high school, in college, and in graduate school.  Common Core math is the worst thing that has ever happened to the math curriculum in grammar schools in the nation; that terrible debilitating math curriculum has now been in the public schools for 2 years, and parents do not know how to help their children with the new math.

David Zimba who was responsible for developing the new math curriculum in Common Core, said Common Core math “will not” prepare students for college.  Common Core math is not about the right answer, it is about making the student comfortable with this new math—the teachers do not teach math any longer; the new math is programed and tested by Washington bureaucrats.  Students “do not” know how to add and subtract in the 4th grade.  The students are taught that they “must” agree collectively on an answer with the students in their new teaching group (they must be in learning groups and even must sit together—no longer are there individual desks), even if it is the answer is wrong it must be agreed to.   For instance, because the analytical mathematical thinking in students is not developed in students in early grades with this debilitating new math, algebra has been pushed into 9th grade, while the student is China, India, Europe, etc. begin algebra in the 5th grade—the Common Core curriculum is forcing students in the United States to be left in the dust bin of history, far behind students in countries with much higher math and science achievement records.  Please watch this short video with Dr. Pesta:

This opposition to Common Core is not political, it is not Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Conservative opposition; all members of the previous groups have been expressing very of serious opposition to Common Core, it is an American problem where we are all concerned about our young school children.  The most liberal teachers union in the nation, the NY States Teachers Union, and the most conservative organizations in Texas, Virginia, and in the nation oppose Common Core. None of the educators in any state, nor any of the famous educational organization, or varied groups of well-known educators who are experts in certain subjects being taught by Common Core, were involved in scientifically developing the curriculum, nor was the curriculum tested by trial and error to determine the best educational curriculums to be taught for grades K thru 12—only 5 people wrote the entire Common Core curriculum.

Common Core was developed by David Coleman, and four of his associates; the development was funded by Bill Gates who spent $2.5 billion to sell it.

Each state was provided with millions of dollars for their state education department, long before the curriculum was written, they received with the funds under the condition that they must incorporate Common Core into their educational system.  This Common Core curriculum has come about and has been driven by the Obama administration, and the Department of Health Education and Welfare who also is now controlling Common Core testing for each state.  The education of students should be controlled at the state and local levels, not by Washington bureaucrats.  Four states have opted out of Common core with 12 states developing initiatives to get out of Common Core, including New York.  Please click on the below listed link to view and listed to a child psychologist who explains how students are reacting to Common Core and have been hurt mentally by the curriculum; they are also self-hurting their bodies:

Common Core has eliminated the US history students once were taught in grammar and high schools.  Students once learned about the Pilgrims and how they came to the new world to seek religious freedom.  Students were once taught how the Founding Fathers religious beliefs provided the foundation on which the Republic was founded on.  Students were once taught the value of US Constitution, the Bill of Rights & the value of each Amendment, and the value of the rights of individual, and the importance of religious freedom.   They are no longer taught why the Revolutionary War was fought, the reasons for the Civil War, how the US saved the world by mobilizing to fight in WWI & WWII, how the US saved the South Korean democracy from Communism, and how the United States preserved the freedom of the people in Kuwait from the dictator, Hussein Saddam.  The students were once taught to study the background of each of the US Presidents and their achievements.  They are not taught about the dangers of Communism and its demise, or how Socialism has never worked in any country it was ever tried in for the last 150 years, etc.  All those teachings were eliminated by the 5 peoples who developed the Common Core curriculum to the detriment of our Republic.  Those teachings must be reinstated without exception.

Common Core is not only the development of national standards for math, English, biology, and science it also includes teaching shocking sexual education courses for students in grades, kindergarten thru 12.  What is taught includes teaching inappropriate sexuality skills, that shouldn’t even be taught in college. According to child psychologists, the children are not mentally equipped to understand the detailed sexual indoctrination starting in kindergarten, they are indoctrinated in sexual practices that they should never be exposed to.  Students are tested on their understanding of sex issues every year for the 12 years they are school, and the views for each student on sex issues are being tested, recorded, and retained by Washington bureaucrats.

There is a heavy socio political content of sex throughout Common Core curriculum being taught in every grade and in every subject, the student is taught that there is a sameness of gender, there is no longer simply boys and girls according to Common Core.  The sexual content of Common Core crosses into every curriculum taught, from teaching sexuality skills in sex education courses by specially skilled and trained sex education teachers.  Sexual activities and content in included in every subject taught.  Sex is taught in the English curriculum, is included in the language curriculum, sex is woven into the science curriculum, in the math curriculum, in the social studies curriculum, and of course in biology.

Since sex practices are included in every subject taught, parents will no longer be able to opt out of sex education being taught to their children in city schools, and by opting out assuming that only they would be able to teach their children sex education at home, and  in accordance with their personal and religious beliefs.  Children are taught holding hands, hugging, kissing, is the same as every other deviate sex acts—they are taught there is a sameness to “all” sex—there is no such thing as normal sex in Common Core, wide open sex of every weird type is taught to be acceptable in Common Core.  Pornography is no longer looked down upon in the Common Core curriculum. Very young students can’t even comprehend those teachings and understand that if someone does something to their little bodies, that they were told about in the Common Core sex curriculum, that it is wrong and shouldn’t be done to them.

The Core Curriculum states the students must be taught cooperative and active sex, working together in lab sessions with each other. Students can’t opt out on their own, because sex crosses into all the Common Core courses and all the testing—if they opt out they would fail the testing.  They are being taught by specially sex skilled teachers, and the students are tested on sexual skills and concepts being taught.  Every imaginable inappropriate sexual skill is being taught to students in kindergarten thru grade 12.  These inappropriate sexual skills are being driven into the Common Core curriculum and are being tested by the Department of Health Education and Welfare.

Teachers and parents will lose the ability to mentor the thousands of gifted children, that the nation used to develops each year, because Common Core dumbs down all students to the lowest leaning denominator.  Common Core is not good for the nation, for families, for children, for religious teachings, for colleges, for graduates schools, for research, for science, for States Rights, for teachers unions, and for the foundation upon which the Founding Fathers established the Republic.   The single biggest enemies of the Common Core curriculum are the Judeo Christian teachings student are taught at home, in their houses of worship, and in religious books (the Old Testament, the Bible, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, etc.).  Please watch to the below listed video with Dr. Pesta, although it is long it is an extremely important tape that is designed to save countless generations of students and the Republic, and should be listened to if you care about the education of future generations of young people.  Please pass this E-mail on to all Americans who care about the future education of our youth.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Common Core Pornography

People in Bradford arrested in historic child sex abuse investigation

RELATED VIDEOS: The sick pedophile agenda at the heart of ‘sex education.’ Discretion advised. Deeply disturbing.

Brilliant anti-Common Core Speech by Dr. Duke Pesta

The Obama Administration’s Growing Assault on Religious Liberty: Wake up Catholic Church!

Hope all is well as we are two days away from the official start of summer…and, friends, it is getting hot as hell out here. And, if you think it’s hot now, wait until you see what the liberal Obama administration is fixing to do this up-coming week. As if the attack on our beloved Catholic Church on January 20th, 2012 with Sebelius and the H.H.S. Mandate wasn’t bad enough, wait till you see what “Mr. Executive Order” is setting up to do. And, mind you, the Holy Catholic Church did not do a damn thing back then to fight that unethical & immoral mandate that knocks the First Amendment out of the U.S. Constitution books, while crippling our religious freedoms to a complete standstill. Shame on Cardinal Dolan. Shame on the Catholic Church. Shame on the 51% of Catholics who voted for this egomaniac whose ego is almost as big as his ears.

I have written about this religious freedom fiasco way too many times and way too many times, nothing has been done. Running two “Fortnight for Freedoms” was like the captain of the Titanic asking his first mate to use a half gallon bucket to take some water out of their sinking ship. The state of our Catholic Church today does not look like the Catholic Church that I signed up for 56 years ago. The one that I did my Baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation and Holy Matrimony at. The one that I love with my entire being and call “my home away from home”. This does not look like the Holy Church that is headquartered out of the Vatican in Rome. The one that Jesus built upon the rock of Peter. It almost feels like it is the Catholic Church that is being run up on the Hill at the liberal White House in Washington D.C. They have had a lot more input these past 5 & a half years than what is coming out of the Holy See in the Vatican…or the USCCB, which is just a few blocks away from the Obama mansion.

Come on now, let’s get serious for a minute here. As of today, only a measly “80” law suits have been filed against the Obama administration & the H.H.S. Mandate. “80” – not “8,000”!!! Like I have said from January 21st, 2012 up until yesterday – “The day that the the Vatican and the USCCB get enough guts and courage to stand up to this wanna-be dictator in our White House and order every single Catholic institution in our country to file a law suit against this administration & the H.H.S. that is making a complete mockery of the Holy Catholic Church – is the day that the Catholic Church will be the Church Triumphant”…Right now and for many decades to come, we will remain the Church Suffering…so, we better get used to it.

If the small but powerful Ave Maria University in tiny Immokalee, Florida can file a law suit – the rest of our Catholic institutions can. If the ever-Catholic Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio can do it – the rest of us can. It is beyond my comprehension that then-President of the USCCB, Cardinal Dolan, did not do anything to combat these intrinsic evils and at least, order every Catholic institution in the U.S. to file a law suit against the H.H.S. It is even more painful to see incoming President of the USCCB, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, clumsily take the baton from Cardinal Dolan…and let it hit the ground without even trying to pick it up. He fumbled it badly and now every Catholic in this country is paying a dear price for it. More than 30 pieces of silver. Beyond me, folks…Gutless. And, this is supposed to be the “Year of Boldness”.

In these first 6 months of our proclaimed “Year of Boldness”, I can count on one hand – actually, on one finger – how many times the leaders of our beloved Catholic Church have been bold. It’s more like “being told”instead of “being bold” – as in being told what to do by Sebelius, Pelosi, Obama, Biden, Reid and the rest of the cast of clowns. The Catholic Church is being told what to do every day of the year and not one of our church leaders has the guts to stand up to this unfair assault. A “live” Puppet show at the USCCB. The White House controls the strings. Beyond excruciating. And, now with this new Executive Order coming from King Kenya, the Catholic Church better brace itself and get ready to take it again on the backside one more time.

Executive Order Number what…Who can keep track? This nifty one coming from our avid golfer in the White House “bars federal contractors from discriminating against anyone on gender identity and/or sexual orientation”. Obama is moving on the issue a week after talking about the important role that administrative action can play in advancing LGBT rights. (I am not certain, but I think LGBT stands for Lesbian/Gay/ Bi-sexual & Trans-sexual) I cannot believe I even had to elaborate on this appalling type of lifestyle. I know it sounds a bit “queer”, but that is what this liberal socialist is pushing in “our” country and what the Holy Catholic Church is going to get hit once again with – like a ton of condoms.

 Yes, Obama’s team is gearing up to place unfair pressure on Catholic charitable social services to conform to its progressive & leftist agenda. Church services – like adoption agencies – will have to face a choice. Either conform to that agenda or shut their doors for the lack of federal financial support. The choices are bleak. The fault is our own. The Catholic Church should have never allowed herself to be put into this compromising position. Had we stood up “Two-Gether” as One Body in Christ back on January 20th, 2012, we would not be even talking about this issue and I would not be writing my fingers off this late at night.

We have two choices: Bow down to King Kenya and to all of his immoral and unconstitutional atrocities he has forced upon us, or stand up as One Body in Christ and fight it with all we have. Let’s see, on last count, there were about 68 million Catholics in this country. If an army this big – supposedly “Soldiers of Christ” – cannot defend our Catholic Church, our Catholic institutions and our religious freedoms – and we are not willing to take a bullet for our beloved Faith like in the movie “For Greater Glory” – then, we are not worthy to call ourselves Catholics, Christians or followers of Christ. It’s a slap in His face and a mockery to the One who died for us.

Thank GOD that Jesus is not coming down any time soon to see this debacle…then, again, He just may be coming before we even know it…and, he will be knocking over every damn tax collectors’ tables not only at the Temples but, also at the White House, Planned Parenthood, Bill & Melinda Gates’ offices and at every single place that attacks what He set out to do 2,000 years ago. He did not die in vain.

The H.H.S. Mandate, the countless Scandals, the skyrocketing Federal debt, the “Curse of Common Core”, the Promotion of  “same-sex marriage” and now yet, another powerful gutting of the First Amendment’s “Guarantee” of Religious Freedom being prepared for implementation by the fiat of Executive Order – the government is steadily crushing liberty.

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Religious Liberty? Obama’s Not Done Yet

Elise Hiltonby ELISE HILTON on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014

If you thought the Obama Administration had taken its final swipe at religious liberty with the HHS mandate, think again. At Catholic Vote, John flag broken cross jewish star gavelShimek tells us that there is a new attack on American’s religious liberty, and it won’t affect just Catholics.

According to Shimek, the social media website Buzzfeed announced that the White House is drafting an executive order that will bar federal contractors from discriminating against anyone based on gender identity and/or sexual orientation.

President Obama is moving on the issue a week after talking about the important role that administrative action can play in advancing LGBT rights.

At a question-and-answer session at the White House last week, Obama spoke about how transgender students can now “assert their rights” following recent Education Department action laying out an expanded view of sex discrimination protections under Title IX.

Shimek asks, “So what? What does this have to do with religious liberty?” As it turns out, quite a bit.

Fr. Thomas Reese claims that “Depending on what exemptions [the executive order provides], the new requirement may affect Catholic Relief Services, Catholic hospitals, Catholic education, and other Catholic charities that received Federal funds.”

Bottom line: The HHS Mandate hit health care workers and institutions. This new assault? Basically, it hits all the rest of the Church’s charitable social services. In other words, the Obama White House is casting the net of its progressive agenda much further and wider this time.

What practical impact could this executive order have? Picture this. A Catholic archdiocesan or diocesan adoption service, that needs federal monies in order to function, announces plans to place children in traditional families comprised of one father and one mother. Such a plan would violate the new executive order being drafted. What happens next? A phone call from the Feds? Burdensome fines? At this juncture, we don’t know. But, perhaps history is prologue.

Of course, Catholic social service agencies have closed their doors in several states, rather than violating Church teaching and being forced to place children with homosexual couples. Shimek says.

Obama’s team is gearing up to place pressure on Catholic charitable social services to conform to its progressive agenda. Church services – like adoption agencies – will have to face a choice: Either conform to that agenda or shut their doors for lack of federal financial support. The choices are bleak.

This is another case where the Obama Administration may “win,” but children and other vulnerable groups will lose – lose much-needed services, hope, and compassionate care from organizations with (in some cases) a century or more experience in delivery of care. Yet, Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work says that this move by the White House “is a tremendous step forward in the campaign to give LGBT Americans a fair shot to build a successful career being judged on their talent and hard work – nothing more and nothing less.” However, it’s clear that the administration is not interested in giving religious liberty any type of fair shot.

Read HHS Mandate was just the first step. Here comes a new attack on religious liberty at CatholicVote.org.

BREAKING NEWS: Louisiana Governor Jindal Drops Common Core

Jindal just finished a press conference.

His words, summarized:

PARCC selection did not comply with La state law requiring a bidding process– this voids PARCC agreement. Jindal has asked for a financial audit of PARCC spending and an open, competitive bidding process for assessment.

He said that suspending PARCC is what he was able to do immediately via executive order.

He also contacted NGA and CCSSO and terminated La’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Common COre (CCSS). He said when he signed on, he did not realize the federal control that CCSS would bring into the state.

He charged the La State Board of Ed (BESE) to produce state standards and state assessments. He wants BESE to work with legislature on this.

More to come.

UPDATE:

Details on La. Gov. Jindal’s Common Core and PARCC Exit

June 18, 2014

In a press release on June 18, 2014, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal made a number of statements regarding Louisiana’s participation in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the associated Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)– one of two assessment consortia (groups of states) connected to the CCSS.

Some have questioned whether Jindal is serious or just showcasing for the cameras.

He is serious.

Jindal Suspends PARCC

First, allow me to offer the text of the executive order that Jindal issued to the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) regarding the suspension of PARCC for the 2014-15 school year:

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. BJ 2014 – 6

BOARD OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION –

SUSPENSION OF STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT STANDARDS AND PRACTICES

RULE REVISIONS

 WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of Article IV, Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, as amended, and La. R.S. 49:970, the Governor may issue an executive order which suspends any rule or regulation adopted by a state department, agency, board or commission within thirty days of adoption; and

 WHEREAS, on February 20, 2014, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education published a notice of intent in the Louisiana Register of proposed revisions to Bulletin 118—Statewide Assessment Standards and Practices (LAC 28:CXI.113); and

 WHEREAS, on May 20, 2014,  the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education published a final notice in the Louisiana Register to adopt revisions to Bulletin 118—Statewide Assessment Standards and Practices (LAC 28:CXI.113); and

 WHEREAS, the revisions to Bulletin 118—Statewide Assessment Standards and Practices (LAC 28:CXI.113), broadly construed, inappropriately instructs the Louisiana Department of Education to purchase assessments in a method that may not be compliant with Louisiana law, while also appropriately allowing the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to authorize  paper assessments in the 2014 – 2015 school year.

 NOW THEREFORE, I, BOBBY JINDAL, Governor of the State of Louisiana, by virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution and laws of the State of Louisiana, do hereby order and direct as follows:

 SECTION 1:  The revisions to Bulletin 118—Statewide Assessment Standards and Practices (LAC 28:CXI.113), published as a final notice on May 20, 2014, are hereby suspended.

 SECTION 2:   The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is authorized and directed to implement a process to authorize paper assessments in the 2014-2015 school year.

 SECTION 3:   The Louisiana Department of Education, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and any other departments, commissions, boards, offices, entities, agencies, and officers of the State of Louisiana, or any political subdivision thereof, are authorized and directed to comply with the suspension of the revisions to LAC 28:CXI.113 of this Order.

 SECTION 4:   This Order is effective upon signature and shall remain in effect unless amended, modified, terminated, or rescinded.

 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand officially and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of Louisiana, at the Capitol, in the city of Baton Rouge, on this 18th day of June, 2014.

 /s/ Bobby Jindal______________

GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA

ATTEST BY

THE GOVERNOR

 /s/ Tom Schedler__________

SECRETARY OF STATE

[Emphasis added.]

Almost immediately, Louisiana State Superintendent John White issued his own press release stating that Louisiana would continue with CCSS and PARCC as planned. However, he hasn’t the legal backing to support this assertion.

Jindal’s suspension of PARCC occurred within thirty days of May 20, 2014– with one day to spare.

So, that takes care of one issue– suspension of PARCC.

Jindal pulled the funding for PARCC (first payment due August 31,2014). Apparently, White used the same contract for PARCC as was used for the iLEAP test in 2003. Suspicious.

Note also that on April 8, 2014, White told the Louisiana House Appropriations Committee that the PARCC MOU (memorandum of understanding) committed Louisiana to the design and development phase of PARCC– not to purchasing PARCC. (See partial transcript of the April 8 meeting here.)

White has produced no contract for Louisiana to purchase PARCC– which means that the BESE decision to adopt PARCC on May 20, 2014, is the only formal action taken to tie Louisiana to using PARCC.

And Jindal suspended that action, effective June 18, 2014.

Jindal is approving the paper assessments that BESE planned– which means districts are relieved of the stress (financial and otherwise) of offering computerized assessments in 2014-15.

Jindal Orders Competitive Bidding on Louisiana Assessments and Audit on PARCC Spending

A second executive order issued by Jindal orders BESE to conduct a bidding process for Louisiana assessments in accordance with Louisiana state law:

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. BJ 2014 – 7

STATE PROCUREMENT OF ACADEMIC ASSESSMENTS

 WHEREAS, Article VII, Section 14 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 expresses the prohibition that “the funds, credit, property, or things of value of the state or of any political subdivision shall not be loaned, pledged, or donated to or for any person, association, or corporation, public or private.”;

 WHEREAS, elements of this constitutional prohibition reveal themselves in statutory mandates that public bodies conduct competitive procurement processes designed to promote public confidence in the cost and quality of goods, ensure transparency by requiring public notice, and safeguard the important public policy that public funds – always derived from taxpayers – be spent wisely;

WHEREAS, the Department of Education and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education are each subject to the Louisiana Procurement Code (La. R.S. 39:1551, et seq.), the laws on Professional, Personal, Consulting, and Social Services Contracts (La. R.S. 39:1481, et seq.), and other laws applicable to procurement by public bodies;

WHEREAS, the Department of Education and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education joined the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (“PARCC”) and committed to purchase PARCC’s assessment product before the product was even developed and to utilize its Common Core aligned assessment product and adopt them into its accountability and teacher evaluation systems, without giving due consideration to the development of other comparable assessment products and thereby failing to undertake a transparent, competitive process;

WHEREAS, pursuant to La. R.S. 39:1708, the Department of Education and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education are prohibited from entering into a cooperative purchasing agreement for the purpose of circumventing the laws governing procurement;

 WHEREAS, participation in PARCC does not exempt the Department of Education or the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education from following other Louisiana laws, promulgated rules, or Executive Orders applicable to the procurement of goods and services by purchase, contract, or by cooperative endeavor;

 WHEREAS, the chief procurement officer of the state has authority, pursuant to La. R.S. 39:1597, to determine that only one source is available to provide a required item. However, the determination that PARCC is the sole source of assessment products appears to be precluded in this case, as there are a number of potential competitors with assessment products available for review and comparison, making the use of a transparent, competitive process possible;

 WHEREAS, Louisiana Revised Statute 39:1497 requires that the director of the office of contractual review determine that all professional, personal, consulting, or social services have complied with the procedures set forth in La. R.S. 39:1481, et seq.;

WHEREAS, in accordance with La. R.S. 39:1596, Executive Order BJ 2010-16 establishes procedures for the procurement of small purchases not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) as exempt from the competitive sealed bidding requirements of the Louisiana Procurement Code, with purchases exceeding that amount requiring competitive sealed bidding and adequate prior notice;

 WHEREAS, the Legislature, during the 2014 Regular Session, has appropriated approximately $20,000,000 for the Department of Education to purchase these assessments for the 2014-2015 fiscal year commencing on July 1, 2014, and the expenditure of such a large amount of taxpayer-funded public funds clearly carries with it the responsibility that a transparent and competitive process be utilized.

 NOW THEREFORE, I, BOBBY JINDAL, Governor of the State of Louisiana, by virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution and laws of the State of Louisiana, do hereby order and direct as follows:

 SECTION 1:  The Department of Education and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education are directed to undertake a transparent, competitive procurement process in accordance with Louisiana law to obtain academic assessments for Louisiana’s schoolchildren.

 SECTION 2:  The Division of Administration is directed to conduct a comprehensive accounting of all Louisiana expenditures and resources related to PARCC, what services and products have been received in return for such expenditures, and copies of all contracts or other agreements in place or in negotiation for the purchase of an assessment.  The Division of Administration is further directed to ensure the Department of Education and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s compliance with Louisiana law in the procurement of academic assessments for the 2014-2015 school year and subsequent years.

 SECTION 3:  All departments, commissions, boards, agencies, and officers of the state of Louisiana, or any political subdivision thereof, are authorized and directed to cooperate in implementing the provisions of this Order.

 SECTION 4:  This Order is effective upon signature and shall continue in effect until amended, modified, terminated, or rescinded by the governor, or terminated by operation of law.

 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand officially and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of Louisiana, at the Capitol, in the city of Baton Rouge, on this 18th day of June, 2014.

 /s/ Bobby Jindal______________

GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA

 ATTEST BY

THE GOVERNOR

 /s/ Tom Schedler_________

SECRETARY OF STATE

[Emphasis added.]

The second executive order above poses two issues for White: First, he must produce that PARCC MOU for PARCC purchase that he told the House Appropriations Committee doesn’t exist. (Either he secretly signed an agreement that he is not willing to publicize– which was the case with with inBloom– or he has no contract to tie Louisiana to purchasing PARCC.

Another issue is that White’s PARCC spending will be audited. On April 8, 2014, White told the House Appropriations Committee that the state education budget was $55 million short. It is time for White to produce a detailed accounting of his LDOE spending. Starting with PARCC is just fine.

Jindal Tells PARCC Consortium Louisiana is Out of PARCC and CCSS

The third and final document I will reproduce here is Jindal’s letter to the PARCC consortium. In it, he notes that he has contacted CCSS “owners,” the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CSSO) that he has withdrawn Louisiana from CCSS:

June 18, 2014

Dear Commissioner Chester,

 This letter is to request that the Partnership of Assessments for College and Career Readiness (PARCC) immediately withdraw from the State of Louisiana.The State of Louisiana is no longer committed to implementing the PARCC assessment in the 2014-15 school year, rendering it unable to comply with the terms of the June 2010 Memorandum of Understanding between the State and PARCC. In addition, several changes have occurredsince the MOU was signed that make Louisiana’s membership in conflict with Louisiana law.

 First, PARCC’s Cooperative Agreement with the United States Department of Education (USDOE) includes terms that would remove Louisiana’s control over its assessments, and thereby its curriculum and pedagogy. While PARCC has assured states that curriculum is a local matter, the reality is what is assessed is what is taught and PARCC has a funding agreement with USDOE for $186 million. Laws enacted during the 2014 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature specifically authorize local education agencies to develop curriculum, content and methodology in lieu of any curriculum developed by the state board and prohibit the sharing of identifiable student information.

Second, there are several other vendors who have entered the market and who are now offering comparable assessment products at potentially lower cost and with greater input from, and accountability to, the individual states who hired them. Louisiana law requires the state to choose the lowest cost responsive bidder and to maintain control of the contract through which state taxpayer dollars will be expended. Neither of these criteria is met under the contracting arrangement of PARCC through a Fiscal Agent and/or Lead Procurement State.

 Third, several of the RFPs (requests for proposal) issued on behalf of PARCC were done so by other states, without the opportunity for Louisiana to ensure that these processes were handled in a method that complies with Louisiana’s competitive bid law. Louisiana’s MOU with PARCC and PARCC’s Cooperation Agreement with USDOE require PARCC to utilize competitive bid processes that comply with the laws of each member state and federal law.

Fourth, strict compliance with the MOU will prevent Louisiana from observing its competitive bid law for the procurement of the assessment itself. Louisiana law prohibits public procurement units from entering into cooperative purchasing agreements “for the purpose of circumventing” the Procurement Code (La. R.S. 39:1708). The MOU states specifically that each Governing State must agree to use the PARCC tests and to adopt them into its accountability and teacher evaluation systems, which is against Louisiana law if done without a competitive process. Louisiana cannot be a member of a cooperative purchasing agreement that requires, as a condition of membership, it buy the agreement’s product, especially before the product was even developed, and at an unknown cost at the time of execution.

Therefore, I have taken the following actions to ensure that Louisiana maintains control of its assessments and complies with its own laws:

 1. I have issued an executive order that instructs the Louisiana Department of Education to conduct a competitive process to purchase a new assessment and which prohibits the expenditure of funds on cooperative group purchasing organizations and interstate agreements.

 2. I have suspended the rules adopted by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education from May 2014 to ensure that the Louisiana Department of Education is able to comply with Louisiana competitive bid law;

 3. I have instructed the Louisiana Division of Administration to conduct a comprehensive accounting of all Louisiana expenditures and resources on PARCC, what services or products have been received in return for such expenditures, and copies of all contracts in place or in negotiation for the purchase of an assessment.

4. I have issued a Request for Information to PARCC requesting information about the procurement processes utilized by the consortium, by the Fiscal Agent state, and by the Lead Procurement State to ensure that these processes complied with Louisiana law.

 5. I have notified the Council for Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governor’s Association (NGA) of Louisiana’s termination of participation in the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

I will pursue cancellation of this MOU through all means necessary.

Sincerely,

Bobby Jindal

Governor

[Emphasis added.]

The curiosity here is that Jindal refers to a PARCC MOU signed in 2010 and that obligates Louisiana to purchase PARCC. Within his first month as state superintendent, White signed the PARCC MOU in place of outgoing superintendent Pastorek. However, we’re back to the issue of whether or not the PARCC MOU was an agreement to pilot or to purchase PARCC. However, Jindal has stated that he removed Louisiana from CCSS, and PARCC is tied to CCSS. Also, Jindal notes that in the competitive bidding process for assessments’ he is restricting the search to assessment companies not associated with consortia.

Closing Thoughts

So, what we have is Jindal serious about removing Louisiana from both CCSS and PARCC and White stating that Louisiana will remain in both CCSS and PARCC.

Which is it?

It appears that Jindal has solid legal footing for nixing PARCC assessments in Louisiana. I also think White is in a corner with both having to produce a PARCC MOU requiring purchase of PARCC (which he told the House Appropriations is not the case) and, especially, White’s being audited over PARCC spending.

As for canceling CCSS, Jindal is the only remaining signator on the CCSS MOU signed with NGA and CCSSO (Pastorek was the other signator). So, it seems that Jindal can remove us from CCSS. BESE did vote to approve CCSS in 2010. And that leads to another interesting situation:

BESE is in the middle of this “Jindal vs. White” altercation.

BESE President Chas Roemer supports White, and the majority of the eleven BESE members have supported CCSS. However, that majority is as shaky as it has been since the last BESE election over two years ago. Jindal has three appointees on the BESE board; two have supported CCSS, and Jindal could ask them to resign (he can’t require it). Given recent developments, we’ll see which way those two Jindal appointees supporting CCSS will go. One of his appointees, Jane Smith, is opposed to CCSS. Also on the BESE board are Lottie Beebe and Carolyn Hill, both against CCSS. And there is Walter Lee, indicted in January 2014 on felony theft and other charges and who is known to be unpredictable in his BESE positions.

In short, it is possible that a BESE majority could vote out CCSS– or even White.

In a twist, former state superintendent Paul Pastorek has decided to return to Louisiana ostensibly to start an education company. However, the timing is suspicious. Pastorek is a CCSS supporter (he and Jindal signed Louisiana on for CCSS in May 2009) and a Jeb Bush Chief for Change.

It is possible that Pastorek has returned to be the backup plan for White’s departure for those wishing to keep CCSS.

Keep in mind that business and industry are pushing for CCSS. So are scores of organizations that have received CCSS funding from the Gates Foundation. So, the pressure will continue to be on Jindal–and of course, it will also come from US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

The entire nation is watching Louisiana.

It promises to be an interesting summer– especially for curriculum and assessment directors statewide.

RELATED ARTICLE: Governors of Louisiana and Mississippi Reject Common Core

The new anti-home school attack is use of “Badman Rules”

The Badman Rules are intended to give government agents control over homeschooling families. Will Americans fight for the well being of our children?

The goal of the progressive left is to dominate the training of every youngster in America.  Home School families are being targeted once again and I say we should all stand up for home school freedom.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/umhESpSVlxk[/youtube]

Review of Glenn Beck and Kyle Olson’s “Conform: Exposing the Truth about Common Core and Public Education”

HOW TO BREAK THE STRANGLEHOLD

  • Conform: Exposing the Truth about Common Core and Public Education By Glenn Beck with Kyle Olson
  • Simon & Schuster, New York, 2014
  • PB, 258 pages, US$14.99
  • 978-1-1-4767-7388-9
  • Reviewed by Mary Grabar | May 29, 2014

How many ways are there to beat the teachers unions? Not teachers, but the ideological union leaders who drive the agenda for self-profit and power. That is the central question in Conform by Glenn Beck and Kyle Olson.

As public sector unions and teachers unions began expanding rapidly in the 1960s (today the largest union in the country is the National Education Association), they abandoned their concerns for students, parents, and their local communities. Since then, our education schools have become training centers for social activists who call themselves teachers but are versed better in race, class, gender, and social justice than they are in the subjects they should be teaching. We have a top-heavy public school system that is more expensive than ever. Teachers who are incompetent or abusive are almost impossible to fire. Pay and job security are based not on performance but seniority. Education schools fail to attract the best candidates. Beck and Olson cite studies by McKinsey and the Department of Education that show that teacher candidates come from the bottom two-thirds of academic classes and have mean SAT scores significantly lower than for all college freshmen. Those who are at the low end of this spectrum then teach in high-poverty schools.

As a result, our schools are producing drop-outs or graduates with poor math and writing skills, and lacking knowledge in literature, history, and science.

Beck and Olson provide a quick guide through the history of the rise of the modern bureaucratic, progressive education behemoth that brought us to this nearly hopeless place.

In Part One of the book, Beck and Olson systematically and concisely debunk 27 myths about public education, such as “Teachers’ Unions Put Kids First,” “Common Core Is ‘State-Led,’” and “Home-schoolers Are Academically Inferior to Public School Students.” They put the misnamed “Common Core State Standards” in the context of a progressive transformation of education, going back to John Dewey, who then influenced such radical educators as Weatherman/domestic terrorist, Bill Ayers. Presidents Johnson and Carter empowered the subversive educators. Under Obama’s presidency Common Core has become a means by which the federal government imposes these progressive pedagogies on states, collects personal student data, and replaces local governance with federal diktats. We have “de facto nationalization,” with the U.S. Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, an “advocate of the school taking over as de facto parents” as he promotes year-round, all day schools.

This domination is enabled by the alliance of the teachers unions with the Democratic Party. As students have fallen farther behind, unions have negotiated for themselves in some districts such things as plastic surgery as part of their health plans. The unions are among the biggest contributors to Democratic politicians who in turn work to keep them in power. “Teachers’ union officials are the ultimate political animals,” Beck and Olson write: “The NEA and AFT doled out a combined $19.4 million to the Democratic Party, its candidates, and allies, in 2012. In addition, they regularly deliver thousands of volunteers and votes to their anointed candidates at every level of government, and they can always be counted on to lob verbal bombs at Republicans.”

How to break the stranglehold? Provide alternatives. Beck and Olson offer them in the form of charter schools and home schools. They show why and how teachers unions resist such efforts, but also show how to debunk their talking points. For example, in Chapter 25, “School Choice Takes Money Away from Government Schools,” they use the analogy of a cable company that offers better service, more channels, and better reception. It would seem that educators would rise to the challenge such competition offers. Instead, they claim that charter schools, private school vouchers, and home schools draw away the students with motivated parents, leaving them with poorly performing, disadvantaged children.

Yet, Beck and Olson provide evidence that poor, inner-city children benefit from charter schools. Perhaps the most famous case is the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, so popular it was not able to meet demand. It was closed down by the Obama administration despite loud public outcry. The authors refute claims by Department of Education evaluations and present parts of the Department’s same, and other studies, that show that voucher school students were graduating and going to college at a higher rate than their counterparts. Parental satisfaction was extremely high. Another study quoted in a Huffington Post story showed that minority students especially benefited from charter schools.

The demand for better schools and more choices crosses party lines. But it’s the “controllists” who, against evidence, put the dampers on having options available.

Yet, Beck and Olson are careful to distinguish the “system” from those who are forced to work within it: the teachers who truly care and who resent being forced to pay union dues for such politicians and causes. “The problem is not the teachers; it’s the system they’ve been put into,” they write. (The title of Chapter 2 is the myth, “Critics of the System Are Just ‘Teacher Bashers.’”)

The huge education bureaucracy may make the challenge of taking back our schools seem impossible. The bureaucracy is so huge that we need to be creative.

Part Two of the book offers suggestions, such as education savings accounts (with examples from some states), restoring power to school boards (as they did in Douglas County, Colorado), using the political process (the reforms of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker), using technology (virtual charter schools), and home schools. They also suggest requiring that future teachers major in something other than education. (Education majors usually have a less rigorous course of study in the subjects they teach than do regular majors.) They encourage parents to become involved and aware of political strategies such as relabeling Common Core, run for school board, support candidates, and volunteer for their district’s curriculum committee.

The most important message is that citizens need to retake control. (This heightened awareness has been one of the few positive benefits of Common Core.) Part of that awareness, I would add, should also be about potential dangers, such as bad charter schools (some are run by radicals or foreign entities, like Gulen). Large corporations and any other entity running schools require scrutiny as well.

Conform provides a great overview and starting place for anyone who wonders how our public school system came to this point and where to begin to retake control.

RELATED VIDEO:

Glenn Beck announced a “call to action” that will take place on July 22, which he said will arm Americans with the knowledge to speak out against Common Core education standards.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/_0DD3NXsrU4[/youtube]

Planned Parenthood Staffer Tells 15-Year-Old to be a Dominatrix, Have BDSM Sex

In the first video released in its new expose’ of the Planned Parenthood abortion business, Live Action has caught a counselor for the abortion giant urging a 15-year-old to have BDSM sex and to engage in sexual relations as a dominatrix.

The entire video series catches the Planned Parenthood abortion business teaching teenagers about S&M-based sexual relationships and concepts such as gagging, whipping and asphyxiation. In a series of undercover audits, Live Action investigators documented Planned Parenthood counselors and nurses advising our investigators, who the Planned Parenthood staffers thought were minors, on how to practice torture sex.

In this and forthcoming videos, Planned Parenthood counselors encourage undercover investigators posting as 15 and 16-year-old teens, to engage in the sadomasochistic practices, telling the underage teens  “if it’s consensual, it’s OK… it’s totally OK.”

Read more.

RELATED ARTICLES:

EXPOSED: Planned Parenthood Goes a Step Too Far
ObamaCore Emerges As a Major Issue As Education Takes An Orwellian Turn – The New York Sun

Why Would WaPo Wait Three Months to Release a Bill Gates Interview?

On Saturday, June 7, 2014, Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post published this article based on a 28-minute interview she had with billionaire Common Core State Standards (CCSS) funder, Bill Gates. In the interview, Gates spills quite a bit of “insider information,” not the least of which is that in the summer of 2008, then-Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) President Gene Wilhoit and national-standards-writing-company-gone-nonprofit Student Achievement Partners (SAP) founder and CEO– and CCSS “architect”– David Coleman approached him about bankrolling CCSS.

The Gates purse would fund not only organizations positioned on the inside of the CCSS effort, including CCSSO, SAP, the National Governors Association (NGA), the Hunt Institute, Fordham Institute, and Education Trust, but also scores of auxiliary organizations useful in “implementing” CCSS, including both national teachers unions.

As Layton notes, support for CCSS was intentionally strategized:

With the Gates money, the Hunt Institute coordinated more than a dozen organizations — many of them also Gates grantees — including the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, National Council of La Raza, the Council of Chief State School Officers, National Governors Association, Achieve and the two national teachers unions.

The Hunt Institute held weekly conference calls between the players that were directed by Stefanie Sanford, who was in charge of policy and advocacy at the Gates Foundation. They talked about which states needed shoring up, the best person to respond to questions or criticisms and who needed to travel to which state capital to testify, according to those familiar with the conversations. [Emphasis added.]

In the interview, Gates notes that he decided to financially support CCSS because he “believes in” the standards.  However, in March 2014, Gates is quite clear in an interview with the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) that his support of CCSS was because “scale is good for free market competition.”

Gates is all but “free market.” In bankrolling CCSS, he purchased American public education. Incredibly, the federal government is fine with that. After all, USDOE already had an incestuous relationship with the Gates Foundation. As Layton notes:

Several top players in Obama’s Education Department who shaped the administration’s policies came either straight from the Gates Foundation in 2009 or from organizations that received heavy funding from the foundation. [Emphasis added.]

Indeed, as Layton points out, Gates’ influence upon the White House manifests via multiple, interrelated connections– connections that swiftly advanced CCSS before America knew what had hit it:

While the Gates Foundation created the burst of momentum behind the Common Core, the Obama administration picked up the cause and helped push states to act quickly.

There was so much cross-pollination between the foundation and the administration, it is difficult to determine the degree to which one may have influenced the other. [Emphasis added.]

Undoubtedly, this Gates interview was chock full of sensational news.

So, here’s a looming question:

Why did Layton wait three months until releasing the Gates interview video and her article?

The 28-minute video that is part of Layton’s June 7, 2014, article includes the following descriptor:

Bill Gates sat down with The Post’s Lyndsey Layton in March to defend the Gates Foundation’s pervasive presence in education and its support of the Common Core. Here is the full, sometimes tense, interview[Emphasis added.]

The video specifies the interview date as March 14, 2014.

Maybe Gates was tense because in March 2014, he was clearly trying to “protect his investment,” so to speak, and save the standards, which Gates told the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards needed protecting– otherwise America would be “back to what we had before.”

What, to state standards not bankrolled by one billionaire?

Why wait three months?

I do believe I know exactly why.

As of March 14, 2014, 39 states and DC were in legislative session– a session that was particularly stormy for “state led” CCSS.

By Saturday, June 7, that number dropped to 11 and DC, with 6 and DC having no session end to anticipate.

2014 legis map

For a larger view click on the map.

State legislative session graphic for Friday, June 6, 2014  Note: Map has two errors: South Carolina and Vermont sessions had ended (June 5 and May 10, respectively). Also, Virginia’s special session was on budget and Medicaid.

Hold the story until the first Saturday in June, when most legislatures are no longer in session.

Quite the standards-rescuing coincidence, n’est-ce pas?

Like my writing? Read my newly-released ed “reform” whistle blower, A Chronicle of Echoes: Who’s Who in the Implosion of American Public Education

Florida Governor Rick Scott Signs Bill to give Illegals Instate Tuition

There is growing outrage with the Republican controlled legislature and Governor Rick Scott for giving illegals instate tuition at Florida’s colleges and universities. Here is a comment about Governor Scott signing  HB 851 on the Miami Herald blog:

The only bill that the citizens want regarding illegal aliens and university is that the universities must turn them in to the authorities for deportation when they become aware that they are involved in the universities. The voters have been won over by this scott after they initially doubted him as a political novice thanks to his exemplary fiscal stewardship but actions such as this threaten to damage the great amount of goodwill that this scott has generated. As this oddly named commentor has pointed out democrat primary voters are worried because their party leaders continue to ignore them and give party leader preferred status to the scumbag crist, a Trojan horse sent by republicans to ensure their easy victory as the much predicted crist campaign meltdown has in fact occurred. The most horrible crist has already offended many in this area who were born in or have ties to cuba with his support for communist dictators and many other offensive behaviors and activities.

Posted by: ed jenkins | June 09, 2014 at 09:39 AM

Some have rephrased the Karl Marx ideal of wealth redistribution and re-branded it for Governor Rick Scott:

“From each legal Florida citizen according to his ability, to each illegal in Florida according to his need”

Is this political posturing, crony capitalism, a violation of federal laws or all of the above? The Miami Herald reports:

Gov. Rick Scott on Monday signed legislation that allows students who are undocumented immigrants to qualify for less expensive in-state tuition at Florida colleges and universities. The bill (HB 851), sponsored by Rep. Jeannette Nunez, R-Miami, was one of the most intensely debated during the 2014 legislative session in Tallahassee. Scott signed the bill as he embarked on a week-long campaign swing focusing on his support for keeping higher education affordable in Florida, whille [sic] criticizing Democratic opponent Charlie Crist for having supported tuition hikes when he was a Republican governor. Scott plans stops in Fort Myers, Boca Raton, Miami, Orlando and Pensacola. The immigrant tuition bill passed the House 84-32 but was stalled in the Senate until Scott enlisted the public support of two former Republican governors, Jeb Bush and Bob Martinez, both of whom called on the Senate to take action. “Dreamer” students, dressed in orange mortar boards, were a freqent presence in the Capitol Rotunda this past spring as they rallied support for the measure. Read more.

According to  Hans A. von Spakovsky and Charles D. Stimson giving in-state college tuition to illegal aliens violates federal law. The following from their November 2011 column titled “Providing In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens: A Violation of Federal Law“:

Federal law prohibits state colleges and universities from providing in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens “on the basis of residence within the State”—unless the same in-state rates are offered to all citizens of the United States. Today, 12 states are circumventing this federal law, and the legal arguments offered to justify such actions are untenable, no matter what other policy arguments are offered in their defense. Because at least one federal court of appeals has held that there is no private right of action under the specific statute in question—§ 1623 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996—the U.S. Department of Justice must enforce this statutory provision against states that have violated federal law. Yet even as it sues states like Arizona and Alabama for trying to assist the enforcement of federal immigration law, the U.S. government refuses to sue states that are incontrovertibly and brazenly violating an unambiguous federal immigration law. Such inaction is unacceptable: The President and the Attorney General have an obligation to enforce every provision of the United State’s comprehensive federal immigration regulations—including the federal law prohibiting state colleges and universities from providing in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens “on the basis of residence within the State.”

Read the full Spakovsky and Stimson column by clicking here. Every Florida Legislative session has examples of bad public policy. Policy that turns into law, which clearly illustrate a disconnect between Florida elected officials and their citizen constituents. This is a prime example. RELATED POLICY: Florida’s Agenda 21 – Governor Rick Scott’s Executive Order 13-319, October 2013.

Online Course: Sex, Lies and Women’s Studies

Conservative University’s online “Sex, Lies and Women’s Studies” course, a joint project with the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) and Network of Enlightened Women (NeW), features five classes taught by conservative leaders:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/WT8uMLWS5mI[/youtube]

The goal of this course offered by Conservative University’s Accuracy in Academia is to debunk the misinformation being spewed out to students in leftist Women’s Studies courses all over the country. The first AIA course contains six classes, each one lasting 10 minutes, and featuring prominent, high-profile conservative women, who will explain the other side of the story, from the standpoint of conservative “feminists.”

Fox News contributor Kate Obenshain, health policy expert Hadley Heath, economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth, best-selling author Star Parker and NeW founder/president Karin Agness generously agreed to donate their time to help educateactivate and empower female college students by unmasking the leftist women’s studies programs prevalent on college campuses, while deconstructing the so-called conservative “War on Women.”

Additionally, the course will document the proud tradition, views and heroism of conservative feminists by telling their valiant stories and airing their views on the following topics:

-ObamaCare

-birth control

-how the gender-pay gap is a media-created fantasy

-the importance of combating poverty

-getting involved in the conservative movement

It’s difficult to believe that in 21st century America, women, especially college students, are being herded into single-issue political groups that do not represent an honest portrayal of their views. But it’s true.

The fact is, the powerful, politically correct hierarchy in academia has succeeded in making a mockery of academic freedom by using coercion to mandate certain views on campus as acceptable and virtually extinguish any other perspectives. This has resulted in the chilling of free speech on campuses around the country.

That’s why it’s so important to unveil this ongoing deception and connect students with provable facts so they can exercise their intelligence without the ideological filter from radical professors and administrators.

We strongly encourage you to become one of our partners in this groundbreaking effort to shine the light of truth on the biased and inaccurate courses that have mischaracterized Women’s Studies as the only way for women to view their position in today’s world.

Please help us make this course a reality by contributing today!

If you pledge right now and then get 10 friends and family members to contribute, together we can build momentum to end the “War on Women” now!

Today, it is more important than ever to support the groups whose values you share. Thank you for helping us make history by taking some great strides forward to combat the false liberal and radical feminist narrative!

Sincerely,

Your Team at Conservative University, Independent Women’s Forum and Network of Enlightened Women

Wisdom Not Taught in College: Ten life lessons from a long-time warrior in the battle of ideas by John Blundell

About 30 years ago, I was sitting in a rural roadside diner outside Milwaukee. My host, a wealthy businessman, had chosen the spot close to one of his factories. It was an all-day breakfast type of place.

I was there to pitch him for around $10,000 per year for The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS), and I was batting on a good wicket—to use a cricket term from my native England. I knew I was aceing the “ask” and the food was so good I started tossing easy pitches his way, which allowed him to talk and me to eat.

Out poured a ton of deep frustration with his alma mater. He agreed straight away that he would start giving us $10K, and while he deeply resented the same amount going to his Ivy League alma mater, he felt obliged—not happy—to do so.

On my flight home to Dulles I mulled on this, and back in the office next day I dictated (I realize this dates the incident) a letter thanking him for his $10,000 pledge. I went on to suggest that he also give us the other $10,000 currently reserved for the alma mater for my colleagues to invest in the few good free-market students and faculty we knew there. He loved the idea! (The college involved howled.) Other donors got wind of this and we soon had several college-specific funds.

Now, I could talk about making the same philanthropic dollar do two or three jobs all day long (see in particular the business model of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty) but the lesson here is this:

1. Listen more than you speak.

From that day on I have set a goal of speaking for 30 to 40 percent of the time and listening for the rest when in such one-on-one meetings.

Nine more lessons

Listen more than you speak was the first of 10 lessons I recently sent to Kayla, the daughter of my good friends in Tampa, Florida, as she graduated high school. Her parents, I hasten to add, had had the idea of asking for my input and they transmitted this and 10 other lessons to Kayla on her big day. Today, I would like to share them with other sons and daughters.

So what were my other nine lessons?

2. Do not speak at meetings just for the sake of speaking.

Do not be the person who thinks a meeting did not really take place unless they spoke—and hopefully very loudly and at great length. Be a sniper with a sound suppressor who always hits the target. Don’t be some manic machine-gunner who wastes half his bullets. Team members quickly separate the windbags from those who speak only when they add value.

3. You must treat all people at the same high level.

In one sense there are no VIPs; in another sense we’re all VIPs. Even if you have a mental model of VIPs versus LIPs (less) you will fail to implement it because you cannot obtain or possess the knowledge needed to make such a distinction all the time. You might score 90 percent, but suddenly some hobo will turn out to own 1 percent of Apple and you ignored him (you were even abrupt with him) while I opened the door, brought him a cup of tea, and listened to him.

Here’s a true story:

In 1983, as a director of IHS in Menlo Park, California, I was on the receiving end of a classic crank letter. It was hand-written using multicolored ink on paper that did not fit the envelope. The outside was littered with anti-USPS slogans—it was a miracle it got to me. The author argued that we should go into competition with the Nobel folk in Scandinavia so as to bring attention to liberty lovers.

Well, I scrunched it up and chucked it away. All day it sat there atop my bin and at some point I retrieved it, smoothed it out, and replied.

I wrote that going into competition would blow our budget; that with Hayek (’74) and Friedman (’76) and Stigler (’82) our guys were starting to win Nobels and I was sure more would come; and that there was much better leverage in doing what we were in fact already doing: “discovering, developing, and supporting young people who share our concerns and who have the potential to impact the war of ideas hopefully going further and faster with our support than otherwise would be the case.”

My reply went to a not very impressive address north of us in Washington or Oregon. Roll forward five years and IHS is now at GMU in northern Virginia. One day my mail contained a letter from a bank manager near Atlanta. Could I please confirm in writing that our mission was still “discovering, developing, and supporting young people who share our concerns and who have the potential to impact the war of ideas hopefully going further and faster with our support than otherwise would be the case” and provide already printed backup to substantiate this claim?

I was puzzled but easily and quickly complied. About 10 days later the bank replied that it was satisfied and was pleased to inform me that a client of the bank had used its legal department to write his will and had left IHS every last dollar/piece of land he owned, totaling several hundred thousand dollars. The name of the man rang no bells. I scurried downstairs and over to our ‘Alpha’ files, found his name, and felt my knees go wobbly on me—the only letter on file to this man was my reply to his multicolored crank missive. He was indeed from Georgia; he had kept his banking and will there despite moving to the Pacific Northwest where he . . . wait for it . . . mowed lawns.

4. The worst thing you can do is to make excessive promises and then fail to deliver on time or at the right level.

Don’t get so desperate for the work (or whatever it is) that you become sucked into overpromising, which inevitably leads to underdelivering—and thus a big dent in your reputation. Promise slightly under what you are pretty certain you can deliver. Then when you come in with more of whatever it is and say earlier than promised, watch your reputation soar.

5. Remember my friend Mr. Cadbury (and your cheeks).

Yes, that Mr. Cadbury. Our sons were school chums and his boy’s birthday party sure beat ours. Now, he has to buy raw ingredients in less developed countries where paying bribes is simply built into the local business model. His staff asked what they should do. His reply was that you may pay bribes on two conditions. First, you must get a signed receipt for the accounts department at home. Second, you must ask yourself: “Will I be ashamed if the story of this bribe appears on page 1 of the company newsletter?”  If you answer “no” and can get a receipt, then go for it!

So how does this translate to you? I suggest operating on the basis that, even if something is perfectly legal, you do not do it if the thought of news of your action spreading in your circles makes your cheeks turn red. (This is a variation on the “Front Page Test.”)

6. Learn how and when to say thank you.

Always say thank you, but not too often, and not over the top. These days an emailed thank you is so easy it is seriously devalued. It’s close to meaningless. When my younger son recently started a big new job I bought him a box of high quality notecards and envelopes with a supply of stamps. Keep these on hand, I told him, so when a thank you is in order you have the tools right there on your desk.

Here are two more wrinkles. One: The cards I personally use are unique to me—photos taken either near our place in Florida or near our summer cabin in West Virginia. People attach them to fridges or pin boards—I know because they tell me and then I see them when I visit! It keeps me in mind. Second: I write fan letters on these cards. There’s an old saying that for every 100 folk who think, “I should write that person a fan letter,” only one actually does. I write fan letters and also what I call “cheer up letters” when I read of folks who are down.

7. Only speak well of people.

Let me tell you the story of my friend Randy. Right out of law school he became a public prosecutor. The culture in his whole department was to make life miserable for everyone in the public defender’s office. It was the local year-round sport, a daily matter with all involved—except Randy. He did not complain; he just kept his head down and treated his opponents with respect and in a mannerly way. After a while, Randy went on the law professor job market. He was hired and is still having a brilliant career.

A few months after he started in his new job, the dean of his law school told him some background to the hiring decision. It turned out the dean had roomed at law school with the head of the public defender’s office. They still went to lunch or chatted for an hour every month. When Randy applied, the dean asked his longstanding friend for his view of him—a reference not listed on his CV. Well, the dean got a glowing reply on the lines of Randy is the only person over there who treats my staff with respect. And so on. Even Randy was astonished by the thought that those hiring him would seek out the opinions of the public defender’s office. One simply never knows.

8. Keep your word always.

When you give your word, you enter a contract. Your word is your bond, as they say. I once saw this close up, in action. A young woman named Mary had just graduated in special education, but the market was tight. In August she accepted a job at a small, private religious school paying very little. She signed the contract and mailed the envelope.

Later that very same day the local public school system offered her pretty much the same job at more than twice the salary. Her family was furiously trying to think of ways she could get out of her contract with the private school and she asked my advice.

Your word is your bond, I said. And you do not want to start a 40+ year career by breaking a contract. However, I went on, there’s no reason why you should not reply on the lines of:

  • Thank you;
  • I would love to have that opening;
  • However the the very day your offer arrived I had signed a 10-month contract to go to St. X school;
  • I cannot break my word, so I’m sorry to turn you down; however
  • If there’s an opening in the future please do bear me in mind.

Word of her principled response reached every senior regional educator in her field, and well before her just-signed contract expired, new ones were on offer. She took a short-term hit by doing the right thing, but doing the right thing paid huge longer-term dividends.

9. Work hard on your public speaking and writing skills.

Whatever your career path, you will be communicating. And far too many people just assume they can do it. Or they cop out. The biggest of all cop-outs is to have the lights turned down while the so-called speaker reads aloud from a series of slides. It is embarrassing and rude. If all the speaker is going to do is read, I might has well have been sent the slides and not be there. So work on those skills and watch the investment bring dividends.

10. Have a private internal commitment to excellence.

Never take on a job or assignment unless you can deliver at an A+ level. But even turning down an offer can bring positives—especially if, hand on heart, you can say, “Look, I’d love to help but Jay would do a better job on this one.” Remember: What goes around comes around. Eight A+ results always top 10 A- results.

Now, I had promised you 10 lessons. Remember what I said about overdelivering? In that spirit, here’s one more lesson:

11. Be super-cautious and alert to the dangers of social media.

We are seeing more reputations—rightly or wrongly—damaged more quickly than at any other time in history. Remember that anything you put on social media can spread like wildfire, and anything anyone else puts on social media about you can spread like wildfire, as well.

ABOUT JOHN BLUNDELL

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is courtesy of FEE and Shutterstock.

Teaching Our Children How to Deceive

There is a grand belief that the education system in the United States, from elementary school to college, is the best that can be and that our children are learning the truth from objective and well informed educators. While many educators are indeed ‘the best’ and worthy of praise (though few get it), the reality is that our system of education in this country is infected with a cancer of progressive thought that not only teaches our children an unbalanced view of the world, but actually teachers them to deceive.

This sad state of affairs has been the product of decades of creeping liberalism and progressive ideology that has taken deep root within the leadership of our education organizations, teachers unions and the current administration in Washington, D.C. The evidence of this affliction is found all around us; in our local and state classrooms and our esteemed, internationally recognized universities. As our children flow through these institutions they cannot but exit with a biased, one-sided understanding of how the world turns and why. This lamentable condition is best evidenced by a study of how we teach climate science.

Every classroom in the state of Florida teaches a version of climate science that derives its scientific basis from text books that in turn have been drafted by information whose source is the myth of man made climate change or in other words the greenhouse gas theory of climate change. This theory was disproved after it was first made famous by Svante Arrhenius in 1896. Yet for political, not scientific reasons, it persists. Future climate scenarios that many teachers have parroted in their lesson plans have come directly or indirectly from twenty years of highly questionable research by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN-IPCC). From a review of its most recent 2007 report which is based on the myth of man’s influence over the Earth’s climate by human CO2 emissions, we can now see that all of their predictions for what our climate should be in 2012 have been wrong. The greenhouse gas theory simply doesn’t work and never has! Yet this report and ones before it have been a primary source of the US education system’s science on the functioning of the Earth’s climate.

In a local Sarasota school, Pine View, this has taken on a disastrous character in teaching our students deception when is comes to the climate. According to an article by Dr. Rich Swier, one science teacher at Pine View not only does not have any formal science education whatsoever, which is indictment enough of the failings of our education system, yet his tool for teaching climate change is to play a DVD of “An Inconvenient Truth” by former VP Al Gore. Not only has this movie and the science behind it been thoroughly discredited, but here we have an excellent example of how we deceive our children through a politically polluted education curriculum. These children will in turn take this false information in their heads for the rest of their lives deceiving many others and later their own children. How tragic!

This is how it starts. If we permit our educators to put invalid and false information in our youngest most impressionable minds, the very nature of our country is changed decades ahead as these future adults cast votes and take up leadership positions or compete for elected office or themselves begin to teach other students.

Regrettably, this sickness within our education system nationally and here in Florida does not stop at the elementary or primary levels but continues through our colleges and universities where progressive teaching is even more entrenched.

My own experience says much about this area of how we teach our children to deceive.

Despite the clear failings of the greenhouse gas theory, it remains the dominant climate theory in Florida’s centers of higher education and in the many “green” science departments of our most prominent and largest institutions. My own credentials in the field of climate science are based on solid research and unlike the UN-IPCC reports, illuminated by proven results. As the father of the “Relational Cycle Theory of Climate Change, or RC Theory for short, I have accrued a track record of correctly made major climate change predictions that exceeds that of the UN, NASA, and NOAA. I have been a White House, Congressional and NASA headquarters adviser  head of a climate science research corporation which includes other recognized researchers, and author of an internationally acclaimed climate science book, “Cold Sun.”

Yet even with these credits I have been denied the opportunity to speak to students at three Florida universities or colleges.

In one case, the University of South Florida, I was at first invited in to speak, participated in setting up a schedule to speak to several classes along with a book signing and then unceremoniously told everything was called off for a reason which was nebulous at best. Apparently after they learned what I was going to talk about and that I was not a tenured PhD at another university, I was deemed not credible.

Though I have asked officials at the University of Central Florida, and Valencia Community College, two of the nation’s largest of their type, if they would like me to speak on the climate, the answer up front without much consideration was “No thanks.” I am convinced that if I were an expert on the greenhouse gas theory and had a copy of Inconvenient Truth to play for the students and willing to spout the politically correct, though scientifically incorrect version of climate change, they would have been begging for me to come on campus. The responses to my offers within the liberal education system here in Florida have been clear. Our best institutions of higher learning only want the deception of man made climate change to be taught and nothing else. It is after all the only kind of university climate research the leadership in Washington is willing to fund.

In the many presentations I have given throughout the state of Florida on the subject of climate change, the audiences have been enthusiastic in their approval. They are the parents and grandparents of the very same students that the Florida education system abuses with a corrupted version of climate science rather than teach what is really happening with the climate. They continue to deceive our children by telling them the Earth is getting warmer, when the truth is that global warming ended years ago. They are taught that sea levels will continue to rise and will swamp our coastal cities by 2100 when all the facts say the rate of sea level rise is rapidly dropping and we will soon see nothing but declining ocean levels as the world’s oceans continue their next natural cycle of cooling. They are unabashed in saying than man controls the climate by industrial CO2 emissions when the true amount of man’s CO2 contribution is insignificant compared to the amount of naturally produced CO2, over which we have zero control. The so-called experts in climate science in Florida’s education system tell their students that the Sun is overheating and threatening us with destructive solar flares when the truth is that the Sun has entered a rare state of “hibernation” or its own version of cooling, from which if history repeats, will bring to the planet decades of record cold climate. We routinely have our young children being told that polar bears are endangered by man’s greenhouse gas emissions – an utter falsehood! By official estimates polar bears have almost tripled in number since the 60’s, and especially in the 80’s and 90’s during the period of what we have called man made global warming!

This grand deception on what we teach our children about the climate is probably repeated in other subject areas. It all comes from an education system that long ago left the world of reality for the true goal of progressive indoctrination that unfortunately ends up teaching our children how to deceive themselves, those around them, and some day deceive their own children.