FL Middle school quiz asks – “What Kind Of Party Animal Are You?”

Dr. Fran Adams, Superintendent of Indian River County School District

“I was contacted tonight by a group of parents wanting answers. This quiz (survey) below was given to Ms. [Megan] Kendrick’s 7th grade Pre-AP Civics class last week at Storm Grove Middle School in Indian River County,” writes Laura Zorc, SE FL State Coordinator for Florida Parents Against Common Core (FPACC).

The What Kind of Party Animal Are You? quiz states: “Take this quiz to get a sense of which party, the Republican or the Democrat, is the better fit for you. Remember, you do not have to pick a party – you may remain Independent. You may also change your party.”

Question #1: “I would support a government increase of my taxes if the money were used to pay for expanded health and social programs.”

Question #2: “I think the government should impose stricter limits on access to guns.”

Question #3: “I believe organized prayer should be kept out of schools. Having students pray is a violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

Question #4: “I would support drilling for oil in a wildlife refuge to help reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.”

Question #5: “I believe that looking out for U.S. interests abroad must come first, even if that means the U.S. takes action without the approval of the United Nations or our allies.”

Question #6: “I believe if you have nothing to hide, theres no reason to worry about government surveillance. It would not bother me if my government listened in on my personal phone calls as long as the surveillance was helping to catch terrorists.”

Question #7: “I believe the government should relax regulations on immigration and find a way for law-abiding illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. legally and pay taxes.”

NOTE: The answer choices for each question are – Agree (one point), Not Sure (two points), Disagree (three points).

According to Jennifer Idlette-Williams, Principal of Storm Grove Middle School, “The survey What Kind of Party Animal Are You? came from page 14 of the Junior Scholastic Magazine, which is a state approved resource for Florida’s mandatory Civics state curriculum. All three of the Civics teachers at Storm Grove use the survey, and other Indian River middle schools have used it. No grades were attached to the survey and no names were linked to the survey. There was no parental opt out for taking the survey as it is part of the state approved curricula.” Principal Idette-Williams noted, “Students could create their own political party animal. One student created a frog, which can live in the water or on land. This student would be comfortable with both parties.”

What kind of a party animal are you

Quiz used in Civics class. For a larger view click on the image.

According to Zorc, “The students were told that they could not take this Quiz/Survey home, they had to complete [it] at school. One student felt that they must consult with ‘his or her’ parent and did not feel comfortable filling it out. In other words the student had to ‘smuggle it out’ as described to me. (NOTE: Child is afraid of getting in trouble and we will can not disclose identity of child)”

Zorc states, “After you read this quiz/survey, as a parent you will be appalled by material being taught. Parents are outraged at the way the questions are presented.” See teacher’s weekly agenda to notice that this assignment is Common Core State Standards aligned.

“Parents want an explanation to why a ‘civics’ (a study of the theoretical practical aspects of citizenship, its rights and duties…) curriculum aligned to Common Core State Standards is being taught? The FL DOE had been emphatic that CCSS is only going to be taught in English Language Arts and Math only. Secondly, parents want to know ‘who’ approved this curriculum material being taught?” asks Zorc. According to the school principal the FLDOE approved the use of this material.

Parents, concerned citizens and members of FPACC plan to attend the September 24th Indian River County School Board meeting to ask that this material be removed from the public school district curriculum.

EDITORS NOTE: WDW – FL has calls into the school district and school board requesting information including who authorized the use of this quiz, what other schools have used it and how is the data from the quiz used. We are awaiting a reply and will post an update.

Online Survey: City of Sarasota, FL wants to repeal Stand Your Ground – do you agree?

The City of Sarasota, FL has experienced a 34% decrease in the City’s taxable property since 2008, which has affected the City’s operating revenues and levels of services. The Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liability (UAAL) for the City’s three defined benefit plans and Other Post Employment Benefit (OPEB) plan was $296 million as of September 30, 2012. The City has a investment in capital assets net of related debt of $161,031,693 in 2012, up $4.91 million from 2011. The City has unrestricted net assets of $64,273,514. (NOTE: Although the City’s investment in its capital assets is reported net of related debt, it should still be noted that the resources needed to repay this debt must be provided from other sources, since the capital assets themselves cannot be used to liquidate these liabilities.)

At the end of the current fiscal year, the City had a total bonded debt outstanding of $142,008,656. Of this amount, $42,909,043 comprises debt backed by the full faith and credit of the City. The City’s interest on long-term debt in 2012 was $4,519,066. The City of Sarasota is on a path to become a mini-Detroit.

So what is top of mind with the City Commissioners? Repeal of Florida’s Stand Your Ground (SYG) statute.

Please take the Online Survey at the end of the column.

According to Allison Neilson from Sunshine State News, “When outlining the major legislative priorities for its 2014 agenda, the Sarasota City Commission voted to support a repeal of Florida’s Stand Your Ground laws. The repeal was listed in the City Commission’s document titled Revised Final 2014 Legislative Priorities.”

The City Commission vote was taken on September 7th, just days before the September 10th recall vote in Colorado where two Democrat legislators were ousted for their support of gun control.

The ball is now in the court of the Sarasota Legislative Delegation headed by FL Senator Nancy Detert (R). Delegation members include: FL Representatives Jim Boyd (R), Ray Pilon (R), Darryl Rouson (D), Greg Steube (R) and Doug Holder (R).

The National Rifle Association Institute for Legal Action (NRA-ILA) has already weighed in on this City initiative. The NRA-ILA sent out an email to members asking them to contact the Sarasota Legislative Delegation members and ask them to oppose the City’s priority to repeal SYG. The NRA-ILA states, “The ‘Stand your Ground’ statute gives back rights that have been eroded or taken away by a judicial system that, at times, appears to give preferential treatment to criminals.”

“The City Commission can’t expect a victim to wait before taking action to protect himself and his family and say, ‘excuse me, Mr. Criminal, are you here breaking into my home to rape and kill me or are you just here to beat me up and steal my TV set? And by the way what kind of weapon do you have?'”, asks the NRA-ILA.

WDW has asked Sarasota Legislative Delegation members for a statement on the City’s priority to repeal SYG. No replies have been received as of the publication of this column.

The NRA-ILA notes, “A law-abiding citizen should not have to worry about being arrested or prosecuted if you use force to defend yourself or your family. You should be able to presume that anyone who unlawfully intrudes is there to harm you.”

To view the results of this survey as a pie chart click here.

RELATED:

Total Recall: Colorado Lawmakers Ousted in Historic Vote

Florida Second Amendment Protection Act Goes LIVE!

Everything You’ve Ever Been Told About How You Learn Is A Lie

Popular Science has published research which debunks the three myths your teachers told you about how your brain learns. This means teachers and administrators have for a long time been taking education down the wrong path.

Shaunacy Ferro writes, “Many of the theories of ‘brain-based‘ education, a method of instruction supposedly based on neuroscience, have been largely debunked by rigorous science. Brain-based education studies are usually poorly designed and badly controlled. Nevertheless, myths about how we learn persist in the popular imagination, and, most importantly, in educational materials and references for teachers.” Ferro describes the three myths:

1. We Learn Best When Teaching Is Tailored To Our Learning Style

Every child is a beautiful, unique snowflake, as the theory goes, and every individual learns in a slightly different way. Some of us learn best by hearing, others by seeing information displayed as pictures, still others by reading words on a page. One study found that there are more than 70 different learning styles, which usually categorize people into dichotomous types, like visual versus verbal or active versus reflective, or, in the case of the Myers-Briggs test, Introversion Intuition Feeling Judging versus Extraversion Sensing Thinking Perceiving. According to what many psychologists label the learning styles hypothesis, instructors should teach in a way that targets our various learning styles, what’s called “meshing.” Sounds fair enough.

Except for years, the evidence has been mounting that a curriculum tailored toward a specific learning style isn’t any more effective than just, well, teaching.

2. Some People Are Left-Brained, Some People Are Right-Brained

According to common lore, certain people use the left side of their brain more, while others use their right side–just like being right- or left-handed. Left-brain thinkers are more logical, while right-brain thinkers are more creative. The left brain is responsible for language, while the right brain is used for visual and spatial processing.

To some extent, it’s true that the two sides of the brain are associated with certain activities. But that doesn’t mean you think or learn with just one side.

3. __ Will Make You Smarter

“For defined periods in Great Britain and the United States, the memorization of poetry was not an elective pursuit but a mandatory element of mass educational systems,” NYU professor Catherine Robson describes in her book Heart Beats: Everyday Life and the Memorized Poem. One reason was that educators saw memorizing poetry as a kind of brain calisthenics that could help improve other realms of cognition, too.

“We’ve been doing that for centuries,” Kirshner says. “We used to think if you teach students the classical languages they’ll be able to think better… in that way you would be better in all subjects.” Though we no longer place too much importance on learning Greek and Latin or memorizing epic poems, the basic principle lingers. “We still think there’s some kind of universal way we can pump up our brain,” he says.

Ferro’s bottom line: A “learning style” curriculum won’t affect the way you learn. You don’t only use half of your brain, so being taught to your “left-brain” or “right-brain” won’t help you, either. Fiddling with an iPhone app? Unlikely. And as for the validity of “brain-based” education techniques–that term should really apply to all teaching. Larry Alferink, a professor emeritus of psychology at Illinois State University, says, “[A]ll education is brain-based. It is impossible to learn without a brain.”

Read the full Ferro Popular Science article.

Study: Florida’s Marginal Tax Rate at 42.6% – Ouch!

This week the Tax Foundation is featuring two new maps which pull data from a Fiscal Fact released last week, “Individual Tax Rates Impact Business Activity Due to High Number of Pass-Throughs,” and look at the top marginal tax rates for sole proprietorships and S-corporations throughout the states. In his study, economist Kyle Pomerleau explains that more than 30 million pass-through businesses file their taxes at the individual rate, and why a large percentage of those businesses have a marginal tax rate exceeding 40 percent.

According to the Tax Foundation: The map [above] is not examining the effective rates of businesses in the top bracket, but rather, the top marginal tax rate on (S-Corporations/Sole Proprietorships) in each state. A “marginal” rate is the amount that is taxed of the next dollar of income earned by pass-through businesses in each state’s highest tax bracket. These rates reflect the sum of federal, state, and local income taxes (minus the state and local tax deduction); self-employment taxes; and the limitation on itemized deductions.

View the Tax Foundation map archive here.

ABOUT THE TAX FOUNDATION:

Founded in 1937, the Tax Foundation is the nation’s leading independent, non-partisan organization providing sound research and analysis on federal and state tax policy. The Tax Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our offices are located in the National Press Building in Washington, DC.

FL Human Rights Organizations defeat Miami-Dade “Transsexual” Ordinance

Recently, the Christian Family Coalition (CFC), a Florida based human rights and social justice advocacy organization, with seventeen other civil and human rights organizations held a press conference at Miami-Dade County Hall to permanently defeat the discriminatory “Transsexual” ordinance.

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Bruno Barreiro

The ordinance was sponsored by Miami-Dade Commissioners Audrey Edmonson and Bruno Barreiro. The “Transsexual” ordinance would allow men dressed up as women or pretending to be women to use women’s bathrooms, dressing rooms, locker rooms, and showers. Furthermore, in the area of employment, it would legalize the firing of anyone disagreeing with this policy simply because of who they are and what they believe.

“We must make sure that this discriminatory ‘Transsexual’ ordinance never returns,” said Nathaniel J. Wilcox, Director of  People United to Lead the Struggle for Equality (PULSE), a South Florida civil rights organization.

CFC notes, “Even though the ordinance was never approved, it claimed its first victim when Commission Vice-Chair Lynda Bell was threatened and dehumanized by the extremists pushing the ordinance.”

“I am truly grateful to Miami-Dade Commission Vice Chair Lynda Bell for doing her duty as a public servant and voting against a proposed ordinance on its first reading,” Teresita “Tessie” Miglio said at Monday’s press conference. “Unfortunately, she became a victim of discrimination and hate by the very group that was trying to force this discriminatory law on every Miami-Dade County resident. Commissioner Bell, please know that there are numerous human rights organizations that proudly stand by you.”

“Today, we are calling on Commissioners, Edmonson, Barreiro, Jordan and Heyman to sign the CFC Anti-Discrimination Challenge to make sure this discriminatory ordinance never returns to Miami-Dade County,” stated Anthon Verdugo, CFC Founder and Executive Director.

CFC protest against Transgender ordinance. For a larger view click on the photo.

The “transsexual” proposal, passed 11-1 on first reading. Commission Vice Chairwoman Lynda Bell casting the lone vote against it. The proposal then went to the commission’s Health and Social Services Committee, comprised of chairwoman Edmonson, Bell, Commissioners Jose “Pepe” Diaz, Jean Monestime and Javier D. Souto.

After intense lobbying by the CFC and a broad coalition of human rights organizations, ordinance co-sponsors withdrew it on Aug. 13, when they realized they did not have the votes to pass it in committee.

According to CFC, “Now, Miami-Dade residents and human rights activists are asking all four ordinance sponsors to lead by example by signing the ‘NO to Discrimination Challenge‘.”

State Senator Nancy Detert is one of those behind an effort to recognize domestic partnerships (a.k.a gay marriage) in Florida. Many believe Detert would support transgender ordinances like the one defeated in Miami-Dade County. According to the Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC), “On February 20, 2013 at approximately 3:25 p.m. in the Florida Senate Children and Families committee (which Detert is a member), a deceptive and highly controversial bill died. The bill, SB 196, was labeled as a domestic partnership but actually attempted to create a full blown civil union and a form of homosexual marriage in direct violation of the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment passed by Floridians in 2008 by 62%.”

Miami-Dade Commission Transgender Ordinance video:

RELATED:

Firsthand Report on B4U-ACT Conference for ‘Minor-Attracted Persons’ — Aims at Normalizing Pedophilia

Atheist Richard Dawkins makes shocking claim about pedophilia – The Daily Caller

Christian conservatives rally at Miami-Dade County Hall against gender identity non-discrimination law

Smoking gun: Pinellas commissioners conceded on term limits in 2000

Philip Blumel from Florida Term Limits Blog reports:

A smoking gun has been uncovered in the Pinellas term limits case and the defendant’s’ fingerprints are all over it.

You may recall that Pinellas County Commission and constitutional officer term limits passed with 73 percent of the vote in 1996, but the county refused to insert the amendment into their charter as clearly required by the law due to its alleged constitutional ambiguity.

The county commission and the five constitutional officers sued the voters to get the amendment overturned. The district court denied them, upholding the constitutionality of the term limits.

The constitutional officers continued their suit and requested authorization to add the Pinellas County Commission to the appeal. However, the minutes of the 5/30/00 county commission meeting — uncovered via a FOIA request on behalf of plaintiffs in the ongoing case to force commissioners to comply with the law — clearly show that the Pinellas County Commission chose not to participate.

According to the above document, County Attorney Susan H. Churuti advised the commission of their options and the process of becoming appellants. But, the document says, “following discussion, Commissioner [and current defendant Karen] Seel moved, seconded by Commissioner Parks and carried, that the county commission do nothing and let the ruling stand.”

The constitutional officers went all the way to the Supreme Court, alone. This is why only constitutional officer term limits were reviewed in the split 2002 Cook decision that declared constitutional officer limits to be unconstitutional. The Florida Supreme Court never tackled the issue of county commission term limits until 2012 when it unanimously declared them to be constitutional. For good measure, the Supremes overturned Cook at the same time, declaring without ambiguity that charter county voters have the right to impose term limits on their public servants.

Since then, 10 of the 11 charter counties with county commission term limits are obeying the law. Most of them always did. Only Pinellas — after losing at the district level and then at the Florida Supreme Court — continues to defy the voters and the law.

ABOUT FLORIDA TERM LIMITS BLOG

Philip Blumel is president of U.S. Term Limits, a single-issue advocacy group based in Fairfax, VA, and a certified financial planner working out of downtown West Palm Beach, FL.

Florida Churches changing bylaws after gay marriage ruling

Prophecy News Watch reports:

Worried they could be sued by gay couples, some churches are changing their bylaws to reflect their view that the Bible allows only marriage between one man and one woman.

Although there have been lawsuits against wedding industry businesses that refuse to serve gay couples, attorneys promoting the bylaw changes say they don’t know of any lawsuits against churches.

Critics say the changes are unnecessary, but some churches fear that it’s only a matter of time before one of them is sued.

“I thought marriage was always between one man and one woman, but the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision said no,” said Gregory S. Erwin, an attorney for the Louisiana Baptist Convention, an association of Southern Baptist churches and one several groups advising churches to change their bylaws. “I think it’s better to be prepared because the law is changing. America is changing.”

In a June decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as between a man and a woman for purposes of federal law. A second decision was more technical but essentially ushered in legal gay marriage in California.

Kevin Snider is an attorney with the Pacific Justice Institute, a nonprofit legal defense group that specializes in conservative Christian issues. His organization released a model marriage policy a few years ago in response to a statewide gay marriage fight in California. Snider said some religious leaders have been threatened with lawsuits for declining to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies.

Dean Inserra, head pastor of the 1,000-member City Church Tallahassee, based in Florida, said he does not want to be alarmist, but his church is looking into how best to address the issue.

Inserra said he already has had to say no to gay friends who wanted him to perform a wedding ceremony.

“We have some gay couples that attend our church. What happens when they ask us to do their wedding?” Inserra said. “What happens when we say no? Is it going to be treated like a civil rights thing?”

Critics, including some gay Christian leaders, argue that the changes amount to a solution looking for a problem.

“They seem to be under the impression that there is this huge movement with the goal of forcing them to perform ceremonies that violate their freedom of religion,” said Justin Lee, executive director of the Gay Christian Network, a nonprofit that provides support for gay Christians and their friends and families and encourages churches to be more welcoming.

“If anyone tried to force a church to perform a ceremony against their will, I would be the first person to stand up in that church’s defense.”

Thirteen states and the District of Columbia now recognize gay marriage.

Some Christian denominations, such as the United Church of Christ, accept gay marriage. The Episcopal Church recently approved a blessing for same-sex couples, but each bishop must decide whether to allow the ceremony in his or her local diocese.

Read more.

Legislation introduced to stop Common Core in Florida

According to Cheryl Etters, Press Secretary for the Florida Department of Education, “The Florida State Board of Education voluntarily adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in July 2010. The Florida Department of Education strongly supports the full implementation of CCSS in the 2014-15 school year and is focused on providing local districts the support needed for a successful transition to Common Core.”

Representative Debbie Mayfield, R-District 54.

Jeffrey S. Solochek, staff writer for the Tampa Bay Times reports, “Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, has filed a bill that seeks to pull Florida out of the PARCC testing consortium, which the state has led since its inception. She also aims to halt participation in the Common Core standards, which Florida schools are in the midst of implementing, until the state holds at least one hearing on the subject in every congressional district, and conducts a fiscal analysis of the implementation.”

“The cost [to Florida] approached $100 million in the spring, with testing and other expenses still incomplete,” notes Solochek.

Governor Rick Scott was in Orlando last week to address the Americans For Prosperity 7th Annual Defending the American Dream Summit. Near the end of his prepared remarks he addressed education in Florida. At that point the shouts to “stop Common Core” became louder and louder. At one point the entire room of over 1,000 attendees began to applaud those heckling Governor Scott about Common Core.

Please watch Governor Scott’s remarks at the AFP summit. At 15:30 minutes into his talk he mentions education, at that point the heckling against Common Core began:

Governor Scott is up for reelection in 2014. Will he stop Common Core as the grassroots is demanding or will he go along with the Florida Board of Education and push its implementation?

RELATED:

Florida considering adoption of national “sexuality” education standards

Republican support for Common Core crumbles

Governor Rick Scott heckled over Common Core

Governor Rick Scott came to Orlando to address the Americans For Prosperity 7th Annual Defending the American Dream Summit. Governor Scott spoke about his many accomplishments primarily on his focus on jobs, cutting the state debt, reducing regulations on businesses and cutting taxes for both Florida taxpayers and businesses. He was applauded for his efforts and major accomplishments in two short years in each these areas.

Near the end of his prepared remarks he addressed education in Florida. At that point the shouts to “stop Common Core” became louder and louder. At one point the entire room of over 1,000 attendees began to applaud those heckling Governor Scott about Common Core.

Please watch Governor Scott’s remarks at the AFP summit. At 15:30 minutes into his talk he mentions education, at that point the heckling against Common Core began:

WDW – FL reported that according to Cheryl Etters, Press Secretary for the Florida Department of Education, “The Florida State Board of Education voluntarily adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in July 2010. The Florida Department of Education strongly supports the full implementation of CCSS in the 2014-15 school year and is focused on providing local districts the support needed for a successful transition to Common Core.”

There is a growing effort to introduce legislation during the 2014 session to take Florida out of Common Core. Chrissy Blevio from the Florida Stop Common Core Coalition states,  “After the recent release of the well-documented response [CLICK HERE] from twelve Republican leaders from all over Florida to the Common Core [HERE] put forth by Senator John Thrasher and other former Republican (RPOF) leaders, support was overwhelming from many others within the RPOF.  So much so, that twenty-five additional leaders and a few other officials have asked for their names to be added, and the letter has been released again.”

Governor Scott is up for reelection in 2014. Will he stop Common Core as the grassroots is demanding or will he go along with the Florida Board of Education and push its implementation? That is the question, which can and will sway voters.

RELATED:

Florida considering adoption of national “sexuality” education standards

Republican support for Common Core crumbles

Divorce North Korean style

Hyon Song-wol (left) now e-lover of Kim Jong-un (right). Photo courtesy of The Telegraph.

The UK Telegraph reports:

Kim Jong-un’s ex-girlfriend was among a dozen well-known North Korean performers who were executed by firing squad nine days ago, according to South Korean reports.

The reports in South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper indicate that Hyon, a singer with the Unhasu Orchestra, was among those arrested on August 17 for violating domestic laws on pornography.

All 12 were machine-gunned three days later, with other members of North Korea’s most famous pop groups and their immediate families forced to watch. The onlookers were then sent to prison camps, victims of the regime’s assumption of guilt by association, the reports stated.

“They were executed with machine guns while the key members of the Unhasu Orchestra, Wangjaesan Light Band and Moranbong Band as well as the families of the victims looked on,” said a Chinese source reported in the newspaper.

Read more.

Porography is dealt with harshly in North Korea. Or is this divorce North Korean style?

Florida considering adoption of national “sexuality” education standards

To download a copy of the National Sexuality Education Standards click on the image.

Governor Scott and interim Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart just finished hosting a summit on education in Clearwater, FL. Governor Scott called the summit but did not attend it. According to NorthEscambia.com, “The discussions largely focused on high-level ideas and few specific recommendations, such as whether the state should bail out of a consortium of states developing new tests for the nationwide “common core” standards now being implemented in Florida classrooms.”

One of the Common Core standards not discussed was the “National Sexuality Education Standards – Core Content and Skills, K-12“.

Even the birds and the bees will now have national standards under Common Core. “Sexuality” is code for “gender identity”.

Here are some quotes from the National Sexuality Education Standards:

On page 12: “By the end of 2nd grade, students should be able to: Use proper names for body parts, including male and female anatomy.”

On page 14: “By the end of 5th grade, students should be able to: Describe male and female reproductive systems including body parts and their functions. Identify medically-accurate information about female and male reproductive anatomy. Define sexual orientation as the romantic attraction of an individual to someone of the same gender or a different gender.”

Page 9 under “Guiding Values and Principles”:

“Instruction by qualified sexuality education teachers is essential for student achievement … Students need opportunities to engage in cooperative and active learning strategies, and sufficient time must be allocated for students to practice skills relating to sexuality education.”

To highlight this principle: Students need “multiple opportunities and a variety of assessment strategies” to determine their achievement of the sexuality education standards and performance.

Will public school children be graded on their sexual performance? It appears this requirement is necessary to measure the “practice of skills relating to sexuality education”.

According to Cheryl Etters, Press Secretary for the Florida Department of Education, “The Florida State Board of Education voluntarily adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in July 2010. The Florida Department of Education strongly supports the full implementation of CCSS in the 2014-15 school year and is focused on providing local districts the support needed for a successful transition to Common Core.”

South Dakotans Against Common Core reports:

And before you say it is not a part of Common Core, because it is “A Special Publication of the Journal of School Health,” please go to page 6 where it says, “The National Sexuality Education Standards were further informed by the work of the CDC’s Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT)3; existing state and international education standards that include sexual health content; the Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Kindergarten – 12th Grade; and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics, recently adopted by most states.”

And before you say, “We won’t allow it in our schools. We will go to the school board.” Local control is gone. On page 6, “Specifically, the National Sexuality Education Standards were developed to address the inconsistent implementation of sexuality education nationwide and the limited time allocated to teaching the topic.” The whole idea behind Common Core is to create universal standards.

SDACC looked at who was on the advisory committee that developed these sexuality education standards. They found members included:

Robert McGarry, Ed.D., Director of Training and Curriculum Development Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). To learn more about GLSEN click here.

Nora Gelperin, recipient of the national 2010 Mary Lee Tatum Award from the Association of Planned Parenthood Leaders in Education.

Deb Hauser from Advocates for Youth who speaks nationally and internationally about young people’s rights to “honest sexual health information, confidential sexual health services and equitable social and economic opportunities.”

Cynthia Lam, Teen Editorial Staff for Sex, Etc. According to Lam’s bio, “She has written many interesting articles, but her favorite was “It Won’t Fall Off,” a story that debunks myths about masturbation.”

The education summit has been characterized as providing political cover for Governor Scott to adopt Common Core State Standards for Florida. These standards will include the sexualization of our youngest and most vulnerable.

As Milton Friedman wrote, “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” What will be results of nationalizing sexuality?

RELATED:

At Scott’s Education Summit, A Common Core Counter-Revolt At Table 1

Support for Common Core Standards Continues to Crumble in RPOF

EDITORS NOTE: WDW – FL received the below email from Chrissy Blevio, Florida Stop Common Core Coalition:

While appreciative that Governor Scott convened this summit on critical education issues and hopeful that some meaningful discussion and airing of concerns about the Common Core standards system would ensue, The Florida Stop Common Core Coalition (FSCCC) is deeply disappointed in the results.

“The outcome on the issue of the Common Core standards themselves was pre-determined,” said Dr. Karen Effrem, president of Education Liberty Watch and co-founder of FSCCC.  “Continued implementation of the standards was assumed.  No meaningful discussion of the merits or lack thereof of the standards themselves was allowed to take place. Any attempt to discuss concerns about rigor, content of the federally funded and supervised model curriculum and text examples aligned with these standards, psychological manipulation and testing as described in federal documents, or any other concern was immediately shut down.  Lacking the ability or desire to meaningfully and respectfully discuss and work towards solutions to these critical concerns, prominent officials at this summit resorted to ad hominem attacks calling the citizens and taxpayers of this state with concerns ‘crazies’  and  ‘radicals.’  Sadly this whole exercise was a massive waste of time and taxpayer funds.”

A more detailed list of concerns will be forthcoming. Our recommendations for dealing with this issue are available here.

RELATED:

Obama: Sex Ed for Kindergartners ‘Is the Right Thing to Do’ | CNS News

CPS Mandates Sexual, Health Education For Kindergarten – CBS Chicago

Conservatives keep turning up the heat on Common Core in Florida

4th Grade Students Taught: “Government Is Like Your Family”, Provides For You

Breaking: Global sea level rise ending in 2014

In a news conference held near Miami, Florida last night, the Space and Science Research Corporation (SSRC) announced that the global threat of sea level rise caused by decades of global warming is ending.

Speaking to cheering supporters from several groups from the general Miami area, SSRC President Mr. John Casey issued a formal declaration of the end of global sea level rise during a presentation in which he discussed the vital role the Sun plays in climate change and how the past growth in sea levels was caused by the Sun and not mankind. The event was sponsored by the American Citizens League.

The declaration read:

“As a result of the Sun entering a ‘hibernation’ phase, the Space and Science Research Corporation hereby declares that the past two hundred years of global sea level rise is expected to end no earlier than mid-2014 and no later than 2020. After that time, global sea levels are expected to begin a long term period of decline, lasting at least through the decade of the 2030’s. The estimated global sea level decline during that period will range from 20 to 25 cm from current levels.” Casey elaborated with, “The many climate models that have taken two decades and billions of dollars to fabricate have been utter scientific failures. Once you take the greenhouse gas theory out of the laboratory and try in in the real world it just does not stand up. Not only has there been no effective growth in the planet’s temperature for sixteen years, but current temperature trends show the Earth’s oceans have been cooling for ten years and the atmosphere for seven years! These real world indicators of the true status of the Earth’s climate are of course, an impossibility if the greenhouse gas theory really worked and mankind’s CO2 emissions had the effect as has been alleged. On the other hand, using solar variations for climate prediction, we see global warming ended and the next climate began right on schedule.”

Mr. Casey, is a former White House space program advisor, space shuttle engineer, and NASA Headquarters consultant, and is the Editor of the Global Climate Status Report (GCSR)©. Mr. Casey is also the author of the internationally acclaimed climate book, “Cold Sun,” which describes the cause and effects of this potentially dangerous new cold climate. He has amassed a list of correct, major climate predictions that according to public records of predictions, is unmatched by the UN-IPCC, NASA, NOAA and all US university Ph.Ds funded for climate research by the government.

Using charts of data, sea level and global temperature trends, Mr. Casey explained that the primary reason for the coming historic drop in sea levels will be caused by the recently started “solar hibernation,” a once every 206 year reduction in the energy output of the Sun. A list of other scientists , echoing Casey’s prediction of a new cold climate, was posted for attendees to read and is also available at the SSRC web site. He emphasized the seriousness of the SSRC prediction of a coming cold era by pointing out to the attendees a recent article on display which had comments from scientists at the Russian Academy of Sciences who said that a new “Little Ice Age” would be starting in 2014.

Clarifying how this change in the Sun will affect us, Mr. Casey stated, “As has happened before, when a solar hibernation hits, the Earth gets cold. The Sun cuts back on the energy by which it warms the Earth and we enter a period of at least twenty to thirty years of record, potentially dangerous cold. This next cold era has already begun to show a trend of longer colder winters and weather extremes which mark the transition from the previous climate of global warming to the next climate period of strong global cooling. Our climate varies by highly predictable natural cycles. Mankind and his industrial greenhouse gas emissions have little to nothing to do with major climate changes.”

Joining Mr. Casey via Skype were other experts from around the globe. They included Dr. Nils-Axel Morner, from Sweden, one of the world’s leading experts on sea levels, as well as Dr. Dong Choi, Director of Research at the International Earthquake and Volcano Prediction Center (IEVPC) in Canberra, Australia. Though unable to attend because of work in the field, Dr. Ole Humlum from the University of Oslo, Norway submitted a statement on the future of sea levels.

Dr. Ole Humlum, is also an Associate Scientist at the SSRC, a prominent geomorphologist and glaciologist and Co-Editor of the SSRC’s quarterly climate report. His comment read, “As Co-Editor of the Global Climate Status Report with John Casey, I can say that our regular review of global climate trend data is unmistakable. The past period of global warming has ended, just as John predicted it would in 2007. Now, a new cold climate has begun. Over the next few decades, sea levels will drop, possibly to where they were two hundred years ago. My own research indicates the oceans surrounding Greenland, Svaalbard, and the Arctic are all heading into their own decades-long cold period.”

Dr. Morner’s presentation focused on the lack of reliability in sea level measurements and his prediction of declining levels during the next cold climate. In it he stated, “Mr. Casey is correct in his assessment of the impact of the coming cold climate on the world’s oceans. My research shows from a study of sea levels over the last 600+ years that they will reach a new low between 2030 and 2050 judging from solar variability.”

Dr. Choi’s presentation comments included, “There is a strong correlation between these solar hibernations and the largest earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. We should be on our guard over the next few decades for increased, perhaps record levels of geophysical activity. In 2011, I was pleased to have endorsed his book, Cold Sun, which discusses this important relationship. I said then that he was right about the coming climate change and that we will have challenging decades ahead. My research and work done at the IEVPC confirms this.”

Mr. Casey tied these subjects together by adding, “It is important to note that solar hibernations affect all life on the planet as well as the geophysical nature of the Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land masses. The predicted drop in sea levels is just one of the important effects of the new cold climate.

There are other related effects like reduced solar wind, earthquakes and fluctuations in the Earth’s magnetic field. We are all intimately linked to what the Sun is doing. Further, it is time to accept the overwhelming proof that now exists showing the greenhouse gas theory and associated climate models simply don’t work and are fundamentally unreliable in their global temperature and sea level forecasts. They should all be discarded. Solar-climate models have already proven themselves and should become the new, better, highly reliable standard for climate prediction. The Sun rules climate change on Earth, not mankind.”

He summarized by saying, “The choice is straightforward, do we want our lives and our government to be determined by old climate theories that have been shown they don’t work or do we want to rely on climate theories that are highly accurate and account for all past climate variations including the one that is happening now?”

Mr. Casey concluded his presentation with one somber recommendation by stressing that, “We should prepare for a difficult new cold era that has already begun.”

About Dr. Dong R. Choi

Dr. Choi is a specialist in global tectonics, Sun-Earth interaction, earthquakes and paleolands in the present-day oceans. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the New Concepts in Global Tectonics (NCGT) Newsletter. The NCGT publishes papers of its many members and is widely followed for its leading edge research. Dr. Choi received his PhD in Geology from Hokkaido University, Japan in 1972. He studied carbonate sedimentology at Comparative Sedimentology Laboratory, Univ. of Miami from 1977 to 1984 before moving to Australia to work for Bureau of Mineral Resources (now Geoscience Australia), Canberra where he had engaged in studies of marine heat flow and geology of continental margins until 1988. Currently he is Director of Raax Australia Pty Ltd, a borehole imaging and analysis company.

Data Mining: Florida students leaving their privacy at the schoolhouse door

Recently when Governor Rick Scott was asked if he supported the data mining aspect of Common Core, Scott answered ‘no’ to the question. It appears the Governor did not get the memo from the Florida Department of Education that public schools have been data mining for years using “student surveys“.

Florida parents were shocked when their children came home from their first day of high school with surveys asking personal questions about their habits, family and beliefs. Students at Riverview High School in Sarasota, Florida were given forms to fill out by their teachers. Riverview high school English teacher Dr. Elinor Wachs sent students home with a “Multiple Intelligence Survey” (MPI) created by Surfaquarium to fill out. MIS questions included:

  • Ecological issues are important to me
  • I believe preserving our National Parks is important
  • Religion is important to me
  • I wonder if there are other forms of intelligent life in the universe
  • I value relationships more than ideas or accomplishments
  • I like to be involved in causes that help others
  • Fairness is important to me
  • Social justice issues interest me
  • I am willing to protest or sign a petition to right a wrong

Ms. Susanne Johnson, an Algebra teacher at Riverview, sent home a two page survey with her students (Note: Students received multiple surveys). Johnson’s survey asks:

  • Who lives in your home?
  • How many brothers and sisters do you have? How old are they?
  • Have you travelled outside the United States? If so, where have you travelled?

WDW – FL sent an inquiry to Superintendent Lori White about the district policy on student surveys. Scott Ferguson, Communications Specialist for Sarasota County Schools, in an email provided the following:

The multiple intelligences forms do not require approval at the district level.

Other teachers may use these forms or other forms at their discretion. We don’t track the number of teachers who use them.

Teachers use this type of form to learn more about their students. Teachers have various ways to get to know students so they can engage them in lessons by keeping students’ individual interests, learning styles and personalities in mind. Multiple-intelligences surveys such as these are one way for teachers to get to know students, but students may opt out of answering the questions.

Various forms may be used by teachers at various levels. Whatever forms are used are age-appropriate.

I don’t know how long the forms you sent me have been used in the district, but teachers have long used various ways to get to know their students, for the reasons stated above.

Regarding teachers requesting “private information,” see third paragraph above. If students believe the answers to the questions are “private,” they can refrain from answering them.

The forms simply help the teacher get to know the student in his/her class for that semester or year; they’re not considered educational records and do not become part of the student’s permanent record.

The use of such forms is not prohibited by School Board policies. These policies are posted on our website in the School Board section and are searchable by keywords.

Nothing on the forms sent home by either Ms. Wachs or Ms. Johnson states it is “optional” or that a student may “opt out”. Surfaquarium offers multiple surveys. WDW – FL asked Surfaquarium about the uses of their surveys in Florida by teachers and schools. We are awaiting answers to our questions.

One parent, who requested to remain anonymous to protect their student from retribution, stated, “These questions absolutely do look like data mining to find out the political leanings of the family of the student … perhaps then they ‘target’ those students for further brainwashing efforts or give the data to other groups for same purpose.”

Data mining is front page news, few believed it would already be in public schools. It appears public education has a thing or two to teach the NSA?

To view all survey responses click here.

RELATED: Florida School District lied and student privacy died

Anti-semitism in America: 2004-2011

As the Million Muslim March is scheduled for 9/11/2013, the Center for Security Policy has released a comprehensive study titled, “Anti-Semitism and Other Bias Crimes in America: 2004-2011 Comparisons.” The premise of the march is that Muslims are being discriminated against. That is addressed in this study, with the FBI data on hate crimes painting a much different picture.

The Center created an online database, with over 17,365 reports for localities showing hate crimes from 2004-2011, as well as 44 reports for US nationwide reports and 5 comprehensive nationwide reports for each broad category of victim groups (bias groups), also from 2004-2011. Read the full report here.

The CSP website states, “In its March 2011 Occasional Paper entitled, “Religious Bias Crimes 2000-2009: Muslim, Jewish and Christian Victims – Debunking the Myth of a Growing Trend in Muslim Victimization,” the Center for Security Policy (CSP) used official annual data published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to debunk the common fallacy spread by “Islamophobia” proponents that Muslims have been the target of an increasing wave of “hate crimes” in the years following the attacks of 11 September 2001. In fact, as the FBI data show, the number of religious bias crimes (or “hate crimes”) against Muslims post-9/11 is actually significantly lower than such crimes against Jews.”

From 2000 through 2009, the Center found that, according to the FBI statistics, Jewish victims of hate crimes outnumbered Muslim victims by about six to one.

Subsequent FBI statistics for 2010 and 2011 show a ratio of Jewish to Muslim victims of about five to one. The study’s presentation of hard data on such “religious bias crimes” (only reinforced by the additional data from the two more recent years) exposed the political agenda of certain highly vocal Muslim lobbying groups, many linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and leftwing activists, which persist in promoting the false narrative of America’s alleged “Islamophobia.” In fact, there is no “rising trend” in hate crimes against Muslim Americans and allegations to the contrary are demonstrably counterfactual as well as “corrosive to community relationships at every level of American society, and a potential threat to national security,” as Center for Security Policy President Frank Gaffney pointed out. 

With that 2011 study as a baseline, the Center for Security Policy expanded the earlier analysis for a second phase of analysis.

Methodology

This second phase of the study has two components:

First, the Center created an online database, with over 17,365 reports for localities showing hate crimes from 2004-2011, as well as 44 reports for US nationwide reports and 5 comprehensive nationwide reports for each broad category of victim groups (bias groups), also from 2004-2011.  The Center has put this database into the public domain in order to provide longitudinal data showing trends to all groups representing historical or potential victim categories, as well as to all localities from the federal to state to city or even university reporting agency level.  Only when the public can see the actual data – and trends – in hate crimes for a significant period of time, in this case from 2004-2011, can they assess the seriousness of the problem and the context to develop policies, if needed, to address it.   The categories of reports in the online database include:

  • 44 Comprehensive Reports: US nationwide data from 2004 – 2011 for incidents, offenses, victims, and known offenders;
  • 5 Comprehensive Reports: US nationwide data for individual bias victim groups, across all types of offenses, from 2004-2011;
  • 17,365 Summary Reports: Locality information for all states, cities, universities, county law enforcement agencies, tribal law enforcement agencies and other entities such as railroads that report hate crimes using the Uniform Crime Reporting protocol to the FBI, from 2004-2011, compared in each local report two other tables: the state’s total for bias categories and agency types.  These localities’ data are provided by the FBI at a summary level (religion, race), not at the detailed level of bias crimes against specific religions (anti-Jewish, anti-Catholic) or specific races (anti-Black, anti-White).

The second component of this analysis is provided in this report, with a selection of graphs showing the findings presented in the online database.  All comparisons were based on the data provided by the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data for hate crimes from 2004-2011.

Read more.

Sarasota County School District abandons 7-year old girl

Members of Sarasota County School Board. Click on photo to go the the Board website.

Michael Figgins, a resident of Sarasota County, FL reported to WDW – FL in an email:

A very disturbing thing happened today [August 20th, the first day of school in Florida]. I had just arrived home in the early afternoon, was getting my mail from the mailbox and I saw this very young girl walking alone on my street. She walked by my house once, then again and then again. I asked her if she was lost and she told me that she was lost. I asked her if she knew where she lived and she replied that she did not. Since it was the usual time that the younger children get dropped at the bus stop, I assumed that there must have been a mix-up somehow. After talking with her a little more she told me that she did know that she lived on my street, but did not know her address. She then remembered that her mom had written her address on a slip of paper and that it was in her backpack. She showed me the address and it confirmed that she lived on my street. As we walked to her house, it began to rain very heavily. The little girl lives approximately a quarter of a mile from the bus stop. We were both soaked by the time we arrived at her home. The grandfather was home and I explained who I was and that I was their neighbor. He was very relieved to know that she was safe.

Figgins sent an email to the Sarasota County Superintendent’s office to find out what happened.

Figgins noted in the email, “I remember last year when a 5-year old child was left, by the school bus driver, to wander all alone down Midnight Pass road. In that incident another neighbor was there to pick up the school system’s slack. Something needs to be done. All ended well this time. We might [not] be so lucky next time.”

Scott Ferguson Director of Communications for the District responded to the Figgins inquiry stating:

We have looked into the situation. Here’s what happened:

The second-grade girl at Phillippi Shores Elementary was supposed to ride the bus and so was her brother, a fifth-grader. For some reason her brother did not think there was bus service on the first day of school so he did not get on the bus when his sister did, but instead went to the school office. Both students are new to the school this year, and the boy did not mention his younger sister.

A staff member at the school contacted the students’ parents to say the boy was at the school and needed to be picked up (the message did not say that both children were at the school, only that the brother was there). Both parents came to pick up the brother and were reminded that their daughter was riding the bus home and would be arriving at the bus stop soon. However, when the second-grader arrived at the bus stop, no one was there to pick her up and she apparently started walking in a direction away from her home.

Mr. Figgins, we appreciate your assistance with the little girl and your concern about her safety. Her parents have since decided to come and pick up both of their children after school. Both students will have labels with the family ID number on their backpacks each day for the first two weeks of school, indicating that they will be picked up by their parents.

Although all our schools strive to help students avoid mix-ups regarding transportation, there is usually some confusion on the first day of school as everyone, including parents, gets used to new routines. Whenever we are made aware of these situations we address them immediately to ensure that students, parents, school staff and Transportation Department staff are on the same page regarding transportation of students.

Ellery Girard, our director of Transportation, provided this additional information: “We continue to communicate with parents of young children the importance of being at the bus stop in the mornings and afternoons. The transportation protocol is to drop all children off at their stops; if any child does not want to get off, or if there are students left on the bus at the end of the route, we contact the school and the bus returns them to school. The school staff then calls the parents to pick them up at school. Transportation also works with the schools to provide a route supervisor for their open houses prior to school opening. At the open houses we give parents bus-stop information and registration forms. The registration form gives parents an opportunity to let us know if they do not want their child dropped off without an adult at the stop.”

Figgins replied to the email from Ferguson stating:

Based on the email [above], it sounds like you all are attempting to duck and cover as per your usual. Telling me how hard the job is, does not justify or excuse the lack of responsibility on the part of the Sarasota County School District. I wonder, had I not brought this incident to your attention, would you even have cared. I suggest that you would have swept the entire incident under the rug like you do every other time you screw up and thanked your lucky stars that this little 7-year old was not abducted and murdered. Looks like you dodged another bullet. For now.

As soon as you realized that the little 7 year girl was lost, what was the first thing that you did? Did you contact the bus driver to confirm that the little girl was indeed on his bus? What would you have done if the little girl had gotten off at the wrong bus stop? Maybe you could have had a sheriff’s deputy stop the bus and find the little girl. There are many things that you could have done to ensure the safety of that little girl, but it appears that you did nothing to help. What we do know, is that you were tested by this incident and you failed miserably. I hope you realize that damage control is not a option this time.

Figgins ended his email with, “I understand that the little girl’s parents have decided to pick their kids up after school from now on. Can you blame them?”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Scott Adams, a citizen journalist for WDW – FL, has written several columns about tragedies on public school buses. Two of them led to the deaths of young children.

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