America’s downfall doesn’t begin with the “low-information voter.” It starts with the no-knowledge student.
The Department of Education was created by President Jimmy Carter, it began operating on May 4, 1980.
In 1996, the Republican Party made abolition of the Department a cornerstone of their campaign promises, calling it an inappropriate federal intrusion into local, state, and family affairs. The GOP platform read:
Republicans prior to 1996 and after have failed to abolish it, some because Democrats blocked it, some did not have the will.
According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education
The primary functions of the Department of Education are to “establish policy for, administer and coordinate most federal assistance to education, collect data on US schools, and to enforce federal educational laws regarding privacy and civil rights.” The Department of Education does not establish schools or colleges.
Unlike the systems of most other countries, education in the United States is highly decentralized, and the federal government and Department of Education are not heavily involved in determining curricula or educational standards (with the recent exception of the No Child Left Behind Act). This has been left to state and local school districts. The quality of educational institutions and their degrees is maintained through an informal private process known as accreditation, over which the Department of Education has no direct public jurisdictional control.
The Department’s mission is: to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.
U.S. EDUCATION SPENDING AND PERFORMANCE VS. THE WORLD [INFOGRAPHIC]
February 8th, 2011 by USC Rossier Online Staff
We’ve put together this infographic that compares the United States’ education spend and performance versus eleven countries. The U.S. is the clear leader in total annual spending, but ranks 9th in Science performance and 10th in Math.
Despite the mission stated, the Department of Education has forced states to adopt the standards THEY want, thus usurping local control. Cash strapped states will gladly accept money and the rules that go with it.
Illinois has signed on to Common Core:
http://www.isbe.net/common_core/default.htm
|
JANUARY 23, 2013 12:00 A.M. Common Core Corrupts |
Excerpts from the article:
America’s downfall doesn’t begin with the “low-information voter.” It starts with the no-knowledge student.
For decades, collectivist agitators in our schools have chipped away at academic excellence in the name of fairness, diversity, and social justice. “Progressive” reformers denounced Western-civilization requirements, the Founding Fathers, and the Great Books as racist. They attacked traditional grammar classes as irrelevant in modern life. They deemed grouping students by ability to be bad for self-esteem. They replaced time-tested rote techniques and standard algorithms with fuzzy math, inventive spelling, and multicultural claptrap.
In practice, Common Core’s dubious “college-ready” and “career-ready” standards undermine local control of education, usurp state autonomy over curricular materials, and foist untested, mediocre, and incoherent pedagogical theories on America’s schoolchildren.
Stanford University professor James Milgram, the only mathematician on the validation panel, concluded that the Common Core math scheme would place American students two years behind their peers in other high-achieving countries.
I cannot sum up the stakes any more clearly than Wurman did in his critique of this mess and the vested interests behind it:
I believe the Common Core marks the cessation of educational standards improvement in the United States. No state has any reason left to aspire for first-rate standards, as all states will be judged by the same mediocre national benchmark enforced by the federal government. Moreover, there are organizations that have reasons to work for lower and less-demanding standards, specifically teachers unions’ and professional teacher organizations. While they may not admit it, they have a vested interest in lowering the accountability bar for their members. . . . This will be done in the name of ‘critical thinking’ and “21st-century” skills, and in faraway Washington, D.C., well beyond the reach of parents and most states and employers.
Read the entire article: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/338428/common-core-corrupts-michelle-malkin
Read what Teachers and other Education professionals are saying: http://michellemalkin.com/2013/01/31/rotten-to-the-core-reader-feedback-from-the-frontlines/
Local area school districts MUST implement these directives. The only choice is to remove your children from control under Common Core. No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top did nothing but transfer control of local districts to the federal government. Common Core is more of the same.
If you want your children to succeed, public schools are not the venue. Home schooling is a good option, and that doesn’t mean you have to teach. There are many excellent on-line program available. Private schools are another option, just make sure they haven’t adopted Common Core.
See how Home Schooling is now hip: http://townhall.com/columnists/katiekieffer/2013/01/28/why-homeschooling-is-becoming-hipster-n1498009/page/full/
Another alternative: Demand School Choice! http://illinoispolicy.org/blog/blog.asp?ArticleSource=5485
