Sunday, November 17, 2013

Common Core's Epic Fail

Staff Writer, DL Mullan
Education / Community Interest
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Common Core, it sounds like a new scifi movie or online game, but it is the structure of educational standards for students brought to a school near you by the federal government. Haven't we already learned from No Child Left Behind that the federal government has no business in the sphere of education? I guess not.

Thanks to the Gates Foundation, this epic fail was not only a way to control what students learn but to data mine their entire lives through Microsoft's Cloud system. The system would not stop at just intruding into a student's privacy but also that of their parents and other family members: "Data collected will not only include grades, test scores, name, date of birth and social security number, it will also include parents’ political affiliations, individual or familial mental or psychological problems, beliefs, religious practices and income." Information the government and the Gates Foundation have no business knowing for any reason, especially since the data will contain personal and behavioral profiles that may lead to abuse. There is no law to stop a school from selling student, family information. Nice.

It's a dangerous curriculum that begins programing our youth and to teach "young children to use emotionally charged language to manipulate others and teaches students how to become community organizers and experts of the U.N.’s agenda 21."

What? Children are supposed to be children not spokespersons for the United Nations or use Orwellian news speak. This standards set has gotten out of control. The educational system is supposed to teach and inspire, not train the next generation to be brainwashed, unquestioning automatons.

What makes this debacle even worse is that the standards are crap. Ethan Young stood up against Common Core Standards at his School Board Meeting: 


Since states were given federal grants to implement this disaster, the questions become: should states accept any more grants or federal funding for our schools? Should states slowly become more independent from federal mandates? 

The answers seem to be "no and yes."

If you haven't read Charolette Thomson Iserbyt's: The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America, I would implore you do so. You can find the free online version of her book here.

Then you will begin to see how federal mandates and corporate interests like the Gates Foundation are not trying to educate anyone. To them, stupid people with the inability to critically think are the best people for the future because dumbed down people are easier to control and manipulate from their technocratic thrones.