Anita Hoge -- Abolishing Representative Government Through Education: Common Core, Choice, and Charter Schools, Part 4

In 2011, Detroit Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb hired the National Association of Charter School Authorizers to help evaluate potential operators as part of a plan to transform 41 city schools into privatized charter schools. That's the same group that the year before worked with Chicago to select charter school operators—and worked in New Orleans in 2005 to transform neighborhood schools into business model factories. Bobb was given expanded powers by the state legislature, including the power to modify contracts and terminate collective bargaining agreements with teachers and fire elected officials. He said he intended to use these powers and issued layoff notices to all of the teachers in the school system, which will give him or other managers the power to call back or reassign teachers without having to consider seniority rights.

In 2009 Secretary of Education Duncan referred to Detroit public schools as "ground zero" for institutional education reform. Academic bankruptcy (i.e., using competency or standards-based tests to target a school for takeover or closure for underachievement), charter schools, EAA, and bankruptcy is ambush to the bigger agenda, taking taxes and school property paid for by you and giving it to others for profit.

"Ground zero", Secretary of Education Duncan's description for Detroit “renaissance” for charter school takeover in a city deemed financially broke, has also had some rippling undertones for other cities. Moody's reported on December 5, 2012:

CitiyMayors.com reported that

In 2009, Moody’s Investors Service put all local governments in the United States on negative credit outlook. It was the first time such a blanket report was ever issued for cities, towns, counties, and school districts. To date, the negative outlook remains. It’s an understatement to say that local governments have been caught up in unfavorable financial and market trends since the economic downturn began in 2008. Local governments have cut services and laid off workers, including police officers and school teachers. The Wall Street Journal estimates that local government personnel reductions add a full percentage point to the nation’s unemployment rate. (Source)

In another article, “Corporatist mission accomplished: charter schools strangling public schools,” it was reported on November 13, 2013 that

A downgrade of the bond ratings of 53 Michigan school districts is proving what charter school opponents have long warned against: charter schools are diminishing public schools’ ability to have stable budgets by siphoning off tax dollars into for-profit corporations.

Moody’s cited “significant fiscal strain related to charter enrollment growth” stating that “A growing number of Michigan school districts” are facing “higher borrowing costs after downgrades by Moody.” The article continues:

Justin Marlowe, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who has written about local government finance, said increased charter school competition and tight state budgets are squeezing the districts.

The “proliferation of charter schools and ongoing state budget problems have put more pressure on local school districts,” Marlowe said, adding there “doesn't seem to be any immediate solutions unless we rethink how we finance school districts.”

But as overall enrollment was falling, charter schools were growing….[bold in original] (Source)

The Plan for Losing Local Control

This is the plan. Rethinking how to finance school districts falls under the domain of the re-authorization of ESEA where funding follows the child. The system of property taxes must be dissolved and replaced by a more equitable plan. Elite Zip Codes and wealthier schools may no longer be a destination. Common Core and ESEA will level the playing field. Charter schools and choice will break the backs of public schools. All schools will be contract public schools. Teachers may come under contract from the state that certifies them. Parent trigger bills will allow parents and teachers to take over a school, in turn forming charter schools. Elected positions must be dissolved for a socialist takeover.

In Indiana right now there is a power struggle with Governor Pence's (R) newly formed agency called the Center for Education and Career Innovation (CECI) and the elected State Superintendent. The governors “power grab” is shifting resources and education policy matters to the unelected Center for Education and Career Innovation formed through an executive order. These unelected state authorities are pilots for regional economic development and job training. This is but another example of how a governor can take over, eliminating the representative authority and accountability of locally elected officials.

Another economic downturn could put most cities out of business. Bankrupt! This could be the point of no return for a declining America, the takeover of cities through fiscal control boards, a platform to usher in charter school takeover. CityMayors.com explains this concept:

A fiscal control board is a temporary team of "experts" appointed by the state that takes over the financial management and budgetary decisions of a local government that is about to default on its debt, cannot meet it payroll, or cannot provide basic services. Sometimes a state mandates a control board; in other cases, a local government requests one. Although the composition and responsibilities of control boards may vary, local elected officials invariably lose most authority over their government’s revenues and expenditures. Often control boards have the power to issue debt or re-negotiate labor contracts.

Control boards are essentially an intensification of a state’s existing authority over local governments. In normal times, states regulate local governments’ finances by providing aid; capping local income, sales, and property taxes; requiring balanced local budgets; limiting local investment options; and mandating specific services. A control board is a mechanism by which states can impose, alter, or suspend such financial regulations to address the emergency needs of a particular local government. Control boards are not meant to be democratic, but efficient. Their focus is on re-establishing long-term fiscal stability, and the wishes of citizens and elected officials for particular services are often ignored. [emphasis added] (Source)

The downslide into fiscal crisis continues. During September, 23 schools were closed and more than 4,000 employees were laid off in Philadelphia.

The city pledge of $50 million that month allowed a thousand employees to come back, just enough to open the doors the first week of school.

"We had cut all assistant principals, all guidance counselors, all art, all music, all sports, all secretaries," [said Philadelphia School Superintendent, William Hite].

Philadelphia's school crisis has been building for years. Debt and pension obligations piled up as students moved out to charter schools or the suburbs. Federal budget cuts have cost the city $130 million in aid. (Source)

It's a familiar pattern showing up in the country's biggest school districts over the last 18 months: Chicago laid off 3,000 teachers and closed 49 schools. In Cleveland, 500 teachers and staff lost their jobs in 2012. And in Los Angeles, 4,000 teachers and staff were unemployed.

And then there is Katrina and New Orleans Charter School Agenda. The devastation of Katrina to the poorest of poor in New Orleans cannot be overstated. But Republican Governor Jindal's overhaul of public education in New Orleans can equally be said to be devastating. More than half of all public school students in New Orleans attend a charter school, more than any other US major city.

How many more stories do Americans need to hear before we all acknowledge there is something terribly wrong going on? The onslaught of charter schools is astounding. More and more pieces of America are going up for auction. How far down this road can we go without a collapse?

Senator Reid and Legislation: Technology and Bandwidth

In the Department of Education 'Race to the Top' grant for this past year there were some interesting reports made under paragraphs “Lessons Learned.” Schools that are not properly wired for the new technology architecture must come up to speed before the agenda can proceed.

Since states and districts need to understand the requirements to administer the computer-based assessment system with sufficient time to procure any additional devices or improve bandwidth or internal wiring in schools, PARCC established minimum technology guidelines in April 2012 which they updated in December 2012. This may limit the consortium’s options regarding the platform or its ability to develop an interoperable system.

Funding for technology, bandwidth, rewiring and electronic devices in the hands of every person, is a must for the agenda to proceed. This is why both Zuckerberg (of Facebook) and Bill Gates are funding $100 million dollars in San Francisco toward broadband updating. This means time is running out. Technology will soon catch up.

Of course, the push is on to pass this legislation. Senator Reid holds “choice” in his hands if he releases the reauthorization of ESEA to conference between the two chambers of Congress and then out for a vote. Note: both Republicans and Democrats have assisted, Obama will be credited for pushing America over the edge by changing our system of government through publicly-funded, so-called “private” charter schools, creating unelected school boards as the end goal. It is frightening to see Democrats scrambling for the power of “choice” money when Republicans have always strongly supported “choice” in private and religious schools. The two pieces of federal legislation—the House with a majority of Republicans, the Senate with a majority of Democrats—proves the point that they are working together fighting over who gets the profits from this robbery. It's like insider trading, only worse. Our children and country are at stake. (See: Source and Source)

The Struggle For Survival

For those families that live in wealthy school districts who think their schools are great, here's the bad news. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sounded an alert never before heard in America, in his now-famous speech denigrating “White suburban moms’ delivered in Richmond, Virginia on Nov. 13, 2013. Duncan blurted out this statement in frustration to parents objecting to Common Core,

“It’s fascinating to me that some of the pushback [against Common Core, ed.] is coming from, sort of, white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were, and that’s pretty scary,” Duncan said. “You’ve bet your house and where you live and everything on, ‘My child’s going to be prepared.’ That can be a punch in the gut.” (Source)

According to the Obama/Duncan equalization plan, an elite Zip Code may no longer be a destination. There is much more to this statement that clearly shows an underlying hatred against capitalism, for families who worked hard, who live in the suburbs, who own a home, and must pay property taxes. Parents are counting on the school district where they chose to buy a house so that their kids can go to a good school, but they are being scorned because they do not believe Common Core is good for their children. These parents intuitively know that something is wrong.

It is a punch-in-the-gut feeling and knowing that the system is somehow skewed. Education and common sense has been turned upside down. The tests do not measure academics anymore. And Secretary Duncan has news for you. His Big Brother message to the parents who live in the suburbs is saying in effect—“We will change how business was done in the past. We will redistribute the tax base so all schools and funding are equal and mandate that you, your child, and your teacher will bend under the will of subjective tests and dumbed down Common Core, so that all children will be equal. If they don't test well, because they have the strong individualistic attitudes and values. We will fire your teachers. Your children won't succeed in our new system. They won't be accepted to college, and your world will come crashing down. That is our intent. We will force your schools to change and your child, too.” So….

What are we going to do about it?

If the Reauthorization of ESEA happens as noted, be prepared for a tsunami of political oppression. Public schools are going down quickly as a relic of the past.

The obvious conclusion is that we no longer will have elected representatives in our local school district. The impact of the collective and overlapping dissolution of elected local, county and state officials remains to be seen. Our tax money will be pooled toward an economic authority, or controlled from the state which has collected the individual, longitudinal data so that funding will be distributed equally across the economic spectrum for each child. No one is sure what will happen to property values when the transfer of power is wrested away from private landowners (taxpayers) and local elected officials.

Charter schools, privately owned and publicly funded, will replace public education under the auspice of an outside third party authorizer and considered a contract school. If teachers are not teaching Common Core, they will be fired and replaced with younger submissive, compliant drones. Teachers will be contracted by the state, appearing on a list of prospective positions, but apply through the school district.

Charter schools will break the back of unions, thus leaving teachers with no voice. When private and religious schools are forced to take “choice” students, they will learn that they must teach Common Core and submit to national testing. You can multiply school closings in all major cities and towns attributed to federal choice programs, and the expansion of charter schools with governors and mayors from both red and blue states. All of this downfall puts no caps on charter schools. When public schools fail, charter schools using public funds are there to take their place, their property, and their funding using your hard earned tax money without your voice and without your vote.

The outlook is pretty solemn. We are witnessing the demise one of our greatest American foundations—your neighborhood school, thanks to “choice” and charter schools, Republican and Democratic shysters and the Obama agenda together are hell-bent to get it done and finish the job.

The Good News Plan

What is the answer? Your state MUST put caps on charter schools or your local neighborhood school will be crushed. Your local school board must fight for their independence against a mayor or governor seeking to destroy their elected positions in your community. They must file suit to keep their positions. We must also fight against the federal legislation and meet with your elected officials to stop choice and vouchers in that reauthorization of ESEA where the funding will follow the child. You must also fight the Common Core Standards and do not be side-tracked by the debate of which standard is best.

Fight the transfer of power that are putting in place to destroy traditional education. Refuse the psychoanalyzing of your student at school. Stress academic solutions. Support your traditional teachers; they are being forced to change or be fired. Also, insist on a federal investigation against FERPA and the personal data-trafficking on your individual child that was unlocked by Obama. This is a tall order, but it can be done. It's called local control and states rights.

In conclusion, a story about the community of Bridgeport, Connecticut is worthy of national attention. A group of citizens filed suit against Mayor Finch for dismantling the locally elected school board. Finch, along with Superintendent Paul Vallas, who had previously been hired to run the schools in Chicago, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, has had a set back. The challenging group won their seats back and they won control of the majority this past election. They have promised that Vallas will be gone. This is how a beneficial power-play is made, and this can be done in your city or a city near you.

Good luck, and may God bless this free land of ours.

Author’s Note: Concernig the "Inconvenient Truth About Waiting For Superman" Conclusions. The video responds to the adverse conditions in New York facing public schools with a list of solutions at the end of the video. I disagree with two of the issues that were listed. # 5 suggests equity in funding. This is part of the bigger agenda to change tax structures. #8 wants pre-school funding and early childhood programs with federal funding involved. Federal money drives compliance. This is the Obama agenda of changing attitudes and values at an earlier age, womb to career. This is part of the bigger agenda.

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For more information: Order the "Exposing the Global Road to Ruin through Education" disc set with historical documentation from researchers across the United States

Read Charlotte Iserbyt's historical books, deliberate dumbing down of america and Soviets In the Classroom, which detail the history documenting how our country has been taken over from within through massive education funding, treaties, and deception. Iserbyt identifies names, both Republican and Democrat. This extremely important background information and her expertise will connect you to the 'internationalization' of education and inevitable global citizenship. Whatever name you want to call the control—Socialism or Communism—the agenda is people control, and the United States has been the prize. Total Quality Management will force the ultimate compliance to the system-individual people control. See www.deliberatedumbingdown.com for more articles on these topics.

Click here for part -----> 1, 2, 3, 4,

Source Material for this article included:

1- Mayor Action Guide,
2- National Governor's Association Push for Charter School Expansion,
3- Investing in Education,
4- Bridgeport, Conn Board files suit to keep elected positions, and this
5- Arne Duncan on " white suburban moms.
6- Michelle Rhee Controversy with test erasures,
7- DC Public Schools Flagged For Erasures,
8- Chicago Mayor Daley's Renaisance 2010,
9- Chicago spends $17 million On Safe Passage,
10- Chicago Safe Passage Routes-Unsafe,
11- Chicago School Closings,
12- New York Parents Lawsuit, and this, and this
13- The Village Voice, Eva Moskowitz, the Invasion of Charter Schools,
14- Credit Enhancement for Charter Facilities,
15- Charter School Gravy Train,
16- Capital Roundtable For Profit Education Conference-Private Equity Investing in For-Profit Education Companies ENCORE ROUNDTABLE, January, 2013, and July 25,2013,
17- Charter Schools Pose Greatest Credit Challenge,
18- Troubled US Local Gov't,
19- New York, Goldman Sachs Partners with LISC and Charter Schools:
20- “Goldman to lend $25M for charter schools,
21- Minnesota- State Charter Schools Out of Control:
22- Charter Schools Fail Bondholders Get Bailout.
23- Detroit named Ground Zero by Duncan:
24- Chicago Reform that Duncan Left Behind:
25- Chicago Charter Schools Equitable Funding:
26- Chicago and Philadelphia Closing Schools and Funding Charters:
27- Obama's Betrayal of Public Education.
28- The Inconvenient Truth About 'Waiting a for Superman'-rebuttal video against charters.
29- PARCC Grant Document-LESSONS LEARNED page 22.
30- Documents used in this article are used for research and educational purposes. Fair Use in Copyrighted Materials for Educational and Research Materials Section 107 of Title 17 of the US Code.

In 1990 a federal investigation was completed against the Pennsylvania Department of Education, after filing a federal complaint against the Educational Quality Assessment, EQA, & the US Department of Education's National Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP, under the Protection of Pupils Rights Amendment. Forced the Pennsylvania EQA to be withdrawn. Forced the US Department of Education to do their job to investigate the psychological testing of children without informed written parental consent. NAEP was never investigated because the Department said I didn't have standing, although documents had proven that NAEP did experimental research & used different states to pilot their agenda by embedding their test questions into the Pennsylvania EQA as well as other state tests.

Subject & main researcher for the book, Educating for the New World Order. My story is told about an incredible journey into the devious & deceptive operations of our government to change the values, attitudes & beliefs of American children to accept a new world order. The first to document the expansive data collection operation of our government establishing micro-records on individual people in the United States. Experimentation, illegal testing, & data collection is exposed.

Lectured all over the Unites States in the 90's about illegal & controversial testing, curriculum, & collection of data by our government. Arranged & lectured town hall meetings all across the state of Pennsylvania to withdraw affective student learning outcomes to stop Outcome Based Education. In January of 1992, parents in Pennsylvania won the battle against OBE when the Independent Regulatory Review Board had requested that the State Board of Education remove all outcomes which dealt with attitudes, habits, traits, feelings, values, & opinions which are difficult & subjective to measure & that the remaining outcomes be defined & coordinated with academic requirements that can be measured. The battle continues.