Mr. Trump must understand the Obama-Driving Forces that have begun to transform the Republic – especially the Obama “Equity” Agenda in Education.
Will Mr. Trump keep his Promises? Or will he embrace President Obama’s Plans?
President Obama’s key objectives for education were to redesign schools and reform how schools were funded. Instead of distributed funds based on ZIP CODE, funds would be based on student “need”. The federal government WOULD develop a mechanism to monitor and enforce student PERFORMANCE through systemic Common Core. To make sure the federal government’s investment would be tied to federal funding and federal outcomes, President Obama initiated so-called “CHOICE IN EDUCATION” based on a “per pupil expenditure.” Everything would be tied to the individual STUDENT, your child in the classroom.
Speaking in terms of “equity and excellence,” President Obama had a very well defined “CHOICE” plan to establish a complete “equitable” Democracy – and to extinguish our Republic – with the force of the federal government behind it. His “CHOICE Plan” has already been written and has been laid bare for anyone to read it. It is called For Each and Every Child: A STRATEGY FOR EDUCATION EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE.
Here is President Obama’s idea of CHOICE and EQUITY. As you read this ask what “Equity” means. (Source)
On page 17 of President Obama’s report it states: “The time has come for bold action by the states—and the federal government—to redesign and reform the funding of our nation’s public schools. Achieving equity and excellence requires sufficient resources that are distributed based on student need, not zip code, and that are efficiently used.”
Page 19: “Accordingly, this commission believes the time has come for bold action by the states—and the federal government—to redesign and reform the funding of our nation’s public schools.
“…and develops mechanisms that allow the federal government to MONITOR and ENFORCE the ongoing performance of its new equity and excellence investments to make sure those investments are, in fact, enhancing student achievement.”
Page 20: “ENFORCE its equity mandates in a fair and intelligent manner. ENFORCEMENT mechanisms should be tied to federal funding and equity of outcomes.” (All emphases added.)
What has President Obama accomplished to date? National standards, a national curriculum, a national test, national teacher standards, and a national database to monitor all of the above.
The “big picture” features key elements that President Obama designed to shape and mold his “rebirth” in education. He started with Common Core standards designed and benchmarked by ACT that were developed from the Department of Labor’s blueprint for training a new global worker. Individual students must attain proficiency aligned to national testing, but no one really knows what that means. Outside federal actors, the CCSSO (the Chief State School Officers club) and the NGA (National Governors Association), copyrighted the standards that were attached to accepting Race To The Top funds. States obliged and jumped through hoops for the funds.
Obama’s Executive Order 12866 changed FERPA privacy laws that unlocked personal data on children. This promoted data-mining on individual students, and expanded state longitudinal data systems identifying young citizens and teachers with a unique national ID. Schools were a target for “turnaround.” Obama’s illegal ESEA Flexibility Waivers combed the country, scouring for traditional teachers or any principal (also with a unique national ID), to remove them for not abiding by Common Core. The curricula, software, and testing were all validated and aligned to Common Core. Through this process third party vendors are able to access the data, utilizing cross-referencing capabilities of algorithms designed to monitor and assess teacher and student behavior. Teachers must teach to the test because they will be evaluated on the outcomes of how their children fare on national tests.
Using IDEA funds (special education) means that teachers who acquiesced to this Total Quality Management (TQM) system were re-trained in psychological interventions and techniques. This effectually moves the entire education establishment into mental health conditioning through implementing social, emotional, and behavioral standards into everyday classrooms. The personally identifiable data on each child is now entered into state longitudinal systems that devise psychometric dossiers on students. These intimate dossiers are digitized instantly in national data warehouses of the NCES/IES.
Funding is the next requirement that would totally control all aspects of schooling, teachers, and student. While the other goals have already been accomplished through ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015), the focus has turned to the money “following the child.” This would be the last step in complete federal control of education.
Regulations are currently being written for ESSA that focus on funding the individual child. This is the last piece of the Obama Title I equity and excellence agenda.
The new ESSA legislation creates a model for how schools will be refinanced to be sure that all children are funded equally the same, called “per pupil expenditures.” This is a major portion of the ESSA legislation. These new financial rules change how schools would be funded and transfers the focus to the child. ESSA refers to this aspect as a “per pupil expenditure” and the funding is defined in the legislation as “public school choice.” (Source: ESSA, ‘(D) PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE; PAGE 92) The word that must be remembered here is PUBLIC. Public school “choice” is an oxymoron, since what the government monitors and regulates is not true parental “choice.”
Parent warriors know that Common Core standards shifted the power away from the teacher in the classroom. This was done with NO LOCAL VOICE, no local CONTROL. The local school boards of America must follow the federal Common Core prescription. Common Core standards “follow the child” and are the 85% the same in every state. States only have the limited ability to change 15% of their curriculum to truly LOCAL or state-initiated. Consider that 95% of students must take the national test. The regulations mandate that the states comply with the feds by the enforcement of the 95% rule that prohibits no more than 5% of children to opt out of tests. So much for parental freedom of choice!
Parent warriors also know that the National Center for Education Statistics, Institute For Educational Sciences (NCES/IES) set up each state with grants to expand their state longitudinal data system that monitors, collects, and allows data mining on individual children, complete with a unique national ID and a dossier that “follows the child.” Common Core data elements have the digital sameness in every state, thus resembling a nationalized curriculum. This is aligned to the Common Core accountability system, with cross-referencing capabilities to monitor if the children or the teachers are meeting Common Core goals.
But what’s missing? Truly equitable funding! The money must “follow the child” and every child will have the same amount of money as a stipend. But ask: WHICH money has been targeted for traveling with the child? Title I that moves with the child is called “portability” but don’t confuse it with true choice. In reality it’s that sameness that follows that same pattern that aligns the individual child to the Feds. Thus the impact of “equitable” funding ultimately intends to destroy your neighborhood school, as well as demolish your property rights, state’s rights, and your local voice in education. Here’s why:
How Will Title I Enforcement Measures Force School Districts to “Equalize” Student Funding?
The U.S. Department of Education stated that the typical public school in the United States spends approximately $12,000 per year for each child enrolled. This suggests that a child who is enrolled in a public school from kindergarten through the end of high school will have as much as $150,000 spent on primary and secondary education. In essence, President Obama’s Plan will use Title I “supplement not supplant” regulations that will force local schools to divvy-up 50% of total money given by the Feds. Public school “CHOICE” also allows a public school child to go to the public school of their CHOICE, including charter schools. But the Feds define and control this “choice”.
The following is a summary of the Obama regulations being written as you read this passage. (Source)
“Purpose of This Regulatory Action: On December 10, 2015, President Barack Obama signed the ESSA into law. The ESSA reauthorizes the ESEA, which provides Federal funds to improve elementary and secondary education in the Nation’s public schools. ESSA builds on the ESEA’s legacy as a civil rights law and seeks to ensure every child, regardless of race, national origin, socioeconomic status, background, or zip code, receives the support needed to succeed in school.”
“As the statute affirms, the purpose of title I, part A of the ESEA is to “provide all children significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps.”?
“The new ESSA statutory language focuses not on costs and services, but on funds. Specifically, section 1118(b) of the ESEA requires that an LEA “demonstrate that the methodology used to allocate State and local funds to each [title I school] ensures that such school receives all of the State and local funds it would otherwise receive if it were not receiving assistance under [title I].”
“Importantly, States and LEAs need not shift resources among schools in order to comply with this provision, but instead may elect to provide additional State and local educational funding to title I schools to ensure compliance with the supplement not supplant provision of the law.”
“…hundreds of LEAs across the country, title I schools are receiving, on average, hundreds of thousands of dollars less in State and local funding than the average non-Title I school. These are critical funds that could be spent on, for example, wrap-around services, high-quality preschool, access to advanced coursework, or incentive pay for educators who choose to work in high-need schools.” (Emp. Added.)
So, what does all this mean? The “supplement and supplant” equation means the Federal regulations will force the local school district and state to pay up. The Feds pitch in $6000 for each child and the local school MUST pitch in $6000 for every child. This 50/50 bargain will use an equalized per pupil expenditure from both federal and state/local funds as a new way to finance children… NOT SCHOOLS! Did you catch that? The Feds are financing your CHILD! So ESSA Title I is setting up the grand bargain that says every child should be funded exactly the same and all parties MUST give the same amount. No one has asked the KEY QUESTION of how state legislatures will be willing to give up their state sovereignty when Title I money would bypass their state budgets with the federal money directly funding the child. Will Title I Portability create a Constitutional Crisis in states’ rights?
Will Per Pupil Expenditures and Title I “Supplement and Supplant” Equation Be Used for Private School CHOICE?
Mr. Trump vowed this last September:
“As your President, I will be the nation’s biggest cheerleader for school choice. I want every single inner city child in America who is today trapped in a failing school to have the freedom – the civil right – to attend the school of their choice.’’
The question that must be asked is this – Is President-Elect Trump really only focusing on poor inner city children, OR has he aligned his agenda with President Obama’s “no poverty” guidelines to encompass ALL children in EVERY SCHOOL, which is called the SCHOOL-WIDE Title I Common Core net? And, will this be the money that President-Elect Trump targets for use in his proclaimed CHOICE agenda?
Bear in mind that Sen. Ted Cruz proposed Title I portability to be those equitable funds in his S 306. In other words, Common Core would be a yoke around the Title I child’s neck and Senator Cruz wants to hand these Title I children over to private, religious, and homeschools – schools that he redefined as a “private” school. But note: the Feds link the money to the child! Rep. Luke Messer (IN-R) aligned himself with this same agenda when he proposed legislation last year for “CHOICE”. Rob Goad, aide to Rep. Messer, has been tapped by the Trump campaign to advance this “CHOICE” agenda. Never forget: When the Feds control the money they control the process from start to finish in order to mandate compliance. The Feds will have their hooks tethered to little Johnny and Suzy via government-sponsored and controlled “choice.”
We might wonder if Mr. Trump is getting ALL the information he needs to Make America Great Again. Or, worse, has there been a rerouting of his agenda to make America socialized? That question has not been answered as yet, but the writing is beginning to appear on the wall. Vice-President Elect Pence may also be a guide as to which “CHOICE” the Trump campaign will deliver, as well as Mr. Trump’s selection for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, who is an adamant supporter of Common Core school “CHOICE” and charter schools. What can we expect from the Trump Presidency? For part two click below.
© 2016 Anita Hoge – All Rights Reserve
