Common Core
The Common Core State Standards Initiative website states the following Mission: The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy. Unfortunately, the feedback is not that glowing. Confusing, destructive and dismal results are terms used to describe the initial implementations. However, 46 states are already implementing these standards, so we are already well down a path that does not look promising. Only Alaska, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia have not signed on to the standards.
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U.S. House -- and GOP -- Passes ObamaCORE

12/14/15
from NCPA,
12/11/15:

Congress admits that Common Core now will be federal law and that it is not about academic learning but rather changing the beliefs, values, behavior and worldviews of students. In a nutshell, the government is conducting psychological profiling of our children.

Like Obamacare, the Every Students Succeeds Act which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, is unconstitutional and a government takeover – this time it’s education. Voters can thank our elected Congressmen, led by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis. — who promised new and better leadership — we are getting ObamaCore! On December 2, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the conference report for ESSA. As with Obamacare, all Democrats voted for the bill while Republicans were split 179 in favor to 64 against. As I watched the House proceedings prior to the vote, I was shocked to hear Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, announce that Common Core is being redefined as social-emotional learning, which must come first in the learning hierarchy — with academics taking a backseat.

Not to be outdone, Republicans weighed in effusively as Speaker Ryan, in a prepared statement, said that he is proud the legislation includes language to help expand and make the teaching of social and emotional learning more effective! Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, boasted that Republicans compromised on the details but not on their principles. That’s the problem! Establishment politicians voted their own principles, ignoring the thousands of voters who have been protesting the bill for months. In public schools, the monitoring of student progress in non-cognitive attitudes, behavior and mindset is already in full swing through cooperative learning — collectivist groupthink — and frequent testing.

The ESSA places the collection of non-academic data on steroids. Congress is forcing — unconstitutionally — states to annually measure ninety-five percent of their students, penalizing those that fail to comply. The data will be stored in state longitudinal data systems, which are required in all 50 states by the federal government. It should be a red flag that the U.S. government is forcing students to take tests with psychological profiling and bullying those who try to opt out. With the passage of ESSA, the government can conduct surveillance through its cradle-to-grave data-collecting on American citizens. As history bears out, governments that control massive amounts of information on citizens will abuse its power. How quickly America is being “transformed.”

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