Rep. Bolin's HB1128 to put Common Core Standards on hold is a key piece of legislation

This morning the South Dakota House Education committee will hear Rep. Jim Bolin's HB1128:

FOR AN ACT ENTITLED, An Act to require the Board of Education to conduct public hearings before adopting certain standards.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:
    Section 1. That chapter 13-3 be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as follows:

Beginning on July 1, 2012, the Board of Education, prior to adopting any standards proposed through the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a state-led effort launched by state leaders through their membership in the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers, shall conduct, over a period of two years, at least six public hearings. The purpose of the hearings is to give members of the public the opportunity to provide input to the board on whether the standards being proposed through the initiative should be adopted in South Dakota. The board shall conduct at least one of the public hearings in each of the following cities: Aberdeen, Pierre, Rapid City, and Sioux Falls. The other two public hearings required pursuant to this Act shall be conducted in locations determined by the board.

Putting these on hold does have merit, but we also have the governor pinning his merit pay to teachers on standards tests that are based on these standards. I have covered that proposal along with the very expensive training and testing process that his plan entails. That along should give legislators pause, unless of they will be strong-armed by the governor's office as was done with his welfare program to big projects last year.

The governor also has pointed out the 28.5% decrease in students since 1971, but the numbers of support staff has risen 65%. Here is why (note that RTTT is Obama's Race To The Top program):

The absolute requirement of RTTT is that states must adopt national standards.  Forty-eight of the fifty states, with Alaska and Texas being the only exceptions, have signed on to the Common Core Standards Initiative.  This initiative is funded and promoted by the National Governors' Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).  They are developing common core standards in math and English that are "internationally benchmarked."

Although touted as "state-led" and "voluntary," all of these severely cash-strapped states (41 as of the January 19th deadline) that hope to receive RTTT funds MUST adopt these standards (national curriculum).  Part of the competitive application process requires states to show the largest number of school districts agreeing to take on these national/international standards. That is not voluntary.  Rather, depending on one's point of view, it is either bribery or economic and ideological blackmail. It is also important to note that these same two ostensibly state government-associated groups (NGA and CCSSO) developing RTTT also produced America 2000 under the Bush 41 administration that morphed into Goals 2000 in 1994 under President Clinton.  Goals 2000 and that year's reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act combined for the first time to require that states and school districts comply with federal standards listed in Goals 2000 in order to receive federal education dollars.  Those standards include expanding government schooling into the preschool years and a much greater emphasis on the mental health or social and emotional aspects. Many would rightly deem this psychosocial meddling indoctrination, instead of what parents want and expect as the traditional academic aspects of education - reading, math, history and civics.

In fact, as explained by Professor Allen Quist, the only comprehensive "internationally benchmarked" standards are those produced by the UN's educational and cultural arm UNESCO and the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO).  These standards will promote the documents and principles of the United Nations over those of the United States:

American schools used to teach the fundamental values of the United States--including the inalienable, God-given rights of life, liberty and property, as guaranteed by our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Not any more. Now our students will be indoctrinated in the UN's definition of human rights. As clarified by the UN's UDHR [Universal Declaration of Human Rights], our rights now may not "be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations" (Art 29:3). Our children will be taught that they have only those rights the UN says they have.

The UNESCO standards also include the UN's Earth Charter, which further defines internationally benchmarked standards. The Charter says these standards must entail what it calls "sustainability education" (Art 14:b). The Charter explains that "sustainability education" entails the "promotion of the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations" (Art. 10:a), nuclear disarmament (Art. 16:d), gay marriage (Art. 12:a), legalized abortion (Art. 7:e), adoption of an "international legally binding instrument on environment" (The way Forward), and indoctrination in pantheism (Art. 14d and Art. 16:f).

All of these harmful trends were accelerated under NCLB, but still there was the veneer of state developed and written standards and assessments. With RTTT, all veneer of state and local control of education will be gone.

Note the "indoctrination in pantheism". That is the theology behind something called the New Age Movement. Here is more on that and UNESCO's role:

Prior to these modern developments, Sir Julian Huxley, arguably the leading architect of the neo-Darwinian system, had written an influential book called Religion without Revelation, and had become, with John Dewey, a chief founder of the American Humanist Association. As first Director-General of UNESCO, he formulated the principles of what he hoped would soon become the official religion of the world.

"Thus the general philosophy of UNESCO should, it seems, be a scientific world humanism, global in extent and evolutionary in background." ⁹
"The unifying of traditions into a single common pool of experience, awareness and purpose is the necessary prerequisite for further major progress in human evolution. Accordingly, although political unification in some sort of world government will be required for the definitive attainment of this state, unification in the things of the mind is not only necessary also, but it can pave the way for other types of unification." ¹⁰

The neo-Darwinian religionists (Huxley, Dobzhansky, Dewey, etc.) thought that evolutionary gradualism would become the basis for the coming world humanistic religion. Evolutionists of the new generation, on the other hand, have increasingly turned to punctuationism--or revolutionary evolutionism--as the favored rationale, largely because of the scientific fallacies in gradualism increasingly exposed by creationists. This development has facilitated the amalgamation of Western scientism with Eastern mysticism.

Those who complain the loudest over Rep. Steve Hickey's idea of including the Bible in public education largely fit the religion that is based on the theory of evolution.

And here is research on how Common Core Standards are a part of UN's Agenda 21:

21 is contrary to everything America stands for. So how can you get people to completely change their mindset and way of life…..You steal a generation of children. By removing words and terms eventually they lose their meaning and children will become disappear. Words like: individual freedom, private property, unalienable rights, constitutional republic will soon disappear once our children become global citizens indoctrinated into the socialist mindset.    Children will be trained to work not educated for life. It is more important to fill the schools with social services than educational services. How many billions is that costing?

Arnie Duncan, Sec of Department of Education believes it is more important to train a child to be a green than get a good education. 

Greening Education Sec of DOE, Arnie Duncan

“Through the Race to the Top (RTTT) and other programs, we’ve unleashed an avalanche of pent-up reform activity across the states and literally thousands of districts. Later today, I will announce the winners of 21 planning grants for the Promise Neighborhoods program. These nonprofits, schools, and universities will be putting education at the center of their efforts to rebuild their distressed communities. They will offer a comprehensive set of services—health screenings, parenting classes, and early learning opportunities. These projects have the potential to address some vitally important issues such as providing environmentally safe schools and creating sustainable urban developments. But they all recognize that a great education is the one of the best antipoverty programs.”

RTTT requires a state to follow Common Core Standards following an international benchmarks. The international benchmarks comes from UNESCO and follows social justice, the United Nations Bill of Human Rights, elimination of private property.

UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development:  “Generally more highly educated people who have higher incomer consume more resources than poorly educated people who tend to have lower incomes.  More education increases the threat to sustainability.”

Common Core Standards (CCS) are sub standard to what many states have currently.  CCS will create a one size shoe fits all education void of factual learning, critical thinking, logic, reason and analysis.  The international education is anti-American, Anti- Family, Anti –Religion and removes study of civics, history, government, factually information from the texts.  International benchmarks focuses on consensus where by math is treated as man made so by consensus 2+2=5.

I just found research that explains how this program is "An Introduction to Marxism 101". It also states the achievement will decrease and not increase with this approach.

So clearly Bolin has a great issue that deserves the attention of the entire legislature before they just rubber stamp the governor's plans.

Comments

[grudznick]

Mr. Bolin is often a common sense kind of fellow. Let us hope those other legislatures can see what is right here.

[Sagda]

I would say Kansas did well cinsiderong the state of the arts around here, but it ended up tied with Georgia and Virginia for #20.