George Rebane
[This is the transcript of my regular KVMR commentary broadcast on 21 June 2013.]
These commentaries have often visited the unfolding tragedy of what our public education has inflicted on our country and its workforce. Among the developed nations we rank way down there in every measured category of educational achievement. But most of us go through the daily round without giving it much thought, or are simply comfortable with the false conclusion that our kids are being properly prepared for the job market, and generally that things are going along swimmingly. Well they aren’t.
So now the federal government has decided to get into the act of educating our children. This should not be a surprise since the feds are getting into every act possible that affects our lives. We have witnessed how Dodd-Frank has misfired in the financial markets, and how Obamacare is screwing up America’s healthcare to a fare thee well. But folks, this is serious and deserves your full attention whether you’re a parent or not. Apparently feds haven’t done enough to K-12 education through their various ‘we’re here to help’ programs and their support of the teachers’ unions. Now they plan to establish a unified curriculum across the land called Common Core.
Historically public education has been business left to the several states. The principle has always been that education should be as local as possible where parents can meet with school districts and teachers, and influence what is being taught to their offspring. But this is not according to the grand plan taking us to a new world order. You see, your kids are really not yours. Progressive professor Melissa Harris-Perry of Tulane University says it real plain, so that we all can understand, that things have to change radically. Her words –
“So part of it is that we have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents, or kids belong to their families, and recognize that kids belong to whole communities. Once it’s everybody’s responsibility, and not just the household’s, then we start making better (education) investments.”
And the better investments dangled before the states consist of gobs of stimulus monies for education programs, granted on the condition that the states adopt the federal Common Core curricula for their schools. I needn’t remind you of how things work out whenever individual responsibility is made into a collective responsibility, the history books are full of the resulting national scale tragedies.
But not to worry, our children will not be exposed to any of that inconvenient history. In fact in Common Core’s history dead white men will not be heard from very much, and American foundational history will be a thing of the past. Instead our little darlings will be taught environmentalism, globalism, feminism, social, racial issues, …, you get the idea. But that is just the start.
The revision of the curriculum hits full stride in the maths that are the foundation of the sciences. For example, while other countries competing in the global markets start teaching math fundamentals earlier, our new Common Core moves the teaching of algebra up from the eighth grade to the ninth grade. This means that beginning calculus, fundamental to all the higher maths, will no longer be taught in our high schools.
The argument for Common Core is that it will standardize what our kids learn and put them into a better competitive position in the global workforce. But it promises to do exactly the opposite of that. The only thing we can be sure of is its impact on our youth, in that it will diminish the little that is left of what we used to call American culture. But then, is that not an overarching objective as we shed the last vestiges of American exceptionalism?
I urge all concerned listeners to examine for themselves what Common Core promises to deliver as it makes over America’s educational system. Will adopting a federally mandated national curriculum really provide the education required for our children to earn a decent living and again make a difference that has been the hallmark of America? Reflecting on this I am reminded of someone who said, “Give me just one generation of youth, and I'll transform the whole world."
My name is Rebane, and I also expand on this and related themes on NCTV and on georgerebane.com where the transcript of this commentary is posted with relevant links, and where such issues are debated extensively. However my views are not necessarily shared by KVMR. Thank you for listening.
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Some Common Core links:
Common Core State Standards Initiative
‘There’s No Opting Out of Common Core’
‘Common Core Needs More Debate’
[22jun13 update] I received the following email from CABPRO's ED Chuck Shea announcing a Common Core related event for the coming week; content follows –
Come and hear Orlean Koehle, author of: “Common Core — A Trojan Horse for
Education Reform”
A book about the federal
takeover of our children’s education
Orlean’s Website: www.cuacc.org
Find out the similarities:
“Parens Patria” is the Latin term for Hitler’s philosophy; literally translated—“the Fatherland is the parent"
What is "Common Core"?
- It
is – new & untested curriculum. - It
is – the Federal takeover of our entire education system. - It
is – data mining over 400 personal facts permanently retained about our
children from preschool through college and into the workplace, includes
fingerprints, health records, iris scans, DNA, blood type, religion,
family income, disciplinary problems and much, much more. - It
is – no parental control or opt--out option. - It
is – no local or state control of curriculum. - It
is – a one size fits all instruction and mandatory teacher compliance. - It
is – intruding on the creativity and competitive nature of charter
schools. - It
is – expensive! Common Core will cost taxpayers $1.6 billion in CA alone.
When: Wednesday June
26, 2013 • 5:30 pm
Where: Penny’s Diner
2072 Nevada City Highway • Grass Valley
Admission:
CABPRO Members $5 • General Admission $10
Refreshments:
Cheese and Fruit
rebanesruminations.com 
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