Agency Based Education By Alicia Walters Former Utah Teacher

Education is a means to an end, not the end itself—at least that much is clear from reading John Amos Comenius (1600s) who believed that education best served the public when it was universally available and stressed vocational training, preparing students to work in the real world; in comparison to John Milton, who believed that education best served the public when it catered to the elite and stressed language arts and humanities, preparing students for leadership positions in government.  So what type of education best serves the public?  Simply put, critics of vocational education will say that it neglects the classics in literature, art and music, and critics of classical education will say that it is lacking in practicality.  The answer is neither because in both arguments, the end of education is not determined by an individual student but rather by some theoretical idea about education.  Education must be voluntary and so the problem lies in education that is driven by someone other than the individual being educated.  Whatever happened to the adage, the possibilities are endless?  In both theories, the student is viewed by his potential, which is defined as: latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and led to future success or usefulness.  There is possible danger in education where the end of it is determined not by the individual being educated but by a “panel” or group doing the educating because whatever the panel’s agenda, the student’s individuality is at risk.  Language is the primary tool we teachers use to convey useful knowledge to our students.  And so, if I were on a panel seeking a specific end, then I would want to eliminate use of words that would validate the existence of the individuality of the students.  Foremost, I would not talk to them about anything that had to do with their character.  Their past experiences, family, dreams and faith would not be relevant to our study because they do not determine the end, the panel does and the panel is not them.  I would seek to change my students’ language and the way they thought about their own character.  This is precisely why parents and some teachers view having a government imposed, national standard unfavorably.

Character is defined as “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual, or the distinctive nature of someone.”  If an individual student’s character is on the table, then the end of education cannot be easily predetermined and the panel is out of a job, unless their job description is rewritten to be a more supportive, rather than dictatorial role.  However, if students are only valued for their potential, or what some refer to as human capital, then the panel has a real opportunity for good or for evil.  The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has stated, “The characteristics of students in each school community vary greatly across the state. ...To meet these [academic] goals, different strategies are needed that reflect student characteristics, experiences, and cultural differences” (http://winss.dpi.wi.gov/winss_dm-demographics).  Savvy parents and teachers consider their students’ developing characters and not only their potential.  They vigilantly protect the formative years and avoid premature labeling of their children and students.  And, they realize that the public is not served best when the future generation is being educated by a distant panel but rather locally, foremost by their parents ideally and then by their teachers who are accountable to them.

By nature, effective teachers are supportive of their students’ developing characters because they understand that character has the most opportunity for growth during the formative years.  They do not blame their students but ultimately hold themselves accountable to their students and work tirelessly to provide enthusiasm, positive discipline and constructive feedback to their instruction.  Their teaching is adaptable to meet the individual needs of their students and because of that, effective teachers are learning continually and often exploring new possibilities of how to instruct their students better.  As a result, they are generally liked by their students who will say things like, “Her class is hard but it is one of my favorites.”  Effective teachers resent the panel for getting in their way because they already have plenty of work to do without it.  Ineffective teachers are often miserable at work and make other people miserable, including their students.  They do not care about their students’ developing characters because they do not consider teaching a responsibility—to their students or society in general, but rather a means to a paycheck.  They often blame their students and do not hold themselves accountable for lack of discipline.  Students can generally rehearse verbatim the thoughts and opinions of their ineffective teachers but cannot tell you hardly anything about their curriculum.  They rarely give useful feedback to students and parents are frustrated because of it.  Their teaching is not adaptable to meet the needs of their students but almost like a script they pull out of the “September” file year after year to read to bored students while they themselves are bored at work.  You can find them sitting at the back of the classroom with their feet up reading a newspaper while their students fill out a worksheet with eyes fixed on the clock.  After school, sightings of them are rare.  Ineffective teachers welcome any panel who will do their job for them, and investors with interests in human capital will jump at the chance to sit on those panels.

You would think that the best solution would be to hire effective teachers and fire ineffective ones, rather than try to assume a common, national standard.  As an example, I taught Junior English at Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah.  Students who attend this school are often parented by a father with a steady job and a mother who has the option of staying at home to raise the children.  At the time I taught there, 92% of the student body claimed membership in a church community.  The result is students are getting what they need at home to succeed in school including but not limited to: good nourishment, a comfortable place to sleep, the security a father can provide and the nurturing a mother can provide and vice versa, as well as association with friends who share their same values and beliefs.  As a result, Davis High School is naturally competitive in Academics, Football, Theater, Debate, Cheerleading, etc. It is a great place to work as a teacher and many of my colleagues there are effective mentors and teachers who play an active role in deciding, along with the administrators who is hired to teach at their school.  At the time however, looking at my fall schedule, it was apparent that the football team had practice early in the day and so my 1st and 2nd period classes were usually comprised of Theater and Debate students while the football players filled the desks in my 3rd and 4th period classes, after their practice.  You would expect a teacher in my situation to exercise her common sense and not teach classics like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the same way to the Theater kids as I would to the football players, right?  I would hope so because it should go without saying that a Theater kid is going to react to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn very differently than a football player after two hours of morning practice, generally speaking.  And they did react and learn very differently and that is not an observation that a distant panel would be able to make or assess.

By neglecting to eliminate ineffective teachers, you discourage effective teachers from making your school their professional home.  My first year teaching was not at Davis High School but 32 miles south at Hillcrest High School in Midvale, Utah.  I was the new teacher in an English department where I was one of the few not tenured and so I was assigned to be the Debate Coach, even though I had no debate experience.  This came as a surprise because when I interviewed for the job, “Debate Coach” was not in the job description but was added after I had accepted the English teaching position.  This was probably due to the fact that Debate requires many additional unpaid, after school hours and the tenured teachers cared less about who was qualified to coach debate and cared more about clocking out for the day.  If any one of them had taken an interest in the hiring of a new English teacher/Debate Coach, I probably would not have been hired because I had no experience with Debate.  The principal admitted this to me a month or so after I was hired.  This was not a result of a shortage of applicants qualified to coach Debate but a direct result of a shortage of interest on the part of the English Department in the hiring of a new teacher/coach.  I was also assigned to teach two 10th Grade English classes where only 1-2 students in these particular classes spoke English fluently and none as a first language.  The remaining 40 (approximately) students struggled to speak English.  Since I was not ESL endorsed and my class sizes exceeded the allotted number, I was told by the Department Chair not to mention anything about this to anyone outside the school.  Coaching Debate alone would have eaten all my time in preparation, then add those 10th Grade English classes, which were really ESL classes.  I had taken Spanish in college but was instructed to only speak to my students in English because I was not ESL endorsed.  I could have really used a mentor at the school to help me gain experience that first year but as a teacher there, I felt completely alone and unsupported.  The English Department at the time was comprised of mostly ineffective teachers. Routinely, I heard these teachers refer to their students as “little shits” and I felt insulted and ignored whenever I tried to propose ways to make improvements to our department, which is why I left my job at the school at the end of my first year.  These problems were not the result of a lack of resources as much as they were the result of a lack of effective teachers.  It matters less the amount of money a school has and matters much more the teachers a school has.

While employed at Davis High School, I also taught after school hours part-time at a third school, Solstice Residential Treatment Center. This private school understands the important distinction between students’ characters as it relates to their potential and the inefficacy of imposing a common, national standard on individual students.  From solsticesrtc.com,

“Solstice specializes in the provision of gender-specific treatment for female adolescents who struggle with a variety of presenting problems such as: addiction and substance abuse, eating disorders, self harm, suicidal ideation, trauma, adoption and attachment issues, family conflict, etc.  We have developed a clinically intensive program based on the specific needs we know these young women have.”

Solstice RTC is located about five and a half miles from Davis High School in Layton, Utah.  The Wisconsin Department of Public Education is correct in their assessment that “characteristics in each school community vary across the state...” Being a good teacher in each of these schools required an enormous amount of adaptability and a keen interest in my students’ characters as it related to their potential. Educators do not have that same adaptability under a common, national standard, which inherently by simple geography cannot encompass the variability of students within a school community.  In other words, how would a national panel be able to write curriculum that would fit such varied needs of individual students within proximity as close as a 5 mile radius?  They would either have to design a curriculum that targets a specific potential set within groups of school communities while ignoring the needs of students within those same communities or they would have to create something that best serves only the lowest performing students, bringing everyone down to the least common denominator in order to level the playing field.  They can’t afford to look at students’ characters because then the end is predicated on the student rather than the panel and so they do everything they can to diminish the role of character in a students’ learning and focus instead on human capital.  Sadly, the result is less teaching of language arts and humanities and less students realizing their exceptional characters.  Add a panel of educators or policy makers with a hidden agenda that most likely will not have the students’ characters best interest in mind and that is tragic.

~Alicia Walters former Utah Teacher

Gates and AIR

American Institutes for Research (AIR)

AIR's mission statement reads, "AIR's mission is to conduct and apply the best behavioral and social science research and evaluation towards improving peoples' lives, with a special emphasis on the disadvantaged."
http://www.air.org/about/?fa=viewContent&content_id=96

Why are we hiring a social science research company rather than an academic testing company?

Could it be because of the ties to Bill Gates, who has committed 5 BILLION DOLLARS to Common Core,  has AIR involved in his many education projects? "The National Evaluation of High School Transformation is a collaborative effort between the American Institutes for Research and SRI International.
This work, which began in 2001, is supported through funding by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."
http://smallhs.sri.com/documents/Relationship_Rpt_10_21_2005.pdf

AIR takes the view that large populations of children are mentally ill, "...One in five children and adolescents (20 percent) have a diagnosable mental health disorder."
http://www.air.org/focus-area/human-social-development/?id=133

AIR takes the position that it is not local or parental, but a "public health issue" to test and assist "disadvantaged" children defined as "mentally ill" and LGBTQ2 (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Two-Spirited).

In a brief funded by AIR and others, AIR takes a dim view of conservative churches and rural communities which they feel are discriminatory to LGBTQ2 and make the suggestion that parents with gay children find gay friendly churches.

They also make the suggestion that girls who once were labeled "tomboys" and were allowed to grow up and become who they become instead be labeled as "transgender" and sent to counseling to help them learn about their new identity.

We have been told that AIR won the testing contract fair and square, but an article in the S.L. Tribune caused some to wonder, "The American Institutes of Research is a Washington D.C.-based not-for-profit. It's the only organization already delivering statewide adaptive tests approved for use under federal education law, which requires all states to give end-of-year tests to hold schools accountable, said Martell Menlove, state deputy superintendent."

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55349773-78/tests-state-system-students.html.csp

The article states that the bid was for 39 Million Dollars, money that many feel would be better used for teacher pay, books and supplies in the classroom.

Can we be sure that Utah School Children will be tested only on academics when AIR's focus is phychometric and behavioral research? State Board members have said that, "Our children will be tested on academics." However, in a bill that was held in committee, SB69 http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/sbillint/SB0069.htm you can read in the paragraph about the new computer adaptive testing that will be administered by AIR, on line 66:
66 (d) the use of student behavior indicators in assessing student performance;
So, even if SBOE aren't aware of the psychological profiling aspects of the testing, someone who helped write this bill felt it important to include this aspect in the written statute that would govern assessments.

Do State Board members understand the scope of Computer Adaptive Testing? We have been told that a 15 parent panel will review the questions. This will be a daunting number of questions.

http://nccc.georgetown.edu/documents/LGBT_Brief.pdf

Please do your homework and then write our Governor, legislators and school boards. Get us out of Common Core testing, data mining, textbook adoption and tax waste

Gorbachev, Communism & Environmentalism...

What was the first thing Mikhail Gorbachev did after the Berlin Wall came down and he was out of office? Do you know? He joined the environmental movement. Why? There is nothing that destroys private property rights faster.

In January 1990 during an address to the Global Forum on Environment and Development for Survival, President Mikhail Gorbachev (the former President of the USSR) brought up the idea for an organisation that would apply the medical emergency response model of the International Committee of the Red Cross to ecological issues and expedite solutions to environmental problems that transcend national boundaries. 

Green Cross International is an environmental organisation founded by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993, building upon the work started by the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Green Cross International's mission is "to help ensure a just, sustainable and secure future for all by fostering a value shift and cultivating a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility in humanity's relationship with nature.

For the next little while AGENDA: Grinding America Down is available to watch for free online. Please do.

HERE

The Sexualization of Children & The Gay Agenda in Utah Schools

American Institutes for Research
The Sexualization of Children and The Gay Agenda in Utah SchoolsWhen the Utah State School Board Committee accepted a $39 Million bid from American Institutes for Research to facilitate new computer adaptive testing for Utah school children, parents wanted to know more about them especially when an article in the S.L. Tribune raised a few red flags.
"The American Institutes of Research is a Washington D.C.-based not-for-profit. It’s the only organization already delivering statewide adaptive tests approved for use under federal education law, which requires all states to give end-of-year tests to hold schools accountable, said Martell Menlove, state deputy superintendent."
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55349773-78/tests-state-system-students.html.csp

This statement made it seem that AIR had not really participated in a bidding process, but instead had the contract in hand all along. Partnerships between The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and AIR adds to suspicion as well as common views of both organizations on Social Justice and LGBT issues and their heavy push to "transition" schools into the Gates model.  Also, AIR was involved with the CCSS from the beginning and was contracted to conduct the international benchmarking. AIR’s mission statement reads, "AIR’s mission is to conduct and apply the best behavioral and social science research and evaluation towards improving peoples’ lives, with a special emphasis on the disadvantaged."

What is AIR’s social science research telling them and how would they go about improving lives?

In, Helping Families Support Their Lesbian, Gay,Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Children BY CAITLIN RYAN, Ph.D., A.C.S.W. Director, Family Acceptance Project™ – San Francisco State University, a brief funded by AIR a mother relates the following story:
http://nccc.georgetown.edu/documents/LGBT_Brief.pdf
Support Your Child’s LGBT Identity
Even When You Feel Uncomfortable
"Shondra started to get real depressed in 5th grade. She didn’t
talk much anymore, and she spent a lot of time in her room.
"When she was little, she didn’t like to wear a dress, but she
was sweet and would let me dress her up. But by the time she
was 9, she started to hate wearing dresses.
"And now, well, my momma and I didn’t know what was
wrong. I thought she was being willful and disobedient. Then
the counselor at school asked us to come in and talk with her.
She said that Shondra had another name at school. She asked
the other students to call her Darnell and she dressed like a
boy, with a boy’s name.
"The school counselor told us about transgender. We never
heard of such a thing. She thought that Shondra was
transgender and she gave us the name of another counselor.
They told us what Shondra, I mean, Darnell was feeling when
we tried to dress her up and be a certain way. They said that
for our child, the way we were acting felt like we were
rejecting her. They showed us that children like this get very
depressed, and they are at very high risk for suicide when
their family tries to make them act like a girl.
"We were shocked. We had no idea. So we got our child help
and he’s much happier now."
TYRA AND SHIRLENE, MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER
OF A 12-YEAR-OLD TRANSGENDER YOUTH
Not too long ago, girls fitting Shonda’s description were called tomboys and given a chance to grow up and find out who they really were before labels like "trangender" were applied and they were sent to counselors so they could learn how to deal with it.

In other story from this same brief, parents were counseled to leave their churches and find churches more accepting of their LGBT children.
Find a Supportive Faith Community for Your LGBT Child
"We live in a conservative community. Religion has always
been very important in our lives and we wanted to raise our
children in the church.
"But after we learned that our son was gay, we knew we had
to find a congregation that would welcome our son.
"A friend told us to look on the computer, so we looked for a
church that supported gay people. We found an open and
affirming church and we started a group for LGBT youth with
the youth minister at our new church. There were no services
for gay youth until we started the group. We meet at the
church and every time we meet, 50 gay youth come, and have
a place to get support, to make new friends, and to learn
about their lives."
MARTA AND LUIS, PARENTS OF A 17-YEAR-OLD GAY SON

•Other advice provided in this brief:
•Connect your child with an LGBT adult role model to show them options for the future.
•Support your child’s gender expression
•Work to make your congregation supportive of LGBT members, or find a supportive faith community that welcomes your family and LGBT child.

How old are these children?
"Adolescents in our research for the Family
Acceptance ProjectTM (FAP) said they were attracted to another person of the same gender at about age 10.
Some knew they were gay at age 7 or 9. Overall, they
identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, on average, at
age 13.4. Their families learned about their LGB
identity about a year later."
　
Should seven, nine, or even 13.4 years old children be labeled LGBT?
Are these really the views of American Institutes for Research?
Near the end of the brief there is a disclaimer stating:
"The opinions expressed herein are the views of
the authors and do not reflect the official position of the U.S. DHHS, SAMHSA, CMHS. No official support or endorsement of CMHS, SAMHSA, or DHHS for the content of the practice brief is intended or should be inferred." Notice that American Institutes for Research is not part of this disclaimer.
American Institutes for Research is not included because they "collaborated" on the brief with:
"...the National Center for Cultural Competence and the National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health of the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development, and the American Institutes for Research."
Read the entire brief here:
http://nccc.georgetown.edu/documents/LGBT_Brief.pdf
　
American Institutes for Research also maintains the TAP site which is Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health where some of the following topics are covered:
http://www.tapartnership.org/COP/CLC/publications.php?id=topic7
•Strengths and Silences: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students in Rural and Small Town Schools
Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) (2012)
Drawing from 8,584 students surveyed across the U.S., this report highlights the experiences of rural LGBT youth, a population often overlooked. As the report shares, 81% of rural LGBT youth felt unsafe in school. (I just want to interrupt this here and ask how many straight students always felt safe at school?) The report concludes that a greater focus on safe and inclusive learning environments is necessary, especially for rural youth.Talking About Suicide & LGBT Populations(PDF)

•Movement Advancement Project; Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network; Johnson Family Foundation; The Trevor Project
Shares recommendations for discussing suicide, in daily conversation and in social media, especially in light of recent news coverage of the suicides of LGBT youth, which has resulted in the potential for suicide contagion. This report also discusses the promotion of public conversations around the well-being of LGBT people, family support and acceptance, and help-seeking behavior for LGBT individuals at risk for suicide.

•The Impact of Homophobia and Racism on LGBT Youth of Color
Advocates for Youth (2007) Illustrates the need for competent care to address the unique challenges experienced by LGBTQ youth of color, including economic and cultural disparities and elevated risk-taking behavior.
Tips and Strategies for Taking Steps to Cultural FairnessAdvocates for Youth (2007)Provides information to individuals who work with youth about the impact of discrimination on young people and how culturally competent, empowering programming can help address their needs and emphasize their assets. (yet another program?)

There are many other articles on the topic of LGBT children and youth put together either primarily by, or with help from American Institutes for Research. Here are a few:
How You Can Better Support LGBT Youth & Families http://archive.brookespublishing.com/author-interviews/fisher-70823-interview.htmTrue Colors, Inc. Sexual Minority Youth and Family Services
AIR Experts Co-author Volume on Improving Emotional and Behavioral Outcomes for LGBT Youthhttp://www.air.org/focus-area/human-social-development/index.cfm?fa=viewContent&content_id=1969
D.C. Family Court Hosts Annual Interdisciplinary Conference; Focuses on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youthhttp://www.air.org/focus-area/human-social-development/index.cfm?fa=viewContent&content_id=2140
AIR's Human and Social Development Program Releases New LGBT Section of Interagency Working Group Websitehttp://www.air.org/focus-area/human-social-development/index.cfm?fa=viewContent&content_id=1974
AIR ties to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is pushing the adoption of Common Core with a commitment to spend $354 Million (second paragraph on page 11)
http://www.commoncoresolutions.com/PDF/education_brief.pdfThe Gates Foundation has been working with AIR since at least 2005The National Evaluation of High School Transformation is a collaborative effort between the American Institutes for Research and SRI International.
This work, which began in 2001, is supported through funding by the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation.
Creating Cultures for Learning: Supportive Relationships in New and
Redesigned High Schools is part of an ongoing series of reports based on the evaluation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s high school
grants.
http://smallhs.sri.com/documents/Relationship_Rpt_10_21_2005.pdf

Why is this troubling?
1. American Institutes for Research refers to LGBT "CHILDREN & Youth and so AIR is an organization that believes not only in the sexualization of children, but in labeling and counseling those children at a very young age.

2. AIR has been hired to conduct computer adaptive testing for Utah students, but concerned parents have never been able to find out from either School Board Members OR the State Board who would be writing the questions and who would be reviewing the questions. Will parents be able to have control over written questions? Will parents have any control over data collected by AIR?

3. Taking into consideration AIR’s position on churches opposed to homosexuality, is AIR really a great fit in a largely conservative religious state like Utah?

4. AIR also has an unfavorable opinion of rural communities of which Utah has many.

5. AIR values and attitudes concern parents who don’t want education to be about sexuality. Utah parents are already concerned about the amount of time students spend in assemblies learning how to brush their teeth, escape a fire, say no to drugs, say no to pornography, say no to bullying, watching films unrelated to core subjects, CTE classes, maturation programs and sex education, doing busy work, taking standardized tests, attending silly assemblies and generally goofing around. Students spend so much time in these activities when many are struggling in basic subjects like math and reading.

6. Some parents wonder if AIR in fact did go through a fair and reasonable bidding process or if since, "It’s the only organization already delivering statewide adaptive tests approved for use under federal education law, which requires all states to give end-of-year tests to hold schools accountable," awarding AIR the Utah contract was a forgone conclusion. This concern is even more troubling when we know that AIR was involved in the CCSS from the beginning. AIR was the organization that conducted the International Benchmarking, "Using a series of state, national, and international tests, researchers at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) benchmarked state performance standards to international standards.6"
6 Phillips, Gary W. (2010). "International benchmarking: State education performance standards." American Institutes for Research. View online here: http://www.air.org/files/AIR_Int_ Benchmarking_State_Ed__Perf_Standards.pdf.

http://www.showmeinstitute.org/publications/testimony/education/915-avoid-common-core.html
7. Neither the Gates Foundation nor AIR represent the values of many, many Utah parents. In a recent blog post Cherilyn Eager wrote, "Parents scratch their heads when their kids grow up to be agnostic – or even atheistic – after they raised them in a religious home, wondering how this could have happened. Republican elected officials who vote for these liberal, agnostic, socialist education policies (after receiving campaign funding from these corporations) wonder why their voters are dwindling and, according to a Gallup Poll, those with socialist leanings are now around 36% of the electorate.
"http://cherilyneagar.com/2013/02/utah-governor-praises-democratic-sympathizing-agnostic/

When all is considered, why are we allowing these groups to influence Utah students?

Spiritually Unsafe

In many places it is literally not safe physically for youngsters to go to school. And in many schools - and it's becoming almost generally true - it is spiritually unsafe to attend public schools. Look back over the history of education to the turn of the century and the beginning of the educational philosophies, pragmatism and humanism were the early ones, and they branched out into a number of other philosophies which have led us now into a circumstance where our schools are producing the problems that we face. (Charge to the David O. McKay School of Education at BYU, October 9, 1996)

I wonder how President McKay would feel about Common Core which teaches Multicultalism, Social Justice, Homosexuality, Overpopulation, the evironment is diety, the Constitution is an outdated document, the Founders were just evil slave holders and personal liberty is subversive WHILE taking values based classic literature from the curriculum and dumbing math down by two full grades?  #stopcommoncore

McGraw Hill, Gates Foundation & Psychometric Testing

This is a McGraw Hill PRO Common Core article. It lays out where some of the funding came from: $110 Billion from the stimulus, $330 Million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. After laying out those dollar amounts, McGraw Hill makes the claim that the federal government "has had no role" in the development of CC State Standards, but that the Federal Government may "incentivize" the CC effort (this translates to bribing us with our own money).

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (has already spent 173 Million) committed to spend $354 Million Dollars. Part of the Gates Foundation goal as stated here is to, "Develop new ways of thinking about psychometric rules that guide tests in order to get higher quality and more valid items that can be used for large-scale assessment and accountability systems." In other words, have a more friendly attitute toward psychological and other testing to be done on your child and getting around FERPA laws that protect your child's private information.

"McGraw-Hill Education is an endorsing partner of the NGA/CCSSO common core initiative..." who has made and stands to make millions and millions of dollars from Common Core. In addition, they own many of the educational journals who support Common Core. McGraw Hill owns NINE educational publications directly not counting any owned by its subsidiaries.

McGraw Hill was also behind and made enormous profits from No Child Left Behind, a program which did nothing but teach school administrators to cook the books like Walls Street Bankers and pick your pocket while actually dumbing down public education.

They are about to do it again. Will you be complicit? #STOPCOMMONCORE

Most Scientists = Skeptics

Peer Reviewed Survey shows that:
"Only 36 percent of geoscientists and engineers believe that humans are creating a global warming crisis, according to a survey reported in the peer-reviewed Organization Studies. By contrast, a strong majority of the 1,077 respondents believe that nature is the primary cause of recent global warming and/or that future global warming will not be a very serious problem."

Read more HERE:

Then after their already embarassing e-mail fiasco at the University of East Anglia whose research was used as a base for most climate scientists.. including those at NASA.  That research was shown to be based on lies.

Climate change is about profits for its inventors and wealth redistribution.

..a leading member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) told a German news outlet, “[W]e redistribute de facto the world’s wealth by climate policy.” Via the Media Research Center, Germany’s NZZ Online Sunday interviews Ottmar Edenhofer of the U.N. (emphases mine):

(NZZ AM SONNTAG): The new thing about your proposal for a Global Deal is the stress on the importance of development policy for climate policy. Until now, many think of aid when they hear development policies.

(OTTMAR EDENHOFER, UN IPCC OFFICIAL): That will change immediately if global emission rights are distributed. If this happens, on a per capita basis, then Africa will be the big winner, and huge amounts of money will flow there. This will have enormous implications for development policy. And it will raise the question if these countries can deal responsibly with so much money at all.

(NZZ): That does not sound anymore like the climate policy that we know.

And yet, Anthropological Global Warming/Climate change is preached like gospel in our schools accelerated by Common Core. The view of the Gates Foundation, whose funding for Common Core has reached over 173 MILLION Dollars, is that humans are bad, they are ruining the planet and population must be decreased by 10-15%
Are you willing to have that drummed into your child's head not just in science or geography, but in almost every class?

Elder Dallin H. Oaks on Children

Utah & American Institutes for Research

I have grave concerns about Utah’s new student testing company American Institutes for Research. AIR was one of 13 bids received by the State Office of Education which has continued to make the constant and fallacious claim that Common Core is not a federal takeover of education. So why did the State Office of Education then choose, "...the only organization already delivering statewide adaptive tests approved for use under federal education law"? The State Office of Education and I have different views of what constitutes federal control.
The reach of American Institutes for Research goes far beyond U.S. borders. They do everything from partnering with the Clinton Global Initiative in it’s Deworm the World effort to Improving Emotional and Behavioral Outcomes for LGBT Youth to sponsoring Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day and the list goes on and on. AIR has it’s hands in a million pies. Hiring AIR is like hiring a single person to build a family home. You wouldn’t do it that way. You would get the very best plumber, the very best framer, the very best electrician you could find. Utah should hire a great testing company, period.
American Institutes for Research has a mission statement which reads, "AIR’s mission is to conduct and apply the best behavioral and social science research and evaluation towards improving peoples’ lives, with a special emphasis on the disadvantaged." I would like to know what that mission statement has to do with end of level testing for students in Utah. Additionally, I am very concerned about what the word "apply" means when it comes to testing Utah students. For example, the AIR web site reads: "Studies indicate that one in five children and adolescents (20 percent) may have a diagnosable mental health disorder. Many youth with mental health disorders develop co-occurring substance abuse issues. An estimated two-thirds of all young people with mental health problems are not getting the help they need." So will AIR be testing my child for academic achievement or mental wellness? AIR’s site also states: "The Child, Adolescent and Family Branch (CAFB) of the Center for Mental Health Services initiated the National Workgroup to Address the Needs of Children and Youth Who Are LGBTQI2-S and Their Families to support and enhance services for children and youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, or two-spirit (LGBTQI2-S)." So again will those tests be simply academic, or will this company be testing CHILDREN for gay and "two-spirited" inclinations? As a parent, I would prefer a testing company that tests for academic achievement, I simply don’t think these other issues are the business of the state, AIR or the federal government and they have nothing to do with why Utahns send their children to school.
None of this is surprising if you know where AIR gets most of it’s funding. George Soros’s Open Society Foundation is AIR’s biggest client.
Finally, it’s the cost. When the economy is hurting and our dollars are not stretching as far as they once were, Common Core is another huge liability. The SL Tribune has reported that Utah’s new contract with AIR will be an initial outlay of 39 million dollars, but that is just for the "testing system". Currently Utah is able to complete end of level testing for each student at less than $7 per student per year , there are those who believe that the cost of testing, training and evaluation of these tests will cause that cost to rise over 100 year! Accountability Works has estimated between $25 and $50 per student per year, since no cost analysis has been done it impossible to know. In addition to not knowing what we are about to spend, what is the value of what we are about to throw out. Surely Utah has spent millions developing the testing mechanisms that are currently in place. One of the things that drives me nuts about education spending is that the public will hear a cost outlay of what additional monies will be needed to fund the next program, but they never say what will be lost by what we will toss away. (Just an aside, the District of Columbia spends the most on testing per student at $114.00 per student per year and yet their public schools remain notoriously poor.)
In the end, none of this waste and spend social engineering represents the values of a large majority of Utah parents. The results of Race to the Top ancestors like No Child Left Behind and it’s many predecessors are pathetic. It’s truly proof that people don’t get smarter when the move to Washington. Utah’s parents are highly competent, educated and motivated and I believe once they know the disasters that are AIR and Common Core, they are going to want Utah out!

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation & Common Core

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is funding many aspects of Common Core and the Gate's far left agenda is found throughout the curriculum. In an interview with Bill Moyers, Bill Gates talks about how his foundational views were formed around the dinner table,

GATES: When I was growing up, my parents were almost involved in various volunteer things. My dad was head of Planned Parenthood. And it was very controversial to be involved with that. And so it's fascinating. At the dinner table my parents are very good at sharing the things that they were doing. And almost treating us like adults, talking about that. My mom was on the United Way group that decides how to allocate the money and looks at all the different charities and makes the very hard decisions about where that pool of funds is going to go. So I always knew there was something about really educating people and giving them choices in terms of family size.

In the same interview Gates blames capitalism for the deaths of children in poor countries (that BTW don't even come close to practicing capitalism.)

MOYERS: What does it say to you that half of all 15 year olds in South Africa and Zimbabwe could lose their lives to AIDS? What does it say to you that 11 million children, roughly, die every year from preventable diseases? What does it say to you that of the 4 million babies who die within their first month, 98 percent are from poor countries? What do those statistics tell you about the world? GATES: It really is a failure of capitalism. You know capitalism is this wonderful thing that motivates people, it causes wonderful inventions to be done. But in this area of diseases of the world at large, it's really let us down.

And what is it that Gates is suggesting here?

MOYERS: What is your answer to how it is that the resources of the world are so misallocated?
GATES: It's a mistake. MOYERS: But somebody has to make a mistake. Who makes it? GATES: I think we make it every day by thinking that national borders are you know allow huge inequities to exist across those borders. And I do think this next century, hopefully, will be about a more global view.   In his TED speech in 2010, Innovating  to Zero, Gates talks about his goal of lowering the total population by 10-15%.

Do the values of the Gates foundation represent Utah? No! Repeal Common Core and repeal this far left influence on the curriculum.

Environmentalism & The Culture of Death...

David Attenbourough says, "Humans are a plague on the earth." HERE
This is the far left view of those who wrote the Common Core.

Infant Mortality...

As the health care debate raged, I often wondered about the "infant mortality" argument that I often heard repeated, "the United States ranks 41 in infant mortality." I wondered about this statistic a lot. I've had two very close friends, one who delivered a son 4 weeks premature and the other who delivered a son 6 weeks premature. Both of these boys are alive and doing very well. Another friend works in a neonatal unit here in Utah where they are saving babies that are born weighing only 1 pound. And not only that, they have learned many ways that they can mimic the womb. Premature children used to face a life where they were certain to face many, many challenges. That is no longer certain.
My friend whose son was born 6 weeks premature and weighed just over a pound is a brilliant 1rst grader, a great reader with no physical or mental disabilities at all. My other friend, whose son was born 4 weeks premature is a bit older. While medical science was not nearly as advanced, he still is now in the 90 percentile of growth. He has no physical limitations and is very bright. He does struggle with Aspergers Syndrome, but he is the light of his parents lives and has many, many friends who love him.
These boys were both born in Utah, so to be counted as a live birth they only had to do one thing and that is to TAKE A SINGLE BREATH. In Utah, that is the only requirement. In some European countries, they don't count deaths of very pre-mature babies at all. Others require them to live a certain number of weeks or months. In some African nations, they don't even name their babies until after they are several years old.
After doing some research on my own, I can tell you that I truly believe that if you are born in the United States, you are blessed and have the very best chance of not only being counted as a person, but surviving and thriving.

Here is an excellent article from the National Review

Drill HERE! Drill NOW!!

In response to the President's ridiculous comments about energy yesterday... HERE...

I say, 

We produce only 2% of the world's oil because THIS PRESIDENT and others who pander to environmental liberals refuse to let us get the oil we have in the U.S. They would rather spend the lives of our soldiers fighting wars than drill here.
With new technology, we have more oil than Saudi Arabia. The President is as false as he can be here.

 

His attempts at alternative energy sources have been the cause of huge losses in tax payer funds that have been dumped on companies that turn around and give that money back to the president in the form of campaign donations. Then, those companies have gone bankrupt enriching their boards and CEOs with multi-million dollar golden parachutes while ruining the little guy. Take a look into: Solyndra, LightSquared, Beacon, Fisker, Tesla, SunPower, Ener1, and BrightSource for starters...

In fact, I challenge the President to name one "green success" ... just one. There isn't one. But, if we drill at home, we can stop propping up foreign dictators who use the money that is paid into their countries for oil to oppress their people and turn around and kill our soldiers with it. READ

 

We have more oil than Saudi Arabia.. I promise. And, we need to be using it. READ

Wall Street Journal: 16 Concerned Scientists

In spite of a multidecade international campaign to enforce the message that increasing amounts of the "pollutant" carbon dioxide will destroy civilization, large numbers of scientists, many very prominent, share the opinions of Dr. Giaever. And the number of scientific "heretics" is growing with each passing year. The reason is a collection of stubborn scientific facts. ...

and...

Alarmism over climate is of great benefit to many, providing government funding for academic research and a reason for government bureaucracies to grow. Alarmism also offers an excuse for governments to raise taxes, taxpayer-funded subsidies for businesses that understand how to work the political system, and a lure for big donations to charitable foundations promising to save the planet. Lysenko and his team lived very well, and they fiercely defended their dogma and the privileges it brought them.

Read MORE:

Signed by:

Claude Allegre, former director of the Institute for the Study of the Earth, University of Paris; J. Scott Armstrong, cofounder of the Journal of Forecasting and the International Journal of Forecasting; Jan Breslow, head of the Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics and Metabolism, Rockefeller University; Roger Cohen, fellow, American Physical Society; Edward David, member, National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Sciences; William Happer, professor of physics, Princeton; Michael Kelly, professor of technology, University of Cambridge, U.K.; William Kininmonth, former head of climate research at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Richard Lindzen, professor of atmospheric sciences, MIT; James McGrath, professor of chemistry, Virginia Technical University; Rodney Nichols, former president and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences; Burt Rutan, aerospace engineer, designer of Voyager and SpaceShipOne; Harrison H. Schmitt, Apollo 17 astronaut and former U.S. senator; Nir Shaviv, professor of astrophysics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem; Henk Tennekes, former director, Royal Dutch Meteorological Service; Antonio Zichichi, president of the World Federation of Scientists, Geneva.

Mia Love Candidate for Utah's 4th Congressional Candidate

During a time when politicians are seen as greedy, power-seeking and corrupt, one craves the dedication and honor of a George Washington type politician. A leader who doesn’t serve the country because of what they will receive from the office (glory, power, salary, first rate health care benefits, fancy party invites, etc.), but a leader who serves because they feel it’s their duty to leave the country in a better place for posterity. A leader who doesn’t see a win in an election as an opportunity for herself, but sees it as a means to create better opportunities for others. I believe I found this type of leader in Mia Love.

My first contact with Mia was during city council elections for Saratoga Springs, Utah in 2003. She was going door to door in my neighborhood introducing herself and asking if anyone had questions for her. When she reached my house I did ask her some questions, which she answered impressively. I liked her solution-focused approach. I spoke with other neighbors and found they were equally impressed with her.

A few weeks later, Mia followed up of her door-to-door introductions with a hot chocolate and donut question-answer session at our neighborhood park. I discovered she did this not only in my neighborhood, but in most of the neighborhoods throughout the city. Once again I was impressed, this time by the countless hours that she dedicated to her campaign. I knew she was involved for reasons beyond personal ambitions. I asked her, “What do you get from serving on the city council?” She answered, “I get to represent my neighborhood and give them a voice. I also get to teach my children by example.”

After serving for 6 years as a city council member, Mia decided to run for mayor. She was anxious to keep property taxes low. At the same time she would be engaged in helping her fellow citizens’ keep more of what they earned, she wanted to help create a more walkable, sociable and safe community. She ran a successful campaign in November 2009, making history as the first African-American woman to be elected as a mayor in the state of Utah.

In contrast to the excessive salaries and pensions of mayors of other cities, Mia’s pay out is $875 each month. No pension. On a less than part-time salary, she faithfully gives 40 to 60 hours of service to the city each week.

Mia’s attitude of hard work and service can be credited to father, Jean Maxine Bourdeau. Her parents immigrated from Haiti to Brooklyn, New York in 1973 with only $10 to their name. Mia was born in December 1974. Her parents were hard working and never received a hand out. Bourdeau even worked additional jobs to pay for his children’s college. On Mia’s first day of college, Bourdeau told his daughter, “You will not be a burden to society. You will certainly give back.”

Mia has a history of giving back, from serving her community through the PTA, as city council member, fitness instructor, Boy Scout merit badge counselor, Sunday school teacher, and mayor. She also shared her vocal talents as a singer in the community’s 2011“Celebration of the Arts” program.

On January 5^th, Mia formerly announced her candidacy for the US Congress to represent the people in Utah’s 4^th Congressional District. Her plans, if elected, are to cut government spending and reign in federal regulations. Mia believes these first steps are essential to create better opportunities for her constituents in Utah. Our district needs a leader like Mia. A leader that is motivated to serve because of a sense of duty to give back. Mia resonates with this selfless dedication. We need her effective leadership to represent us at a time when our state and country needs it most.

By Jessica Stanford

Environmentalism is a movement to destroy your rights...

 especially your rights to private property...
U.N. Agenda 21

Why is the United States funding the U.N.?

The Fake Solar Industry Steals more Tax Payer Money...

...lines the pockets of Democrat candidates until the money runs out.. which is now. HERE...

Important Perspective.. The Death of Kim Jong-il

How it is that anyone can take the main stream media at face value anymore is beyong my comprehension.
THIS shouldn't be missed...

Self Interest has fed more people than charity...

If you haven't heard this perspective, then you are missing a big piece of your political education.

Greta Van Susteren inteviews Rush Limbaugh

Homosexuality and Mental Health...

Interesting article HERE...