Letter to the Editor – More Common Core

To Whom It May Concern;
   
   Thank you, Marvin Hasser, for your letter regarding the NHA(National Heritage Areas designation for Southeast Colorado).  Because you mentioned Common Core, it motivated me to elaborate even more on this most intrusive federal government form of “education.” 
   Much like the NHA’s attempt to “buy out farmers and ranchers claiming it’s for the good of the land,” education is being “sold out” by claiming that Common Core curriculum is driven by rigorous standards(developed in private by the National Governors Association and the Chief Council of School Officers, funded by Bill Gates) and claiming that these standards are preparing students to compete with the best in any country. Seriously, how can each state and each child learn the same by a set of standards developed by the federal government without a single educator or parent involved?
   So, you may ask- how did this ever happen without our knowledge? A fellow named Julian Huxley, had visions of education reform. He  was the first director of the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) He expressed his vision of an international education model and sought ways for UNESCO to advance his goals. Fifty-seven years later, multibillionaire chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates, stepped forward, signing an alliance with UNESCO. Many of Huxley’s visions sound much like those of Common Core. 
  Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative political activist and constitutional attorney, wrote an article in 2005 that sums up the Gates-UNESCO alliance and vision. In it, is the following timeline.
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   1946-Huxley wrote a book about UNESCO’s task where he spoke of helping create a SINGLE-WORLD CULTURE by reconciling INDIVIDUALISM VS. COLLECTIVISM   AMERICAN VS. THE RUSSIAN way of life, CAPITALISM VS. COMMUNISM, and CHRISTIANITY VS. MARXISM.
   1960’s-70’s- UNESCO tried repeatedly to influence U.S. school curricula, but failed.
   1984-President Ronald Reagan withdrew the U.S. from UNESCO for its CORRUPTION ,ANTI-WESTERN AND FAR-LEFT PROPAGANDA.
   1992- A turning point occurred when Marc Tucker sent Hillary Clinton a letter suggesting America re-mold and expand its education system using the same system for everyone. Tucker proposed using CURRICULUM and counselors to job-match students based on labor marked boards at local, state, and federal levels. He also proposed ADOPTING INTERNATIONALLY BENCHMARKED STANDARDS FOR EDUCATING OUR STUDENTS AND WORKERS.
   1994-Many of Tucker’s ideas were implemented in the GOALS 2000; Educate America Act and th School-To- Work Act signed by President Bill Clinton.  These LAWS established ‘national standards’ and ‘national testing’ to cement NATIONAL CONTROL and they are today considered the blueprint for the Common Core plan.  This is another crack putting federalism in jeopardy. Tucker is now advising the Obama administration’s department of education about how to IMPLEMENT THE COMMON CORE standards and Race To The Top programs.
   2003- President George W. Bush REINSTATED America’s membership in UNESCO. IN October, in a UNESCO speech, U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige said, “Education for all is consistent with our recent education legislation, the No Child Left Behind Act,”  Bush’s initiative. Paige also said the U.S. and UNESCO ” pursuing a common strategy “and were” implementing joint action in education policy”  (WEREN’T WE TOLD COMMON CORE WAS A STATE-LED INITIATIVE?)
   Nov.2004-The Bill Gates/UNESCO agreement called for Microsoft to develop a “master curriculum” for teacher training in information technologies based on standards, guidelines, benchmarks and assessment techniques.
    Dec.2004-The National Governors Association published a report showing they were on board with the agreement immediately after it was signed. That report referred to ‘USING SCHOOLS TO FEED WORKERS INTO SELECTED CORPORATIONS’ and ‘INTEGRATING A COMMON AGENDA FOR EDUCATION, ECONOMIC, AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT POLICIES.’  
   Sept.2009- The National Governors Association(NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers(CCSSO) announced the names of the members fo the Validation Committee for Common Core.They  stated after the committee validated the standards and process, the NGA/CCSSO would  begin developing the  K-12 standards.(That development was actually outsourced to Achieve, Inc.)
   July 2010-Colorado contracts with WestEd(Gates funded analysis group) to perform gap analysis on Colorado Academic Standards and Common Core Standards, resulting in95% alignment.
   Aug.2010-Colo. State Board adopts The Common Core Standards
   2011- Pearson and Gates form a partnership
   Nov. 2011- Colo. receives $17.9 million in Race To The Top Stimulus funds.
    2012-COLORADO JOINS PARCC CONSORTIUM AND SMARTER BALANCED CONSORTIUM (2 NATIONAL TESTING CONSORTIUMS ALIGNED WITH COMMON CORE)
    SO………Where are we, in Lamar Colorado, NOW????? Lamar Schools have been bribed into doing Common Core for the last 2 years…… Next school year, we will be forced to do the PARCC/SMARTER BALANCED testing aligned with COMMON CORE…..No one has read the content of the tests, but the writers. They are all done on computers…Sent directly to Pearson Publishing,who has bought out every major curriculum writer in the US. The tests are focused on data collection-personal and private information on your child and family, NOT on academic achievement…   Here is a sampling of what is on the tests(according to students)  High school-english test..There is something that Haunts me….I see it in my dreams…That dark, spooky site….Which never seems to be…..It wakes me from my sleep…And makes me want to scream…  Question? What is the mood of this poem? 1.hopelessness  2.depression   3.fearful  4.darkness.   The entire test? focused on moods.  
  2nd grade…Define injustice. Describe a time that an injustice has been done to you.  
  All grades…what is 3+6….anything the group has determined it to be as long as you follow the “fuzzy math” 4-step process.. Because it is “graded” on effort to follow process.
 High School reading test?….On a book called, Divergent….which blames a warring world on the fault of human personalities.. Which faction do you belong to?  1. amity (you blame the aggressors of the world for it’s problems) 2. erudite (you blame ignorance for the world’s problems)  3. abnegation (you blame selfishness) 4. candor (you blame meekness)  5. dauntless (you blame cowards)   Do you see a pattern of dissension here?

THIS IS NOT ABOUT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT!!!! AND this testing? WILL BE here next year. What are you going to do?  

Thank you for your time   Barbara Hernandez 8305 Surrey Ridge Lamar Colo.81052