“Everything you have been told about Common Core is a lie. It is not a state initiative. It was not developed by educators. It is not going to better prepare students for college or real world applications. It is part of a century-long process of using the education system to mold students into more obedient workers and tax cattle. And it is promoted by billionaires with hidden agendas of their own.”

– James Corbett, Eye-Opener Report, Boiling Frogs Post

Let it be said that there is nothing inherently wrong with a little Marxism in the right context just as there is nothing wrong with communitarianism should the society be well-adjusted enough to make it work. But that’s not what we are talking about here. Any belief that is foisted on the public using disinformation, manipulation and deceit – however noble the intentions – deserves to be analysed and outed. Moreover, when those beliefs are channelled through people who are cynically used as chess pieces to achieve long-term objectives of control, the need to counter such moves cannot be over stated.

Other than the usual think-tanks and government agencies, there doesn’t seem to be an exact replica of Common Purpose in the United States but there are signs of the same corporate-cultural Marxism appearing within the education system. With the rise of Agenda 21, Sustainable Development and SMART Society, education is seen as a key foundational strategy that must give rise to the acceptance of all three movements.

Education and the programming of young, malleable minds has long been a major component of social engineering, the first experiments of which lay with the industrialists and now with a blend of cultural Marxism upon a SMART-communitarian template. Common Core is the latest curricula to roll off the Elite think-tank conveyer belt. As with so much of Obama-marketing, it sounds good on paper until you dig deeper and do the research only to see the same disingenuous manipulation through the back-door of good intentions. Universal standards for all children in preparation for college? The problems inherent with such a vision are buried under an avalanche of nebulous propaganda. President and founder of Ink think tank Vicki Cobb, made it plain what this nationwide project was about: “Policies, laws and now the Common Core State Standards are all sets of rules designed to guide and shape human behavior. These rules are implemented through institutions. How does an individual find one’s way through all these rules, regulations, and institutions to become an informed, self-reliant, productive citizen?” [1]

Common Core advocates appear to operate in much the same way as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which has long been politically compromised. After analysing Common Core documents the American Principles Project released an analysis last year of Common Core, where it described itself as “internationally benchmarked,” “rigorous,” and “evidence-based.”

This is simply untrue. No such benchmarks or evidence exists. As we shall see, it adheres to the usual propaganda notwithstanding some sporadic positive applications which are unfortunately lost in the pendulum swing from one traditional extreme to a centralised blanket of standardised conformity and group think. As you’d expect, many Conservatives are running around shouting about a socialist or communist take-over while democrats and the Establishment-left are singing its progressive praises.

Putting aside the idea of an overarching agenda behind this re-structuring even the most myopic should see that any centralised, one-size-fits-all attempt to redefine education will never work. Yet, it appeals to those with left-liberal tendencies and the Marxist technocrats lost in ideas of World State Utopia and it doesn’t take much for them to buy into it. As usual, conservatives and authoritarians in general are clueless and are merely reacting to anyone who doesn’t happen to be part of their flock. Anything that has the slightest whiff of socialism will be left in a cloud of emotional dust. That is not to say that Obama wasn’t chosen precisely for his left-leaning sentiments, though that in itself is hardly cause for concern. As we have discussed previously, this is not an issue of left and right politics. Obama is just another slickly marketed puppet for psychopathic dominance. He takes his orders and plays his golf. Being at the helm of a New Order of Cartel-Capitalism on an icing of collectivist principles remain part of his valued role – whether he is fully conscious of this or not.

America’s Common Core education otherwise known as The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a product of standard-based education reform of the Obama Administration with close participation of the National Governors Association(NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) along with support from Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). (There’s that “SMART” wording again…we’ll return to this meme presently) As an obvious top-down standardisation of state and local education systems which has been almost universally panned by left and right alike – it is still being pushed through. Diversity of education is essential due to the basic truth that we are all made up of different intelligences and different experiences. So, at the outset it is no wonder that more control from the Federal government insisting on standardisation would not be gratefully embraced.

Before we delve deeper into the appearance of Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) at this time, let’s get some of the other concerns about the initiative out of the way. A wide range of organisations and civic bodies across the political spectrum have voiced opposition to these reforms on the grounds that:

The US education has been predicated on a one hundred year old problem of market economics being the driver of state learning. This will not be solved on National Standards being applied to all. This conclusion is supported by the absence of a relationship between the repeatedly low scoring score on these tests and its economic ranking.

Common Core assessments of these standards will obviously mean more testing, more administration and bureaucracy which is already at breaking point.

A “one-size-fits-all” curriculum ignores cultural differences among classrooms and students while diluting the need for initiative.

Corporate interests and policy-makers determined the standards rather than educators. Which is probably why it accentuates “learning by rote” and conformity rather than understanding and creativity despite protestations to the contrary. Thus innovation and the potential for State, cultural and individual tailoring will be further squeezed out.

Common Core removes local control over what is known as K-12 curriculum in maths and English. This will also apply to private schools and homeschoolers.

Critics have also said that the standards emphasize rote learning and uniformity over creativity, and fail to recognize differences in learning styles.

There will inevitably be an emphasis on non-fiction “informational texts” and manuals rather than literature and classics. When historical documents are included they are without context or sufficient analysis. Detractors have said that such non-fiction amounts to government propaganda.

Public consultation was not in evidence before or after Common Core Standards began rolling out across 46 States.

It seems that public input on CCSSI was not required and subsequent meetings on the implementation and adoption of these standards shows that the panel takes a very dim view of disagreement. This was graphically shown from a community video posted on the internet where one Robert Small, a Maryland Parent, had the temerity to reasonably question Common Core principles and was promptly ejected from the public meeting, arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer and disrupting a school function. The amateur video of the incident showed nothing but a member of the public exercising his right to free speech and being shoved out of the hall for doing so.

Small attempted to tell the assembled teachers, administrators and parents that he wanted to know: “… how many parents here are aware that the goal of Common Core standards isn’t to prepare our children for full-fledged universities, it’s to prepare them for community college,” While being strong-armed out of the meeting by an off-duty Baltimore police officer moonlighting as a security guard, he was applauded by the audience who were shocked by the overreaction and silence of the panel. On the video Small is heard shouting: “Parents, take control,” as the Policeman pulls out some handcuffs: “I’m not an activist, I’m a parent. I have a right to speak.” The obviously groundless charges of assault against the police officer were later dropped and we can see why. Since the debacle Small’s actions have placed Common Core further into the spotlight.

Still from the The video “Arkansas Mother Obliterates Common Core in 4 Minutes“ which sums up the serious concerns of parents across America. A teacher wipes the floor with an analysis of the curriculum. Source: www.arkansasagainstcommoncore.com



CCSSI supporters – such as they are – repeatedly assert that the Federal government wasn’t involved in the development of standards and refute the idea that it is a national curriculum. Rather, according to the “myths and facts” explained on corestandards.org they believe there is “… a clear set of shared goals and expectations for what knowledge and skills will help our students succeed.” Which manages to say very little. One might as well say “because the Bible says so.”

It is difficult to give one’s blessing to the CCSSI when so much of its agenda is underhand and just plain wrong as is so often the case with disingenuous think-tank “products.” For instance, advocates claim it is voluntary. This is true if we do not include the fact that the system is based on an educational grant program but only if State schools agree to adopt the Obama Administration’s policies – especially Common Core. If they do so the government will give those obedient States a gold star and higher scoring in the grant applications. As a result, a mish-mash of standards are currently vying for supremacy as teachers and educators grapple with what a vast untested, unpiloted National Standard policy really means.

Alongside this preferential treatment is the inadequacy of the grants themselves which are not stretching far enough. Mike Johnson, the superintendent of Bexley schools in Ohio stated in an article in The Christian Post that: “We were spending a disproportionate amount of time following all the requirements,” and where: “It was costing us far more than that to implement all of the mandates.” [2] He is not the only one concerned about cost on top of an actual dilution of standards. In a Washington Post article Valerie Strauss reports:

“The costs of the tests, which have multiple pieces throughout the year plus the computer platforms needed to administer and score them, will be enormous and will come at the expense of more important things. The plunging scores will be used as an excuse to close more public schools and open more privatized charters and voucher schools, especially in poor communities of color. If, as proposed, the Common Core’s ‘college and career ready’ performance level becomes the standard for high school graduation, it will push more kids out of high school than it will prepare for college.” [3]

There is money to be made from educating the young, where companies creating the school curriculum tests, the preparatory test materials, computer and software industries, and the federally-funded states which have been dutifully compliant will ensure an industry of dumbing down, where quality and politics will be the winner. So far the indications are only confirming what experienced teachers already told the D.C. policy-makers – that failure rate will rise exponentially.

Rachel Alexander, Attorney and editor of the Intellectual Conservative makes several important points on the curriculum stating in a recent article that if the curriculum replaces classics with “informational texts,’ government documents, court opinions, and technical manuals” where “Over half the reading materials in grades 6-12 are to consist of informational texts rather than classical literature” and context and sufficient explanatory criteria are lacking, it is little wonder children are bewildered. She draws our attention to Maths standards which have proven to be “equally dismal” Alexander continues:

Professor R. James Milgram of Stanford University, the only mathematician on the Validation Committee, refused to sign off on the math standards, because they would put many students two years behind those of many high-achieving countries. For example, Algebra 1 would be taught in 9th grade, not 8th grade for many students, making calculus inaccessible to them in high school. The quality of the standards is low and not internationally benchmarked. Common Core denies this on its website as a “myth,” but Professor Milgram’s opposition contradicts this. [4]

It would be wrong to think this is merely a conservative back-lash and lose sight of the core agenda in yet another “progressive” guise. And we come to the financial and ideological source of this initiative which has allowed Washington D.C. policy makers and the National Governors Association to set CCSSI in motion.

Common Core has some supporters that by now will be familiar to those of us who have seen how often they seem to crop in relation to the same ideologies and perceptions. These are the non-profit organisation of inBloom created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (a red flag right there) the Achieve Organisation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York and state school officials.

The sharp decline in the quality of education has continued since the war and even though it was based on a corporate agenda from its very inception, at least the pre-War standards allowed some form of quality and measurable performance to evolve. From billions of dollars of wasted money spent on Goals 2000, to School to Work, to No Child Left Behind now a Bill Gates financed experiment numbering millions, this has resulted in the Common Core Initiative. Let’s not forget that our Bill is part of the minority within the 000.0.1% who believe in eugenics, depopulation, corporate domination and the corporatist-collectivist ethic at the elite level. He is a globalist dedicated to Elite centralisation.

Unsurprisingly, in amongst the standardised modules are the usual “progressive” principles, human-influenced global warming theories and the logic of carbon taxes, cap and trade, group consciousness and One World ideology all of which is designed to be taught in every class, at every level, starting from Kindergarten to post graduate secondary education. Since every teacher will teach the same material most children will be under the same yoke of conformity. In fact, the CCSSI is a continuation of Agenda 21, Sustainable Development and UN/UNESCO education principles which sound laudable and sensible at first hearing but when placed in context and with the idea of a pretext aligned to a particular mind-set, it takes on an entirely different hue.

Gates has donated millions to all three Elite-inspired organisations. It is not hard to understand why the Establishment is so keen to get America to adopt these uniform standards. A cardinal rule to remember: if the Establishment thinks it’s a good thing for our children you can be quite sure that it isn’t. Readers familiar with Bill Gates’ antics will also know that he is a frequent partner and supporter of Rockefeller social engineering in both agribusiness and social science. Therefore, educators should be concerned that he is one of the original founders of the Common Core movement and its copyright holders, NGA/CCSSO.

Although CCSSI claims to foster critical thinking, analysis and creativity it actually reinforces the opposite through group-think commonality to the exclusion of individual, unpredictable and non-linear, lateral thinking. Here’s how: At the root of the massively expensive Common Core is the education theory of Bloom’s Taxonomy developed by psychologist Benjamin Bloom in 1948. There are six levels of learning progressing from memorisation to analysing and creating. This, essentially, describes Common Core. If you take the time to compare the two, the difference is only in the modern syntax but the concepts are exactly the same. Hardly a revolutionary new platform for change. But who could argue that learning to think critically and creatively is not a good thing?

Therefore, what’s so bad about Bloom’s Taxonomy?

Absolutely nothing.

The difference here is: that the content and direction of this methodology is being carefully directed towards uniformity and away from a initiative that is a creative application truly rooted in community – thus divorced from monolithic, state control. More importantly, in the hands of a psychologically compromised government and its agencies it follows an entirely different agenda which disguises propaganda as progressive education. When a universally accepted education is applied then it becomes far easier to tailor the theory behind these national standards and begin a process of attrition starting in the very impressionable minds of the young. (So, much easier to keep the pesky population in line). Children can be taught perfectly well to think critically and creatively using Bloom’s Taxonomy and many other forms of education but when an agenda is lying in the background in order to prepare the new generation of children for World State policies then ANY standards and curricula will be suspect. Pretext and context is everything.

The re-orientation of the world’s young towards Agenda 21, One world, One government, group consciousness, social justice, sustainable development, global warming science and SMART society is channelled into the CCSSI which serves as a primary conduit for disseminating such propaganda whose only objective is to offer global totalitarianism – by the back door. Once adopted there will be very little chance to debate the veracity of the claims in such “standards” since they will underpin the whole framework of Common Core itself. Like the British Common Purpose, the edifice upon which they are created is immovable. It is unlikely that you will hear the other side of the global warming debate for example, or the downside of the emerging SMART society and its ubiquitous “efficiency.”

For instance, educator John W. Whitehead explains the role of InBloom and its educational software partner, Compass Learning who provide:

“Common Core participants data collection tools geared toward collecting enough information to provide each student a personalized learning experience, delivered through an online gateway. Compass Learning’s privacy page acknowledges collecting personal information and while pledging not to share data with third parties indiscriminately, it does admit exceptions, and it disclaims responsibility for how school hosts handle data security. The company’s terms of use page disclaims liability for damages caused by loss of data.” [5]



Perhaps more importantly, Common Core slides neatly into the US and European governments’ obsession with National Security and surveillance. It provides a vast upload of data collection which will inevitably intrude on citizens’ privacy and that of their children. Everything from students’ and parents’ voting habits, level of income, sex, age, ethnicity, health status, blood type, religious views, criminal records, is of a type of information far in advance of anything seen before in the collection of “education” data.

Previous whistle-blowers have been sounding the alarm at just how extensive and pervasive surveillance and snooping by the government agencies has become and Common Core simply plugs in to that surveillance and the unresolved presence of invasive data collection. The aforementioned Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) solicits the information, though it tells us that large demographics are obtained rather than individual data. But can we honestly trust that this is the case given the track record so far? Aside from the NSA accessing exactly what it wants, when it wants and who it wants, the outsourcing of data to States bypassing constitutional protections opens up another channel for abusing privacy rights and unwarranted Federal search and seizure deployments. In fact, there are no safeguards to prevent voluminous data from being passed on to Federal authorities and certainly not if you have deemed to have stepped out of line.

This brings us to why it is so important that teachers and educators get informed and stand up to these infiltrations by unelected entities. American youth are already some of the most dumbed down citizens on the planet. But it wasn’t always this way, as John Whitehead mentions:

“The purpose of a pre-university education in early America was not to prepare young people to be doctors or lawyers but, as Thomas Jefferson believed, to make citizens knowledgeable about ‘their rights, interests, and duties as men and citizens.” And Jefferson continued: “I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society, but the people themselves: and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is, not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.”

And here we see where the real problem lies: a total lack of knowledge regarding the presence of psychopaths in positions of power which have been allowed to eviscerate basic freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This lack of knowledge has in turn, permitted education to become something other than a learning experience and more of an exercise in various forms of mind control so that a crucial understanding of the US constitution and civil rights is excluded.

According to Whitehead, numerous studies confirm this:

“… when Newsweek asked 1,000 adult U.S. citizens to take America’s official citizenship test, 29% of respondents couldn’t name the current vice president of the United States. Seventy-three percent couldn’t correctly say why America fought the Cold War. More critically, 44% were unable to define the Bill of Rights. And 6% couldn’t even circle Independence Day (the Fourth of July) on a calendar. A survey of American adults by the American Civic Literacy Program resulted in some equally disheartening findings. Seventy-one percent failed the test. Moreover, having a college education does very little to increase civic knowledge, as demonstrated by the abysmal 32% pass rate of people holding not just a bachelor’s degree but some sort of graduate-level degree.” [6]



If teachers and parents are going to accept that government and their think tanks know best and that they should have little or no say in how their children are educated then we will receive an education system that suits that chosen ignorance. And as we have seen it isn’t just the education system that is being re-shaped according to a minority mind-set. Which is why it may be that the only viable alternative is home-schooling, a movement that is increasing in popularity year by year. The advantages are clear in the present state of Official Culture theatrics.

Map of the Legality of Homeschooling around the world. Green is legal, yellow is legal in most political subdivisions but not all or is practiced, but legality is disputed. Red is illegal or unlawful. Orange is generally considered illegal, but untested legally. (wikipedia)



To build real community it must start with family and friends outside state control. Admittedly, with so many toxic socio-economic factors pressing in from all sides, establishing community support has never been more important. Indeed, as economic and social conflict increase home-schooling may become the preferred option, by default. There are many advantages to making such a move, the most obvious of which is the natural alignment toward the same philosophy of autonomy and independence of mind that is such an anathema to the powers that be who require obedient, unthinking drones to inhabit its future. This is why home-schooling (along with refusal to accept vaccinations for your children) will likely become illegal in the not so distant future. Indeed, in some European countries this is already happening. The extraordinary case of the Wunderlich family from Darmstadt in Germany is worth noting.

In September 2013, they had the pleasure of surprise visit by armed police who arrived at their home to enforce a ban on home-schooling. Youngsters aged 7-14 were taken from their home under instruction from the presiding judge to use force “against the children” if necessary. Journalist Damian Gayle that: “A team of 20 social workers, police officers, and special agents stormed the home of Dirk and Petra Wunderlich because they refused to send their children to state schools. The youngsters were taken to unknown locations after officials allegedly ominously promised the parents that they would not be seeing them again ‘any time soon’”. [7]

It was clear that the legal grounds for removing the children was purely due to the parents insistence on home-schooling their children. There were no allegations of abuse or neglect. Mr Wunderlich said:

“I looked through a window and saw many people, police, and special agents, all armed. ‘They told me they wanted to come in to speak with me. ‘I tried to ask questions, but within seconds, three police officers brought a battering ram and were about to break the door in, so I opened it.’ He went on: ‘The police shoved me into a chair and wouldn’t let me even make a phone call at first. ‘It was chaotic as they told me they had an order to take the children.At my slightest movement the agents would grab me, as if I were a terrorist. ‘You would never expect anything like this to happen in our calm, peaceful village. It was like a scene out of a science fiction movie. ‘Our neighbours and children have been traumatised by this invasion.” The Wunderlichs have, over the past four years, moved from country to country in the European Union looking for a place to where they could freely homeschool their children. [8]

Nor are they the only family to become victims of Germany’s draconian laws on home-schooling.

The Romeikes fled the country in 2008 after uniformed police officers arrived at their home and took their children which resulted in their enforced attendance to state run schools. After years of resistance the Romeikes were forced to pay thousands as a result of their resistance. The family fled to America in 2008 in a bid to escape these laws only to face US authorities keen to deport them.

The Washington Times ran the story on April 2013 under: ‘A plea from abused home-schoolers – Parents seek asylum to keep family intact’ which described they plight in detail:

The Romeikes, who say German schools teach subjects that go against their evangelical Christian beliefs, are parents of three boys and three girls, ranging in age from 20 months to 15 years. They live now on a farm in eastern Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains. They sought and were granted political refuge in the United States in 2010, but the Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals overturned the decision last year, contending that Germany’s ban on home-schooling doesn’t violate the Romeikes’ human rights. The administration essentially says parents have no fundamental right to educate their own children, hence no political asylum. Should the Romeikes be forcibly repatriated, fines are the least of their worries. They could face stiff prison sentences, and their children could be taken away from them. [9]



While it is likely that this is a preventative measure so that similar asylum claims do not become norm, according to Karla McKanders, an asylum and refugee law specialist at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville it should be a low priority with minimal resource expenditure for non-criminal immigration issues, yet, as a March 2013 ABC News report indicated entitled: ‘Home Schooling German Family Fights Deportation’ this is not the case as one official stated. “… they meet the standard.” After a public uproar and legal wrangling which lasted a year, in March 2014, the family were finally granted permission by Homeland Security to stay “indefinitely.”

It is almost a formality that we can expect exactly the same scenario in the United States as Common Core makes inroads into education. Indeed, if you are part of the opt-out of our Official Culture as it stands and do not wish to be absorbed into the Establishment’s version of a sustainable SMART society rather than the principles of individual freedom, minimal government interference, self-sufficiency, community organic farming and alternative modes of finance, trade and economical living, then you will be targeted as being a threat to the vast global social engineering program that is currently fanning out from America as the primary experimental model.

Refusing to participate in State Education whether for religious beliefs or because you do not wish for your child to be part of the state-mandated vaccination or even simply – horror of horrors – you feel you might know what is best for your children, this should be an absolute civil right. But there are numerous cases that the US government is coming down hard on such signs of freedom to choose. It isn’t just parental rights at issue here these are the first signs of the “scientific technique/method” merging with the Police State. Home-schoolers are another social grouping persecuted by a mentality that cannot abide independent thought which chooses to operate outside the group-think of Official Culture.

On the rise once more is an even stranger belief but one which never died, only changed its label. A bizarre mix of Social Darwinism and ecological determinism is presently spreading through many UK and American institutions and is one of the potent streams of pseudo-science so enamoured by the Establishment: Eugenics.

See also: Learning is Fun?

The extreme irrationality and insanity of Common Core

Creating a generation of Authoritarian Followers: Interview with 5th grade teacher reveals ideology behind Common Core

Common Core idiocy triggers homeschooling surge in North Carolina

New Hampshire Lawmaker Equates Homeschooling To “Child Abuse” – Nanny State To Be Pushed On Parents

Notes



[1] ‘Common Core State Standards, Rules and Art’ by Vicki Cobb, Huffington Post October 2013.

[2]’Common Core Curriculum: A Look Behind the Curtain of Hidden Language’ By Rachael Alexander, The Christian Post, March 2013.

[3] ‘‘The Common Core’s fundamental trouble’ Bu Valerie Strauss, Washington Post, June 18, 2013.

[4] op.cit Alexander.

[5] ‘Common Core: A Lesson Plan for Raising Up Compliant, Non-Thinking Citizens’ By John W. Whitehead, rutherford.org September 23, 2013.

[6] Ibid.

[7] ‘Armed police turn up at family home with a battering ram to seize their children after they defy Germany’s ban on home schooling’ By Damien Gayle, Daily Mail, 31 August 2013.

[8] Ibid.

[9] http://www.hslda.org/legal/cases/romeike/Romeike_CaseUpdates.asp