HERITAGE FOUNDATION, NAFTA, SCHOOL CHOICE AND THE DESTRUCTION OF TRADITIONAL EDUCATION

By Charlotte Iserbyt

July 31, 2012

NewsWithViews.com

Public and private school choice proposals, being promoted by the Obama Administration, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and the neoconservative Trotskyite/corporate conglomerate, if implemented, will spell the end of traditional education in the United States. Tax-supported school choice proposals affecting public, private, religious, and home school education are the vehicle to change not only the right of Americans to choose what kind of education they wish for their children, but may also result in changing our representative form of government to an unelected council form of government due to one form of school choice, charter schools, run by “unelected councils."

Under the proposed school choice proposals, including Parent Trigger laws, education is being surreptitiously converted from academics to socialist work force training necessary for the United States imminent merging into a global, collectivized economy.

Please see Marc Tucker's letter to Hillary Clinton, 1998, and also a portion of the text of Carnegie Corporation's 1934 plan to bring about a planned economy through the schools, as well as the information in this article explaining the history of this conversion to a "womb to tomb" totalitarian society. Authentic documentation for the content of this article can be obtained here and here (The latter contains a Free Download of the out-of-print 700-page "the deliberate dumbing down of America"). A new abridged and updated (1999-2012) version of the original 1999 copy, which deals with corporate involvement in school to work plans, school choice, International Baccalaureate, the substitution of computers for academic teachers and traditional book learning, UN Agenda 21 (Sustainable Development), the century-long use of values-destroying mental health programs, etc. is available at Amazon.com)

The research used in this article documents the plan to change America from a free enterprise competitive economic system to a planned economy necessary for United States membership in the global economic system. The plan is being implemented in every state in the nation right now! It seems ALL state governors are on board, including Maine's Governor LePage, who we traditional conservatives (NOT Trotskyite neoconservatives) worked our hearts out to get elected as a so-called traditional conservative. LePage was co-opted, prior to his election, by The Maine Heritage Policy Center (affiliated with the national neoconservative Heritage Foundation which has affiliates in most states). Maine Heritage manipulated Governor LePage into supporting all forms of school choice which are essential for work force training.

How many of the Heritage Foundation’s supporters (good Americans) realize that the Heritage Foundation came up with the idea for the North American Free Trade Agreement which has resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of American jobs? The 1993 Annual Report of the Heritage Foundation of Washington, D.C. dedicated to their twentieth year celebration, revealed the following:

“The idea of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) originated with Heritage Fellow Richard Allen and has long been advocated by Heritage policy analysts…The idea of creating a North American free trade zone from the Yukon to the Yucatan was first proposed by Heritage Distinguished Fellow Richard Allen in the late 1970s, refined by then Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, and further developed in a major 1986 Foundation study (p. 4).”

What we are looking at now in education is a result of NAFTA which got the ball rolling in the development of work force skills standards by the National Skills Standards Board, endorsed by the U.S. Labor Department Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) This study originated under Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole in 1990 and eventually led to the School-to-Work Opportunities Act and the dumbing down of American education curriculum for workforce training. (Foregoing information on role of the national Heritage Foundation in creation of NAFTA and educational restructuring can be found here, page 304).

The above-mentioned types of school choice will be tax-supported, with the tax money following your child. Each child, regardless of type of "choice" education, will have an individual education plan (IEP) determined by decisions made by the school/business partnerships (for which kind of workforce training "they" have determined your child’s intelligence/talents are best suited, for their own profit-seeking purposes.) This is the failed communist/socialist job quota system from which millions of foreigners escaped. These immigrants, the backbone of our nation, made enormous sacrifices (some dying on the way!) to come to the United States of America in order to enjoy the upward mobility guaranteed by our free (unplanned) economic system.

Professor Eugene Boyce, University of Georgia, said in regard to the above communist education system: "They (communists) do not educate for jobs that don't exist." No matter what your child wants to be/do in the future (welder or ballet dancer) his freedom to pursue his dreams will be limited by whether he is included in the school/business partnership’s “quota” for training.

Example: If he wants to be a welder at the shipbuilding company in your town, he will only be able to get training if he is fortunate enough to be included in the training quota. If the company only needs ten welders, and your son/daughter is No. 11 on the list, he/she will NOT receive training. Ask yourself what this socialist system will do to the spirit of entrepreneurship for which America is so well known?

The choice proposals being recommended by most state Governors will ultimately destroy all forms of education: public, home school, private, and religious. The most lethal form of education choice is tax-supported public schools (charter schools) which have no elected school boards resulting in "taxation without representation." This is an oppressive system which caused our nation to revolt and declare war against the British (the American Revolution, 1776). What is to keep Americans from accepting the unelected council form of government at all levels of government once one of the major sections of our economy (education) is being run by unelected councils? Do Americans think giving up their representative/elective form of government is a good idea? I doubt it.

The Carnegie Corporation's agenda, which has been in effect since its first experiment with Outcomes/Performance-Based Education, known as “The Eight Year Study” (1933-1941), has been and is continuing its agenda to destroy the traditional hierarchical public school with its elected school boards and its K-12, A,B,C,D,F grading system which focused on individual academic excellence. The latter description represented our formerly excellent public education system until passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965 when education became Skinnerian/Pavlovian "outcomes/performance-based" rather than "brain-based." This “new” system is so focused on academic dumbing down it will allow students to graduate at 14 or 21! Google Reinventing Schools Coalition (RISC) to find out what is in store for you and your children, and teachers! You will find out what the reformed education (training) system looks like, giving "successful" (define, please!) schools the Malcolm Baldridge Quality Management Award. This award is traditionally given to corporations like Cadillac! Are our teachers and children to be educated using the same system used to manufacture cars? RISC is already spreading across Maine.

So...not only will private education be destroyed...yes, home schoolers...you too are part of this wicked web. The tax money, if you accept it, will follow the child and that means "your child," not just your neighbor's child, who goes to public, private, or religious school. You had better read the research regarding what is planned for you with virtual (computer) education. Former Secretary of Education William Bennett's Virtual Academy (computer-assisted-learning for home schoolers) is part of the switch from book learning to computer learning. It MUST administer the federal National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test, the focus of which is at least 50% “politically correct”, since it is a charter school and is federally funded . Wake up home schoolers! You are going to be connected with the central education/training unelected "community chief's" computer , just as will be the case with private and religious schools that accept federal money.

All education will/must be sucked into the computerized global system called for by Carnegie in 1934 and Carnegie's minion, Marc Tucker, in the nineties and now. The Director of the Office of Libraries and Learning Technology in my old office, the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Dept. of Education, Malcolm Davis, told me in 1981, when I commented to him that computers could allow students to be educated at home: "In the future all education will take place in the home, but we will always have the schools for 'socialization' purposes." What Davis is referring to is the lifelong Womb-to-Tomb education/training/health care/leisure services, etc. system, under the supervision of the unelected "Community Planner/Commissar" and his unelected council. (Does the UN Agenda 21 ring a bell?) Most (old) dictionaries define "council" as a "soviet." Or look up Soviet, and you'll find "unelected councils." See Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary.

Massive documentation exists to substantiate this description of Americans' futures IF they fall for the school choice proposals. This unconstitutional unelective system is known as "regional government." It has been described as "communism" by Morris Zeitlin, a sociologist, in an article he wrote in The Communist Daily World, 1976.

Chester Finn, noted neoconservative education “change agent,” is deeply involved in the school choice/work force training agenda. He was the former Assistant Secretary in my old OERI office. Regarding control following the receipt/taking of tax money, he said in 1982: "Short of scattering money in the streets or handing it out to everyone who wants some, the funding agency must define eligible recipients.... This means, in a word, 'regulation,' the inevitable concomitant of public financial support.”

Finn also believed the government is obligated to recognize that the private schools it helps support are different from public schools—that it is this “differentness” that makes them supportable. "The other side of the coin," he says, "is the obligation of private schools to recognize certain limits to their differentness and certain ways they must conform to the norms and expectations of a society that values and supports them...."

Some, to be sure, like to think they can have it both ways; i.e., they can obtain aid without saddling themselves with unacceptable forms of regulation. But most acknowledge the general applicability of the old adage that he who pays the piper calls the tune, and are more or less resigned to amalgamating or choosing between assistance and autonomy.

(Quote taken from Finn's article entitled "Public Service, Public Support, Public Accountability," March, 1982 issue of the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Bulletin. Reprinted in “Tuition Tax Credits…A Responsible Appraisal,” The Barbara Morris Report, Upland, California, 1983).

Twenty-nine year public school veteran teacher, Steven Schran, and I attended the press conference of Maine Governor LePage, and Maine Heritage Foundation's clone, Commissioner of Education Bowen, held July 24, 2012 in the State Capitol to outline the Governor's plan to change our schools from academics to Work Force Training.

Here is the announcement of the press conference we attended:

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Contact: Adrienne Bennett (207) 287-2531

LePage Administration Sets Education Agenda Reform begins with the ABC’s – accountability, best practices, and choice AUGUSTA

– Following a report released by Harvard University’s Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG), Governor Paul LePage and Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen will hold a media conference in the Hall of Flags of the State House on Wednesday, July 25 to discuss Maine’s educational system and the Administration’s plan moving forward. The conference will begin at 2:00 p.m.

The PEPG report, an analysis of growth trends of student performance in math, reading, and science, ranked Maine 40th out of the 41 participating American states. The study examined test scores from one U.S. series of tests and three series of tests administered by international organizations given to fourth and eighth grade students across the country.

In 1992, Maine was ranked 3rd in the nation in overall test scores, but has fallen nine places since then. Maine is currently ranked 12th in overall test scores – the lowest of the participating New England States.

Governor LePage and Commissioner Bowen will present in more detail the findings of the PEPG report at the conference, as well as discuss initiatives to improve Maine’s educational system.

“This report reaffirms what we already know: that the status quo in Maine is not working,” said Governor LePage. “Our educational system has neglected to put its students first, and has therefore failed them. We have a lot of work to do to rejuvenate our academic performance.”

Education is a key priority of the LePage Administration, and it is a critical

component to a prosperous economy. Last year, Governor LePage increased funding to general purpose aid for education by $63 million over the two-year budget.

During the 125th Legislature, the Governor led the initiative to allow charter schools in Maine for the first time, giving more choices to Maine families. The Governor also introduced a series of reforms to improve Career and Technical Education in Maine, bringing it back to the forefront of education and Commissioner Stephen Bowen created comprehensive legislation addressing educator effectiveness, making sure Maine’s educators are evaluated regularly, given the training and support they need to improve, and are held accountable for student achievement and growth.

“We have come to a pivotal moment for the future of Maine’s educational system. We have proof that past methods have not been effective. We now have a chance to change our educational system for the better,” said Commissioner Bowen.

For the full findings of the PEPG report, click here. For more information on charter schools and Maine’s current educational initiatives, click here.

The Governor's talk was long on "bad" test scores, need for performance-based teaching to the federal test, and accountability, etc. (Are teachers and children considered nothing but Skinnerian/ Pavlovian slobbering dogs with no soul, conscience or free will?) The speech was short on telling the truth which you are reading in this article. Steve Schran had a great sign hanging around his neck which said "Lies, Lies, and More Lies!" My sign quoted from C.S. Lewis, the famous English writer, "When training beats education, civilization dies." The Governor was really upset when he saw us and mumbled something to effect, "Ha, ha, look at those two freaks." He recognized Steve since he had recently had a meeting with Steve during which he promised not to do any of what he is doing right now. He knows me due to a telephone conversation we had the day before he was inaugurated during which I warned him regarding charter schools and their unelected boards! He admitted he would have to do something about the unelected boards. Well, he must have found out you can’t have elected boards with charter schools or you end up back where you were with the traditional public school! So he literally did nothing about the problem and went with charter schools.

I did spout words to the effect, "This plan of yours (Marc Tucker Plan) has been in effect since the 1980s!" He wanted everyone to believe what he is doing is simply in regard to Maine's low test scores!!! Of course, the press conference was limited to questions from the press, so we couldn't speak, although I did mutter those few above-mentioned words which it is unlikely anyone heard.

The pathetic press corps is made up of well-meaning young people who don't have a clue. The nightly news carried NOTHING regarding our attendance; i.e. total corporate media control of what Americans are allowed to know about this so-called education reform which is designed to forever change our nation. The average American doesn’t have a clue either. He/she doesn’t have the foggiest idea that their country is being comfortably merged into the communist/socialist New Global Economic Order, and that their children and their teachers are the guinea pigs being used as fodder (drones) to spin off profits for the global elite.

Governor LePage's talk, and that of his Maine Heritage-controlled Commissioner, Steven Bowen, was long on phony statistics out of Harvard (we are supposed to trust Harvard?) which are designed to convince us that Maine’s test scores are bad in comparison to those of southern states.

(So we are supposed to emulate what is being done in Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, et al?) These states which have traditionally had the lowest academic test scores, in part due to their children being experimented on with the same Skinnerian Effective Schools/Direct Instruction pigeon-training methods since 1965, are all on board with the school choice agenda and work force training. When our system remained an academically-focused one, these states, which were involved in experimentation for the new system, were considered failing. Now that the focus has officially changed to work force training, and the tests focus on training, not academics, these states are considered succeeding. And we are meant to follow in their footsteps? (These southern states and many inner cities have been since 1965 the pilots for the Outcomes-Based Education Skinnerian method which is now being implemented for the rest of the country in order to change our education from academics to work force training!) Take a look at the headlines of the Knoxville News Sentinel for July 27, 2012!

The Governor's speech was short on telling the truth about how traditional education is being targeted for elimination; about how all this low test score hype is simply the means to get Americans to accept yet another reform, like the 1981 "A Nation at Risk" which came out of my old office, and was a farce. Check out The Sandia Report, commissioned by Admiral James Watkins, Secretary of Energy. This report stated the nation's test scores were nowhere as bad as they were stated to be by the so-called phony Commission on Excellence, whose purpose was nothing other than to move us toward a restructured education. This report was successful in carving in stone the future use of Skinnerian method, known as Mastery Learning/Direct Instruction, something traditional teachers had been opposing since 1965’s ESEA.

We are looking at a repeat of The National Commission on Excellence’s "A Nation at Risk,” 1983, using, for the umpteenth time, the Hegelian Dialectic: Create the problem (the very expensive deliberate dumbing down) over a period of 78 years, get people to scream using partially phony statistics, and then, since the public is so incensed over those so-called dumbing down statistics, get them to accept any solution the “change agents” want.

Subscribe to the NewsWithViews Daily News Alerts! Enter Your E-Mail Address:



When you see President Obama's Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who calls for Skinnerian/Pavlovian paying students for good grades, the globalist Council on Foreign Relations, and the neoconservative movement led by the Heritage Foundation, and other tax-exempt foundations and corporations, all supporting TAX-SUPPORTED SCHOOL CHOICE, you MUST start asking yourselves questions about their ultimate goal.

Americans had better wake up to the fact that education is “The” Trojan Horse. Please, for the sake of our children and our teachers, for the sake of our formerly free nation, put aside all your differences related to conservative and liberal, right and left, Republican and Democrat. Please spread the information in this article to everyone you know, including ministers, businessmen, elected officials, college officials, and public and private school teachers and administrators. [The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America]