As Americans surrendered their educational system to the federal government, they also surrendered their republic.
During the 1960s, educational expert Benjamin S. Bloom’s Handbook I and II shaped ten educational goals for public schools. Nine of those goals focused upon changing the values and belief systems of American children so they would embrace Bloom’s vision of a “world view”. I remember that history text books used in my classroom in the 1970s typically provided only two sentences about America’s republic. One contained a superficial definition and the other stated that America was a republic. The rest of the chapter praised democracies.
We teachers were free to inform students that America’s founders were historians who were well informed about governments. Many teachers explained that our founders chose to become a republic because that republic provided God-given freedoms that cannot be taken away. Students read the writings of our founders which identified the many dangers inherent in democracies.
Common Core State Standards and the International Baccalaureate curriculum share the same ten educational goals advanced by Bloom but with greater emphasis on transforming America. CCSS and IB focus on teaching children to surrender their national sovereignty, property rights, and their republic so they will embrace “global interdependence” and become part of a “world community”.
The federal government has worked with private industry and educational experts to shape this new curriculum; they are paying textbook companies and testing consortiums to create materials that are “aligned” to federal educational standards. Many current textbooks now state that America is a democracy.
We must ask, “Have we surrendered our republic without firing a single shot? Have we sacrificed our God-given freedoms without shedding a drop of blood?”
Parents who complain are told that “District policy on this issue is compliant with state and federal statutes.” Brick wall. End of discussion.
The state Department of Public Instruction’s response is that Wisconsin’s statute 118.30 (1g) (a) (1) assures a “long-held tradition of local control” of schools. Really? The taxpayer is frequently rendered helpless by this Merry-Go-Round of conflicting statutes vs. reality.
When even a relatively small percentage of school funding is provided by a government, that government gains inordinate control of curriculum, textbooks, and testing tools. When teachers, parents, and taxpayers eliminate one failed federal policy, the federal government has another waiting to be implemented. CCSS is the most recent example; but once fully implemented, our educational system will be federalized. Reforming education will be no more likely than reforming Social Security or Medicare.
Advocates for Academic Freedom initiated a grassroots movement to bring an end to this destructive cycle of efforts to undermine school choice options. They are organizing citizens willing to work to remove federal funding from education, to eliminate the need for the federal Department of Education, and to reinstate local control of schools. To become part of this effort, log onto Advocates for Academic Freedom, click on the PETITION FOR PROGRESS button located on the left side of the home page, electronically sign and send the petition.
www.ibo.org/myp/documents/continuum.pdf • PDF file
There are hundreds of text books that pose the problems identified in the article. Some used in Wisconsin include but are not limited to:
U.S. History A- Units 1 through 5 by National PASS Center, 2003, distributed by Wisconsin PASS Cooperative Education Service Agency #8
Civics Today: Citizenship, Economics, & You by Glencoe McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2010
Mapping Wisconsin History from the Teacher’s Guide ISBN: 978-0-07020-508-8
American Pageant by David M. Kennedy