Friday, May 13, 2011

Bill Gates and National Standards

     I wrote this post two days ago and it mysteriously disappeared when Blogspot had some difficulties.  Since this is information that more people need to know about, I'm re-writing it, although it may not be identical to the original simply because I do not have the original saved on any other forum.  Hopefully, this one will stay put!

     First, if you're unfamiliar with Common Core Standards that were adopted in 2010 by all states except Texas and Alaska, then you can read my article on that here.   Common Core Standards are the lead in to forcing all publicly funded schools into a National Standard where States, nor parents, have no say in what their children learn, when they learn it, or how they learn it.  The Feds would  run all educational systems as they see fit, and all children would learn the same thing, in the same way, regardless of what parents, or teachers, know is best for their students.  How does Bill Gates tie into that you ask?  Keep reading...

     Since January 2008, the Gates Foundation has given more than 35 million dollars (35,000,000.00) to the Council of Chief School Officers and the National Governors Association, the two main organizations responsible for orchestrating Common Core Standards.  He has also given 12.6 million to Achieve, Inc., and more than 1.4 million to The Fordham Institute.  These are two of the three national education firms responsible for "independent" analysis of the standards.  Doesn't sound "independent" to me.  That sounds like a serious conflict of interest. 

     Why would the wealthiest man in the US care about the educational system across the country?  Why would a corporation care what kind of curriculum students are using, you ask?  (or you SHOULD)   Well, where does his employee base come from?  Ask yourself that question, and you'll begin to drift toward the answer.  That should scare you, people. 

     Those that control what is taught, also control what is thought.  Don't think for one minute that Bill Gates is unaware of that statement.   The basic tenet being bantered around is that since States can't make all people equal, then the Feds surely can.  I suppose history isn't a part of the standards they are reviewing?  History clearly shows that any time the federal government becomes involved, standards reduce dramatically.  Literacy rates alone have dropped 20% since the inception of the Dept. of Education. 

     Education was intentionally left to the States via the Constitution.  Education was SPECIFICALLY removed from the federal government simply because it opens the door to tyranny.  It removes individual states from having the right to determine what their students learn, how they learn it and when.  By giving control of all education to the federal government, we make it impossible for parents, or teachers, to have any control of their students and children.  If you think having a meeting with the superintendent is tough, try having a meeting with federal bureaucrat in Washington, D.C. about what your child is learning! 

     By privatizing education, and that IS what national standards do, we really remove pluralism from our educational system.  We remove a child's right to become what they want to become, regardless of what a teleprompter reading bureaucrat spews out at you.  Engage your brain, people!  Children do not learn the same way nor should they be expected to.  Some are mechanically inclined, some academically inclined, and some are neither.  By forcing schools into a position to adopt National Standards, we are turning our kids over to a corrupt political and corporate machine that has no bigger goal than to make them economic tools.  Ask yourself again why Bill Gates is investing 100's of millions of dollars to pass this standard.

    By having a National Standard, we are forced into a position of our children's test scores becoming National knowledge.  This is where Gates is heading.  He is well aware that once National Standards are in place, children's standardization will be complete.  He will have access to a list of all potential employees who will best suit his business model.  Our children will officially be nothing more than economic tools of the State, and education will be nothing more than what an elect few determine youth should learn.

     Power in education needs to be DE-centralized, not more centralized.  Our education was the strongest in the entire world until the federal government stepped in.   Now, we are being told that if they tell us what to think, learn and be, we'll be better off.  What history tells us is that while it sounds good on paper, it is a disaster waiting to happen.  Public school has become nothing more than a government monopoly and it is failing.  To suggest that that can be fixed by MORE regulation and intrusion by the government should be very suspect to all parents with school aged children.

     Bill Gates recently "invested" another 20 million to "help" one of the largest publishers of textbooks come up with new ways to "teach" students.  I was unaware that the Gates Foundation was now an educational "expert" who had any more basis than you or I to interfere with textbooks in the classrooms, regardless of the amount of money he has.  Frankly, I think Gates needs to be taken in for evaluation.  However, the powers that we have elected sold their souls to money decades ago, and that's really all they care about.  Unfortunately, that means our children can be pimped out to the highest bidder. 

    I could go on for days about the failed "School of the Future" that Microsoft built in Philly, or the many ex-Gates Foundation employees on Obama's Education Dept. payroll, but you can do your own research there.  I urge you to investigate this for yourself.  What are that many ex-Gates Foundation employees doing there?  I was unaware that philanthropic organizations were also educational experts.  Evidently, Obama hires educational experts for different reasons than education. 

     The crux of my argument is this:  We have a diverse population and a diverse and pluralistic society.  We have learned the hard way that government doesn't "fix" anything and frankly, it wasn't designed to.  We know that money talks.  Bill Gates has a LOT of money.  Our children deserve better than some one size fits all standard that only benefits the corporate hogs and bureaucrats sitting on Capital Hill.  Anything that negates them controlling every single thing that students learn is a good thing.  Shouldn't we strongly question anything that calls for a complete monopoly and the control of that monopoly being run by the very people in power to push the monopoly?  Certainly in our children's education?   In any other situation, the government demands that a monopoly be torn down.  But, in this instance, the very minds of our youth are at stake and they want to control that.  No way!

    And to Bill Gates:  If you want to control someones education, stick to your own daughters.  Keep your hands, and your money, off MY children.  You will never determine what they learn, how they learn, when they learn or at what level they learn.  Every decent parent on the planet should be concerned about this.  It's THAT big of a deal, people!

    I'll be writing more on the project based learning and outcome that these standards are leaning toward later.  That's right...the testing they are leaning toward forcing all public schools into are ALL project based learning models.  Again, economic tools of the State.  I keep looking around for Orwell to show up any moment...

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