Liberty is Obedience to God's Law....

What is the difference between freedom and liberty???

No need to fear -- CHOOSE TO BE EMPOWERED!

Significant changes in our lives are usually the result of some sort of catalyst moment where we can either choose to act out of fear or take the reigns and control what's happening.

I remember the first time I realized I was in control at the doctors office, I felt so empowered.

I have seven children and with my first three deliveries I always felt like I was being told what to do and I lacked the confidence to realize I was the one in charge.  It took severe headaches after my third delivery from a complication with the epidural for me to decide I wanted something different.

With my 4th baby I was determined to be in control and gain the confidence I needed to make sure I was in the driver's seat.  It didn't come easy.  I spent months researching and studying about various labor and delivery methods and alternative pathways.  I made a plan and then shared it with my doctor.  Of course I listened to the advice he gave me but in the end I made sure that my plan was followed.  With the doctor on my side and me in control I had the best delivery and recovery yet.

I don't know why I'm so slow to recognize this pattern.

I already had 6 kids in school before being control of my children's education ever occurred to me.  Now don't get me wrong, I was a cookie making, field trip attending, homework checking, centers volunteering type of mom.

And then came the catalyst with one small note at a parent/ teacher conference in 2011.  I started questioning what Common Core was and asked all my children's teachers and all of my friends for their thoughts.  It took quite a while but I eventually was able to find the tools to begin finding the answers to the questions I'd been posing.

In early 2012 I sat with a friend across the table from our superintendent laying out a heart felt plea for him to research and see what we saw and then help stop this education train-wreck before it came off the rails.  He threw his hands in the air and told us he was tired and there was nothing he could do.  He told us he had no more local control and had to do what the state tells him to do.  I looked him in the eye and told him ,"if you won't fight this, then I will and I won't stop until I've talked with every parent, every teacher and anyone who will listen so that they can decide for themselves if this is the path they want for their children and their schools."  Little did I know what I was promising at that moment.

I had a decision to make.

Would I make good on that promise?

Would I run and hide or once again pick up the reigns and be in control?  I chose the latter.

As with any life changing moment, you have to prepare yourself and instead of months of study this time around it's been years of daily study.  I'm not scared.  I don't live in fear and I embrace change.  When possible I want to decide what that change is and make sure it's the best thing for my children and our family.  This was one of those moments when I got to choose.

I chose to arm myself with knowledge and take action and I encourage you to do the same.  Will it be easy?  Most likely not.  Will it be worth it?  Most definitely!

Three years later and my life is on a completely different course from what I ever expected to see but I'm in the driver's seat.

By exposing what is going on in education and the harm that is coming to children and teachers it is not my intention to scare but to empower people.

We can't just complain that we're losing control over education and not expect to do something to get it back. It takes work.  It takes time.  It takes sacrifice.  We need to pick the reigns up and take control back.

We need to go to our school board meetings.  We need to be on our community councils.  We need to pay attention to what laws are passing and how they will affect us, our families and our children.

I implore you, don't retreat. Choose to be empowered and carry on!

Utah Citizens Rally to Restore Local Control to Education

Citizens, teacher, and lawmakers filled the Hall of Governors at Utah State Capitol in protest of Common Core.  After two years of push back, the numbers are only growing as if a sleeping giant has awaken.  Many thought this fight would die down but it’s only getting stronger. 

                Opponents of Common Core have previously armed themselves with knowledge and so the purpose of the rally was to take that knowledge and inspire opponents to action, to help them organize in their local communities and finally to serve as a warning to lawmakers to take a stand against Common Core or be voted out of office.

"We expect Utah legislators to take action. We expect you to listen to the people," said rally organizer and anti-Common Core advocate Alisa Ellis. "This is an election year. We are taking note of who is with us and who is not, and we will be making our voices heard in the voting booth."  http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865596813/Common-Core-opponents-warn-lawmakers-to-act-or-be-voted-out.html

                Not all lawmakers are sitting silent.  Rally supporters cheered at the introduction of bills by Representative Green and Layton that will return control of schools back into the hands of local communities.  Senator Margaret Dayton reminded audience that “even if the standards were perfect they come from the wrong source.”

                Speakers set the tone of the meeting and turned the momentum back on the people to grab the reigns and take back control of their schools.  Radio show host, Rod Arquette, told an inspiring story of Seahawk’s quarterback Russell Wilson who followed the lifelong advice of his dad who asked, “Russ, why not you?”  Russ took that advice to heart and inspired fellow Seahawks to their recent SuperBowl win.  Arquette mirrored these sentiments back on the crowd and asked, “why not us?”  If we don’t stand up and fight who will?  Mental health therapist Joan Landes pumped up the crowd after laying out a myriad of injustices being placed upon our children and the crowd joined with her in exclaiming “NOT with my child you won’t!”  

                Attorney Ed Flint is taking action.  He outlined a lawsuit filed against the largest school district in Utah.  

                Several teachers also spoke out at the rally including teacher and author Sinhue Noriega who teaches in Utah but chooses to homeschool his own children.  When asked what is wrong with Common Core, Mr. Noriega declared the answer is simple, “it’s not constitutional!”  

High school student Ethan Young knocks down Common Core!

 Powerful testimony opposing Common Core from a high school student in Tennessee.  Thank you Ethan Young for inspiring many and giving people across the nation hope in the future of America.

Read or watch below.

In a mere 5 minutes, I hope to provide insightful comments about a variety of educational topics. I sincerely hope you disprove the research I've compiled.

Here's a history of the Common Core: in 2009, the National Governors' Association and Council of Chief State Officers partnered with Achieve, Inc., a nonprofit that received million in funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Thus,the initiative *seemed* to spring from states, when, in reality, it was contrived by an insular group of educational executives, with only 2 academic content specialists. Neither content specialist approved the final standards,and the English consultant, Dr. Sandra Stotsky, publicly stated she felt the standards left students with an "empty skill set," lacking literary knowledge. While educators and administrators were later included in the validation committee and feedback groups, they did not play a role in the actual drafting of the standards. The product is a "rigorous preparation for career and college," yet many educators agree that "rigorous" is a buzzword. These standards aren't rigorous, just different, designed for an industrial model of school. Nevertheless, Common Core emerged. Keep in mind,the specific standards were never voted upon by Congress, the Department of Education, state or local governments. Yet, their implementation was approved by 49 states and territories. The president essentially bribed states into implementation via Race to The Top, offering 4.35 billion taxpayer dollars to participating states, $500 million of which went to Tennessee. And, much like No Child Left Behind, the program promises national testing and a one-size-fits-all education because, hey, it worked really well the first time[laughter from audience].

While I do admire some aspects of the Core, such as fewer standards and an emphasis on application in writing, it's not going to fix our academic deficit. If nothing else, these standards are a glowing conflict of interest, and they lack the research they allegedly received. And most importantly, the standards illustrate a mistrust of teachers, something I believe this county has already felt for a while [cheers and applause]. I've been fortunate enough to have incredible educators that open my eyes to the joy of learning, and I love them like my family; I respect them entirely. Which is why it frustrates me to {I didn't really understand this part, even though I played it over and over.Maybe it'll sound familiar to you} review the team in Apex Evaluation Systems(???). These subjective anxiety-producers do more to damage a teacher's self-esteem than you realize [cheers, applause]. Erroneous evaluation, coupled with strategic compensation, presents a punitive model that, as a student, is like watching your teacher jump through flaming hoops to earn a score. Have we forgotten the nature of a classroom? A teacher cannot be evaluated without his students, because, as a craft, teaching is an interaction. Thus, how can you expect to gauge a teacher's success with no control for students' participation or interest? I stand before you because I care about education, but also because I want to support my teachers. And just as they fought for my academic achievement, so I want to fight for their ability to teach. This relationship is at the heart of instruction, yet there will never be a system by which it is accurately measured.

But I want to take a step back. We can argue the details ad infinitum, yet I observe a much broader issue with education today. Standards-based education is ruining the way we teach and learn. Yes, I've already been told by legislators and administrators, "Ethan that's just the way things work." But why? I'm going to answer that question. It's bureaucratic *convenience* [scattered applause]. It works with nuclear reactors, it works with business models, why can't it work with students? I mean, how convenient, calculating exactly who knows what and who needs what. I mean, why don't we just manufacture robots instead of students? They last longer, and they always do what they're told.But education is unlike any other institute in our government. The task of learning is *never* quantifiable. If everything I learned in high school was  objective, I haven't learned *anything*. I'd like to repeat that. If everything I learned in high school is a quantifiable objective, I haven't learned anything. Creativity, appreciation, inquisitiveness; these are impossible to scale, but they're the purpose of education. Why our teachers teach, why I choose to learn. And today we find ourselves in a nation that produces workers. Everything is career and college preparation. Somewhere our Founding Fathers are turning in their graves, pleading, screaming, and trying to say to us that we teach to *free minds*. We teach to inspire. We teach to equip. The careers will come naturally. I know we're just one city in a huge system that excitedly embraces numbers, but ask any of these teachers, ask any of my peers, and ask yourselves, "Haven't we gone too far with data?"[cheers, applause]

I attended tonight's meetings to share my critiques, but as Benjamin Franklin quipped, "Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain, and most fools do." The problems that I cite are very real, and I ask only that you hear them out, investigate them, and do not dismiss them as another fool's criticisms. I'll close with a quote of Jane L. Stanford, that Dr. McIntyre shared in a recent speech: "You have my entire confidence in your ability to do conscientious work to the very best advantage to the students, that they may be considered paramount to all and everything else." We're capable of fixing education, and I commit myself to that task. But you cannot ignore me,my teachers, or the truth. We need change, but not Common Core, high-stakes evaluations, or more robots. Thank you.

Tighter Attendance Laws Lead to Unintended Consequences...

Post by Alisa Olsen Ellis.

Illogical Politics: Letter Re: My Concerns With Common Core

Illogical Politics: Letter Re: My Concerns With Common Core: Dear Governor Herbert, Utah State School Board, State  Superintendent  Menlove, Attorney General Swallow, State Legislators, Local School B...

Brilliant letter by UT parent about Common Core!

Letter Re: My Concerns With Common Core

Dear Governor Herbert, Utah State School Board, State Superintendent Menlove, Attorney General Swallow, State Legislators, Local School Boards, et al.:

As an involved parent, I am extremely concerned about the work my children are bringing home as a result of the Utah Common Core State Standards (“CCSS”). Below you will find some of my concerns.

First, my children are NOT merely bricks in a wall. They are unique and wonderful children! They have different strengths and weaknesses. My daughter - like her lawyer father - is more geared towards language, words, reading and logic. My son - like his college-educated mother - is more gifted in mathematics and science. My third son is a healthy mixture of the two. My daughter prefers to learn through practical examples and illustrations while my six year-old son likes to learn through straightforward facts and numbers. We cannot successfully parent and teach each of them the same way, so how do you propose that CCSS can successfully teach them and their unique classmates in the exact same manner?

Second, my children are overwhelmed with the amount of busy homework they have to complete when they get home from school. To begin with, the kids are awake from about 8:00 am to 9:00 pm. Of those 13 waking hours they are at school from 9:00 to 4:00. Then when they get home, they read for 25 minutes and take about 27 minutes to complete homework - and they are in 1st and 3rd grade! I’ll make this really simple using the “Lattice Method”: there are 60 minutes in one hour and the kids are awake for 13 hours, so they are awake for 3x0 + 3x6 + 0x1 + 6x1 / / / hours. They spend 0x7 + 7x7 + 0x0 + 7x0 / / / at school. Then, they spend 25 + (27 + 3 = 30) = 45 - 3 = 42 minutes doing homework. That only leaves 780 (+20 to round to 800) minutes minus 420 (subtract 20 to round to 400) minus 42 (subtract 2 to round to 40) minutes to spend with their family and to just be kids and learn on their own. Yeah, that’s 800 - 400 = 400 minus 20 = 380 minus 20 = 360 minus 42 homework minutes (subtract 2 to round to 40) equals 320 minus 2 to get to 318 free minutes. It would be one thing if the homework stimulated their brains or if the work was preparing them for the real world, but it is full of mindless estimations and backward mathematical methods.

Third [I will give you 30 seconds to read this paragraph. If you do not read it in 30 seconds, you are not up to MY standards], there is an over-utilization of timed reading in the curriculum.  When I was in elementary school, I learned to read and comprehend what I was reading. I don’t know how many words I could read in a minute at each level, but I learned to read at a comfortable pace, while absorbing the material I was reading. Is there some time-sensitive aspect of the “global economy” that I don’t understand? I have lived in Southeast Asia and all over the United States, I have completed 20 years of education and have passed a Bar exam; I do not remember ever benefiting from being able to read something at the fastest pace possible with there being no inherent penalties/drawbacks for lack of comprehension. Why is this so important to state standards? You may have read this paragraph in 30 seconds, but did you comprehend it? It matters.

Fourth, as I mentioned above, I have lived in Asia and I have witnessed many of the school systems there. The students are generally sharp, disciplined and dedicated to their work. The work usually requires almost exclusively memorization and regurgitation. I often hear that the Asian education system is so wonderful and America is way behind in education because the kids in Asia score well on tests, but I don’t see a lot of innovation coming from those countries. Sure, they build iPhones and iPads efficiently and they produce many great products, but I don’t recall many breakthroughs coming from Asia. Am I wrong? They are good at following instructions and reproducing results, but I have found a huge inability to think outside the box, to interpret unique data, and to understand context. In my experience, many of them (generally) are followers, but not thinkers. Why would you want to create students like that here in America? It’s almost as if you are trying to create a generation of followers and not thinkers…

Fifth, I have an assignment for you. Assume that the Constitution of the United States is outdated and needs to be changed (that shouldn’t be too hard for some of you). You - a Federal government agency - want to develop a one-size-fits-all education system for the entire Nation, but the Constitution does not specifically grant that right to your agency. What would you add or take away from the Constitution in order to make this new standard system of education constitutional? You will need to prioritize, prune and add text to turn your system into a constitutionally acceptable form of education. Then, propose a plan for how to get States to go along with your education program. Money is not an issue; you can promise them as much money as it takes, but you must get them signed up. Your proposal will be submitted in its final form as a persuasive presentation to the American people. They have been given the important individual charge - by their Creator - to educate their own children and, having partially delegated that responsibility to local school districts, will judge your proposal based on the validity and veracity of your arguments as to whether you have any right and/or ability to educate their children in the manner proposed. Your score will not be shared with you. We will keep your proposal in our database for future reference.

Sixth, suppose you are the Governor of Utah and in your 2012 gubernatorial election you received 624,678 votes, or 68.4%. Further suppose that during the Republican convention, you received 2,253 votes, or 57.67%. Now suppose that since your election your supporters, who oppose Common Core at the federal and state level, discover that you support Common Core at one or both of those levels. Suppose that these supporters are very serious about the education of their children and do not approve of their elected leaders supporting such a massive, radical form of standardized education. If (let’s put our estimation hats on) half of those supporters become former supporters and choose to vote for one of your Republican challengers instead of you, how many people would still support you in the convention and, if you survive the convention, how many Utahans would turn out to vote for you in the next election? The number is not important. The WHY is everything. As long as you understand WHY, maybe, just maybe you will survive in the Utah - not global - economy.

Thank you for your time and attention to our concerns. As parents of OUR children, my wife and I have the ultimate responsibility for educating OUR children and preparing them for the future. We take OUR responsibility very seriously. You, as public “servants,” work for US. If you do not serve the good of OUR children, we will relieve you of your post or we will remove our children from your collective, destructive influence.

Your Bosses,
The Halls

Follow link to post comment:  http://lawdawghall.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-concerns-with-common-core.html?spref=bl

Common Core the "Quiet Revolution"

Our children are precious and must be protected.

In 1969 Ezra T. Benson wrote, "From the very beginning of recorded political thought, man has realized the importance of education as a tremendous potential for both good and evil.”

There is a constant battle for the hearts, minds and souls of our children.

Nelson Mandela acknowledged that Education “is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”


But whose vision of the world will we as parents and citizens let stand? 

Who will determine our future?

Abraham Lincoln is attributed with stating “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”

What philosophy will prevail in America?





Secretary Arne Duncan said,

“In March of 2009, President Obama called on the nation’s governors and state school chiefs to “develop standards and assessments …
Virtually everyone thought the President was dreaming.
 But today, 37 states and the District of Columbia have already chosen to adopt the new state-crafted Common Core standards in math and English. Not studying it, not thinking about it, not issuing white paper, they have actually done it.” 

This speech was given in 2010 to UNESCO the United Nations education arm. The number of 37 states has now increased to 47.



In this same speech the secretary acknowledges that America is now in the midst of a “quiet revolution” in school reform.


This is precisely why last year when ACHIEVE surveyed the voting populous 79% of them had heard nothing or not much about the Common Core. We’ve spent the last year and half doing everything in our power to change those figures. This quiet revolution is no longer silent.

There is opposition cropping up across the Nation and the momma bears are just getting started. This map shows states where there is significant push-back against these reforms.

Common core is being sold to us as simply a set of standards in math and ELA but I’m here to tell you that there was indeed a quiet revolution taking place and the standards were just one piece of a much larger education reform that the current administration touts as its “cradle-to-career” reform agenda.

If you go to White house.gov and look at the k-12 education plan you’ll see the President’s plans for reforming education. He calls this his cradle to career education reform to “fundamentally” transform education in America. Now I’m not saying education doesn’t need help but have we paid attention to who’s telling us we’re failing?

The international test most often cited is called the PISA. They’re a product of the OECD who is partnered with the United Nation whose stated goal is Universal Education for All. In 2010 they gave the United States a report where they studied 10 other countries to help America out with our education woes.

A red flag popped up when I was looking over Germany’s report. “Germany was jolted into action when PISA 2000 revealed below-average performance and large social disparities in results” As I read the report and saw that after being told they were failing the council of Foreign Ministers got together and decided they needed Common standards and common assessments to align with the standard. Robust data was needed and teacher improvement. These sound eerily similar to what we’re implementing here in America. Germany also agreed to continue with ongoing international tests to determine their countries success.

It’s not a secret that when you tie high stakes to a test it drives the curriculum. Now remind me, do we want our children to become global citizens or to retain American exceptionalism?

You may have heard that the Federal Government was not involved and that they hijacked this movement but from the very beginning of 2009 that is not the case. They highly coerced, incentivized and threatened the states to go along with their education reform.

These same reforms are in every grant and the waiver from No Child Left Behind issued by the Federal Government. There was a plan.

Secretary Duncan said, “… the Obama administration has an ambitious and unified theory of action that propels our agenda. … It can only be accomplished with a clear, coherent, and coordinated vision of reform.”

Now I can’t give President Obama all the blame.

The plan to centralize education is not new to the Obama administration. In fact, this move toward nationalized standards started long ago and moved further forward under President Bush with No Child Left Behind. It was then propelled forward through massive private money and stimulus funds.

Once the current President took office things really took off and the majority of states made commitments to the standards BEFORE they were even written because they were rushing to get Race to the Top funds. If the golden carrot wasn’t incentive enough for the states the threat of losing federal $$ to which the states have become addicted was.


We are coming up against a hard deadline in America.

How many of you are perfect? Did you realize that under President Bush’s NCLB that schools must show 100% proficiency by 2014 or they risk losing Federal money for education? The states are desperate to get out of a bad law and would do almost anything to get out from under the oppression but what most don’t realize the oppression yet to come will dwarf what was felt under No Child Left Behind. When you put all the pieces of the education reform puzzle together we lose control of education at a local level. The data collected by testing the standards and tied to the teacher’s performance acts as an enforcer to make sure the agenda moves forward.

In 2010 Secretary Duncan said “… our theory of action starts with the four assurances incorporated in last year’s economic stimulus bill, …. The four assurances got their name from the requirement that each governor in the 50 states had to provide an “assurance” they would pursue reforms in these four areas--in exchange for their share of funds from a Recovery Act program …”

Secretary Duncan is referring here to the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund which had to be approved prior to even being considered for Race to the Top money. UT received roughly $900 million dollars from the stimulus bill in education alone. Did really pay attention to what we were agreeing to?

Secretary Duncan acknowledged that “Traditionally, the federal government in the U.S. has had a limited role in education policy.”

“The Obama administration has sought to fundamentally shift the federal role...”


Ezra Taft Benson said:

"The best way to prevent a political faction or any small group of people from capturing control of the nation's educational system is to keep it decentralized into small local units, each with its own board of education and superintendent. This may not be as efficient as one giant super educational system but it is far more safe.” 

Common Core was initiated by private interest in Washington DC without proper representation from the states. The National Governor’s Association and Council of Chief State school officers may sound like official government organizations but they are not. They are private trade organizations that are not transparent nor held accountable to the people. The Governor’s sit on boards they do not run the show there. In fact, both organizations receive money from the federal government as well as private entities. States pay dues to both the NGA and the CCSSO and then these private organizations turn around and lobby the states to push forth their agenda.

We all need to take a look at how things are run in our country and decide if we want our government run by a bunch of trade groups or if we want it to continue to be through the voice of the people. We have an ever moving trend towards circumventing the Constitution and our founding principles.

Common Core was a triumph of branding. There were over a hundred endorsing partners. I mean who wants to be accused of not wanting high learning standards for our children? Who doesn’t want their children to excel?

The largest funder is the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. This foundation has spent millions and millions of dollars pushing their education reform ideas. To date they have poured over 175 million dollars into this initiative and last week Gates said, he hopes his education goals work but we won’t know for at least a decade. Our children ARE NOT guinea pigs.

Achieve, who is also a non-governmental agency, partnered these two trade groups to help draft the Common Core state standards.

One of these is not like the other.

On your left we have what the proper balance of government powers is supposed to look like where 3 branches of government work together but each stand independently creating a system of checks and balances. On your right you’ll see the system which brought us Common Core. The National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers acted as brokers between private interest groups, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Federal executive branch, namely the appointed Secretary of Education, and the State level executive branch including the Governors and their State Superintendents of education with little to no input from the state’s legislators. This isn’t the way America is supposed to be running.

What we've got here is private entities colluding with government to push policy. I love the capitalist market but this is not that.

Bill Gates may very well be a nice man, wouldn't know, haven't met him, but I DIDN'T elect him and neither did you. Just because he made a lot of money doesn't mean he is allowed to buy education in America. This is too much power for one individual. I didn't elect Jeb Bush either and he is also having massive influence in how our schools are running. America wasn't set up to be governed this way. Think about it...

The Homeschool legal defense reminds us that

“America rose to greatness when education was utterly decentralized and widely considered to be beyond the competence of government. One might reasonably wonder why educational planners do not consider a return to that which has proven successful in the past rather than pursue a trend of their own making. “ “The philosophy of the Common Core is not revealed in the individual standards. Many forms of education would result in the acquisition of similar individual items of knowledge and skill. The philosophy that is antithetical to many is revealed in the broad purposes and the coercive uniformity of the Common Core.” HSLDA https://www.hslda.org/commoncore/topic4.aspx 

So for us it doesn’t matter whether the standard’s quality is good or bad. The standards experts can have fun debating that until they’re blue in the face. We are not and will not ever be for national standards because it centralizes power whether it’s to the federal government or private entities it doesn’t matter. But in this situation we have both.

But it’s for the kids. Not true – A monopoly is being built. This monopoly not only brings in big money but it is a monopoly of thought. Where common core is deemed as the savior of the education system in America but really the results of these massive reforms is control and ultimately will help destroy America if we don’t stand up and do something about it. These reforms are creating a single pathway to higher Ed. It isn’t good enough to simply pull our kids out of school. We MUST fight this.

If we let this stand, we effectively alter the way government is run in America. Working around the representative form of government will become the new norm which effectively wipes out the voice of “We the People”. We can’t let this happen.

Professor Charles Glenn of Boston University says this about the goals of centralized education…

How can the pluralism that we claim to value, the liberty that we prize, be reconciled with a “state pedagogy” designed to serve state purposes? Is there not wisdom in John Stuart Mill's remark that “all that has been said of the importance of individuality of character, and diversity of opinions and modes of conduct, involves, as of the same unspeakable importance diversity of education. A general state education is a mere contrivance for molding people to be exactly like one another…in proportion as it is efficient and successful, it establishes a despotism over the mind.1 Charles Leslie Glenn, Jr., The Myth of the Common School (Oakland: ICS Press, 2002), 12. 

Ezra T. Benson wrote,

 “…In a free and open society such as ours, a well-rounded education is an essential for the preservation of freedom against the chicanery and demagoguery of aspiring tyrants who would have us ignorantly vote ourselves into bondage. On the other hand, should the educational system ever fall into the hands of the in-power political faction or into the hands of an obscure but tightly-knit group of professional social reformers, it could be used, not to educate, but to indoctrinate." 

We’re seeing examples on social media sites of this daily. I call this a positive consequence of parents waking up and paying attention to what is being taught.

However, expect to see a lot more curriculum that doesn’t match the values of your local community as the control of education leaves the local community and as Bill Gates says, “a uniform customer base” is created. Anytime you centralize power you remove the voice of the parents and citizens at the local level.

So why are we doing all of this?

What is the purpose of these reforms? Is it to make sure our children succeed or that the workforce is fully staffed?

There has been a push for quite some time to an outcome based approach to education.  Last summer Secretary Duncan shared that “ the President has established a bold goal for our nation…. And to achieve that goal he has proposed $1 billion dollars toward career academies. And to achieve this goal he’s launched a comprehensive cradle-to-career reform agenda.”

Remember the President called on the governors to help him achieve his plan?

He also asked the Governors to create a vision 2020 plan and our state of UT gladly accepted the challenge because after all it sounds great to have more children graduating from college and being prepared for their career. As a mother of 7 I want nothing but the best for my children.

This brought Prosperity 2020 to UT whose stated goal is to align the education training to the workforce demands of the marketplace. This is called central planning and it certainly NOT the America I want for my children. 

In 2011 I witnessed this first hand when sitting down with my high school son and his counselor. What mother wouldn’t want to hear that her son is brilliant and capable of the highest paying jobs in America? I certainly was proud and trusted the system and so when the counselor told me that clearly my son was not going to be a history professor and so let’s pull him out of AP world history and put him in a class that follows his career path. I gladly agreed until one day I woke up and realized what was happening to America.

When did we decide that it was okay for the government to collude with business and claim such a determining role in the education, attitudes, and career paths of our children?

We need to all wake up and then study up, speak up and stand up to save our freedom in this great country.

Let us all remember the wise words of Dallin H. Oaks.

 “I cannot speak for the welfare of children without implications for the choices being made by citizens, public officials, and workers in private organizations. … Children are highly vulnerable. They have little or no power to protect or provide for themselves and little influence on so much that is vital to their well-being. Children need others to speak for them, and they need decision makers who put their well-being ahead of selfish adult interests.”