Scholar's Legislative Honor Roll

For their steadfast advocacy of knowledge-based education on the floor of the Minnesota House of Representatives and in committee hearings, through the Profile of Learning repeal, academic standards creation, and Cheri Pierson Yecke confirmation process, Scholar has named these Representatives to the Minnesota Education Reform News Legislative Honor Roll. We wish them a majority of the votes on Election Day, and look forward to working with them during the 2005 session.

Mark Buesgens (R) 35B
Jeff Johnson (R) 43A
Karen Klinzing (R) 56B
Phil Krinkie (R) 53A
Mark Olson (R) 16B
Marty Seifert (R) 21A
Steve Sviggum (R) 28B
Barb Sykora (R) 33B

Craig's education topics

Craig Westover of the Pioneer Press informed me that he has linked his education and school choice blog entries and columns onto a single page for easy reference. Check it out for some trenchant parent/taxpayer opinions on public education (rather than the parroting of the education establishment's party line that you'll find in other media sources).

Politically incorrect

Craig Westover, a new columnist over at the PiPress, is a breath of fresh air on the Minnesota ed reform scene. Check out his blog coverage of the recent Minnesota Public Radio forum on the so-called education gap:

The MPR meeting was a "town hall" meeting in the same sense that putting both presidential candidates on the same stage is a "debate."

There is no polite way to say it -- there simply was no educational leadership present on the Penumbra Theatre stage last night.

This is the second time I've seen Commissioner Seagren speak, and both times I sensed she was working harder at not being former Commissioner Yecke than she was at setting any kind of an education agenda.

Westover's acute insights and political incorrectness on education issues, coming from a Twin Cities daily newspaper columnist, are surprising and welcome (Education Minnesota and the education elites are probably not so happy with his views). Add his blog to your list to check on a regular basis -- he's on Scholar's blogroll. Now if Cheri Yecke would start an edu-blog, then we'd really have a party.

Total Recall

In the 1990 movie Total Recall, the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger emerges from his disguise as a woman in an incredible (especially for 1990) computer-generated visual effect.

In August 2004, the real Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Governator who saved "Gali-fornia" from Gray Davis, who triumphantly proclaimed "I am a Republican too" at the party's national convention, emerged from his ostensibly Republican guise with an equally startling transformation.

Well, OK, nobody ever considered Schwarzenegger a conservative, but the Schwarzenegger administration's California Performance Review (CPR) has some groups gasping in horror, as if their helmet's face shield suddenly shattered in the thin Martian atmosphere (watch the movie).

The conservative organization Freedom 21 Santa Cruz says in its review of the CPR:

In truth, Governor Schwarzenegger's plan effectively devolves the constitutionally based government of the State of California by creating a series of councils, conservancies and regional governments that will create new political systems, new methods for educating children and a new land use system that pretends to protect nature by limiting human action in order to consolidate economic power within an elite ruling class.

Schwarzenegger himself said in 1990, "My relationship to power and authority is that I'm all for it... People need somebody to watch over them... Ninety-five percent of the people in the world need to be told what to do and how to behave (U.S. News & World Report, November 26, 1990)."

What does education look like in this brave new world?

The CPR plan for education is an example of the Governor's wish to limit California's choice by eliminating representatives elected by the people. Under the CPR, the Governor's Secretary to Education heads a new organization, the Department of Education and Workforce Preparation. This appointee will be granted broad powers to manage the California education system from elementary schools to community colleges.

What does 'workforce preparation' mean? It means government-private partnerships between schools and business; a centrally planned economy; replacing the learning of facts with assessment of attitudes, values and beliefs, and treating children as biological resources of the state to create global collective citizens. This is even more alarming than changing political mechanics. The significant change is about the purpose of education and the premise we hold about the nature and role of children to reach and seek their full potential as human beings.

Socialism may work in The Golden State, but as Governor Tim Pawlenty and his administration roll out his sweeping education proposals, we'll continue to watch for moves in legislation and rule that would put government and business in the driver's seat of public education, to the exclusion of the parents in each ward.

It's all about the money, part III

Regarding Governor Pawlenty's recent education reform announcements, which includes recommendations from The Teaching Commission:

1. To whom should the public schools in Minnesota be "accountable?" According to the Pioneer Press, "The proposals will be the basis for possible changes in the way Minnesota's teachers are trained, scrutinized and rewarded for years to come, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said." This is a profound statement. More and more, our schools are accountable to the government, meaning bureaucrats and lawmakers who are heavily influenced by lobbyists from Education Minnesota (teachers union) and education groups. Parents, who send their children to public schools, and taxpayers, who pay for the schools, are underrepresented in the mix. Even many of the so-called "parent groups" are directed by school districts and union interests, if you peel back even the first layer of their organizational onions.

"If it is believed that... elementary schools will be better managed by the governor and council, the commissioners of the literary fund or any other general authority of the government than by the parents within each ward, it is a belief against all experience. Try the principle one step further, and... commit to the governor and council the management of all our farms, our mills and merchants' stores... No, my friend, the way to have good and safe government is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many, distributing to every one exactly the functions he is competent to."
—Thomas Jefferson

Everyone claims to be in favor of "local control," but the devil is in the details. As you evaluate these plans, ask how "local" is local control, really?

2. It's all about the money. The Pioneer Press reported: "Senate Education Chairman Steve Kelley, a Democrat, said although he had questions, he generally supported the plan as long as there was money to go with it."

Well, this is certainly a better reception than Sen. Kelley gave Cheri Yecke. No one likes unfunded mandates. But please ask the Minnesota House of Representatives candidate in your district (before Election Day), is there such a thing as "adequate funding" for schools? How much is enough?

Thank you, Lynne Cheney

Thank you, Lynne Cheney for speaking up against national academic standards. The Los Angeles Times reported last week:

The Education Department this summer destroyed more than 300,000 copies of a booklet designed for parents to help their children learn history after the office of Vice President Dick Cheney's wife complained that it mentioned the National Standards for History, which she has long opposed...Cheney's office reviewed drafts and provided materials but the second lady was not personally involved, an aide said.

The references to the National History Standards were added at the Education Department after Cheney's office signed off on an initial draft that did not mention them.

We wonder whether Mrs. Cheney, long an advocate of knowledge-based education (especially in the study of history) raised similar concerns before the Clinton-Ted Kennedy education act became such a keystone of President G.W. Bush's domestic agenda. Although national standards are often touted as "voluntary," standardized national tests such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are often heavily based upon them; and at the end of the day, what gets tested gets taught.

It's all about the money, part deux

Check out joannejacobs.com, "Not much to show for the money," for a further discussion about K-12 funding. The many comments are also very interesting.

Academics or attitudes, values, and beliefs?

Parents: do you know where your teachers are on "staff development day?"

Should schools teach academic knowledge or attitudes, values, and beliefs? Faculty and staff of the Anoka-Hennepin school district, Minesota's third largest in enrollment, will get a periodic respite from the Judeo-Christian/Free Markets/Love America agenda, thanks to a district funded "staff development" program.

Our friends at Parents in Touch Anoka-Hennepin informed us of the 2004-2005 school year's program lineup.

According to an e-mail from the district's Department of Diversity & Student Services, "We invite you to attend any of these day workshops to learn best instructional practices to help improve academic achievement of all students [translation: "to influence the attitudes, values, and beliefs of all students."]

The smoking gun:

From: Seul, Sue
Sent: Tuesday October 5, 2004 4:21 PM
Subject: Staff Development Opportunities

THIS MESSAGE IS BEING SENT TO ALL DISTRICT STAFF

Staff Development 2004-05
Department of Diversity & Student Services

The Department of Diversity & Student Services is excited to announce
up-coming staff development opportunities for faculty and staff of
Anoka-Hennepin School District.

More detailed information on registering and workshop content will be sent
out a few weeks before the presentations. We invite you to attend any of
these day workshops to learn best instructional practices to help improve
academic achievement of all students. Attendance will be limited to 50
participants.

October 20, 2004
Culturally Reflective Instruction in Social Studies Curriculum, presented
by James Loewen
Organized by: Haseena Hamzawala

November 17, 2004
Multiple Perspectives of History, presented by Winona LaDuke
Organized by: Barry Scanlan

December 16, 2004
Culturally Responsive Communication Strategies for "Success,"
presented by Tami Spry
Organized by: Barry Scanlan

February 8, 2005
Concrete Strategies: Culturally Reflective Instruction, presented by Les
Green (Follow-up of Oct. 20 Culturally Reflective Instruction Workshop)
Organized by: Haseena Hamzawala

March 16:
Responding to Socio-Economic Cultural Differences, presented by Marlys
Withers, Elizabeth Larkin & Haseena Hamzawala
Organized by: Haseena Hamzawala