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"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela

Education & Work Force Committee Belies Betrayal By GOP

By Carole Hornsby Haynes, Ph.D.  | January 18, 2016   Education Views

A January 12th press released by the Education and the Work Force Committee states that the Every Student Succeeds Act “ends the era of federal overreach and restores control of education to its rightful stewards: parents, teachers, and state and local leaders.”

Supposedly the law places “unprecedented restrictions on the authority of the secretary of education” so that states cannot be forced to adopt Common Core.

Yet the trail of evidence shows the GOP knowingly embedded Common Core in ESSA.

The official White House website admits that ESSA “affirms” the path taken by the Administration to impose Common Core on the states.  

The USDOE Chief of Staff Emma Vadehara told a group of state legislators that ESSA now embeds “College and Career Ready Standards” (an alternate name on Common Core website) and that the U.S. DOE “does not expect any states to get away from the standards.”

During the House proceedings prior to the vote, Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, made the stunning statement that Common Core is being redefined as social-emotional learning, which must come first in the learning hierarchy -- with academics ranking second! 

Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, confirmed in a prepared statement that he was proud “the legislation includes language to help expand and make the teaching of social and emotional learning [Common Core] more effective!” 

Peter Cunningham, former assistant Secretary for Communications to Duncan, wrote that ESSA requires that which is condemned by Alexander.  “Under the new law, every state must adopt “college-and-career-ready” standards. Thus, the new law all but guarantees that Common Core State Standards—or a reasonable imitation under a different name—will likely remain in place in most states.”

In an interview with Politico Pro, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan gloated about the GOP’s betrayal of their promise to uphold the Constitution which denies the federal government any control over education. “I’m stunned….at how much better it ended up than either [House or Senate] bill going into conference. I had a Democratic congressman say to me that it’s a miracle — he’s literally never seen anything like it.”

Duncan admitted Common Core will be embedded in U.S. law for the first time: “[I]f you look at the substance of what is there . . . embedded in the law are the values that we’ve promoted and proposed forever. The core of our agenda from Day One, that’s all in there – early childhood, high standards [i.e., Common Core], not turning a blind eye when things are bad. For the first time in our nation’s history, that’s the letter of the law.”

Regarding Lamar Alexander and John Kline, Duncan said, “We had many, many conversations behind the scenes….And I said for us to support it, they’d have to shed their far, far right [i.e., constituents who support the Constitution and oppose Common Core]….I honestly didn’t know if they’d have the political courage to do that.  But they both said they would and they did.  I give them tremendous credit for that.”

Duncan told of his encounter with Paul Ryan, “About a month before, I ran into Speaker Ryan and we just talked briefly.  I asked if he was going to back this, whether he’s willing to take on the far right.  I just asked him straight up.  And he said, ‘Absolutely. We’re going to back this.’  And, he did.  That’s when I thought it had a real shot.” 

Duncan described how Lamar Alexander, John Kline, and Paul Ryan asked the administration to remain quiet about the bill while they deceptively slipped in the Administration’s policies.

“We were intentionally quiet on the bill – they asked us specifically not to praise it – and to let it get through. And so we went into radio silence and then talked about it after the fact. . . . Our goal was to get this bill passed – intentionally silent on the many, many good aspects of the bill . . . [W]e were very strategically quiet on good stuff . . . .”

This is evidence that GOP leadership knew all along they were implementing Obama's radical agenda.

Duncan said the federal government now has the power to implement Common Core  -- Duncan’s sole purpose all along! 

“The final thing is we have every ability to implement, to regulate the law. . .it’s just a Washington typical storyline….And candidly, our lawyers are much smarter than many of the folks who were working on this bill. There are some face-saving things you give up, some talking points you give up, which we always do because we’re focused on substance.  And we have every ability to implement.  That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

The American people are receiving a huge tax bill to fund Arne’s dream.

And they wonder why Trump is on a roll!

(Click here to see how your Rep. voted – Click here to see how your Senators voted)

Copyright @2016 Carole Hornsby Haynes, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

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