Like 39 other states and the District of Columbia, Oklahoma is now seeking millions in federal stimulus funds to put our state's common education system further along the well-worn path to complete federalization of education, in what is a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution, although few seem to express alarm.
What began in the 1990s with Outcomes-Based Education and later progressed through various incarnations as America 2000, Goals 2000, School-to-Work, and No Child Left Behind is now entering a new phase, which is being managed, in part, by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
One of the most telling articles we've read was published in
yesterday's Sunday Oklahoma by reporter Megan Rolland.
Oklahoma's Race to the Top application, drafted by former Tulsa mayor Kathy Taylor, now Gov. Brad Henry's education czar, seeks $183 million in federal funds to:
1) transition the state from its current PASS standards (whose creation violated outgoing State Supt. of Public Instruction Sandy Garrett's Dec. 1995 promise that "OBE is dead in Oklahoma.") to a nationally drafted curriculum, which is being developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.
2) patch Oklahoma into the national Web-based data system under development that will track all Oklahoma students from pre-K onward until after they enter the labor market. The data system will include all sorts of nosy personal information on students, their values, and their families in addition to academic data, and will be available to school officials, government, and business. This is a souped-up electronic version of the written Dangan, which was commonly used in Communist countries in the 20th Century.
According to author and education expert John Taylor Gatto, the American Dangan has been under development since at least the mid-1960s, courtesy of Progressive educrats like the late Ralph Tyler, who perfected the use of assessments to gauge students' indoctrination and progress. Only now have technology advances and the common use of the Internet made a seamless, national (and worldwide) system like this possible.
3) create a new teacher evaluation system, so school officials can identify and remove teachers and principals they deem to be "ineffective" or underperforming, contrary to what the government desires. Ostensibly, the goal is to remove bad teachers, but there is room for much mischief. Taylor promises guidance from "national experts" in developing the "state's" evaluation system.
According to the Jan. 24
Sunday Oklahoman article, 64 state teachers unions, including the Oklahoma Education Association, the state affiliate of the National Education Association, signed off on the state's federal application, as did 324 school districts representing approximately 80 percent of Oklahoma's public school students.
So, it appears the transition from historic local control of education by parents to what is, effectively, complete federal control of education, conveniently managed by state government officials, comtinues.
Will Oklahoma parents and children -- and our state's schools -- ever regain their freedom and liberty?
