ExtremeWisdom

Mental Health Screening - The next big battle in the Culture War

One of the next big battle in the "education/culture wars" will be the "Mental Health Screeing" of your children by unqualified people (Teachers) in a corrupt system that gets paid more for every "Special" child they can identify.

[If you haven't figured out that "Special Education" and legalized "Doping" was part of a plan to create and cement even more unnecessary payroll baggage in public schools - you haven't been paying attention.]

Now, some good news. A new law disempowers bloated school bureaucracies and empowers parents.

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Excerpt:

As of Friday, schools no longer have the upper hand in deciding whether children should be given Ritalin or other controlled substances. A new federal law tilts that power to parents, barring states and schools from keeping students out of class in cases when parents disagree with a recommendation to medicate a child.

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This issue isn't over by a long shot, though.

Illinois is ground zero in the attempt to solidify and entrench a "mental health" screening scheme in public schools.  This is all part of "cradle to grave" intrusion into personal family health issues.

Connect the dots.  Leading liberal pseudo-scientists are promoting the idea that adherence to principles (religious, personal, moral) are mental "aberrations" that need "correction."

Once you institute a process by which children are "screened" for "mental illness" you have the apparatus in place to divorce children from their parents that is even more aggressive than today's rabid schools.

We are only one Democrat Majority away from our schools truly become the "re-education camps" that the left has been working for decades to create.

Who is BIG ED?

BIG ED is my name for "The Education Industry" or "Big Education", which is also often described as easily described as the "Education Establishment."  BIG ED is corrupt, lazy, overfed, and prone to believing it has the right to stay that way.

BIG ED is made up of interlocking directorates (Japanese call them Kiretzu) which include Teacher's Unions, Associations of Superintendents, Associations of School Boards, Associations of Associations, Education Schools, PTOs, Text Book Publishers, connected Building Contractors and a whole slew of Accounting firms, Bond Dealers, and Law Firms that specialize in concealing and obfuscating the skeletons in BIG ED's publicly-funded closet.

All of these organizations have bought and paid for legislators and legislation to protect BIG ED from competition and proper oversight, all for the purpose of extracting ever greater amounts of money from the taxpayers.  This money is then distributed to the various parts of the interlocking directorate known as BIG ED.

BIG ED is not about educating children.

BIG ED is about using children as stick with which to beat taxpayers. 

BIG ED offers an increasingly shoddy product (a MASSIVELY UNDEREDUCATED populace) at an ever increasing cost. 

BIG ED is corrupt to the core.  BIG ED is as corrupt in your idyllic little suburb as it is in the inner cities (maybe more so).

It is my opinion that America cannot survive much longer as a just society if BIG ED isn't stripped of its political clout.

Many (not all) of the people who work for BIG ED want you to believe that they are an untouchable cadre of high priests bringing the gift of knowledge to your children.

Disabuse yourself of that silly notion! 

Many (not all) of the people who work in BIG ED are union shop worker bees (or parasitic "semi-private" companies/firms) who want the most money for the least amount of work.  Some BIG ED workers are better than others, but BIG ED refuses (through legislation and contracts) to let you discern the differnence.

BIG ED despises "merit pay" because many of it's workers don't merit pay.

Remember that BIG ED is an industry, and because of its unobstructed access to nearly $500 billion of taxpayer dollars with out any competition, BIG ED is MUCH MORE corrupt than any private industry and/or business out there.

BIG ED is just like BIG TOBACCO or BIG OIL - only without the oversight.

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"BIG ED" is also a soundbite, a meme (my post on memetics), as well as an opportunity for all of you to become more persuasive in attacking the bloated education industry.

Depending on your audience, another VERY effective meme that effectively attacks public education are the words "Governmental/Educational Complex".  For those of you educated enough to know where that comes from, you should immediately recognize why using this term will be effective.

Here is some advice for discussions, debates, and conversations. Practice using "BIG ED" and/or "Governmental/Educational Complex" in your discourse.  Be prepared for a question like "What do you mean by that?"

Presto. A remarkable opportunity to stick a small wedge in a previously closed (or unconscious) mind. Be nice, but firm.  Remember, it isn't about the number of conversions. It's about the number of conversations.

"Raw Political Power" and BIG ED

Let me start by putting this post in context.  I'm on various e-mail lists, and I ocassionally get into debates on "education policy."  Surprised?!

The debate below takes place in the context of one of my detractors accusing me of seeking "raw political power" over principle.  This charge is mostly baseless, though I do advocate building political power - which is a function of addition, not subtraction.

I finished my points with the assertion that BIG ED is the most powerful political force in the nation, that it is bent on increasing this power, and that the only way to dislodge this parasite is to defeat it legislatively with countervailing political power ("raw" where needed).

Needless to say, this seems to be controversial in some parts of the "school choice" and "home school" community, where many people just don't seem to have the stomach for political activity.

Upon arguing for increased political activity, one person on the list implied that people in the school reform movement  who were bent on seeking power are only interested in "control." They proceeded with what I thought was a poor argument.

There's the context.  Here is the argument. It starts with JJ asking me who will protect people from ME...

Can you imagine?!  JJ is blue text, I'm black text. (remember - this is on an e-mail list)

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JJ <shaking her head> asks:

And . . . what will protect us from *your* unchecked raw power?

Bruno writes:

It must be your suburban, mellow, female, & possibly Oprahfied instincts that automatically reinterprets things like "countervailing power" as "unchecked raw power." Is this a hold over from your "training" inside the beast?

Frankly, BIG ED, as powerful as it is, falls way short of "unchecked power" - except maybe here in Illinois & California, where they have succeeded in bankrupting both states.

Here, you attack me for merely trying to attain parity. BIG ED is writing its own laws through political control of parties & judges, miseducating millions while spending profligately, and you are worried about Bruno rampaging through the nation on a power trip.

How droll.

JJ wrote:

If you actually can seize the raw power to govern education, then I need to keep as close an eye on you as I do on anyone else grabbing power in the name of "my" freedom.

Bruno writes:

Utter nonsense.

Since being on all these lists, message boards, and blogging, I've consistently advocated (re: education)

• the removal of compulsory education laws
• the freedom of parents to choose how to educate,
• that any system allows for everyone to "opt out."

That's hardly an agenda to "control" education.

To achieve these goals, people must attain the political power to defeat the power of BIG ED. That's all I've ever advocated. Further, for some one to the think that these goals could be achieved with out attaining such power is pure naiveté.

JJ wrote:

If my vision of educational freedom and self-determined learning doesn't match yours, why then -- philosophically, morally, reasonably or any other way -- should yours prevail? Simply because your political machine can enforce it more ruthlessly? Sounds like "might makes right" to me, not real freedom.

Bruno writes:

Utter, utter nonsense. Show me any writing, letter, or phrase that would indicate any truth to your assertions above. All of my harsh rhetoric and political activity re: education has been directed at undermining BIG ED. Nothing else.

Why paint a new devil on the wall when there is a perfectly evil one (BIG ED) already in existence?

JJ wrote:

Why should the future of American education for all parents and citizens be dependent on any faction's vision and seizing of power?  Isn't that exactly what you started this fight to END?

Bruno wrote:

You seem incapable of making the distinction between "seizing power" and "attaining enough power to enact better policy." Why?  Let's try this.  Let's assume there is a crisis of sorts in education.

What is your proposal to improve things? Do we even need a proposal?

Is the situation so bad that we must act, or can it go on like this ad infinitum? If not...

What is the best course of action?

Take your kids out?

What about the other 98% who your kids will have to live & work with?

I submit that the moment you put forth a proposal, I'll be able to ask how you propose to enact it. That is the point at which "raw political power" becomes necessary. (BTW, if your proposal is 'easily enacted', then it isn't sufficiently aggressive, IMO.)

JJ wrote:

Education and principled self-control (not raw power used to control others) ....<snip>

Bruno writes:

This is getting hilarious. Bruno says "we will need raw political power to achieve legislative victories (choice)" and JJ reinterprets this as "Bruno wants to control others."

Hogwash.

Here is an apt analogy. A 98 pound woman feels threatened by the advent of muggers in her neighborhood. She buys a gun for self defense. JJ says "that woman just wants to kill everyone."

Silly, isn't it? So is your assertion that "I want to control everyone."

JJ wrote:

Destroying the entire existing judicial system isn't the answer. Stacking the benches is a more practical answer but antithetical to the freedom we say we seek. 

Bruno writes:

I don't know how you got onto judges & benches, but the example goes a long way to proving MY point. Implicit in your arguments is the idea that things are "neutrally balanced" and that BIG ED is already held in check some how. Interesting that currently, in YOUR state, JUDGES are about to overturn the OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP program on extremely shaky grounds.

Who put THOSE judges there? Whose clout placed every mandate, constitutional clause, and administrative rule in the context that ONLY BIG ED wins? Again, you are worried about some ephemeral exercise of political power by some future party or person while your current society is in the grip of a REAL foul & dangerous industry (BIG ED).

JJ wrote:

In other words, encouraging and sufficiently arming adults to educate themselves about education, to do the hard thinking for themselves, with historical perspective and important new knowledge being discovered constantly, is the real answer.

Thank goodness I don't need to convince Bruno personally of this, or even fight him myself in hand-to-hand combat -- not if I can win the hearts and minds of enough other Thinking Citizens to the view that raw political power is as dangerous to freedom as conservative avenger hands as in anyone else's.

Bruno writes:

Nicely put, but not good enough for the task at hand. (Defeating BIG ED)

Your paragraphs above smack of the Rev. Niemoeller nicely warning Germans of the dangers of Nazism during afternoon tea as Hitler is gearing up for the "night of long knives".

Did you know that even as Hitler was racking up his early military victories, a few generals were trying to figure out ways to kill him. You JJ, would have cautioned them not to "seek power."

Perhaps our greatest issue is that we differ on the nature of the enemy. You are too timid to call BIG ED an "enemy" and I call BIG ED "evil." If the truth is somewhere in between, I'll bet it falls much closer to my view.

As for quip about "conservative avengers".... You seem to forget that most of them (individualists fighting for their freedom) - after winning their battles - gladly put down the tools of war to get back to living a life, while the enemy (BIG ED, collectivists, collectivism) never rests.

Each time around, there are fewer and fewer "conservative avengers" to take up the tools. One day, there will be too few.

On that day JJ will say..

In America, BIG ED first came for the homeschoolers, and I didn't speak up because I don't want to seek power. Then it came for the charter schools, and I didn't speak up because I don't want to seek power. Then it came for the private schoolers, and I didn't speak up because I don't want to seek power. Then it came for the Pre-Schoolers, but I didn't speak up because I don't want to seek power.

Then it came for me, and by that time there was no one who had the power to fight them."

Actual quote here.

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To those reading and enjoying this debate, all I ask is two things. First, that you take the time to understand the nature of the enemy (BIG ED, The Left, Collectivists).

Second, at the appropriate time, you vote for the best candidate (school board, State Rep. etc.) and that you work for that candidate through donations, phone calls & precinct work. For extra credit, you could run for those offices your self.

People like me will help you while the JJ's of the world will caution you to "be nice." Ask yourself to whom you are "being nice" to.

Bruno

The RULE, not the EXCEPTION. Con't

These stories are becoming so frequent that you have to wonder about the intelligence and moral character of the entire Education Establishment.  I maintain that they are;

• Uninterested educating, but only in money and power
• Morally bankrupt
• Institutionally corrupt.

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L.I. School Official Helped Son Cheat on Test, Investigators Say

Long Island school officials say they caught a sophomore cheating on a Regents examination last week and were quickly able to trace the cribbed answers - written on his hand - to the student's father, an assistant superintendent in charge of exams and answer sheets in another district.

The alleged scheme was disclosed yesterday when the father, Isben Jeudy, 40, of East Northport, was charged with official misconduct in First District Court of Nassau County, in Hempstead. He pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. His lawyer did not return a call seeking comment.

Free to Lose -- A response to Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman's recent article in the Wall Street Journal touting school choice deserves a response. It is time that school choice proponents were given a dose of reality.

Let me start by congratulating Mr. Friedman on his 40-year commitment to this excellent idea. As someone who agrees wholeheartedly with Mr. Friedman's analysis, I cannot help but agree that choice is imperative for the United States if it is to maintain its position as a world leader. What then, is the dose of reality that school choice supporters are in need of? Mr. Friedman -- and those who support education choice -- need to be much more realistic in their campaign to make his idea a reality.

Whether one approaches the problem of education in America as an activist, a parent, a politician, or an intellectual, one must realize that educational choice will never become a reality until it's proponents engage in an all-out attack on the current "Government/Education Complex." To engage in such an attack is apparently too much to ask of some of the tweed jacket think tank mavens. "That's politics," quoth the mavens, "we won't engage in such activities because they are beneath us."

Though we in the conservative movement owe think tank gurus a great deal for providing us with a massive armory of intellectual ammunition, it is time to realize that we can no longer rely on policy studies to make school choice a reality. I submit that the tiny examples of school choice around the country do not represent examples of small successes. Rather, they come closer to being examples of failure. To make my case, let me revisit the last few paragraphs of Mr. Friedman's recent article.

Mr. Friedman pointed to "experimentation with such alternatives as vouchers, tax credits, and charter schools." After giving examples of choice programs that are "in effect in a few places (Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, the District of Columbia)," he goes on to admit that "all of these programs are limited; taken together they cover only a small fraction of all children in the country."

These small examples of choice represent a failure in the face of two incontrovertible facts.

First, the United States of America has been a state of educational crisis for at least 25 years. This created (and still presents) an environment where a healthy debate on policy can (and did) take place.

Second, school choice; from an intellectual, economic, and moral perspective; is so dramatically superior to the current overpriced, underperforming, and corrupt "government/education complex" that its failure to be accepted by the electorate represents a huge failure in terms of marketing a policy solution whose time has clearly come.

Though this failure to enact school choice can be blamed on many different factors at both the federal state and local level, I believe we can boil these mistakes down to one or two general areas.

The first mistake -- and by far the smallest -- is that most people and organizations play to their strengths. The "Policy Study/Think Tank" strategy has been a huge winner for the freedom-oriented community. Though it is hard to stop playing your winning hand, the fact remains that we have won the intellectual battle regarding choice over a decade ago. We have failed on the political battlefield.

This failure highlights our second mistake. We have failed to understand some basic marketing concepts, and therefore misdiagnosed our past failures. Proponents of education choice continuously look for "better ways to sell our ideas" through more funding for books, policy studies and " getting the word out out."

In his piece, Mr. Friedman wrote "The good news is that, despite these setbacks, public interest in and support for vouchers and tax credits continues to grow. Legislative proposals to channel government funds directly to students rather than to schools are under consideration in something like 20 states. Sooner or later there will be a breakthrough; we shall get a universal voucher plan in one or more states."

I disagree. As someone who has followed the educational choice battle for over a decade, it is clear that the "Government/Education Complex" maintains the ability to eventually subvert or crush choice initiatives. They maintain this capability because of the huge reservoir of public support for the concept of "public education." Until this of reservoir of support is drained, most choice initiatives will remain small "pilot programs" that can (and will) be crushed in their cribs.

I maintain that the only way to drain this reservoir of support is to vigorously and relentlessly attack the current system - not as "public education" - but as a foreign and corrupt bureacracy that has hijacked public education.

The simplest metaphor is a typical purchasing decision. Why would anyone by a new car, vacuum, or coffeemaker if they are not convinced that there is something wrong with their old one.

Most people realize that there is something horribly wrong with public education in America today, but they have not yet made the connection as to what is wrong specifically. Unfortunately, most of us don't want to do what is necessary to persuade our friends and representatives of the specific problem - the corrupt nature of the bureaucracy that controls education policy & spending.

I believe that it is imperative that we use tactics and strategies of our opponents in the "Government/Education Complex." As Mr. Friedman pointed out in his articles ,most statewide school choice initiatives have started with high approval ratings, only to collapse in the face of huge expenditures on negative ads. I think it is time to mercilessly and continuously attack the failures, lies, and the corruption of the "Government/Education Complex." It is time for a good old fashioned negative campaign. [Choice proponents have the added benefit of not engaging in misinformation in such a campaign.]

It is time to engage in this attack in the suburbs as well as in the cities. It is also time to engage in this attack at our friendly neighborhood social gatherings, regardless of how unpopular this may make us. I can understand if this sounds distasteful to you. You can ignore this advice and continue losing or you can take the advice and start winning education choice on the political battlefield. Before you decide, let me remind you that there are one or two generations of children in the balance. If you disagree with me you can stop reading and go back to your comfortable status quo. Those interested in some ideas on how to engage in this attack on the "Government/Education Complex" can continue reading.

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While most of the previous paragraphs sound pessimistic, I am, in fact, very optimistic about the prospects of rapidly undermining the political power of the Government/Education Complex. Therefore, I believe that if we engage in a vigorous attack on the current corrupt system, we'll find that they occupy a position similar to the Soviet Union in 1984. They appear strong, but are in fact weak.

Most politically astute people will ask how one could possibly attack the most successful and powerful political lobby in the United States. I believe that many political factors are working in school choice proponent's favor, but the most important is that the "Government/Education Complex" has overreached in many states.  They have padded payrolls, engaged in schemes to enrich their members, and promoted policies that are blatant grabs for greater money and political protection.

In an old Star Trek episode, Mr. Spock commented that a truly successful parasite lives in harmony with its host. The Government/Education Complex has ceased live in harmony with the host they are exploiting. They have moved from being benign to malignant, and the host, if awakened, will reject the parasite.

If supporters of school choice wish to engage in such an endeavor, they simply need to arm themselves with the facts, and commit to the willingness to openly state, promote, and disseminate those facts relentlessly. The evidence that the current system is corrupt (or at the very best, inept) is overwhelming. The evidence that the current system spends far too much money for far too few results is overwhelming. Finally, the evidence that school choice is superior to the current system is overwhelming. All we need to do is openly state these facts and the process of undermining support for the Government/Education Complex will accelerate.

If you are a supporter of school choice you should shift your resources from passive tactics to active ones. Wealthy supporters of choice should be funding aggressive candidates and/or ads that attack the current system. They need to stop funding symposiums and policy studies.

Perhaps more importantly, at the grassroots level, supporters of choice should be calling or writing letters to legislators demanding that they stop kowtowing to the Government/Education Complex. In any given state legislative district there must be at least 50 to 100 people who are aware of the failures of the current system. Too few Americans realize that the assertive action of 100 people will be enough to give a legislator a reason to think twice about rubber-stamping "Government/Education Complex" protection. Placing a legislator between activist phone calls and a well-funded challenger is a marvelous incentive to "reconsider" support for a failed and corrupt bureaucracy.

The strategic and tactical list of things to do could go on for pages. It would be easy for many experienced activists to shoot down each and every item on such a list with such excuses as "you don't know how powerful the teachers unions are" or "changing people's minds on public education is just too difficult."

I admit to experiencing the same frustrations over the last few years. I simply think it is important that we set those frustrations aside and redouble our efforts. It is my belief that absent such efforts we will never be "Free to Choose" -- only free to lose.  Conversely, if we engage in an aggressive attack on the current system, we will watch them collapse more rapidly than we may now imagine.

This is what all your Public Education spending got you - virtually NOTHING

Straight from Brother's Judd...

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Students Ignorant of Western Culture: Poll Shows Need for Core Curriculum (Dartmouth Review, June 2, 2005)

The Dartmouth Review’s culture survey of 242 students was conducted May 16-27 in Thayer Dining Hall. While not “scientific” per se, the results represent a disturbing trend in the knowledge base of the typical Dartmouth student. [...]

3. Q. Name five US Supreme Court justices.

A. William H. Rehnquist, John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer

Percent Correct: 15.7
Percent Incorrect: 84.3

4. Q. What English king signed the Magna Carta?

A. King John

Percent Correct: 18.6
Percent Incorrect: 81.4

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I challenge any one silly enough to say that these things "aren't important" to debate me on the issue.  Any open forum, any place, any time.

Please.

Spelling Bee Results

Anurag Kashyap Wins National Spelling Bee (Associated Press, June 02, 2005)

"Appoggiatura" was music to 13-year-old Anurag Kashyap's ears. Correctly spelling the word that means melodic tone, he clinched the 2005 national spelling bee championship.

An eighth-grader in Poway, Calif., Anurag ran into his father's arms and burst into tears. He said he felt "just pure happiness." [...]

Anurag, a straight-A student at Meadowbrook Middle School — his favorite subject is science — tied for 47th in last year's spelling bee. That experience "helped me to know what I should study to ... like, win this thing," he said, repeatedly hiding his face behind his cardboard number.

Tied for second place were 11-year-old Samir Patel, who is home-schooled in Colleyville, Texas, and Aliya Deri, 13, of Pleasanton, Calif.

Bruno's comment:

"Kashyap"? "Patel"?.  I don't see any Smiths, Roberts, or Murhpys in the story.

American parents - particularly the brainwashed suburban variety - have long given up on these types of important events.  But a huge percentage of their kids have a TV in every room....

A short list of what is driving Education costs - and why they need to be ENTIRELY repealed

The slavishly "pro-tax" site - better funding for greater waste - has a list of Illinois Education Mandates.  This is a laundry list of bad policy, and it is responsible for driving payroll expansion into the stratosphere.

The next time some edu-ratchik mentions 'mandates' as the reason spending can't be cut, just pick your favorite from the list below and eviscerate his lame argument.

For my favorites, note my responses in black text.  The mandates - as compiled by some group called "SCOPE", are in blue.

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UNFUNDED OR UNDERFUNDED MANDATES
Compiled for SCOPE by Ed Wahl

The following is a list of mandates for public schools. Either the State of Illinois or the Federal government mandates these requirements. SCOPE understands that many of the mandates are a necessary part of what should be done in the field of education but it is imperative that the community is aware of how extensive the list has become.

Bruno's comment:

Note my post on the "myth of local" control.  Here is your proof that "local control" is a scheme by which you are convinced that you need a "Superintendent" and cast of characters to "manage" your district.

I hate these mandates, but if you want to keep them, the entire local administrative layer can be sent home, and the principals can be managed from Springfield.

The fact is very few of these mandates are "necessary."  If the school district doesn't want to follow them, they should ignore them.  If they are truly needed for "education", the district wouldn't need "mandates" to implement them.

Furthermore, despite an Illinois law requiring that the legislature not pass any new mandates which are not fully funded, whenever it wishes to do so, it simply designates the new mandate as “exempt” from that law, adding it to the list of things that must be paid from local property taxes.

Bruno's comment:

Yet more proof that local control is a myth.

Mandates List:

Public schools in the State of Illinois must teach the following:

• provide a standards-based instructional program in math, reading, social studies, fine arts, science, writing and other areas specified by ISBE.

Bruno's comment:

State Curricula are a joke, as are the textbook companies that make up a good chunk of the "government/education complex." (GEC)

The first thing to remember is that schools in the US have virtually no "quality control" a la Deming or ISO (international standards organization).  The only thing keeping any assemblence of QC is testing - hence the establishment's drive to discredit it.

• All schools must also teach: good nutrition; CPR; first-aid; drug/alcohol/tobacco abuse prevention; civic responsibility; sex education; bicycle/pedestrian/bus safety; daily physical fitness; consumer education; humanness and individual responsibility; good health care and AIDS prevention; driver training; principles of free enterprise;

Bruno's comment:

At what point does this list get ridiculous? "Principals of Free Enterprise!?!?  Our schools are very nearly communist indoctrination camps.  The seething stink of collectivism pervades your every sense as you enter a GEC building.  Virtually every teacher I've met despises free enterprise - those who even understand what it means - that is.

How could a system that would be destroyed by "free enterprise" - if it were allowed to enter the education market - be held responsible for "teaching" free enterprise?

The entire list of Mandates above are the metaphorical proof of the old communist joke.

....you pretend to impose the mandate, and we'll pretend to teach it...

The only exceptions are those mandates that are holy canon to the religion of BIG ED.  Those mandates are taken seriously because it's part of the religious dogma of BIG ED.  Sex Ed.  Gay rights.  Feminizing Boys.  Making Girls Butch. Demonizing the Bill of Rights. That DOES get taught - it's the religion they must promote to survive.

• manners and etiquette; vocational training; economic awareness; Holocaust history/Black history/Women’s history; management of money, property and resources; and pride in work.

OK, now it's getting downright funny.  A simple reading of this list should be enough to make even the most slavishly pro-GEC parent start to gag.  "Pride in Work!!??"  They've dropped "work" from the curricula.  RED MARKERS are proscribed!!!  Junior is being sheltered from RED MARKERS - but molesters have a Constitutional right to view porn in libraries.

I'm sorry - I digress, but our society is dying because too many dingy suburban parents fail to grasp is that when "everything is praised" then "nothing is praiseworthy."  We have a class of parents who know NOTHING about what sustains a society because they are too busy sheltering their children from every shred of reality.

In addition, Illinois Public Schools must also:

• Give specialized instruction for the hard of hearing, the blind, and the neurologically impaired in the “least restrictive environment”.

Bruno writes:

This is code for "mainstreaming" - the awful practice of placing the difficult to teach in every class they can - for the express purpose of slowing down the entire culture to the lowest common denominator.

Damn you if you argue that I'm being cruel to the "disadvantaged" or the handicapped.  That is a lie.  This "system" cares nothing for the best practices for the disadvangtaged.  If they did, they would have more flexible system.

Life would be wonderful if barriers to learning were removed for the "impaired." But notice the complete lack of concern for those who are "normal".  Disruptions in the class - who cares - it's about the "special needs."

A population that can't focus on learning because some one in class spends the period in spasms and out bursts.  Not a problem - that's what we have an army of "assistants" for. Learning be damned.

• Teach gifted students

Yeah right!  It used to be called "ability grouping", but the "free enterprise" teaching socialists got rid of that years ago.  They now call it "gifted programs" with Gifted Program Assistants, Directors, Coordinators - an army of the mediocre dumbing down our supposedly best & brightest.

Satan couldn't have devised a better-designed destroyer of human potential.

• Conduct eye testing

Bruno writes:

A long time ago, in a Galaxy Far Away, there were things called "Parents" and an entity called "Family".

• Give inoculations

Bruno writes:

A long time ago, in a Galaxy Far Away, there were things called "Parents" and an entity called "Family".

• Provide pregnancy counseling

Bruno writes:

A long time ago, in a Galaxy Far Away, there were things called "Parents" and an entity called "Family".

• Instill morals, ethics, and values while avoiding any mention of religion

Bruno writes:

The idea that you can instill "morals, ethics, & values" with out "mentioning religion" is evidence that public schools are nothing but churches preaching secularism.  Absent religion, morals flow from ....what?

The libertarians says "the individual" - hence narciscism & anarchy

The collectivist says "the collective" - hence the gulags & killing fields.

Right here, folks, in a simple post about "mandates" - you stumble on the truth.  From age 7 through 12, your kids are being indoctrinated in a church - and idiots that you are - you voted for it.

Damn you. You are destroying my civilization.

• Search for and exclude all items defined as weapons

Bruno writes:

Except "Weapons of Mass Instruction."

• Help students develop political awareness and know-how

Bruno writes:

Shock troops of the future - Brain Dead automatons doing what "teacher told them."

• Dispense surplus milk and other commodities

Bruno writes:

It's never a bad time to buy off a powerful interest group.  The mental health screening that's coming is funded by the Pharmaceutical Industry.  Doped from Diapers to Dementia - from NEAvartis

• Perform job placement, provide career information and develop work skills

Bruno writes:

All with out being able to make change in their head or being able to say the word "ask."

• Provide counseling and psychological services for grief and conflict assistance

Bruno writes:

A long time ago, in a Galaxy Far Away, there were things called "Parents" and an entity called "Family".

• Assist with bilingual language development and assistance in translation for non-English speaking students

Bruno writes:

Bilingual education is an utter failure for both sides.  It is beyond stupid, and anyone promoting it should be fired for incompetence.

You want to go to school here. You learn english - period.

• Counsel delinquents

Bruno writes:

A long time ago, in a Galaxy Far Away, there were things called "police" and an entity called a "civil justice system"

• Provide transportation

Bruno writes:

A long time ago, in a Galaxy Far Away, there were things called "Parents" and an entity called "Family".  They have evolved into sheep, braying to be sheared while being "violated" by the shepherds

• Follow due process

Bruno writes:

This is a joke beyond reality.  BIG ED exists to destroy "due process."

• Protect student privacy

Bruno writes:

Bulls--t!  Lying Dogs! Stinking, lying, scummy dogs.  BIG ED exists to destroy individuality - hence privacy.

• Provide computer literacy

Bruno writes:

This from a system that hasn't gotten plain old "literacy" down yet.

• Eliminate sexual discrimination and harassment for students and staff

Bruno writes:

Code for the coming brave new world of NMBLA

• Prohibit smoking anywhere on school grounds

Bruno writes:

No one competes with us in self-destruction

• Assist in bladder control

Bruno writes:

Yep - there's your civilization for you - bladder control.

• Develop the ability to reason

Bruno writes:

Is this getting boring for you yet?  Are you at least starting to see the futility of 'mandates?'  If you aren't, you are either a financially interested member of BIG ED - or a complete idiot.

• Provide suicide counseling

Bruno writes:

Michael Schiavo - call your office.

• Maintain birth information and age certification data

Bruno writes:

"Your work papers please."

• Close school for selected ethnic and national holidays

Bruno writes:

Don't forget "teacher's institute days."

• Maintain often extremely costly programs to manage or remove asbestos, lead and pesticides – including notices to the community.

Bruno writes:

Home school - it's physically and intellectually safer - no matter what your IQ.

• Foster integration

Bruno writes:

"Kum-bah-yah - yah bit-h - yo you ma ho - Kum bah ya - yah bit-h - get on da flo..,"

you can do the rest.

• Ensure civil rights and racial tolerance

Bruno writes:

See above

• Detect and report child abuse

Bruno writes:

Void where "abuse" is mandated by the state

• Eradicate head lice, scabies and other diseases

Bruno writes:

Unless culturally "significant".

• Assist in charity fundraising

Bruno writes:

Otherwise known as promoting "referendum" using blackmail & scare tactics.

• Serve hot lunch and breakfast

Bruno writes:

A long time ago, in a Galaxy Far Away, there were things called "Parents" and an entity called "Family".

• Develop an appreciation of other people and cultures

Bruno writes:

Multi-Culti claptrap.

• Build patriotism and loyalty to the ideals of democracy

Bruno writes:

Maybe somewhere in the south or Texas, this still happens.  Here in Illinois, this is a complete and utter lie.

• Build respect for the worth and dignity of the individual

Bruno writes:

Today's public education establishment is dedicated to the destruction of the individual - the evidence is all around you.

• Involve parents in the creation and review of student discipline policies

Bruno writes:

Here in the pampered suburbs, the students are used to "discipline" the parents, who are behaviorally modified into voting for more largess.  In the cities... what parents? what discipline?

• Promote an understanding of the heritage of our country

Bruno writes:

Another lie.

• Train all staff and provide protection from blood-borne diseases

Bruno writes:

This will come in handy at future "sex education" classes, when they cover various acts and positions.

• Provide individual tutors for students who are hospitalized or recovering at home

Bruno writes:

A long time ago, in a Galaxy Far Away, there were things called "Parents" and an entity called "Family".

• Abide by conflicting state and federal accounting standards

Bruno writes:

This says it all, doens't it?  Abide by conflicting standards?  All are in non-compliance.  All are guilty.  All are subject to firing if and when the time is right.

• Develop curiosity and a thirst for learning

Bruno writes:

If this doesn't make you puke by now, you are an idiot.

• Develop skills in the use of leisure time

Bruno writes:

This will come in handy at future "sex education" classes, when they cover various acts and positions.

• Build a feeling of self-worth or self-respect

Bruno writes:

If this doesn't make you puke by now, you are an idiot.

• Meet all life safety code provision for school facilities

Bruno writes:

Did you know that these "provisions" make it nearly impossible to build a competing school?  I figured as much. 

• Retain student records for 60 years

Bruno writes:

"Your work papers please."

• Administer ISAT and IGAP tests in accordance with ever-changing rules

Bruno writes:

...which we want to keep "ever-changing" so that you will never figure out the corrupt scam we have been perpetrating upon you for 70 years.

• Account to the penny for the spending of federal funds

Bruno writes:

This is too rich. This from the same corrupt enterprise that invented a property tax system that only a crook could love. If this doesn't make you puke by now, you are an idiot.

• Pay for criminal background investigations for all staff

Bruno writes:

This system, over time, will morph seamlessly with tracking public education graduates over time.  It's will eventually be the same class of people....

By design.

An Education Soundbite to fit with an Education Strategy

Here s a sound bite for all of you to remember.

"To increase 'education spending' we must decrease 'education waste.'"

Yes, it is simplistic, but it is true nonetheless.  To bolster your point (after making the above statement) simply point out thatin Illinois education spending rose 158% in 16 years, while the number of students rose only 13%.

Each of you needs to be capable of effectively arguing against increasing the NET TAKE of education spending. As a Budget Item, it should not get one thin dime of increase.  The money currently being spent simply needs to re-directed toward "the children", and taken away from the waste & abuse.

"What waste!?" That is the question you will be asked by the defenders of the status quo. (uninformed and dogmatic parents & edu-ratchiks who view growing dollars as an entitlement)

First, pink slip everyone in the state with the word "Assistant" in their title.  The state is awash in these examples of Administrative Bloat.  Their response will be that all these "assistants" are needed to manage the paperwork of all the state & federal "mandates." This leads us to....

Second, this is a perfect opportunity to get rid of the mandates as well.  It is time to end BIG ED's "mandate" scam.  Here is how the scam works.

Teachers Unions, School Board Associations, Superinendent Associations, and an army of other NGO (non-governmental organizations) all run to Springfield (or your respective state capitol) to lobby for "madates" of all forms, shapes and sizes. (Building codes, class size, politically correct curricular tripe, and restrictions on any competition (charters, alternative certification).

This is all for the purpose of running back to their local residents and demanding more money to pay for meeting the "onerous mandates" that they just lobbied aggressively for.

Call their bluff.  When you call your state legislator this summer to lobby against tax increases, you should be very clear in your denunciation of "mandates." 

[As and aside, and just for fun, ask your teachers, administrators, and board members to lobby for reducing mandates. Watch most of them slink away with scowls on their faces.]

Be very clear in your message. Cut Spending - Cut Payroll - Cut Mandates - Rinse & Repeat.

Then tell them you will accept "Tax Swaps" ONLY in the context of a NET TAX CUT, which the Illinois economy needs to remain competitive.

___

Beware of the following slough off!

When talking to your legislator, and pointing out the 13% : 158% student increase to spending ratio mentioned above, they may (after attempting to hide behind "mandates") use this little "illogic bomb" on you...

"Well, all that money went to pensions" (or building new schools...or new schools & pensions..etc. etc. etc.) - [One of them actually told me this a few weeks ago.]

Your proper response to that is, "That's not my Problem!"

The REALLY cool thing here is that BIG ED has overreached, and this is best opportunity in a generation to make them pay dearly for that mistake.

School districts and the State Legislators have spent themselves into looming bankruptcy by bloating the payroll (to meet "mandates") and giving away unsustainably rich "end of career bonuses" combined with unsustainably rich "early retirement options."

HB755, 750 and 1484 are all scams to make the taxpayer bail them out with out cutting back on the absurd rate of growth.  If we continue our successes at stopping these tax grabs, we will eventally be in position to negotiate REAL EDUCATION REFORMS and/or REAL SPENDING CUTS.

By witholding tax dollars from them, we become politically powerful enough to demand concessions (in exchange for a tax swap that is a tax cut) like;

• Repeals of mandates
• Funding following students, not districts (cut special education featherbedding)
• Finanicial Transparency at the District level
• Replacing PTELL with more rational property tax laws
• Statewide Core Knowledge for 4-60% of all new first graders
• etc. etc. etc.

Hold their feet to the fire. Get (and STAY) informed on the true nature of the Education Bureaucracy.

___

Sound bites to make your own.

Take our public education system back from the corrupt bureaucracy that has "privatized" it for their own personal gain.

A "Tax Swap" that is a TAX CUT!

"To increase 'education spending' we must decrease 'education waste.'"

STOP HB 755 !!! HB750 SB1484

As I've been telling you for months, the Kleptocrats (Democrat & Republican) in Springfield are doing the bidding of their Sith Masters in the Education Establishment (BIG ED).

After playing games with the bill numbers in an attempt to throw off letter writers & callers, the sneaks have settled on an amendment to HB755. 

This bill was originally set to be about parental notification of police line ups on school grounds.  If you click the link, it still looks that way.  They do this to throw you off the track.  Scroll to the bottom of the page and you can see all the amendments that will flood the teachers unions with cash while bankrupting Illinois taxpayers.

If you want to save yourselves hundreds (maybe thousands) in taxes next year, YOU SIMPLY MUST CALL YOUR STATE SENATOR and REPRESENTATIVE and tell them to VOTE NO!

Here are some highlights...

HB 755:

• increases the State income tax rates for individuals from 3% to 5% and for corporations from 4.8% to 8% (this is estimated to generate $5.8 billion)

This will DECIMATE the Illinois Economy!  Illinois is already REELING from the fee increases and enforcement actions that have passed in the last few years.

• raises the foundation level in the school funding formula to $6,100 per pupil (currently the foundation level is $4,964). This amount would grow annually by the lesser of CPI or 3.5%.

The Foundation Level for funding will do NOTHING to help Illinois students because the FUNDING DOESN'T GO TO STUDENTS - it goes to districts - which are overloaded with bureaucrats, social workers, and other forms of payroll bloat.

If the legislature were serious about helping students - they would fund students - not districts!

• increases funding for special education and other mandated categorical grants by $120 million

"Mandated Categoricals" is code for "Payroll Expansion."  Special Education is a cesspool of featherbedding and bad policy.  They won't stop until every student is Illinois is "special needs."

• establishes a property tax abatement equal to 30% of the dollar amount for K-12 school property taxes from 2001 (paid in 2002) (estimated to be $3 billion)

Your income taxes skyrocket in 2006, and your so-called "property tax relief" kicks in 2007 - if you ever see it.  The relief goes to the district - not the taxpayer.  The first thing your district will do is run a referendum demanding that they keep the money.

• provides $370 million to higher education (75% to universities; 25% for community colleges)

Higher Education provides the model for fixing K-12.  We fund the students - not the institutions - more so than the corrupt K-12 system, anyway.

• provides $190 million to counties and municipalities through the Local Government Distributive Fund (this is, generally, the same formula ? 10% of income tax receipts ? that is in current law)

This was done to buy off stupid Republicans.  I can't believe Watson (Republican Senate Leader) is  dumb enough to allow anyone to vote for this.  It guarrantees Democrat control of Illinois.

• increases the Earned Income Tax Credit fourfold (from 4% to 20%) ? estimated at $200 million

They should do this without any Tax Increase.

• creates a new renter's tax credit ? estimated at $150 million

Why subsidize renting when Home Ownership is a better avenue to wealth?

• doubles the eligible amounts of the income tax credit for payment of tuition to a private or parochial school from a $500 maximum to a $1,000 maximum ? estimated at $65 million.

This is a Sop to conservatives that is never intended to see the light of day.  Look for them to strip this out before final passage.  This is how they operate. 

If it isn't stripped out, look for so-called Republican Squishs to hide behind this fig leaf as they do the bidding of their corrupt masters in the Education Lobby.

• creates the Education Assistance Fund Board to review foundation level increases bi-annually

This is one of the tertiary goals of the Education Establishment - an ever increasing ratchet of spending increases for them to continue to impose their intentionally substandard education system while sucking down ever increasing amounts of money.