|
“Issues and Action in Education”
Obama By Professor Allen Quist
|
|
On July 24, 2009, the U.S Department of
Education (DOE) announced that the
“centerpiece of the Obama administration’s
education reform efforts” in its “$4.35
billion Race to the Top,” will include
“adopting internationally benchmarked
education standards.” These will be national
standards, said the press release, keyed to
international standards and will be
incentivized to the states with federal
“stimulus” dollars.
By the term “education standards” DOE means
content standards; meaning curriculum-the
content schools must teach. By “national
education standards” DOE means that schools
in all 50 states will teach the same
content. This will create a de facto
federal
curriculum The Department of Education will
financially reward those states that teach
what DOE wants taught. The Department can be
expected to insist that the values taught in
the national curriculum conform to the very
liberal ideology of the Obama
administration.
According to the announcement, this federal
curriculum will consist of “internationally
benchmarked” standards. The only extant
comprehensive “internationally benchmarked”
education standards are those developed by
UNESCO, the UN’s education arm. The UNESCO
website clarifies that its education
standards conform to the treaties and
agreements of the UN. This means that its
curriculum includes, for example, the
requirements of the UN’s
Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which
says, “Education shall . . . further the
activities of the United Nations” (Art.
26:2).
American schools used to teach the
fundamental values of the United States–including
the inalienable, God-given rights of life,
liberty and property, as guaranteed by our
Declaration of Independence and
Constitution. Not any more. Now our students
will be indoctrinated in the UN’s definition
of human rights. As clarified by the UN’s
UDHR, our rights now may not “be exercised
contrary to the purposes and principles of
the United Nations” (Art 29:3). Our children
will be taught that they have only those
rights the UN says they have.
The UNESCO standards also include the
UN’s
Earth Charter which further defines
internationally benchmarked standards. The
Charter says these standards must entail
what it calls “sustainability education”
(Art 14:b). The Charter explains that
“sustainability education” entails the
“promotion of the equitable distribution of
wealth within nations and among nations”
(Art. 10:a), nuclear disarmament (Art.
16:d), gay marriage (Art. 12:a), legalized
abortion (Art. 7:e), adoption of an
“international legally binding instrument on
environment” (The way Forward), and
indoctrination in pantheism (Art. 14d and
Art. 16:f).
The National Governor’s Association is
enabling the Obama administration’s plans by
calling for “voluntary national education
standards.” Goals 2000 of 1994 was
“voluntary,” too, but most legislators were
unaware of the fine print in the companion
bill, HR6, which required that states would
lose all their federal education funding if
they failed to comply. That is why all 50
states joined Goals 2000. The Obama
administration has made it clear that it
views “voluntary national standards” the
same way.
(Editor’s note: The DOE press release fails
to mention that national education standards
have already been written, having been
composed during the Clinton administration.
For a thorough description of what these
very liberal national standards say, see
Fed Ed: The New Federal Curriculum And How
It’s Enforced, by Allen Quist, available
from EdWatch.org or Amazon.com.)
[For more on the fundamental values of the
United States, see
Cmods.org, Unit I, Module #3, The
American Creed.]
About the author:
Allen Quist is Adjunct Professor
of Political Science at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato,
Minnesota. He is a widely recognized writer and speaker
throughout the United States. Allen Quist is author of five
books, the most recent being
Americas Schools: The Battleground for Freedom. Quist
authored the best-selling book,
FedEd: The New
Federal Curriculum and How It’s Enforced. In his books
he explains the federal No Child Left Behind legislation and
programs such as International Baccalaureate, he describes
the math and reading wars, and he discusses the effects of
international agreements on our schools. Quist writes about
the preservation of America’s sovereignty, our commitment to
truth and unalienable rights, and our resolve to pass our
liberty on to the next generation.
Prof. Quist served three terms in the Minnesota House of
Representatives from 1983 to 1988. In the Minnesota House he
served as Chair of the Social Services Subcommittee and also
served on the House Education Committee. He was chief author
of the bill that created Minnesotas Department of Jobs and
Training. Prof. Quist played an influential role in
legalizing home schools in Minnesota. He was one of seven
delegates elected from Minnesota to the White House
Conference on Families in 1980.
Allen Quist has been a member of two school
boards and holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Gustavus
Adolphus College (St. Peter, MN), a Master of Arts degree
from the University of Minnesota, Mankato, and a Bachelor of
Divinity degree from Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary
(Mankato, MN). He and his wife Julie live in rural St.
Peter, Minnesota.
Ed
Watch
EDUCATION FOR A FREE NATION
EdWatch is entirely user-supported. The continuation of our research and
distribution work is entirely dependent upon individual contributors. If you
want to assure that our work continues,
click here. If you want to subscribe or unsubscribe to this EdWatch
e-mail service, mail to:
edwatch@lakes.com. Put “subscribe” or
“unsubscribe” in the SUBJECT of the message. Resources of videos, books, and
audiotapes are available on our
shopping cart.
Popular pages at
EdWatch.org:
In the News: EdWatch Speakers in radio, print, and internet
Featured Itesm: Popular articles, Updates and Resources
