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Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Why is the #GOP Losing the Base? ESEA Reauthorization is one Reason. » Missouri Education Watchdog

Why is the #GOP Losing the Base? ESEA Reauthorization is one Reason. » Missouri Education Watchdog:

Why is the #GOP Losing the Base? ESEA Reauthorization is one Reason.

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The Republican machine is astounded, gobsmacked, and incredulous that the heir apparent to the Presidency is barely making a blip in the polls.  The substitutes to the chosen one aren’t popular either.  Juan Williams, a Democrat, writes in The Hill the GOP is at its ‘breaking point’.  Well, maybe that’s where it needs to be as it adopts the tactics used by Democrats in passing the Affordable Care Act (which has proven to be anything but affordable) in the current push for ESEA reauthorization.  In short, a 1000 plus page bill, only released to the public two days ago is set to be voted on in The House today.
You can see (above graphic) Republican Senator Lamar Alexander’s approval of this current ‘fix’ of NCLB which gave the Federal Government power to direct the states in their educational development/delivery.  This bill doesn’t ‘restore’ educational responsibilities to states, school districts, classroom teachers and parents.  There are still the carrots/sticks used by the USDOEd to beat these entities into submission for federal money creating unfunded mandates for the states.
Note to Rence Priebus.  This example of rushing through a bill without due diligence and attention to close reading is one reason the dreaded ‘outsiders’ are surging in the polls.  There are no real differences between the Democrats and the Republicans when they pass bills.  Whichever party is in power will make certain the crony capitalists and/or special interests are protected.  Even when *facts* are given to Republicans, they refuse to engage and seriously discuss what’s actually in the bill.  From Florida Stop Common Core Coalition:

Rebuttal to US House Ed. Committee Talking Points on ESSA

December 2, 2015
Karen R. Efrem, MD – Executive Director
The House Education and Workforce Committee put out an infographic trying to convince their members that the 1061 page monstrosity released only about 48 hours before the final vote to rewrite No Child Left Behind is a Republican “win.”  They are trying to make their members feel okay about throwing our children to the Common Core beast and ignoring more than 200 parent groups in 46 states and instead listening to the Washington Cartel education elites and corporate raiders.  Here are their claims followed by the truth.1)      CLAIM: Places new and unprecedented restrictions on the sec. of education
TRUTH:  There is no enforcement mechanism for any of these restrictions and the sec. of education still has veto power over the state plans that still mandate standards and assessments similar to Common Core. (Details HERE)
2)      CLAIM:  Prohibits the sec. of education from forcing, coercing, or incentivizing states into adopting Common Core
TRUTH: ESSA heavily influences standards within the bill itself. This requirement to have the standards comply with 11 different unconstitutional federal statutes setting up standards similar to Common Core will be statutory a state must comply with it regardless of what the Secretary does or doesn’t do. (Details HERE)
3)      CLAIM:  Ends the era of federally mandated high-stakes tests
TRUTH: Tests are still federally mandated along with 95% participation with no opt-out clause as was present in the House bill.  There are new mandates for the tests to be psychologically profiling “higher order thinking skills” and “strategies to improve 
Why is the #GOP Losing the Base? ESEA Reauthorization is one Reason. » Missouri Education Watchdog: