Saturday, February 11, 2017

CURMUDGUCATION: The Hard Right's Planning Document for Education

CURMUDGUCATION: The Hard Right's Planning Document for Education:

The Hard Right's Planning Document for Education



Well, this is kind of scary. We're going to do this two parts. First we're going to look at the Center for National Policy's documented proposed plans for education. Then, because you probably don't know who this poorly named group represents, I'll show you why their desire to create a conservative theocratic system is worth taking seriously. I laughed at this plan, right up until the point I saw whose plan it was. This is going to take a little while, and if you are prone to conspiracy theory-based paranoia, you may want to sit down. But stay with me to the end.



The Proposal

The Education Reform Report is a pdf hosted on CNP's own site. It's only five pages long, including a cover letter from CNP executive director Bob McEwen. That letter does not get off to an auspicious start with its reference to "Mrs. Becky DeVos, Secretary-designate," but it corrects itself one paragraph later. It's an odd mistake, given that Betsy's father was president of this organization for two multi-year spans. But let's move on.

The Four Assumptions

The report starts by asking the question of whose worldview should be represented in the soul of a culture and hints that the answer is "not the government's." Then it lays out the four assumptions and a pledge for the rest of the report:

1. All knowledge and facts have a source, a Creator; they are not self-existent.
2. Religious neutrality is a myth perpetrated by secularists who destroy their own claim the 
CURMUDGUCATION: The Hard Right's Planning Document for Education: