"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power." - Thomas Jefferson 1820

"There is a growing technology of testing that permits us now to do in nanoseconds things that we shouldn't be doing at all." - Dr. Gerald Bracey author of Rotten Apples in Education

Search This Blog

Friday, May 31, 2013

My Conversation with Glenn Beck on Data Retrieval. Just Remember The Wizard of Oz.

I had a great time  yesterday meeting with others from around the nation and talking about how to halt the implementation of Common Core.  About thirty people met in Dallas at Glenn Beck's studio, brainstormed for several hours, and were guests/audience members on the television show following our meeting.   

The main topic was the data mining (and use of the data) done via Common Core.  An interesting question on the show came when Beck played Devil's Advocate and asked "whatever could be wrong with gathering data on your child?  We (the government) can help so much more if we have your child's information".  This was similar to the question Representative Margo McNeill asked me in the Missouri House hearing on SB210.  She asked,  "what is your worst case scenario with the data gathering?"

Aside from the fact that a government official makes the assumption that government has the right to take personal information from a citizen for its purposes, my response to her, and to Beck's question is very simple.  Look at the IRS scandal.  Certain groups/people were targeted by the IRS based on their data.  This data gathering identified certain groups/people for government inquiry and scrutiny.  Tax-exempt status was withheld for many of these groups/people because of their data. 

The same scenario is a real possibility for targeting specific groups of students (or individual students) for government reasons, whatever those reasons may be.   Whether you think these reasons are valid or not, the government has the power to grant or deny favored status to individuals/groups based on whatever it deems appropriate.  We've seen it happen in the IRS.  It's not just speculation.

I was able to meet Beck after the show and chatted with him about how to answer his Devil's Advocate question.  (It was an honor meeting him and I am very appreciative of his efforts to help in the anti-CCSS effort).  It's a simple answer (in the form of a question) to those who ask why you would ever resist invasive data mining.  Based on your data set, you may be asked this "Glinda" question:





Are you a "good witch" or "bad witch"? 


Your data can determine if you are a government targeted subgroup or not.  Your answer will depend on which wizard is inhabiting 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and if you are a "good witch" or a "bad witch".  Data sets and the mining of those data sets will determine if you align yourself with that administration's beliefs.  If not (whether you are on the left or the right), get ready for the possible scrutiny of federal agencies and/or a presidential administration.  We've seen how data was used by the IRS for its own purposes and the resulting marginalization of certain people/groups.  Why would the Department of Education (or any other federal agency receiving DOEd data) be any different?  




Please note: The information in this post is copyrighted. The proper citation is:
Logue, G (May 2013). "My Conversation with Glenn Beck on Data Retrieval.  Just Remember The Wizard of Oz".  Retrieved (date) from the Missouri Education Watchdog site: http://www.missourieducationwatchdog.com/
  

2 comments:

  1. For those who comfort themselves by thinking they're ok because they've never done anything wrong, don't you think the groups that just wanted to teach about our Constitution thought the same thing before the IRS started to harass them?

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you think the IRS scandal was bad wait until Obamacare kicks in. When they control your access to healthcare they control YOU!

    ReplyDelete

Keep it clean and constructive. We reserve the right to delete comments that are profane, off topic, or spam.

Site Meter