Florida Mom Addresses School Board About Common Core

Do you need some encouragement to address your school board about Common Core?  The following statement Monique Thomas provided to the Clay County (FL) Board of Education might give you the courage/information you need to craft your own statement.  Thomas is a mother and taxpayer concerned about the adoption, implementation and mandates of Common Core.

(Reprinted by permission)

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JULY 18, 2013  Florida-Clay County Board of Ed presentation 

 

Superintendent and members of the Board:

I have some bad news and some good news.  The Common Core State Standards Initiative has key components that people are taking issue with—the good news-- as the initiative unveils its ugly self across the country—the beauty is--in real-time- people, the citizenry and their elected or appointed officials are coming up with ways and taking action to slay the beast.

10 issues that have been brought forth of late are:

1.    Loss of local control-The Common Core State Standards Initiative is

2.    Unconstitutional AND

3.    Breaks established Federal laws. CCSSI handcuffs parents and educators; there is no ability for

4.    Clay County citizenry to change any part of the Common Core Standards since they are copyrighted.

5. Children’s privacy is invaded and breached

5a.The Florida DoEd website will inform you that such intrusive actions will take place.

 6.FERPA and PPRA will only go so far to protect our children.

7. Loss of parental control—How much are Mothers or Fathers and Guardians aware of the extent of the data being collected from their children, by what means and then who and for what purposes is it being distributed? And

        6.a 7.a, since we’ve seen one scandal after another coming out of Washington-- anyone who thinks any info taken from our children is safe, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Our own Polk County, FL families were already unwittingly stripped of personal identifiable information when their children’s irises were scanned without their permission.

8. And I discovered-- that in fact, despite what talking point proponents say-- Common Core State Standards IS NOT STATE LED…I was on a recent tele-townhall with our own US Congressman Ted Yoho to find out through HR 5 he is working to uncouple the chains of mandates emanating from DC that shackle our public education system to the Federal government.  HR 5 will give closer to home control of finances through block grant funding. And to my further amazement, HR 5 acknowledges the 10^th amendment rights—individuals have the power to decide for themselves if they want to participate in Common Core State Standards without having to be bribed with our own tax payer dollars.

With closer held purse strings and the empowerment of the parents rightfully taken back, they have more opportunity to educate their children as they see fit… It is no surprise to me that the bill has support across the political spectrum of We, The People.

9. Profiteering by corporate interests with public taxpayer money.  History has shown us---Forming or promoting Public/Private Partnerships a la Mussolini--this is a treacherous way to lead.  Fascism does not make for a healthy economy in Clay County or in the end provide for a safe and healthy learning environment for our children.

10. Let me put this another way--The dumbing down through another doomed outcome based education model---History has also shown us Outcome Based Education in the 90’s FAILED, change the name to NCLB- FAILED in the 2000s. Change it up again—call it RTTT bribery for deploying the Common Core State Standards Initiative--EPIC FAIL for OUR CHILDREN, OUR TEACHERS and ultimately OUR NATION. All together, the tax payers who have no students in the government education system are in the boat along with the families and educators rowing into a perfect storm of government takeovers while the children walk the plank==> the 10th plank of the 'Communist Manifesto'.

Any individual as an elected or appointed official that FORMS or PROMOTES FASCISM through Public/Private Partnerships or ALIGNS themselves with the tenets of COMMUNISM,---The elected or appointed official who breaks our CONSTITUTIONAL COVENANT must resign immediately. OR-- if they will not resign they must be removed from their position.

Concerned citizens are calling for you to extricate their government educated children from the Rotten To The Core program.

Seek and you will find solutions.

Vigilant parents, teachers, administrators, county and community leaders across the country are taking action so to best deliver and authentic and proper education for our rising generation of American citizenry.  The future of our country, our Nation’s fate-- is placed in their young hands and formative minds. But what is it the Board of Education and the Superintendent here choose to give the children in Clay County?--The tyranny of Fascism or Communism, OR the Freedom of a Republic.

I have ALWAYS admired individuals who can properly represent the people.

I can assume we are all Citizens of the United States.

As citizens, we ALL accept the self-evident truth that we are individually in control of our lives, our liberty and our pursuit of property—popularly known as ‘happiness’.  Yes, that,--- my fellow citizens is from the Declaration of Independence. We have that stated control unless-- and UNTIL-- someone or some entity encroaches on those freedoms by DIRECTLY –OBLIQUELY harming us.

When our children are threatened, the Momma Grizzly comes out in almost anyone.

Providing a SAFE and SECURE learning environment for our children while at school is clearly in our State Statutes. In accordance with s. 1, Art. IX of the State Constitution, all K-12 public school students are entitled to a uniform, safe, secure, efficient, and high quality system of education, one that allows students the opportunity to obtain a high quality education.

For the record, the content of the distributed to the board members documents, the same ones that were provided via e-mail accepted by the superintendent’s office for use at today’s Board Meeting:

 

#1) is a 2-page list of individual schools or systems or entire countries in at least 7 countries including Canada, Austria, Germany, England, Wales, Ireland and France.  The list included is of those that made recommendation to ban, banned or removed wi-fi from the school buildings/campuses. In the United States, USA Progressive Librarians Guild recommended no wireless technology in libraries & schools.  

#2) A special note—Corporatist Bill Gates’ financial involvement in the Common Core State Standards Initiative is well documented—in part, creating a platform for data collection. Concurrently, Microsoft will be promoting the use of wi-fi in the classroom through various initiatives.  Then, along comes a whistle-blower of sorts-- his former president of Microsoft Canada is warning of the dangers of wi-fi and ‘we should exercise caution, especially with children.’

#3) A June 26, 2013 article titled “New ‘digital dementia’ plaguing young tech users”.  ‘DIGITAL DEMENTIA’--A new label has been made –“This excess use of technology leads to unbalanced brain development, as heavy users are more likely to overdevelop their left brains, leaving their right brains underdeveloped.

The left side of the brain is generally associated with rational thought, numerical computation and fact finding, while the right side of the brain is responsible for more creative skills and emotional thoughts. If the right brain remains under developed in the long term, it can lead to the early onset of dementia.”

This announcement should be of extreme concern as we place children for unknown more amounts of time in front of computer screens to administer curriculum and assessments.

In the late 50’s and into the 60’s the threat of nuclear warfare with Russia was enough to declare our schools as ‘Fall Out Shelters’, a safe haven in the event of a radiation emergency.  Cell towers are not recommended to be near schools and are not legally permissible in many areas due to their radiation. Would it then be safe to put wireless wi-fi routers inside the schools? Today, will we be so unnecessarily foolish to let our schools be radio frequency ‘Fall Out Zones’? 

Am I an expert witness?

No.

Am I Paulette Revere warning you the British are coming, the British are coming?—They are already here.

TODAY – as we stand here – AND – for a long time – Children have been AND are being exposed to the Harmful Effects of ‘Wireless Technology’.

Just because the evidence is disputed and there is no consensus does not mean the damaging effects do not exist.

Am I a Canary in a Coal mine warning of a recognized danger that you can’t see or smell, touch or taste?

Yes.

Regrettably---Now, the Clay County School policy makers-will INCREASE and EXPAND the ROLL OUT of wireless technology in the classroom. That ROLL OUT WILL CORRAL AND TRAP – Every Single Individual in each of Clay County School buildings’ ‘Fallout Zone’.

ONLY THIS - *BOARD * - CAN STOP IT – AND – ONLY IF EACH BOARD MEMBER WILL STOP IT.

Obviously, concerned citizens are calling for immediate Board action - and injunctive measures - halting deployment of all types of wireless Technology as well as the removal of all deployed equipment in Clay County Schools.

IN CLOSING:

Heed the warnings and act upon the power you have been granted by the people-Eliminate threats to public safety in the classroom.

From my research to date, answers to the Clay County Public School System so as not to add to the negative health consequence of persons exposed to wireless technology is to use fiber-optics or DSL in school buildings. The added value to not being wireless--The transmission of data is more efficient and secure with fiber-optics and DSL.

The 'DIGITAL DEMENTIA' mention brings a whole new danger to light. What else don't we know yet about all this technology these children have been living with all their lives?

Overall, willful ignorance is not the answer when the public safety of the children is threatened.

I am available to discuss the technology deployment issue now, 5 days from now or 5 months from now, etc.  My personal e-mail address: Monique.thomas1791@gmail.com

Referenced articles:

Removal of wi-fi in schools

http://www.safeinschool.org/2011/01/wi-fi-is-removed-from-schools-and.html

         

Microsoft Canada CEO warning—

http://www.c4st.org/news/item/c4st-in-the-news/canadian-tech-leader-warns-of-wi-fi-smartphone-cell-tower-radiation.html 

Digital Dementia--

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/26/new-digital-dementia-plaguing-young-tech-users/#ixzz2XpOGvWPH