"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
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/
Do you remember "Hogan's Heroes"? Sergeant Schultz was known for his "I see nothing, I know nothing" response to issues around him. This is similar to Lois Lerner's refusal to testify in Congressional hearings about what happened at IRS, even as she stated she did nothing wrong. If she didn't do anything wrong, then why wouldn't she talk to Congressmen and women trying to determine exactly how and why the IRS targeted specific groups requesting tax exempt status?
Like the IRS, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is taxpayer funded. DESE makes decisions that impacts taxpayers, children and teachers while using money allocated by the state legislature and federal agencies. The IRS and DESE should answer to the people funding their existence, but they have something in common: they don't want to answer your questions, believe they are above having to be accountable for their actions and will deflect or refuse to answer questions by taxpayers and legislators.
the educational direction/development for Missouri children
the money it will cost taxpayers for this educational direction/development (taxpayers never had the opportunity to either for or against this plan)
who, what, why data will be gathered on children without parental permission/knowledge
where this data will be used
Since SB210 was withdrawn at the threat of a filibuster, citizens will now have to wait another year for their chance to ask these questions if a similar bill is filed. DESE attempted to pass off the statewide May 2 meetings as fact finding for citizens but they were really a waste of time for anyone looking for serious answers to serious questions. These meetings were scripted and no speaker had the authority to answer questions. In retrospect, why did people take their time to attend these meetings? They were a total waste of time.
Why did Lois Lerner attend a congressional hearing to announce that she would not answer any questions and then walk out? Why did Chris Nicastro speak for "informational purposes" to SB210 in the legislative hearing that had absolutely nothing to do with the bill? The bill was to address concerns about cost and data collection, both of which she touched on briefly, but she never did answer direct questions to these issues.
Lois Lerner was allowed to walk out of a hearing, and Chris Nicastro was allowed to hijack the SB210 hearing to deliver her speech on why CCSS would transform Missouri education. "Don't worry, be happy"....legislators and taxpayers. Don't worry that certain groups are targeted by the IRS and don't worry that CCSS is unfunded, unresearched and your child's data will be given to various federal agencies and third parties without your knowledge or permission.
Bureaucrats are doing what they want with your money, setting the rules and not being held accountable to legislative bodies or taxapyers. SB210 could have shed some light on the Common Core adoption and implementation in Missouri. Do you or the legislators REALLY think DESE is EVER going to truthfully answer the questions posed to them in the May 2 meetings?
The clock is ticking without DESE providing answers to May 2 questions (these answers were to be posted within a week after the meetings). You should be getting very angry at this obfuscation from national and state bureaucrats thumbing their noses at you. Watch the clock (posted on the website) ticking up the days DESE doesn't answer the questions you have. Who holds the IRS and DESE accountable? Why is DESE allowed to spend money it doesn't have on educational theories with no research/data to prove it will work? Why is personal data gathered on your family and your child without your knowledge or permission?
Since Missouri citizens don't have a venue to ask the appointed commissioner of education these questions, Nicastro sent in a video of herself for DESE's "informational" meetings. She dodged questions when questioned by legislators and sent her lackeys (who don't have the authority to answer questions) to the "informational" DESE meetings to impart talking points to taxpayers. She knows nothing, tells legislators "look at the DESE website for the answers" in hearings (to the questions they didn't ask), or she just won't bother to answer your questions at all (as evidenced by the DESE website where it still says answers "coming soon" to May 2 meeting questions). Is the commissioner channeling Sergeant Schultz and Lois Lerner?
"I See Nothing, I Know Nothing"
"I Did Nothing Wrong."
A complete lack of accountability
Here's the link for DESE's videos on Common Core. These speakers "know nothing" either on the cost of the standards or the data gathered on students. They don't answer the questions taxpayers are asking but keep telling us DESE is a transparent agency. There is no accountability from the IRS or DESE to taxpayers and/or legislators to the questions they ask. And the clock keeps ticking and not one bureaucrat is responsible for the answers. Sign the petition to rid Missouri of Common Core standards. We haven't stopped fighting to make DESE responsible to the taxpayers, legislators and students. Pre-filing bills begins on December 1. Join us. Make your voice heard. Watch Lois Lerner's IRS response and you understand how the adoption/implementation of Common Core has occurred during the last 3-1/2 years in Missouri. No one is responsible for (the governor, the commissioner and the State Board of Education) or apparently concerned about the cost, loss of local control, the run around of the legislative process and invasive data retrieval on individual students, teachers and principals. It's time to hold these officials accountable.
