Fed Ed, 2017, Are You Ready?

Usually, on Thursdays, I delve into the CCSS Machine’s overreach into post-secondary education, but today I am focusing on the President’s Fiscal Year Budget request he has just given Congress. Why should, we, those opposed to Common Core, College and Career Readiness, Career Tech Education, and all the rest of the CCSS Machine’s grinding America down? Because a whopping amount of OUR taxpayers dollars are going to be used in our educational system!

The Announcement:

Released just a couple of days ago (2/9/16), this blog article spells out the millions of dollars our President is asking to go for specific educational programs. But, before we look into them, here is a screen shot:

(If you need to enlarge the picture, click on it.)

The Details of the Announcement:

In case you would like the link: http://blog.ed.gov/2016/02/equity-and-excellence-in-the-presidents-budget-for-education-2/
(*Note: Part One’s Article address the money to be used for Teachers and School Leaders, Part Three? Oh, college access and completion. You can bet there will be tons of CCSS/CTE/CCR* alignment there! I will be researching those as well.)
*CCSS/CTE/CCR means Common Core State Standards/Career Tech Education/College and Career Readiness

To access the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Budget Highlights: 2017budget-factsheet

The following is a summary. As always, I encourage you to read for yourselves and take what you need to best fit your fight Against Common Core.

1) The total Budget request “includes $69.4 billion in discretionary funding, an increase of $1.3 billion over the 2016 appropriation.”

2) The 3 pronged goals for so much taxpayer money are “high-quality early learning; stronger and more diverse schools; and increased access to evidence and data to help all of us improve outcomes for students.”

3) For your little students (Pre-Kindergarten), you can expect “high-quality preschool programs for 4-year-olds with $1.3 billion in mandatory funding in 2017 and $75 billion over 10 years for the President’s landmark Preschool for All proposal.”

What is the Preschool for All? Great question, Warriors! To see the ‘need to know sheet’ from the White House: https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/14/what-you-need-know-about-president-obamas-plan-provide-high-quality-early-education-

One of the biggest items which sticks out to me, as a researcher, is the Early Head Start part of the Plan. Why? Refer back to my disturbing article about Early Head Start, which pre-dates the passage of ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act), but as you will see, plays right into the Budget Plans. Access it:

Sic’ ‘Em Saturday: Pint Sized Common Core

The other biggies which stick out? Special needs and early behavior interventions! My article above will address some of the planned social and emotional manipulation. For what this means for special needs little ones (like their IEPs), see: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/03/10/rmt-ccsss-present-to-special-needs/

4) For any student/school: “$450 million in additional funding for Title I Grants, for a total of $15.4 billion to help local educational agencies ensure that all students graduate from high school prepared for college and careers…” The biggest targets? Low performing schools. Much research by myself and others has been shared about what exactly all the Title One funding and the plans for LEAs (Local Education Agencies) ensuring CCR (college/career readiness). It is quite disturbing. See: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/11/21/weekend-news-the-state-of-ccsss-sel/ (*Note: this article will also give you an insight into the low-income students.)

5) For your communities: “$120 million in grants to launch Stronger Together, a voluntary program to support the development and expansion of new and existing, community-driven strategies to increase socioeconomic diversity in America’s schools.”

What is ‘Stronger Together’? While the U.S. Dept. of Education AND the White House do not openly share where you can find an initiative with this exact title, I did find one federal level department WHICH does have a “Stronger Together” set of initiatives. Which one? The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Service’s SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service’s Administration).

Why would this be a concern? In all the years I have researched the push for national educational standards, the one trifecta (if you will) in all of this reform, has repeatedly been the U.S. Departments of Education; Health and Human Services; and Labor.

Also, of a concern is the fact the U.S. is not the only country with “Stronger Together” initiative, not to mention the special interest groups in America with the same title! This should cause great concern for us as we wage War Against the Core! If the SAMSHA set is indeed what the federal budget is referring to, here is the link:  http://www.samhsa.gov/faith-based-initiatives (*Note: the logo will be where you see the ‘Stronger Together’ words.)

As far as how SAMSHA fits in the CCSS Machine, see: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/10/08/tech-thursday-technically-speaking-for-ccss/ (*Note: this article will also show you the top-down approach with all sorts of programs connected to Head Start, Early Head Start, and more!)

6) For all families, more ‘school choice’, via public charters and magnet schools:
“The budget includes an additional $17 million for Charter School Grants and an additional $18 million for magnet schools.”
If you do not know how public (and private) charters are tied to the CCSS Machine, see: http://ladyliberty1885.com/2014/07/07/guest-post-common-core-in-charters-private-homeschools/ (*Charter schools begin about halfway down the page.)

Then my look at those major charter school managing companies,
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2014/10/07/ftf-tuesday-clarity-for-sale-aligned-to-common-core-for-free/

Magnet schools? I found a lot of information as to how these schools are tied to the CCSS Machine while researching the candidates for the upcoming primary election for NC Dept. of Public Instruction Superintendent! To see the entire section,
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/01/17/weekend-news-nc-primary-part-one/ (scroll down until you see “Schools of Excellence” and begin there.)

Related  to Magnet Schools and the ESSA which are worth pointing out:

Back in Jan. 2015, I shared with you an article detailing the Every Child Achieves Act, ECAA (one of the many names given to what has become ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act).
Back then, ECAA, was merely an amendment to the NCLB (No Child Left Behind), which is what ESSA was replacing when signed into law.
Here is a direct quote about magnet schools from the ECAA, “magnet  schools that will substantially strengthen the knowledge of academic subjects and the attainment of tangible and marketable career, technological, and professional skills of students attending such schools..”

Now, why bring this up? Some of the same language from ECAA is now in the ESSA. One example is ‘challenging state academic standards’! This phrase is uses countless times in the ESSA and interchanged with College/Career Readiness..all educratic buzz-worthy phrases for Common Core! To see if you can identify any other phrases from ESSA which were founded in ECAA, see: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/01/18/rmt-will-you-help/

7) “Computer Science for All” will receive a whopping $4 billion over 3 years. (I just related that to the ESSA’s digital/data overhaul in:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/02/05/weekend-news-the-ies-and-the-essa/

8) “Promise Neighborhoods” will get $55 million. How is this tied to the CCSS Machine or the ESSA? I have it all detailed right here: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/01/04/meet-your-new-neighbor-essa-seriously/

Tying the Budget to the Law:

 ESSA’s Final Conference Report (the 1059 page basis for the 391 page Law by the same name), the following sections address where the 2017 Budget money could be applied IF approved by Congress. I repeatedly refer to the Conference Report for consistency in my writing.

Sections 4001-4206 will address 21st Century Community Learning Centers (where a large portion of the Title One funds will be used)
Sections 4301-4311 will address the Charters Schools
Sections 4401-4409 detail Magnet Schools
Sections 4501-4506 address Family Engagement in Education
Section 4601- 4611 detail National Activities in Education
Section 9212 is all about Preschool development grants
Pages 120, 166, 170, 184, 252, 254, 341, 364, 365, 439, 626 all deal with either other details of PreK programs or how the family will be involved in them as well.

Closing:

Warriors, be sure to know I will go over Parts 1 and 3 of this news from the U.S. Dept. of Ed and share with you the ties to the ESSA.