Update: CCSS, CTE, STEM, and Connect NC Bond

I previously wrote about the NC Connect Bond on Jan. 11, 2016. If you read that post, you saw how evidence was presented to tie the Bond to the CCSS Machine. If not, here are the main points from that post.

Previous Points:

1) With the recent passage of the ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act), more CCSS (Common Core State Standards), CTE (Career Tech Education), and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) will be present, not only in NC, but nation wide.
All these are FULL of CBE (Competency Based Education). Why? Plainly stated: Workforce Necessary Skills!

2) ESSA has WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act), HEA (Higher Education Act) embedded!

3) WIOA is federal law, NC is a proud supporter of WIOA, as is every other state! (*Note: WIOA replaced WIA, Workforce Investment Act in 2014. Career Pathways (CP), a part of CCSS and CTE is embedded in WIOA 21 separate times.)

3) The original article will show you how the plans for the big bucks will be used in some NC higher educational institutions. You will see the way the Raleigh News and Observer spun the Bond to lead us to believe the Bond is a great thing. You will see the way the Resolution by the NC State Board of Education supports the Governor’s desire for MORE CTE, Workforce Based Education. The Bond easily plays into all of this!

So why should we vote ‘no’ to the NC Connect Bond? Here is my original thought.
“In my opinion, it will have a  great impact. However, knowing that the workforce based education movement involves not only education, but labor and commerce, we need to know what those projects will be as well. And since we, across America, have seen how non-transparent a lot of the projects are, we must be ever watchful!”
To access the original article: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/01/11/winter-2016-a-look-ahead-nc-and-the-usa/

Even if you are NOT an NC resident, you can use this type of slick moves as examples of where to look in your state. With the federal overreach in education, NC is hardly alone in this type of activity.

Before I continue it is vital I point out the leader of the NC Against the Bond movement is Nicole Revels. She has stood by my side fighting Common Core for quite a while. The least I can do is stand by her side as we fight the Bond. I never expected to find the CCSS Machine in the Bond, but nothing escapes the Machine in our modern times. My goal is to compliment her work, as the work of others opposing this Bond as well. I hope no matter where you live, that when you find evidence like this, you work as a team with others.

More Ties to the CCSS Machine:

Since this original post, I have found MORE evidence of how the ‘innocent Bond’ is even more tied to the CCSS Machine than I first thought!

In this LiveStream video I made 3/8/16, I give you plenty of the new evidence, so I will not repeat it here. I will say up front that the video is raw footage shot in my home. It may not be professional shot or be a fancy set, but the time for polish is past us. We don’t have time for fluff. We do, however, need the knowledge. Knowledge is power we can use to fight the CCSS Machine, the Bond, or whatever else we face in the ‘War Against the Core’. I will point out that the figures I share in the video are from the Fiscal Year 2014-15. However, I also share the NC Governor’s Recommended Budget for 2015-17 ties.
Access the video:
 http://livestream.com/accounts/16731436/events/4893641/videos/114902173

The documents mentioned in the video are available to whomever requests them.

The documents which tie NC to Workforce Based Education follow:

The NC WIOA Unified Master Plan Draft (which means changes could be made):
NorthCarolina_WIOA_UnifiedStatePlan_Master_01_11_16
(How this ties to the Bond: Since Community Colleges are breeding grounds for Workforce Training, as are the NCWorks (one stop job centers), our public universities are breeding grounds for STEM forces. The Bond provides for plans for all of these post-secondary institutions to build facilities to support all this training and alignment! All under our noses as ‘investment’.)

The 1999 SCANS (Secretary’s Committee on Acquiring Necessary Skills) from the U. S. Dept. of Labor where the evidence shows the roots of Workforce Based Education, now called CBE (Competency Based Education). SCANSreport

Since each of the 58 Community Colleges in NC are CCSS/CTE aligned, they also contain Small Business Centers. Meaning MORE P3s(Public Private Partnerships) in education reform. Something ALSO embedded in the ESSA quite a bit.

The STEM Affinity Network, will tie you to RttT (Race to the Top, where oddly enough we got CCSS and College/Career Readiness). See one of the Network’s Reports:
http://cerenc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ES-RttT-STEM_Y3-Report_FINAL_12-05-201.pdf
The NC STEM website: https://www.ncstemcenter.org/
The PCAST Report from 2010 where STEM’s real purposes is revealed:  pcast-stemed-report
The NC STEM Communities:
https://www.ncstemcenter.org/blog/five-communities-selected-for-innovatenc-initiative/
To see the National Career Stop Centers where STEM, CCSS, CP, CTE are all included:
a) http://www.careeronestop.org/
b) http://us.jobs/
The Federal STEM budget: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/fy_2015_stem_ed.pdf
The Research paper on the Wagner-Peyser Act (which works side by side with WIOA) for workforce based education:
http://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1032&context=reports
(*Note: be sure to read all the programs where you can find aligned education for all the nation.)

It is important to note that the Federal STEM budget (which NC gets a portion of) already covers updating facilities! So why burden NC with a Bond to cover the buildings? Closely needing an answer is the question that NC already receives Federal funding for CCSS/CTE and College/Career Readiness, so why are we being asked to support a $2 billion dollar Bond for post-secondary education institutions to expand their CTE courses? Of note, not one word has been mentioned about the proprietary NC schools in all this Bond topic, but do know every one of them is sold out to CCSS/CTE and STEM.
In my research the only apparent reason would be simply this: crony led education for a workforce profit.

One final reminder: The NC State Board of Ed contains members from every educational level: Pre-K to Grad Schools. The Board SUPPORTS Workforce based education. Any guesses as to why we are being asked to vote ‘yes’?