Anti Fed Ed Warriors,
Just when we thought ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) couldn’t get any MORE nanny-state like, a new House of Representatives bill comes along to blow that right out of the water. I’m talking about HR 804. As the language of the Bill introduces it, ‘to amend the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965)’.
Why does DC continue to refer to ESSA’s former name and not use its current one? The answer is simple, everything in ESEA was codified in ESSA’s ‘update’, so that means every bit of NCLB (No Child Left Behind), RttT (Race to the Top), and everything which binds it all up in one stinky package is STILL in place!
HR 804, Transition to Success Mentoring Act:
(Bill link)
As the summary states it, Warriors, this Bill will give grant money to eligible groups to establish or expand school based mentoring for ‘at-risk’ middle school students heading to high school. Sounds great, right? Look between the lines, my friends.
a) ‘At risk’ is the ESSA/ESEA label for any student outside a government determined set of parameters.
b) ‘At risk’ is nebulous on purpose. It’s a back door way to ensnare homeschool students, students who don’t fit in, students who are homeless, and so on.
c) ‘Eligible groups’ doesn’t mean at school, it means any of the ESSA/ESEA mandated P3s (public private partnerships) which qualify for predetermined government assigned parameters. Look at some of the after school groups and their ideals/morals. Are these really the people you want mentoring your child? Why is the government overreaching into the middle school to high school transition, anyway? Those sensitive years should be the parents responsibility, NOT the federal nannies!
d) “Mentoring” is a safe word for behavior interventions and mental health overreaches.
Think I’m overreacting? Let’s see…
This mentoring bill is sponsored by Rep. Carson (IN). It has 3 co-sponsors, Soto (FL), Moore (WI), and, Norton (DC). Below, is a screen shot of Rep. Carson’s website statement on education.
Warriors, if you are curious, Mr. Carson’s 2nd top campaign donor was Eli Lilly and Company. Eli Lilly has a powerful lobbying effort in DC for all kinds of health related items, including well adjusted youth. If you’d like to read up on the Eli Lilly Indiana SEL (Social Emotional Learning) mental health/mentoring grabs, visit their “Strengthening Students’ Pathways” page.
**Warriors, this isn’t the first time counselors have been assimilated into the CCSS Machine. Before Pres. Obama left office, he started the School Counselor alignment through an initiative which was to use these school staff members as salespeople for workforce aligned career tracks.
Why bring that up now? The ESSA re-authorization of ESEA mandated that ALL education be aligned to post-secondary readiness for workforce aligned education. The SEL shift we’ve seen plays right into the ‘readiness’ in several ways. Especially under the guise of forcing students to be emotionally ‘ready’ before they naturally mature. ESSA also handled this shift in a variety of other mandates, specifically expanded school staff for behavior management and mental health services.
Mentoring falls under BOTH of these categories!!
What Else HR 804 Does:
Warriors, from this 10 page bill, if made into federal law would use an increased amount of taxpayer funds for ‘prevention and intervention’ for students who are ‘at risk’, ‘neglected’ or/and ‘delinquent’.
Side Notes:**Since more and more States are having to dance to the federal ESSA tunes, this is where home education will be hit hard. How? States are introducing legislation to classify homeschoolers as ‘neglected’ or somehow ‘at risk’. IL has HB 3560; PJMedia also has a report on this Bill. Be sure to read the article and comments. NV reports some dire issues with freedom to homeschool there; IL has a 2nd bill which will lump homeschoolers into the CCSS Machine, then there’s CA. (The NV report will include some information on the CA overreaches.) GA is also considering clamping down on home education. TX is pushing an entire mental health hub system for ALL students via SB 10 and HB 1448. MN has a record 6 bills which seek to rip families apart with all the mentoring/mental health birth to 5 overreaches.
As you can see the WHO’s idea of mental health overreaches mirrors that of America’s!
*Federal Bill HR 804’s price tag is $50 million for FY 2020 alone. Fiscal years after that will be as much as Congress believes mentoring needs.
*As usual, Congress has created a bill, that if turned into law, gives the Secretary of Education MORE power.
*Any group (including a school) must submit an application to receive grant money. Anything the Secretary deems necessary, as far as information (aka: data), applicants must supply.
*Awarded grants MUST be used in mandated ways as laid out in HR 804:
*HR 804 allows for hiring coaches, but doesn’t say what limitations or requirements these coaches are to have.
*Grants are to be used for 5 years or less.
*Reports of what number of students, their academic data, how many hours were spent between Coaches and their students, and anything else the Secretary of Education deems as necessary to evaluate ‘success’. By the end of the 3rd fiscal year, the Secretary must pass data to the Congress. By the end of the 5th year, Congress will make a final report.
*“At risk“ students are defined by grade point averages (2.0 or below) or has been deemed as ‘at risk for academic failure’ by parents, teachers, or other educational ‘experts’. At risk extends to those who want to drop out, may have substance issues, be pregnant, been in trouble with the law, is a parent, doesn’t speak English well, is a gang member, or has been absent from school repeatedly. (a full description of ‘at risk’, eligible groups, are on Pages 7 and 8)
* Success Coaches are defined as anyone in school administration, from a community-school partnership or volunteer who wishes to serve. Service includes training and support. The training is to be at a minimum of 2 hours, have a screening (includes background check, child abuse, and job references).
Warriors, do you have as many warning bells going off in your heart and head as I do?
Closing:
As one of my dear anti Fed Ed Warriors, in ID has stated, this battle is ours to lose. We MUST speak out. Our naturally given parental responsibility as our child’s BEST mentor is under attack! Our naturally given parental choice to home education is also under attack. Will we remain passive while Rep. Carson backed by Eli Lilly; while TX, GA, IL, NV, CA and other States ursurp our power to nurture our children.
HR 804 expands ESSA in harmful ways. We cannot allow this.
Thank you for the update.