Practicing Education

Anti Fed Ed Warriors, are you aware that there are (or may be coming soon) “Practitioners” for education, thanks to the ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act)?!

That’s right, here in NC, we have an entire Committee of Practitioners for Education!
Below is a screen shot from the NC DPI (Dept. of Public Instruction):

What will the Committee do? Here’s the entire description of their duties:

“The duties of such committee shall include a review, before publication, of any proposed or final State rule or regulation pursuant to this title. In an emergency situation where such rule or regulation must be issued within a very limited time to assist local educational agencies with the operation of the program under this title, the State educational agency may issue a regulation without prior consultation, but shall immediately thereafter convene the State committee of practitioners to review the emergency regulation before issuance in final form.”
That stated, check this out, “Each State educational agency that receives funds under this title shall create a State committee of practitioners to advise the State in carrying out its responsibilities under this title.”

So, who or what State Agency is to decide what is an emergency? Who or what businesses, non-profits, for-profits, civic groups, or other LEA approved ‘educational programs/services’ will be deemed qualified to assist in education? What exactly IS an educational emergency? Warriors, as I’ve pointed out in the past, the ESSA opens the flood gates for almost anyone to have educational influence over your children, regardless of SCHOOL CHOICE.

Think of it this way:  Thanks to ESSA, almost anything and everything qualifies as educational as long as it’s approved by the SEAs and/or the LEAs. Thus, access to your children in the name of ‘student success’ or ‘student achievement’ has been granted. Especially career exploring activities. Why? Workforce based education mandates in ESSA mirror the mandates of WIOA, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

CTE is one of those WIOA/ESSA mandates. This will be a flood gate moment for business leaders will have access to your students. Who will have the time or money to vet all these people? We’ve already seen the toxic control of power hungry business leaders meddling in education. ESSA gave them an even bigger leash by which to chain our students to workforce based education.

Now, let me point out, that what you see above appears to be the complete explanation for anyone interested in learning what this new Committee is to do. However, as is common practice by the NC DPI (and I bet your State’s too), there’s SO much more to what this Committee is to do. For example, on page 1 of the 3 page explanation for the ESSA ‘inspired’ Committee, you’ll find there are actually MORE duties for this group to carry out.

As far as those members of the Committee? Above all you see is that parents, teachers, representatives, etc. are to be included. Yet, what was ‘hidden’ are these numbers:
a) All members are to be residents of NC AND have a ‘demonstrated commitment to public education’.
b) Twenty-three members in all, the majority of these are LEAs (Local Education Agencies).
c) Eight ESSA program administrators
d) Two teachers (either from traditional public schools, career tech educators, or charter schools)
e) Two school principals (or other school leaders)
f) Two parents
g) Two school board members
h) Two private education representatives
i) Two paraprofessionals or instructional support staff
j) One  representative of an authorized public chartering agencies
k) Two charter school leaders

When the Practitioner Committee meets, staff from the NC DPI are to attend.

Each of these 23 seats is APPOINTED. Terms of service are in YEARS and will be staggered so new appointees can be added as needed. The SBE (State Board of Education) approves the appointed members. Members are to serve without any pay, BUT compensation may occur. Lastly, and as almost an after thought, all meetings are open to the public.

To access the 3 page document: http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/program-monitoring/committee/esea-cop.pdf

Just What Is The NC Fed Program Monitoring?

The NC Federal Program Monitoring and Support main page states that “approximately $514,000,000 in federal funds provided to districts and schools each year. The primary role of the Division is to provide grants administration, program monitoring, data collection and reporting, and to facilitate the necessary technical assistance to ensure not only compliance, but quality programs for students. Compliance is the first step toward program quality; monitoring is the springboard to providing technical assistance.”

Right now, the biggest chunk of grant money is going for 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLCs). Also, mandated in ESSA. If you’ve not seen what hoops the government has for us to jump through, you’ll need to know that to receive the funding (which, is after all, our taxpayer dollars and cents) each organization wishing to become a 21st CCLC, you’ll need to get a Dun and Bradstreet number (credit rating related), you’ll need to use a specific web-based system (in NC’s case, it’s the “Comprehensive Continuous Improvement Plan (CCIP)”. Then, you’ll be directed to use a CCSS Machine member organization’s after school cost calculation system. After this, you’ll need to adhere to the NC Dept. of Commerce’s Tier System (economic related). See it all and use it to help you find it in your State: 21cclcapplication-guidance

Closing:

Warriors, I hope you can see, that what the federal government and the CCSS Machine sold as ‘locally, state led, state created education’, is in fact, a farce.
Oh, and if you think NC came up with this idea for a Practitioners Committee, be sure to find the pages near 297 of the Final Conference Report. ESSA mandates, anyone?