In this final in-depth look at the massive amount of taxpayer money being requested to continue the CCSS Machine’s overreach into education (at all levels), we will see what portions of the almost $70 billion will go to post-secondary education. A part of Common Core, Career Tech Education, College and Career Readiness, I have researched well over the past 5+ years.
Like the previous 2 articles, I will connect the programs to how they are not only embedded in legislation (such as ESSA {Every Student Succeeds Act}, but others like the ACPA {America’s College Promise Act 2015} and the HEA {Higher Education Act}.
A link to the Fed Ed Budget for students, families, and communities:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/02/11/fed-ed-2017-are-you-ready/
A link to the Fed Ed Budget for teachers and school leaders:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/02/12/fed-ed-budget-for-teachersleaders/
First Up: The Big Bucks for Post-Secondary Education:
1) Via the America’s College Promise (ACP) “Through an investment of $61 billion over the next decade, students would be able to earn the first half of a bachelor’s degree or an associate degree and earn the skills needed to succeed in the workforce – at no cost.”
The justification for this amount of money continues with, “ACP also would provide grants to schools that support new low-income students, including those transferring from a community college. Students would be able to receive up to two years of college at these institutions at zero or significantly reduced tuition.”
While the U.S. Dept. of Ed Blog states what you see above, the U.S. Dept. of Ed’s Fact Sheet tells you a bit more. ” ACP, which would create a new partnership with States to make two years of community college free for responsible students..”
*What is noteworthy here is when you click on the embedded link to find out more about ACP, you are taken to a Fact Sheet for the America’s College Promise Act of 2015. (see Related Resources)
If you think community colleges are CCSS Machine-free (meaning not full of CCSS, CTE, and/or CCR {Common Core State Standards, Career Tech Education, and/or College Career Readiness} consider these:
a) The SREB (Southern Regional Education Board), a big CCSS Machine member has gone out of its way to use community colleges for a preK to PhD alignment. See my article (full of facts and embedded links to the documents):
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/04/25/sic-em-saturday-using-community-colleges-for-more-core/
b) The Adult CCSS Standards written by some of the same members of the other CCS Standards! CCRStandardsAdultEd
As far as the CCSS Machine’s presence in 4 year colleges and universities, both public and private, here are few other resources to help you connect all this. These are in no way the only institutions involved in the CCSS Machine.
a) Career Pathways (part of the CTE ‘arm of CCSS‘) got its start from a partnership between Harvard University and Pearson Publishing as a response to their ‘Pathways to Prosperity Study’. See this article for this and how national career credentials factor in:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/09/03/tech-thursday-just-say-no-to-nocc/
b) Some Christian Colleges are using or teaching CCSS:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2014/12/05/fom-friday-christian-colleges-exempt-from-common-core-not/
c) The purposed plan for aligning K-12 and post-secondary education can best be learned about from this document from Lumina (a big CCSS Machine member):
A_path_to_alignment
d) A visual aid to help you see some of the bridging going on is below. It is from Illinois. The entire article:
(If you need to enlarge the picture, please click on it)
2) Thirty million for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and MSI (Minority Serving Institutions) is also included in the Budget Request. The targeted population? Low-income students. Where are the CCSS Machine ties for them? For one, the Urban League. See my article (dates back to Sec. Duncan): https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/04/03/fom-duncan-extols-upcoming-esea-renewal/
Then there are the National Council of La Raza/United Negro College Fund ties: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/08/31/monday-musings-more-parent-ccss-alignment/
3) ‘First in the World Initiative’ will get $100 million including $30 million for schools in the included in #2. FY 2017 will be the 3rd round of funding for FITW (First in the World). It debuted in 2014. Why all the money? Evidence based research for student success in post-secondary education. Especially for ‘student outcomes’. In anti CCSS language that is a huge clue for OBE (Outcome Based Education).
The U.S. Dept. of Ed has a very generic explanation of just what FITW is. See: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/fitw/index.html
If you want a bit more information about FITW, head to the Office where FITW is embedded in, the Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education. There you will see how our Veterans are involved, that there is a huge database of information, and other need-to-know items. See: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/fipse/index.html
How will this tie back to the CCSS Machine? From the U.S. Dept. of Education side: CTE-Career Tech Education, TRIO Programs, and more! From the U.S. Labor side: American Apprenticeship Initiative, WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity) programs, and more!
See the Ed’s ties: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/grntprgm.html
See the Labor’s ties: http://www.dol.gov/featured/apprenticeship/grants (as of 2015,$175 million in grants has been awarded across America). Just one of the WIOA related programs tied to the CCSS Machine: JDGs (Job Development Grants) . How do I know? Research! For the TRIO/Workforce ties: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/03/19/tech-thursday-ccss-workforce-pushing-labor-reform/
For the JDG ties: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/03/25/wybi-job-development-grants-and-ccss/
Next Up: It’s All in the Name of Savings:
Written into the Budget Request are a few of the taxpayer/student savings to be had. However, are these truly savings or simply more ties to bind us all to the CCSS Machine?
Pell Grants, according to the Ed’s Blog will be raised above inflation AFTER 2017. To see the parameters of what Pells offer NOW, see: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/grants-scholarships/pell
What does the Ed’s Fact Sheet tell us the Blog didn’t? There are to be incentives for accelerated completion of the Pell Grant applications for students and a one time bonus of $300.00 through an ‘On Track Pell Grant Program’. There are a few other items as well. Be sure to access the full Fact Sheet from the Related Resources below.
To learn more about both of these I have pointed you to, see:
http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/fact-sheet-helping-more-americans-complete-college-new-proposals-success
*What is noteworthy is look at where the authority is coming from.
You will also see in the Fed Ed Budget Request, FASFA didn’t get left out of the savings. FASFA, short for ‘Free Application for Federal Student Aid’. In the Ed Blog, we are only told that FASFA will be less complicated and will need to be completed earlier than previously required. What does the Fact Sheet share? No dollar amounts, but lots of parameters. Look on Page 7 of the document.
What you won’t get about the ‘savings’ to taxpayers/students is the strings attached. These strings are not just for our families and students, but entire post-secondary institutions! What do I mean? I am including an article I previously published which will tell you much more about how the college rating system, the HEA, FASFA, and education reform based on the CCSS Machine intersect. Better yet, there is a video where you can hear it for yourselves! See:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/03/26/tech-thursday-more-on-the-hea-higher-ed-act/
How ALL this Ties Back to the ESSA/HEA:
For specific page numbers and the ties between ESSA and WIOA :
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/01/05/essa-ties-to-wioa-2014-and-new-citizens/
For specific page numbers and the ties between ESSA and HEA:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/12/05/weekend-news-essas-untold-ties-to-hea/
Related Resources:
1) The Budget Fact Sheet from the U.S. Dept. of Education:
2017budget-factsheet
2) The U.S. Dept. of Ed’s Blog article in its entirety:
https://blog.ed.gov/2016/02/the-fy-2017-budget-request-for-education-aims-to-increase-college-access-affordability-and-completion-4/
3) My article tying the HEA to CCSS:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/08/23/weekend-news-hea-higher-ed-act-and-the-common-core/
4) My article exposing Sen. Alexander and the ‘Next America’:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/06/10/wybi-sen-alexander-the-hea-and-next-america/ (You can also read about the FITW here, too.)
5) How the ACTE (Association for Career Tech Education) had CTE (Career Tech Education) listed as a federal law and concern with the states as recipients on its priority list. Why does it still matter? See the amount of 2017 money sought for the similar support via the CPA of 2015:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/07/12/anti-cc-warrior-action-update/
6) An up close look at the America’s College Promise Act (CPA 2015):
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/07/10/may-day-may-day-ccsscte-urgent-news/
6a) To see the White House’s Fact Sheet on CPA 2015, https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/09/fact-sheet-white-house-unveils-america-s-college-promise-proposal-tuitio
6b) To see the ACCT (Association of Community Colleges Trustees) Fact Sheet for CPA 2015:
http://www.acct.org/files/Advocacy/Factsheets%20and%20Summaries/Fact%20Sheet%20ACP%20Act%20of%202015.pdf
7) To learn how the HEA was extended so Perkins Funding and CTE could continue:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/02/02/ftf-an-extension-for-higher-ed-act/
8) The full article where I featured the CCSS Adult Standards in an update:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2015/11/12/tech-thursday-update-on-ccsscte-for-adults/
9) More on FAFSAs, CTE, Lumina, and host of post-secondary educational institutions:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/01/12/ftf-a-dependent-truth/
Closing:
I couldn’t resist sharing with you, my fellow anti CCSS Warriors, a direct quote from the U.S. Dept. of Ed’s Fact Sheet explaining where all the billions of taxpayer money is going.
“Yet while it is important to take stock of our progress, this Budget is not about looking back at the road we have traveled. It is about looking forward and making sure our economy works for everybody, not just those at the top. It is about choosing investments that not only make us stronger today, but also reflect the kind of country we aspire to be – the kind of country we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren.”
I know, you, like myself, are determined to preserve a country truly worthy of passing on. From where I sit, it WILL NOT include ANYTHING connected to the CCSS Machine!
As a long time follower of Common Core issues at fiscalrangers.com (see specific page on Common Core dangers here: http://www.tinyURL.com/HaltCommonCoreNow ) I like the depth of info you provide here. However, I also have some WordPress sites, and suggest you need to get someone to help you find a better blog template and expand your WordPress site’s design to categorize each of your posts and show the categories and recent articles in a side column. You don’t even have a search so I can look for IPT related posts. Thus much of your well researched info is not easily accessible after a few posts. Also consider changing the format of the center column to only show the post title and 3-5 text lines, thus it is easier to scroll down for what a reader wants. Also add images to get more reader interest. See my WordPress site for an author’s group for examples. http://authorsroundtable.org/