Following Us

**Fifth in my series on the 116th Congressional Bills

Anti Fed Ed Warriors, imagine, if you will that you are the blue person in the featured picture above. Who are all those people behind you?

Increasingly, we’re finding those ‘people’ behind us are in fact, the federal government.
If the blue person represented our federal government, all the ‘people’ in the back would be the global powers, P3s (public private partnerships), and corporate giants steering the government.

Why would I say that? Based on all the educational research I’ve done, is exactly why.

So far, in this series, detailing the 116th Congress, we’ve seen 4 educratic bills which seem to continue the following us via data rape. If you’ve not seen my chart of why I call the intrusive data collection by ‘data rape’, here it is:

Warriors, I am in NO way trying to water down the horribleness of a physical attack, I am simply trying to point out how BAD the data collection has become.
Based on evidence, it’s only going to get WORSE.

***For the rest of this article we’ll look at two Congressional Bills, one from the House and our first from the Senate. How do these tie to education? Let’s find out.***

Sponsor and Co-Sponsors of HR 260:

(Warriors, from the past. A visual on Medicaid funding in schools.)

I’ll share more of the Medicaid in schools visuals in a bit, but let’s look at HR 260.

HR 260 isn’t just for schools, it’s for everyone. The Bill is 17 pages long. Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ) is the sponsor. There are 2 co-sponsors, Reps. Walden (OR) and Neal (MA).
Pallone’s stance on education is that students need to be ready with 21st Century skills as well as free college for everyone (He voted “Yes” to HR 5, the Student Success Act which went on to be combined with the S117 to become, ESSA: Every Student Succeeds Act). On healthcare, he was one of the main authors of the Affordable Health Care Act, according to his website. (*Note: Walden and Neal voted against HR 5.)

Rep. Walden did sponsor a comprehensive health bill which became law in 2018. See below:

Walden’s Bill, HR 6 (115th Session) not only addressed opioids, but expanded telemedicine and involved Medicaid funds for youth.
(*Note: Rep. Neal’s got a current bill (HR 860) we’ll need to watch. It ties to our youth via Social Security and has 202 co-sponsors.)

HR 260, Medicaid Provisions and TANF Extenders Act of 2019:

To read the entire Bill, go here.
*TANF is short for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and ties into ESSA.
*Medicaid ties to ESSA (as seen above). However, it can be seen here:

Warriors, notice the middle column, Phase II, “Medicaid has now been expanded to include Mental health wrap around services which extend the definition of related services beyond medical care to include emotional disturbances.”
Have you noticed the increased amount of (Social Emotional Learning) SEL in schools?

So what is the purpose of HR 260? “To extend the Medicaid Money Follows the Person Rebalancing demonstration, to extend protection for Medicaid recipients of home and community-based services against spousal impoverishment, to extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, and for other purposes.”

Back in 2017, I showed you this about TANF and ESSA:

MFP (Money Follow the Person) can be tied to the ACA (Affordable Care Act).
**HR 260 will extend grants only to States (43 & the District of Columbia) which have an existing MFP plan. If your State is found to be non-compliant with their MFP Plan, federal funds will disappear (Page 6). On Page 7, you’ll find the federal PAYGO (pay-as-you-go) ties. On Pages 9 & 10, TANF grants for those with healthy marriages, responsible fathers, Native Americans, and childcare. Beginning on page 10, data tracking and ‘outcome measurements’ for job placement/employment are described. Finally, beginning on page 14, the national data standards streamlining shows up. I just wrote about HR 150 and HR 50 in relation to creating national data standards.

Warriors, are you noticing this is eerily like ESSA and the State’s Plans? Also, think about the massive power increase ESSA gave the U.S. Dept. of HHS (Health and Human Services). Much of it is to go to those ‘community wide services’. How does THAT impact education? Two ways: a) school are the hubs  and b) schools can access the Medicaid funding. Those hubs have a name, 21st Century Community Learning Centers. The hubs are supported by PNs (Promise Neighborhoods). Both of these WERE White House Initiatives, but became codified via ESSA.

Meet the MOMS Bill:

Warriors, this is the first Senate Bill from the 116th I’ve looked at. As far as education goes, there’s one big way in which S116 will intersect: behavioral health and mental health. Massive data tracking (called surveillance in this Bill) are also part on the ‘package’.

MOMS stands for ‘‘Modernizing Obstetric Medicine Standards Act of 2019″
It’s currently in the Senate HELP Committee.
1) Nationally driven data collection to ensure optimum outcomes for mothers.
(Does anyone remember Sen. Alexander’s chilling quote about one day going into hospitals and grabbing not only the babies, but the mothers, as well?)
2) Best practices and multi-state interventions, especially for low-income families.
Again, the biggest intersection to education? SEL (social emotional learning). How? Young mothers aka: teen mothers.
3) Contracts for State based collaborative teams (known as ‘maternal safety bundles’) will be enforced and encouraged. (Really, must it sound so devoid of all feeling?)
4) Grants for maternity and morbidity prevention. All focus of the MOMS Bill is on the care and results of the mother. (How will this Bill, should it become law, gel with the recent States passing controversial laws related?)
5) This Bill also ties to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), if you missed it, I’ve already exposed how this federal government entity is in partnership with major SEL players, not only in education, but entire communities.
6) Price tag? Forty million dollars for EACH fiscal year between 2020 and 2024.

**Knowing ESSA used Medicaid funding to turn schools into quasi-hospitals (see the wheel above), how would a law like this also otherwise impact education?

Finally, look at who has sponsored or co-sponsored this Bill and then factor in recent events as well as present presidential kick-off campaigns:

Sen. Gillibrand (NY) (See the screen shot above)
Her views on education are included here.

Sen. Booker (NJ) (See the screen shot above)
His views on supporting ESSA can be accessed in 2 places.

Sen. Harris (CA) (See the screen shot above)
Her ties to education, are all here.

**How will the data tracking and SEL of S 116 overlap into Sex Education or Health Education?***

Closing:

Warriors, if ever we needed an example of the wickedness of Congress overreaching not only into education, but our families, these two Bills should be a massive wake up call!

Don’t forget, the CCSS Machine has already claimed it can help marriages, why not birthing babies and micromanaging rural and low-income citizens?!

In my next article of this series, HR 280 will have us look at sports teams and national data collection. How will THAT impact education?