Home They Go; The Agenda Lives On

Anti Fed Ed Warriors, as Christmas, Hanukkah, and other holidays are in our near future, we also have a great opportunity to contact EACH and EVERY one of the 116th Congressional members, beginning Dec. 12th, 2019. (*Note: According to the Congressional calendars I found, these officials will be home until Jan. 2nd, 2020. The 116th Congress will begin its Second Session on Jan. 3rd, 2020.)

 

 

As we know, 2020 is set to be a ‘barn burning’ political year. As the Representatives and Senators head back to their home districts, what educratic (BS) agenda will we, those against federal intrusion into education, face in 2020? What expectations should we have?

Why would I bring this up? The time clock is ticking in relationship to the Higher Education Act’s re-authorization.

 

Warriors, if you’ve followed my blog long, you know that Sen. Lamar Alexander was the educratic CCSS Machine sell out to promise us (upon the passage of ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act, into ‘law’) that the re-authorization was ‘next’.

As we know, it was Dec. 2015 when ESSA was signed by the US President. Here we are in 2019, and the HEA (Higher Education Act) still hasn’t come up for re-authorization. I can tell you that there’s been plenty of action surrounding HEA via proposal amending bills from the 116th.

That stated, we only need to look at the Sen. Alexander website to learn that he will not seek re-election in 2020. Since he considered (and still does) HEA as ‘his’, it makes sense that before he retires, HEA will see action in the 116th Congress.
(*Note: ICYMI, the NPR media also announced Alexander’s decision to not seek office after 2020. Note the educratic BS in their 2018 article. Also, the Rolling Stone’s article about Alexander not only tries to politically spin the news, but points to an unofficial Congressional music group. This might be of concern knowing that Congress has placed CCSS Machine overreaches into music education, long ago.)

What Has The 116th Done For The HEA?

HR 4674, College Affordability Act. The Bill has 117 co-sponsors and is sponsored by Rep. Dodd (VA). There are a whopping 60 related Bills to the CAA, as it’s called. HR 4674 was introduced in October 2019. This 1,000 plus page Bill is currently under edit (via amending) in the House.

HR 4674 is a massive abuse of federal overreach, taxpayer abuse, and mandating global CBE (Competency Based Education).
Here’s a short list of issues we MUST address as Warriors:
a) Dept of Education is to be expanded and given more power
b) Student data mining is increasing in several ways
c) The original HEA of 1965 is amended
d) Implements more ‘rigor’ for teachers and students
e) Increases P3s (public private partnerships)
f) Involves several other US federal agencies and NGOs (non govermental organizations)
g) Will set taxpayers back each fiscal year (for the next 5) at $1+ billion dollars
h) Includes a Jumpstart to College section (HR 4108/S 2395 are titled the same thing)
i) Includes a Federal Work Study Program
j) Changes our tax codes
k) Creates a CBE Council (Competency Based Education) to embed not only, CBE as a national activity, but CBE projects to earn credentials

Here’s the link to all 60 HR 4674 Related Bills, but I’ve highlighted the most overreaching ones below.
(Be sure to open the image in a new screen so you can read it more clearly.)

HR 2486, (featured at the bottom of the above image) is on its way to become ‘law’ when President Trump signs it. The FUTURE Act will amend the HEA, change IRS Tax Codes, and targets HBCU (Historically Black Colleges/Universities) and other minority schools. While this may not sound bad, HR 2486 increases Sec. DeVos’s power.

S 969 addresses Section 200 of the HEA from 1965. That impacts teachers in higher education. Not only is the definition of a higher education educator broadened, the need for student achievement assessments is a ‘must’. Those assessments are mandated in ESSA and are intended to carry over to help the data tracking continue. Low income regions are also targeted in this Bill.

S2557, is Senator Alexander’s Bill. It addresses amending the HEA as well. It’s also supposed to cover ‘other purposes’. One purpose is improving student financial aid, especially for the under-served. Others include, making those funds ‘predictable’; ‘means tested’ federal parameters; uses ESAs (education savings accounts); uses IRS tax codes; assesses family assets and property; impact national Consumer Price Indices; involve employers/businesses to benefit; embeds WIOA; involves P3s; intertwines the Census Bureau and US Dept of Ed to simply FAFSA (means more data mining); and, create a consumer based pilot program to be used in streamlining data and funding.

HR 2321 and S 888, Understanding the True Cost of College (2019) Act. These twins want to create a standardized financial aid form for higher education. Among the ‘other purposes’:
Amends the Higher Education Opportunity Act; will use certain HEA of 1965 ‘data’ points; involves Work-Study programs; and create a mandatory use of the standardized form.

Related:

1) Back in 2015, I wrote and published an article about the CCSS Machine’s ruinous impacts on music education and the arts. It was in that article I showed the Congressional participation.
Since then, however, some of the links to that article have been broken. I’ve found them again and have them below:
a) The visual image missing from the article can be found here (very top) as well as the ties to the CCSS, Common Core State Standards, now CCR, College/Career Readiness.
b) The College Board’s July 2014 Report is here.
c) Nationalized Arts and Standards aligned to the CCSS Machine, still in use today.

2) From my blog archives, every article on Sen. Alexander and the HEA. Why does this matter, especially if my student is in K-12? Due to the language of ESSA, HEA was codified via the WIOA, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. HEA is the very LAST link in the chain tying cradle to grave education to every American. 

2) From the Huron Group, their paper on why higher education must transform from what we’ve known to ’21st century ready’. Huron is a global consulting group. On their website, higher education is included in their ‘industry’ tab. Huron also has a ‘human capital’ arm. Huron has quite a bit to do with the US federal government and health care. As we know, health care intersects in education is a plethora of ways. Especially since ESSA was passed.

Closing:

I know, Warriors, you’ve love to not deal with your Congressional members during the Holiday Break, but considering what we’ve got coming at us via the HEA re-authorization, I’d say, we must deal with them.

Press on, my followers!