Saved By The Dem Bells?

Now that President Trump has been sworn in and delivered his inauguration speech, there is a greater focus upon the confirmations of his nominees. Hopefully, we may have dodged a bullet, regarding the potential confirmation of Betsy DeVos as the Secretary of the Department of Education (DOE). Thanks to the Democrats request of additional background information of Ms. DeVos, her confirmation hearing has been delayed until January 31st, and we may be able to prevent her confirmation to this key position. The fact that Ms. DeVos is a powerful insider sounds alarm bells, but this is not the major reason for denying her confirmation atop the DOE. While attending the March for Life in Topeka, KS, a neighbor, and fellow parishioner, asked if I was excited about the nomination of Ms. DeVos to head-up the DOE? Knowing that I am heartily anti-Common Core, he was a bit surprised when I replied that I hope she is not confirmed.

My friend’s response was, ‘She’s anti-Common Core, so why do you not want her confirmed’? My response was that assuming she is anti-Common Core, if she is confirmed and is successful in advancing charter schools, vouchers, and money following the child, we will be stuck with Common Core, and worse, for generations. It appears that Common Core is a Hegelian Dialectic, designed to distract parents, educators, etc., from the ultimate agenda. The ultimate agenda is 100% control of all education within the U. S. If Common Core can be made to be obviously offensive and purposely non-educational, won’t most caring parents seek to save their children from the insanity of Common Core? Assuming you say yes to this question, let’s review the situation from a different, instant replay perspective. To set the stage, if you are familiar with the NFL and Major League Baseball, you are also familiar with the instant replay. With the instant replay, the referee or umpire and the fans are provided with multiple angles of the same play. What may look like a dropped ball or missed tag from one sightline can be overruled when viewed along a different sightline. This is what we need to do with every issue pushed by anyone in government. Regarding education, with the more than obvious fails embedded within Common Core, most parents are very concerned about the education of their children. Parents are being pushed to the point that they will do just about anything and agree to anything to save their children. In fact, they will demand specific actions to save their children. TEPTB (The Evil Puppeteers That Be) are masters at pushing people’s buttons, akin to Tom Sawyer conning his friends into doing his work. ‘Choice’ has become the operative word in advancing the TEPTB agenda. Who couldn’t be supportive of school choice? Regardless of circumstances, parents must refrain from their kneejerk clamoring for false school choice. Currently, we have choice in education. Yes, changes need to be made to assist those students attending schools that fail to provide a proper education for them, but we must be careful of what options we choose.

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The only choice in education will be for the children of those parents who are stealing the choice of education from everyone else

With ‘choice’ comes costs. Cost is one of the variables that separates the choices of schools. Public school funding comes from taxpayer money. Parents who opt to send their children to a private or parochial school pay taxes for the public schools in the area, plus tuition for the private or parochial school. Those who home school pay taxes to fund the public schools and they must invest their money for the privilege of teaching their children at home. For those who enrol their children in private or parochial schools, this can create a financial burden for some parents and a financial barrier for other parents who wish to pursue a choice for their children, aside from public school or home schooling. It makes sense that these parents are seeking not just a choice, but financial relief. What parents who champion vouchers and money following the child fail to realize is that once the price variable is eliminated with the use of tax money, choice will go the way of the dinosaurs. The only choice in education will be for the children of those parents who are stealing the choice of education from everyone else, those abused and forgotten by the elites. ESSA is a Trojan Horse of ushering in federal control of private and parochial schools, because it allows for tax money to be used for private and parochial schools. This is a trap! Once a private or parochial school takes the bait in taking federal money for the school, the government owns the school and its curriculum! If you are familiar with KrisAnne Hall, a constitutional attorney of note, she believes vouchers for parochial (religious) schools are unbiblical and unconstitutional, because tax money is used for schools that teach a specific religion. If the goal is to assist families with the cost of private or parochial education, non-tax money scholarships are an option worth pursuing. The other concern is retaining local control of schools. Initially, charters offered an additional option for parents and their children. Some charters succeed, others fail. Charters also offer an opportunity for those who wish to control education to enter this domain through a back door. Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, is on video, advocating non-elected, non-local school boards for charter schools. As a CEO of a major corporation, this may make sense to him and his colleagues, but, what if his agenda conflicts with the agenda of the parents? Even if parents agree with his agenda, what happens when he resigns, or is no longer involved? Are parents willing surrender control of education for their children forever, not knowing what changes might be forced upon them and their children, because the parents have abdicated their rights and responsibilities to retain a measure of control of their children’s education?

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Dr. Patrick Huff would be an excellent choice for the DOE post

So, while Betsy DeVos may be anti-Common Core, either she is purposely naïve about the dangers of charter schools, vouchers, and money following the child, or she is a purposeful plant to placate the anti-Common Core forces who are ignorant of the dangers of charter schools without local, elected school boards, vouchers, and money following the child. Regardless of the scenarios stated in the previous paragraph, who would be an acceptable alternative to Ms. DeVos? Dr. Patrick Huff would be an excellent choice for the DOE post. Dr. Huff is a traditional educator. He is opposed to ‘outcome based education’ and Common Core. He is also strongly opposed to tax-funded school choice, because he knows that any educational entity that accepts tax money becomes 100% controlled by the government. To please the Democrats, Dr. Huff has 34 years in the education industry, and he won’t need to divest his holdings to prevent a conflict of interest while acting as the Secretary of the DOE. President Trump, the nomination of personnel within your administration is a huge responsibility. Please consider not just the person proposed for a specific position, but, also, the agenda of those who are making their recommendations of an individual. You are a builder. In naming nominees, begin with the end in mind, and work backwards, to arrive at a candidate who will deliver for those who have been ignored by the ‘backstablishment’ inside of and outside of the D. C. swamp. If you, as a reader of this column, have access to President Trump’s transition team, please advance the name of Dr. Huff for the nomination as Secretary of the Department of Education.