U.S. House — and GOP — Passes ObamaCORE!

by Carole Haynes, NCPA, December 10, 2015

Congress admits that Common Core now will be federal law and that it is not about academic learning but rather changing the beliefs, values, behavior and worldviews of students. In a nutshell, the government is conducting psychological profiling of our children.

Like Obamacare, the Every Students Succeeds Act which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, is unconstitutional and a government takeover – this time it’s education. Voters can thank our elected Congressmen, led by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis. — who promised new and better leadership — we are getting ObamaCore!

On December 2, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the conference report for ESSA. As with Obamacare, all Democrats voted for the bill while Republicans were split 179 in favor to 64 against.

As I watched the House proceedings prior to the vote, I was shocked to hear Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, announce that Common Core is being redefined as social-emotional learning, which must come first in the learning hierarchy — with academics taking a backseat.

I believe this bill helps us get back to redefining what the Common Core is. In my estimation the Common Core is — are we teaching kids mental discipline? The ability to be aware, the ability to be focused, the ability to cultivate one of the key components to a successful life and that is the ability to regulate your own emotional state. This comes well before science, technology, engineering and math. Teaching these key fundamental characteristics: mental discipline, physical discipline, focus, concentration, self-regulation — key components before you even get to the academic side. I believe there is a new way of educating our kids emerging here, there is a new Common Core developing and that is the mental discipline and the physical health of our young people.

Not to be outdone, Republicans weighed in effusively as Speaker Ryan, in a prepared statement, said that he is proud the legislation includes language to help expand and make the teaching of social and emotional learning more effective!

Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, boasted that Republicans compromised on the details but not on their principles.

That’s the problem! Establishment politicians voted their own principles, ignoring the thousands of voters who have been protesting the bill for months.

In public schools, the monitoring of student progress in non-cognitive attitudes, behavior and mindset is already in full swing through cooperative learning — collectivist groupthink — and frequent testing.

The ESSA places the collection of non-academic data on steroids. Congress is forcing — unconstitutionally — states to annually measure ninety-five percent of their students, penalizing those that fail to comply. The data will be stored in state longitudinal data systems, which are required in all 50 states by the federal government.

It should be a red flag that the U.S. government is forcing students to take tests with psychological profiling and bullying those who try to opt out. With the passage of ESSA, the government can conduct surveillance through its cradle-to-grave data-collecting on American citizens. As history bears out, governments that control massive amounts of information on citizens will abuse its power.

How quickly America is being “transformed.”

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