Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Republicans Reducing Freedom: Student Success Act

The warnings are out: H. R. 5, the "Student Success Act,"  is about to be taken up by the House of Representatives in Congress, co-sponsored by only Republicans.  Although this very lengthy bill (610 pages in PDF) has an official Summary that gives an impression that the legs will be cut out from under Common Core, it is an Un-Official Summary by "Three Moms Against Common Core"  that people should be talking about:

“Student Success Act” to Crush Religious Freedom, Private School Autonomy, Parental Rights: #NO on HR5 ... Per the article ...
It ends private schools’ religious freedom from government control. It harms funding freedom in private schools. It puts into question parental rights and control over education. It pushes sameness of testing. Those are just a few things. There are more. 
We have conscious deceivers in D.C. pushing this bill: its damages are so painfully ironic. The bill is touted specifically to “reduce the federal footprint and restore local control while empowering parents“. What a poignant lie. 
If H.R. 5 passes this week, in exchange for billions in federal funding, we will be crushed in the following ways. The federal Department of Education aims to take over: 
1. STATE AUTHORITIES AND RIGHTS  
2. PARENTAL RIGHTS TO DIRECT EDUCATION OF A CHILD 
3. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM – NO MORE RELIGIOUS COUNSELING, MENTORING OR TECHNOLOGIES ALLOWED IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS 
4. PRIVATE SCHOOL AUTONOMY: GOVERNMENT-APPOINTED OMBUDSMEN WILL MONITOR COMPLIANCE 
5. PRIVATE SCHOOL FUNDING – PRIVATE SCHOOLS MUST CONSULT WITH PUBLIC DISTRICTS WHICH ENFORCE EQUALITY
One has to be suspicious of what is in any bill as big as this one. Here, the Moms did their homework and back up their claims with explanations that cite specific sections of the bill (which you can check out yourself using the links provided above).

Education in this country is only gotten worse since the Federal Government became involved. Control over education needs to be brought closer to the people directly affected, and the Federal Government (with no constitutional authority in this field)  needs to get out of it entirely.  But it is too easy to take the money (our money) so the expansion of Federal power and mediocrity has continued.

Our Congressional Reps. need to vote NO on this act.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Don't count on Rep. Hanna to support anything that the Republican "leadership"does not approve of . The congressman only does what he is told to do by the emasculated Republican Party. His only anti leadership votes are cast when they mean nothing. Hanna must go we need someone who will make a REAL difference in business as usual in Washington . Hanna is not that man.