Today, many of us are turned off by politics due to the lack of trust and respect in elected officials. Too often we are misled by their statements and then betrayed by their votes. This type of jekyl and hyde behavior must be addressed and not ignored. True representation depends on citizen participation in government, and the electorate only functions properly when it is educated. The most egregious assault on our Republic today, is being directed at our children’s civil liberties through the coordinated efforts of the Gates Foundation funded and federally incentivized product know as Common Core. The National Governor’s Association (NGA) adopted Common Core without the proper approval of the Arizona Legislature. When HB2190 Repeal and Replace Common Core was introduced by Representative Finchem in our last session, Governor Ducey had the opportunity to not only fulfill his campaign promise, but to uphold his oath to protect Arizona’s children from the data mining policies interwoven into the adoption of Common Core (now rebranded as Arizona College and Career Ready Standards).
Children are paying the price.
The argument can be framed as one political party versus the other, but the real question should really be, “Who is best at raising our children, parents or some stranger, aka the government?”
We must stop the data mining of our children with the continued acceptance and implementation of Common Core, and end the federal control over our state’s education policies.
Taxpayers are footing the bill to fund elections and guarantee voting blocks for many elected officials who wish to retain their power through re-election. We must vet each candidate for financial connections, and hold them accountable once elected. In Governor Ducey’s case, we have seen a strong financial connection to the Chamber of Commerce. Many would find that to be a positive draw as we hope to educate the next generation of innovators. The problem is that the Chamber of Commerce is promising votes in exchange for its own slice of control and financial support. Direct evidence can be seen in Governor Ducey’s efforts to expand school programs under the “A for Arizona” program which includes applying for a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grant. To secure the coordination effort, A for Arizona consists of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, and is lead by Ducey’s former education transition team appointee, Lisa Keegan.
Special interest groups using promises and exchanges of favors in politics is not new; however, the stakes couldn’t be higher as we see the civil rights of children being pawned in an unconstitutional education system controlled by the federal government. Common Core was “sold” to the National Governor’s Association as a package deal to end all problems in education. The truth is that it is no more than a federally driven effort to collect personally identifiable information to special interest groups and vendors. The controlled and coordinated effort that continues to be heavily funded by the Gates Foundation is a another system of financial incentives, and a new experiment on children who are being taught to place trust in the government, and question the authority of their parents. While teachers and bureaucrats continue to argue about the definition of standards and curricula, the students are suffering. The focus remains on money and control as the secretive tests and carefully controlled, limited choices of curricula ensure the financial benefit of particular entities as opposed to content superiority.
It is time to question the entire system. Why is our Arizona Board of Education appointed and not elected. What if each of the 15 counties in Arizona elected a representative to the Board? The future success of our children’s education begins with accountability.
Ana Henderson
Tucson, Pima County