Posted on 08/30/2002 8:41:23 AM PDT by madfly
Maple River Education Coalition PAC (MREdCoPAC)
mapleriv@prairie.lakes.com
1402 Concordia Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55104
651-646-0646
August 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Want to know more about Small Learning Communities?
Small Learning Communities: The New Face of School-to-Work
CIVICS ED IS THE NEWEST HOT ITEM
Book on Civics Ed to be released in August.
Civics Ed is not what you think it is.
At a recent presentation by the CEO of the federal Corporation for National and Community Service, Dr. Les Lenkowsky pushed Civics Ed as a way to build a new generation of patriots. "Patriots are not born," Lenkowsky declared, "they are made," and, presumably the new federal curriculum will be their makers.
In the continuing aftermath of September 11, 2001, President Bush is about to unveil a new federal initiative for Civics Ed.
The description of Civics Ed given by Lenkowsky was a glowing account of teaching the young to be patriots. He declared that this civic curriculum is based on the idea that "our republican democracy is the best of all governments." He insisted that the new Civics Ed does not teach loyalty to ANY principles, but rather, loyalty to those principles that protect our inalienable rights. He went on to say that the federal Civics Ed teaches that our principles are better than any other way of life.
Unfortunately, Lenkowsky's description of Civics Ed is not at all like the Civics Ed that is now required of all schools by federal law. He even referenced the Center for Civis Education (CCE) as the reliable source for Civics Ed.
The Center for Civics Education (CCE) wrote the federal standards. They became officially required in 1994 when the "voluntary" Goals 2000 standards of all states were mandated on all states who wanted to receive any federal Title I money. (http://www.edwatch.org/updates/020102.htm)
The standards and their corresponding curriculum, "We the People," actually undermine the principles of inalienable rights that form the foundation of our freedom. The standards selectively promote some rights, ignore others (for example, the 2nd amendment) and create new ones never mentioned in our founding documents.
The new required federal Civics Standards do NOT teach that our principles are better than any others. Diversity is revered in the CCE standards, and diversity dictates that no principles are to be considered superior to any others. No truths are self-evident. All ideas are relative to the era and circumstances of the day.
Most importantly, the new federal Civics Standards set up the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from the United Nations (1948) as a document of equal or greater value to our own Declaration of Independence. Nor does it inform the student that Article 29 of the Universal Declaration states that "These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations."
The newest release from MREdCo, "Fed Ed: The New Federal Curriculum and How It's Enforced," opens up the federal civics standards for careful review. Civics Ed forms the core of all of the other curriculum in the new system, as both the CCE and Lenkowsky acknowledge.
If this is what all of our students will be tested for (the CCE sets the standards for the NAEP), it's worth knowing what this "patriotis" is all about.
To order your copy at the pre-publication price of $10, visit http://www.edwatch.org/fed_ed.html or send $10, plus $1.50 for shipping and handling to:
Maple River Education Coalition
1402 Concordia Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55104
Read this, from a link at the end of the release.
Fed Ed:
The New Federal Curriculum and How It's Enforced
By Allen Quist
[Click here for more information about the author]
This groundbreaking book provides the first detailed analysis of the new federal curriculum. To order a hardcopy version, contact The Maple River Education Coalition at 651-646-0646. You can also print out the order form for this book using the link below. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to read and print the order form. Adobe Acrobat Reader is available free from www.adobe.com. Click this picture to get Adobe Acrobat Reader:
We the People: Project Citizen
National Portfolio Showcase 2002
Please join us in the
Campaign to Promote Civic Education
and help the next generation preserve and improve our
constitutional democracy."
First of all, ours is a Constitutional Republic, not a democracy. I object to the pervasive use of the word, 'democracy' in describing our form of government. The Founders found it repulsive as well, and avoided using it for good reason.
Second, one of the top recognition awards went to a student who did a paper on 'second-hand smoke.' The paper wasn't available, but I'm willing to bet a carton of smokes that the student based his essay on the UN World Health Organization's study on second-hand smoke that was declared fraudulent by the Supreme Court over three years ago.
Other top awards appear to have been given to those who mimic the touchy-feely attitudes of the socialist NGO's who keep the UN in business, in our pocketbooks, in our private lives, in our faces and in our government to the detriment of our sovereignty and right to self-determination.
It is my opinion that this Project Citizen material is indoctrination propaganda designed to teach children not to question authority or the government's use of force, both subtle and overt, to promote the socialist philosophy and agenda in America through our public schools.
Don't let the trappings of patriotism fool you, i.e., the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution and other links on the site. It's lip service only and designed to have the effect that it had on you.
There are many groups on the internet who use the "I'm a Patriot, You be a Patriot too" techique in the same manner to promote it's own brand of perversion. Now we have the government itself stealing the psychology of the perverts to indoctrinate the kids in political correctness and compliance. (IMO)
As I said in my post, I noticed that error as well, but they did get it correct in the sample lesson I linked to and I really cannot find anything concrete on the CCE website to back up the allegations made by the author of this article. Assertions can be made about where the recognized students got their info, but I don't base solid opinions on statements such as "I would bet" and "it appears"...if they want to prove their case to me, give me the facts, but I am not going to pay them $10 for them to make their case to me.
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