President Trump was voted into office with the campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again!” He said that included getting rid of Common Core. He selected Betsy DeVos as his Secretary of Education. Trump hasn’t talked about Common Core since the election. Much to our surprise and without any evidence, Secretary Betsy DeVos now claims Common […]
On September 12, 2017, MI Attorney General, Bill Schuette, also a Republican candidate for Governor, made some important remarks that will help us evaluate his ability to lead the state in education policy. He said: How do we judge a leader’s ability to achieve results? The test of leadership is not what you say, but what […]
Recently, I have been reflecting on education policy ideas being promoted at the state and national level by elected officials. I must admit, I am baffled. I cannot decide if they are trying to fool me or if, in fact, they have fooled themselves! Not long ago, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos claimed Common Core […]
Wednesday, November 15, 2017, the US Republican-led House of Representatives approved HB 4174 to create an integrated citizen data system on a voice vote after brief testimony all in support, despite hundreds of citizen calls to reject the bill. Since it was not a roll-call vote, no specific record of yea’s or nay’s is available. […]
As I reported yesterday, HR 4174/S 2046, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (FEPA), introduced by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Patty Murray, is a federal bill that will increase the non-consensual surveillance of free-born American citizens, and the probability of a comprehensive national database on every American. A bill like FEPA would be […]
Urgent action is needed to stop Congress from passing what can only be described as an unprecedented assault on privacy and parental rights. This assault comes in the form of three bills floating around Congress, one of which – H.R. 4174 could be voted on as early as this Wednesday. • H.R. 4174 will allow […]
Testimony regarding HB 5139-42 and 5145 To the House Workforce Development Committee October 31, 2017 Over the last ten years or so, there has been an over emphasis on college as the only alternative for our children after they graduate from high school. Clearly, there are many other viable choices. Now you are proposing a […]
CALL TO ACTION: Please contact your US Congressman by Tuesday, October 31. Ask them to say NO to College Transparency Act and yes to tighten FERPA to: – stop collecting student data without explicit parental or adult student opt-in permission; – enable complete opt out of student record level information, deleting previously collected data; – […]
Our last few posts have centered around the political games and lack of transparency regarding Senate bills 544-549 to create MI Education Savings Plans (M-ESP) being promoted by Senator and gubernatorial candidate Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton). M-ESP creates a new entitlement and expensive bureaucracy where money follows the child. The money can be used for MDE […]
Last week, we warned you the Senate Ed committee was announcing and hearing some bad bills. Fortunately, perhaps due to our disclosure, no vote was held. but these terrible bills are again on the Senate Ed Committee agenda for tomorrow. Anyone who believes in less regulation should be appalled. These ESA bills are bad for […]