The National Pulse :The Student Data Grabbers Are Back in Washington — And They Want More

Dr. Karen Effrem details efforts to  further the pitfalls of the  Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA); ultimately maneuvering our privacy down a very slippery slope.

Professor Morgan Polikoff — an education professor and researcher whose work on implementing Common Core and developing assessment-based teacher accountability systems (a huge failure) is funded by a Gates grant as well as the U.S. taxpayers — is teaming up with the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) — which has received nearly $19 million from Gates — to go to Washington to further weaken an already quite weak update to the nation’s student privacy law, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

The Student Data Grabbers Are Back in Washington — And They Want More

The National Pulse: POLL: Support for Charter Schools Plummets Nationwide — As It Should

by: Dr. Karen R. Effrem, MD

The annual Education Next poll on education issues came out last week, and there was a very surprising finding regarding charter schools. After nearly ten years of very stable support with a high of 72 percent in 2012, support has plummeted in the general public, as well as in both major political parties and among minority groups. It was the largest change in support of any item that was polled. Here is the poll description and their graphic:https://thenationalpulse.com/commentary/poll-support-charter-schools-plummets-nationwide-should/

The National Pulse: Alabama Wants Local Control over Education. Will President Trump Deliver?

During the 2015 fight over the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), over 200 parent and conservative organizations and leaders denounced the bill due to its extension of tight control over state and local education by the federal government,

The stranglehold of this completely unconstitutional federal department must be broken. APP’s Emmett McGroarty said it well:

“The fact that Alabama can’t freely choose its assessments confirms that ESSA failed to return control over K-12 education back to state and local government.  No person, no administration has come up with a way for the federal government to exercise such power without it being an unaccountable political bully. It is time to stop this farce and to truly return education policymaking to state and local government, where it would be closest to parents and other citizens.”

Students must be able to learn not just for workforce preparation but also to understand and perpetuate the principles of freedom to maintain our republic. The future of the nation depends on it. Federal micromanaging of tests and standards is no way to maintain liberty.

Alabama Wants Local Control over Education. Will President Trump Deliver?

The National Pulse: Another Common Core Apologist Opts Out of Trump Admin Job

Alan Hubbard took his hat out of the ring to be considered for Deputy Secretary of Education!

As Dr. Effrrem states; this is fabulous news for parents, citizens, and activists fighting against the Common Core/Fed Ed machine. Hubbard is a strong ally of both Betsy DeVos and the pro-Common Core American Federation for Children, as well as working closely Jeb Bush and with disgraced former Indiana and Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett.

We will reiterate our list of excellent potential choices for the deputy secretary job that will fight Common Core and federal overreach in education:

Another Common Core Apologist Opts Out of Trump Admin Job