Our Founding

Education Liberty Watch’s Founding and Continuing Impact

The Maple River Education Coalition (MREdCo) was founded in 1998 as a nonprofit organization by Renee T. Doyle. At the time, Doyle was a school board member of the Maple River School District in south central Minnesota. She began researching federal and state documents regarding a controversial new system of education, the Profile of Learning, taking hold in Minnesota. Doyle learned this “revolutionary” system was being implemented in every state in the nation, only under different names, such as Portraits of Learning. She learned the new system drastically changed the purpose of education from providing children with a broad-based academic foundation to providing entry-level job skills, in compliance with the 1994 federal Goals 2000: Educate America Act and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act. She and a handful of concerned parents grew into a statewide organization of parents, students, teachers, school board members, business owners and other involved citizens who operated an entirely volunteer organization.

Since its founding, the organization mushroomed to include members from across the nation. People have relied on MREdCo’s accurate, well-researched e-mail updates regarding new education developments. They have looked to the MREdCo website to learn about the history of the radical restructuring of our nation’s education system.

MREdCo hired an Executive Director on January of 2001 to better meet the challenges of informing the public about the education and workforce system rapidly developing around the nation. MREdCo has become nationally-recognized as an authoritative source of facts regarding the nation¹s new education system. Its speakers have been featured on many premiere news organizations. Its researchers have provided substantive research for federal and state lawmakers and their staff. In Sept. 2001, MrEdCo sponsored its first National Education Conference, drawing over 350 parents, school board members, teachers, lawmakers and school administrators regarding America¹s new education system.

In August of 2003, MREdCo changed its name to EdWatch to more accurately reflect the organization’s growing national influence.

EdWatch has since been involved in many activities across the nation that included speaking at state and national conferences, many radio interviews across the nation, and providing state and federal legislative analysis and testimony. EdWatch played a prominent role in  the rewriting of Minnesota’s science and social studies standards, preventing the expansion of invasive and ineffective early childhood programs, strengthening parental rights to refuse unwanted early childhood and other mental screening and evaluations, working to withdraw Minnesota from No Child Left Behind, and opposing the imposition of the common core national standards.  National and federal topics have included  federal education academies, IDEA, Workforce Investment Act, Vocational Education, Head Start, and mental health initiatives. The EdWatch team has written and published two major books and multiple DVD s on these issues.

By the end of 2010, key members of the EdWatch board had been called to other places and roles in elected office or as staff for other major federal office holders that understand the dangers of the radical transformation of our society that is taking place through education.  EdWatch has ceased operations and emerged as Education Liberty Watch.  Dr. Karen Effrem is serving as president and a new board of dedicated directors are assuming the mantle and mission of EdWatch to explain to the public and policy makers the grave threats that we are facing, as well as equipping citizens to stand for freedom and to educate their children to perpetuate those freedoms in succeeding generations.