Call for Information Pushers ~ Help spread the word about another CSCOPE scandal.

Call for Information Pushers ~ Help spread the word about this CSCOPE scandal. 

 

Here are links to articles written on the Texas CSCOPE Burqas Scandal. 

STUDENTS MADE TO WEAR BURQAS – IN TEXAS

Muslim garb taught as alternative dress – not oppressive to women

School Makes Female Students Wear Burqas

 

TOM MAYNARD ADMITTED “SELLING” HIS VOTE TO RATLIFF — TEMPLE, TEXAS CSCOPE MEETING TONIGHT

Breaking News from the Temple, TX CSCOPE Meeting Monday February 25, 2013

XXXXX, thank you so much for the details about the Temple, Texas, CSCOPE meeting tonight. The fact that Tom Maynard, new member of the Texas State Board of Education, “sold” his vote to become the chair of the Committee on Instruction is a stunning admission.  In other words, rather than do the right thing and cast his vote for a conservative patriot such as Ken Mercer, Tom decided to “sell” his vote to Ratliff, thereby “anointing” Ratliff and his power play. This is so disgusting.  What a fool Maynard is to have allowed himself to be bought and paid for by Thomas Ratliff.  Maynard will regret that decision as he sees what an unethical person Ratliff really is.

 

For those who are unaware of who Thomas Ratliff is…..

Who is Thomas Ratliff?

Ratliff is the son of former moderate Lt. Governor Bill Ratliff and brother of Freshman House of Representative Bennett Ratliff who it just so happens was named by moderate Speaker of the House Joe Straus to the  2013 Public Education Committee.

Oh by the way….

Thomas Ratliff was ruled to be an illegal member of the SBOE  – registered lobbyist with conflict of interest

Ratliff is a registered lobbyist for Microsoft who sells to clients who do business with the Texas State Board of Education and with the Texas Education Agency, and was ruled by Attorney General Greg Abbott  to be  ineligible to serve on the SBOE.The AG went even further and stated that because Ratliff is ineligible even to be on the SBOE, then Ratliff’s argument in which he says he can recuse himself from certain votes involving his clients is actually mute and void because Ratliff should not be on the SBOE in the first place.

Teachers come firstSo now the question becomes…. is it about educating Texas children or is it about a ruling class of special interest groups who are making millions of dollars off of our Tax dollars and taking money that should be going to hire good teachers who actually know how to educate children with solid Type 1 education and who know how to write a scope and sequence instead of depending on an ineffective curriculum like CSCOPE.

Here is a little financial information you may be interested in.

“CSCOPE: How Much Have Taxpayers Paid?”

Statement from Tom Fabry:These two areas alone — $13 Million for CSCOPE and $30 Million for TASA/TASB — add up to more than $43 Million tax dollars – all going [each year] to unelected organizations outside the control of the SBOE. Many of these are the same Texas school districts that have filed a lawsuit to force the Texas Legislature to give them more of our tax dollars.

 

AS REPORTED IN WORLD NET DAILY 2/24/13:

http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/students-made-to-wear-burqas-in-u-s-state/#tGBr7SDbKqfoisR4.99

“STUDENTS MADE TO WEAR BURQAS IN TEXAS CLASSROOM”

There is a new controversy emerging and it is taking the country, the grassroots in particular, by storm.  In 45 states, a COMMON CORE CURRICULUM IS BEING USED TO TEACH THE NATION’S SCHOOL CHILDREN.

Founded by Bill Ayers, the domestic terrorist, who largely launched the political life of Barack Obama and Valarie Jarrett, he has created a Progressive school model used throughout the nation and funded by 45 states with tax payer dollars.

CSCOPE is the MICROSOFT platform used in the classrooms as a computer based module — the social studies curriculum is very pro-Islamist leaning.  In fact, the curriculum quickly review the United States Constitution and spends a great deal of time on the Arab Spring.

Excerpt:

“According to students asked to wear the burqas as part of the social studies lesson, the Islamic section was to teach about life as Islamic women.”

No mention of genital mutilation in this social studies class, obviously!

“The burqa exercise focused on fashion and did not mention the fact that to be in public without a burqa in Muslim countries is punishable by death.

At the end of the class, the students were assigned to write a paper about Egypt.  According to one student, they were instructed to discuss “how Egypt was a good country after the Arab Spring.”

No mention of the brutally repressive Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization gaining power in Egypt as a result of the Arab Springs, nor how the President of Egypt has said as recently as two weeks ago, that they will drive Israel into the sea, or that Shariah law is their law of the and including the practice of genital mutilation.”
 
WE ANALYSTS FEEL STRONGLY THAT THIS IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THE STEALTH JIHAD INFILTRATING ON THE COMMUNITY LEVEL.
 
DE-SENSITIZING OUR CHILDREN IS ALL PART OF THE CALIPHATE PLAN. 

CSCOPE ~ Controversy in the Media ~ Critics include…..

I DEMAND MY NAME BE ADDED TO THIS LIST OF CRITICS OF CSCOPE

I join with Colleen Vera who commented on Ginger Russell’s post Cscope tries to Intimidate Private Citizens which links to a power point presentation to be given at the CSCOPE conference in San Antonio on Aug. 8th-9th.

Following is their power-point presentation for this upcoming Summer Cscope Conference. CSCOPE Intimidating Citizens?

Therefore I join Colleen Vera when she says……

I have a complaint against the person(s) responsible for this Power Point. My name was NOT listed as a critic of CSCOPE on slide #8. Also, no descriptions of criticisms are given. To be accurate, mine should read as follows:

“Colleen Vera – Retired Texas Teacher; critical of the fact that no one at CSCOPE, ESC 13, or TESCCC has yet to be charged with a crime for stealing property from the citizens of Texas by transferring ownership of CSCOPE to a private corporation under their own control, holding secret meetings against the Texas Open Meetings Act, and/or misuse of public funds by using public employees to staff a private corporation.”

Wade Labay promised the Texas Senate Education Committee that CSCOPE was now transparent. So people need the whole truth, not just what you want them to hear. Please have my name and the description of my criticism added to the presentation ASAP

[emailpetition id=”2″]

“Border Folly” – A National Security Threat

Lisa Benson on National Security and Illegal Immigration

Written by: Lisa E. BensonFebruary 18, 2013 

Phoenix, Arizona…

As I reported this past Saturday on KKNT 960 AM – Salem Communications – local ranchers are seeing an increase in illegal border crossings and not a decrease as stated by President Obama in last week’s State of the Union Address to the nation.

 

Specifically, a local rancher residing south of Sierra Vista, Arizona, claims that through local citizen surveillance, as well as via monitoring the broadcast frequencies of US Border Patrol agents, it is estimated that there are more than 1,000 illegal crossings a night.  The most obtrusive illegal crossings are happening west of Nogales, Arizona.

 

Moreover, there is a steady influx of Chinese crossing the border illegally. As recently as six nights ago, a group of Chinese were picked up, per the ranchers interception of border patrol communications. Without the interception, we would have never known.

 

With a 2,000 stretch of mutual border with Mexico, the ranchers assert that more than 75% of the border is porous — as evidenced in the picture above, unless a border agent is standing over every square mile of the mutual border, it is impossible to monitor solely with border agents.

 

Per Judicial Watch…

 

…U.S. Border Patrol estimates that three out of four illegal crossings EVADE apprehension.

 

Mr. President, We Demand A Secure Border:

 

As the hot potato issue of immigration reform heats up on Congress, we must

 

DEMAND CONGRESS DEFINE WHAT IS BORDER SECURITY

and tackle border security before comprehensive immigration reform

Difficult to ask when our elected officials want the votes of those they give amnesty to and that includes both political parties.

 

As I wrote in my newsletter, “Houston, We Have A Problem,” there is evidence that there is Iran influence in South America.  Specifically, there is a manned missile base inside of Venezuela.  Security analysts contend that Venezuela may use biological/chemical warheads before they have the full potential to use nuclear.  Hence, US cities are in the direct trajectory.

 

In addition…

As outlined in “A Line In the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border”

 

….and prepared by the Majority Staff of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Michael T. McCaul, Chairman,

 

“Venezuela is providing support — including identity documents — that could prove useful to radical Islamic groups.  The Venezuelan government has issued thousands of cedulas, the equivalent of Social Security cards, to people from places such as Cuba, Columbia, and Middle Eastern nations that host foreign terrorist organizations.  The U.S. officials believe that the Venezuelan government is issuing the documents to people who should not be getting them and that some of these cedulas could be subsequently used to obtain Venezuelan passports and even American visas, which could allow the holder to elude immigration checks and enter the United States.”

 

Further:

“Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, has been clearly talking to Iran about uranium,” said a senior administration official. Chavez has made several trips to Iran to foster his solidarity with Iran’s hard-line mullahs.

 

Taking this one step further:

In my radio interview linked below, I point out that Iran’s Asian strategy centers on China. Over the past decade, China’s tremendous economic growth (averaging 8% a year) has generated a voracious appetite for energy.  According to informed estimates, in the coming decade, China could surpass the United States as the world’s largest oil consumer.  Iran plays a key role in China’s energy fortunes; supplying 12% of China’s total imports.

 

Moving this right along…

 

Iranian and Chinese collaboration extends beyond energy resources.  China has long assisted Iran in the defense arena, serving as an early supplier to Iran’s nuclear program and more recently as a contributor to the regime’s military modernization efforts during the early 2000′s.  Between the cozy relationship Iran has with North Korea and China, nuclear proliferation is impossible to stop — certainly sanctions are too weak to cripple this aggressive axis of evil.

 

So, what does this have to do with South America and Chinese Crossing the Border

border train

Trains from Central America and Mexico en route to the U.S. border

 

Frankly, it is unclear who and why the Chinese are crossing into the U.S. illegally.  Maybe they are doing so because they can …or maybe…they cannot come legally because they are unable to obtain visas due to criminal activity and/or they are on a U.S. terrorist watch list.  It is obvious by the aerial photos of trains of illegals making their way to the US border that a few Islamists or Chinese would blend in with the overall population crossing illegally.

Please click on the link above to hear this week’s radio spot

Topic: America Needs To Demand A Closed Border

Before Comprehensive Immigration Reform

A Threat to National Security

WOW_Radio_2_Ad15c0bf

WBTM – Dallas –
Alice Linahan and Rebecca Forest/Hosts for Women on the Wall

Activist Moms Working to Protect America

 

Listen to my weekly radio spot on KKNT 960 AM

Saturday evenings

In the future, look for this on Sunday afternoon KKNT

 

Please watch for more information on the Chinese crossings.  I am going to be traveling to the border with a security detail — along with a journalist colleague and my video camera.  I will have more to report in the coming weeks. ….
I also ask that you please sign up to receive the action alerts from Secure America Now – SAN is central to the efforts to stop the confirmations of Chuck Hagel and John Brennan for CIA Chief.  They are the best resource for information you will need as you continue to call and/or write your Senators to BLOCK these nominations next week post Congress recess.

180597_14538817Secure America Now Logo

 

www.secureamericanow.org

 

DISCLAIMER:

The information above, and opinions hereto, are that of Lisa Benson and not of any organization or entity.

 

 Lisa Benson2 Meet Lisa Benson… Lisa Benson is an engaging public speaker, activist, writer, fundraiser,and Mideast Policy Hawk analyst.   She gained her experience over a 25-year career in the Pro-Israel movement as a public relations, marketing and fundraising consultant to policy centers (both in Israel and the United States), universities, political candidates, national security organizations, and 9-11 Families.Days following the 9-11 terrorist attack, Lisa was contacted by the esteemed Steven Emerson, Founder of the Investigative Project, and asked to serve as a consultant on projects seeking private financial support for initiatives exposing terrorist cells in the United States. Following, Lisa has worked for many of the high-profile leaders in the national security field including, Steven Emerson, Brigitte Gabriel (ACT for America), Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, Tom Trento (The United West), Sarah Stern (Endowment for Middle East Truth), Gerald Steinberg (The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University).  She is currently consulting for Secure America Now, Lighthouse PAC and Women on the Wall while traveling the nation with national security organizations, as well as for her own lecture series.

 

Lisa is quick to say that she didn’t  seek out a career in national security; her journey in the Anti-Jihad movement was born out of necessity and a need for her expertise in the post 9-11 world.

 

She is a trained nonprofit development professional having served more than 200 organizations worldwide on more than three continents raising in excess of $350 million in her career.  Her experience in strategic planning, fundraising, marketing, communications, and public relations has served a myriad of humanitarian, scientific, higher-education and national security entities.

 

Lisa Benson’s education includes Masters of Public Administration coursework at the Rockefeller Graduate School of Public Policy, State University of New York and a Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude, from the State University of New York at Albany.

 

The mother of two sons, Lisa is often referred to as a “rainmaker.”  Her clients credit her success to a winning combination of talent, tenacity and sense of humor!

 

To book Lisa for a speaking engagement

Call 602-790-6418 lbenson@lisabensonconsulting.com

 

Please watch for the new website, www.nationalsecurityspeaker.com which is coming soon.

Knowledge is Power and together we can make the difference!!

Alice Linahan

Follow @AliceLinahan on twitter and Facebook 

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Calling on Texas Patriots to Help #StopGulen in Loudoun, Virginia

Tomorrow night, Tues. Feb. 19th is a big meeting and we need all hands on deck to help parents in Loudoun, Virginia Stop the Gulen Network from infiltrating.  Why would we help folks in Virginia – because we know and understand the threat of a slow creeping jihad in America, we have fought back against the Race to the Top in Texas and we must stand together with fellow Americans to fight back.

Gulen in Loudoun  Why    Gulen Wants Loudoun s Money  Why

So here is your call to Action: Read the Background and be ready tomorrow night online in Texas and across the country by reading the call to action below the Background.

 

Loudoun County (VA) Gulen school meeting
Parents for Educational Accountability
 Invites you to a Critical Briefing:
“Will LMITA Repeat the History of Other Gulen-Related Charter Schools ?”
Remarks by Mary Addi, A Former Gulen Charter School Teacher

Featuring Information that County Residents and their Elected
Representatives Must Know About
 The Applicants, Their Associations and Other Reasons Why the Loudoun Math and IT Academy (LMITA) Application Should be Rejected
When:  Tuesday, February 19, 2013
following the end of the public comment portion of the School Board’s Final Public Hearing on the LMITA Application (which starts at 6:30 p.m.)
Where:  Room 100 A, Loudoun County Schools Administration Building
21000 Education Ct., Ashburn, VA
Sponsored by Center for Security Policy

Background

group of Turkish-Americans, led by Fatih Kandil, an educator with extensive experience in the Gulen network, have filed an application to tap into Loudoun County and Virginia State education funding. In addition, they appear to have their eyes on the Obama Education Department’s “Race to the Top” funding for charter schools.
This is the second attempt by a group of Turkish-Americans to apply to receive government funding for a charter school in Loudoun County.

A detailed chart, linking the Loudoun Turkish applicants to the Gulen network is here: Fatih Kandil’s Direct Links to Gulen

Why Loudoun?

Loudoun County, Virginia is one of America’s wealthiest counties. Our school system is second to none. We have access to two extremely fine Science and Technology academic programs–Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ, a Virginia State Governors School), and Loudoun’s own Academy of Science. In addition, Loudoun’s high schools all offer Advanced Placement and other challenging curriculum.

TJ consistently ranks as the top, or at least in the top three to five high schools in the nation. AOS provides an excellent science-based high school education to Loudoun high schoolers. Both these schools feature competitive entrance, and have demonstrated their proficiency at producing high-achieving graduates who go on to the finest universities.

Loudoun’s regular high schools offer a full array of science,technology and math challenges that are top notch. Our students consistently ace the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) tests for all math and science classes.

Our current school administration, the School Board and the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) staff, along with our teachers and administrators provide a smorgasbord of services that is unrivaled across the country, and internationally. Every classroom has a smart boardTechnology is available for every student to use. Lessons across the curriculum in every high school are fullly integrated with use of technology.

LCPS high schools include the Governors Career and Technical Academy, based in the LCPS Monroe Technology Center. Many programs at Monroe Technology Center (MTC), which houses the Governor’s Career and Technical Academy of Loudoun, have science, technology, engineering and/or math imbedded into their curriculums.

What school system did the Gulen charter school applicants think they were applying for? A rural district in a less-developed state? Their proposal to better serve the needs of Loudoun’s students for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) is laughable on its face.

What is it that the Turkish education community believes they have to offer Loudoun County?

Or is the attraction what Loudoun County has to offer them? Continue readinghere. 

Call to ACTION: We will be following what is happening at the meeting tomorrow evening via Twitter. Please join us in retweeting using the hashtag#StopGulen. Join us also by posting on Facebook.

Women On The Wall Radio ~ WBTM Guest Lisa Benson

Women On the Wall will be taking on this issue and sharing information and updates on our weekly radio show on Monday mornings at 10 am CST. You will not want to miss this show.

Knowledge is Power and together we can make the difference!!

Alice Linahan

Follow @AliceLinahan on twitter and Facebook 

Voices Empower has partnered the Freedom Trailer Teams to Educate, Inspire and Motivate.

Women On The Wall.org

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Voices Empower

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  Please attribute to Alice Linahan  with Voices Empower

Message to the entire United States: The Grassroots is Powerful, We have Proof ~ CSCOPE

“Message to the entire United States: It was grassroots citizens in Texas who got involved and uncovered CSCOPE.  We can make a difference when we do our “homework” and then contact our elected officiaIMG_7114ls.  Our successful efforts in Texas to bring about change in CSCOPE can be replicated throughout this country to uncover the Common Core Standards which are the Obama administration’s takeover of the public schools right under the noses of the unsuspecting public” – Donna Garner

 

PRESS RELEASE – FROM TEX. SEN. DAN PATRICK, DISTRICT 7

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 8, 2013

 

SEN. PATRICK AND CSCOPE ANNOUNCE SWEEPING CHANGES

AUSTIN- Senator Dan Patrick, in coordination with the Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative (TESCCC), announces significant changes to the CSCOPE curriculum management system.

The TESCCC has worked with Senator Patrick, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and the State Board of Education (SBOE), to address concerns raised at a recent committee hearing on the CSCOPE system.  The two parties have agreed to several immediate as well as forthcoming changes.

The changes that take effect immediately include:

· All future meetings of the TESCCC Governing Board, beginning with the February meeting, will be public with all the respective notice requirements being met.

· The TESCCC will begin a joint review process of all CSCOPE lessons with the SBOE beginning with Social Studies.

· Amendment of all Terms of Use Agreements, signed by both teachers and districts, removing civil or criminal penalties associated with the release of CSCOPE content.

· Clarifying that all teachers and districts may post any and all CSCOPE lessons that they deem necessary.

 

CSCOPE

Photo Courtesy of Times Record News

In addition to these immediate transparency and quality control changes, CSCOPE will also undergo structural, governance, and other changes, including:

· Ending the non-profit 501(c)3 arrangement that incorporates CSCOPE.

· Initiating the posting of CSCOPE lesson content to their public website.

· Creating a standing curriculum review panel, comprised of:  parents, teachers, school administrators, members of the SBOE, and TESCCC board members.

 

Finally, CSCOPE is notifying all participating school districts that lessons are not intended to be taught verbatim, and the Governing Board generally recommends that local districts utilize CSCOPE lessons solely as a resource.

 

Until CSCOPE lessons can be reviewed through a collaborative process with the SBOE and TESCCC, districts are strongly encouraged to review all lessons at the local level, to ensure that lessons are appropriate for their students.

 

State Board of Education chair Barbara Cargill is encouraged by the changes, saying, “I appreciate CSCOPE’s willingness to address concerns brought to light recently. The State Board of Education looks forward to working with them to resolve these issues, so CSCOPE can remain a useful tool for participating school districts.”

 

Anne Poplin, chair of the TESCCC Governing Board agreed, stating, “We have heard the concerns raised and are working hard to maintain the public’s trust in CSCOPE.  We appreciate Chair Cargill and Senator Patrick’s desire to assist us in ensuring that CSCOPE remains a valuable district resource in the future.”

Photo by Sandy Kelly

Photo by Sandy Kelly

Senator Dan Patrick agreed, “I’m glad the CSCOPE Board realizes that immediate and long term changes must be made to address the serious issues raised by our committee, parents, and teachers. Our committee will be monitoring the situation closely to ensure they follow through with their commitments. We will also be looking at legislation to ensure these changes cannot be reversed in the future and that the SBOE continues in their role of oversight of CSCOPE content. The future of the program will depend on CSCOPE keeping the commitments they have made and gaining the trust of the legislature, teachers, and parents.

This is a battle won and key in shining a light on the true challenges and work ahead!!

Knowledge is Power and together we can make the difference!!

Women On The Wall.org

Women On The Wall
Seek the Truth~
Share The Truth~
Stand for the Truth~
Protect Our Nation for Future Generations
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Women On The Wall Radio with WBTM

Feb. 4th 2013 Show Guests/Issue:

Join in the conversation with us Monday morning at 10 am CST. Call in number 714-242-5220  

Women On the Wall Radio with hosts Alice Linahan and Rebecca Forest has a mission to Seek the TruthShare the Truth and Stand For The Truth. Tomorrow we take on the issues that matter to the safety and security of our children and we don’t hold back!!

We believe that the women of America play a central role in the protection and security of our sovereign nation. The grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and sisters of American women of all political persuasions, age and race are the stewards of the home and hearth and will stop at nothing to defend and protect their families and their country.

We are the daughters and granddaughters of the women of America’s GREATEST generation.  They answered the call to save America and the world from Hitler’s horrific plan for humanity. Once again, America was awakened.  Since 9/11, our nation’s women have been vigilantly standing watch, calling attention to the dangers facing our children and our homeland.

We are so excited to have Donna Garner Education advocate and writer for 33+ yrs. We will take on CSCOPE and specifically the TESCCC/CSCOPE who has contracted with Resources for Learning (RFL) to do an independent review of CSCOPE. Who is RFL? Are they connected with Common Core Curriculum? Donna Garner has the answers.

Here is a link to our last show on CSCOPE with Donna Garner.

The issue of CSCOPE is very important and Donna Garner does an exceptional job of explaining the history of CSCOPE and why it is so important that we push back against it.

WBTM Women On The Wall Radio with Donna Garner

We are delighted to have national security policy hawk Lisa Benson is back to up-to-date us on the important issues that effect the safety and security of our children and grandchildren. Lisa’s segment is titled- “The Subtle and Effective Jihad: The Infiltration into Community By the Muslim Brotherhood.” 

Of course Rebecca and Alice will take on the latest issues of the day. 

 

Knowledge is Power and together we can make the difference!!

Alice Linahan

Follow @AliceLinahan on twitter and Facebook 

Join the movement expose corruption in Texas Politics go to Tea Party 911 for a daily briefing.

Tea Party 911

Be sure and listen to all the great shows on WBTM Radio!

Chaos Radio with Mel Moss and Rick Rose

Voices Empower has partnered the Freedom Trailer Teams to Educate, Inspire and Motivate.

 

“Most Amazing Senate Ed. Hearing Ever — CSCOPE”

 

by Donna Garner

1.31.13

 

Texas Senate Hearing on CSCOPE with Sen. Dan Patrick

Today’s Texas Senate Education Committee hearing  on CSCOPE was amazing. I watched the proceedings online from 8:30 A. M. until it finished around 3:15 P. M., and I took notes as fast as I could type. These may not be word-for-word, but I trust that I have captured the essence of the hearing. 

 

Texas Senator Dan Patrick led the hearing, and these are the Senators who worked alongside him to question the witnesses:  Donna Campbell, Larry Taylor, Eddie Lucio, Robert Duncan, Ken Paxton, and Kel Seliger.  (As best I could tell from online viewing, Royce West and Leticia Van de Putte did not attend the hearing.) 

 

What thrilled me is that all of us private citizens who have dug out the truth about CSCOPE and who have been vilified for our efforts were vindicated today because the evidence presented proved we were right all along.

 

FACTS REVEALED IN TODAY’S HEARING

 

CSCOPE was originally produced in 2005-2006  by outside consultants, one of whom was Linda Darling-Hammond who is tied to Obama and the Common Core Standards which is a takeover of the public schools by the federal government.  

 

In 2009 CSCOPE was incorporated as a 501(3)(c) non-charitable organization under the TESCCC (Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative), and the 20 directors of the Education Service Centers (ESC’s) make up the board of directors of TESCCC.  To do this incorporation, no legal counsel was sought from the Texas Attorney General’s office nor from the Commissioner of Education/Texas Education Agency. 

 

Now 875 districts are using CSCOPE and pay for it with taxpayers’ dollars costing from $7 to $9 per student to “rent” CSCOPE each school year.  The monies collected by the ESC’s are passed along to TESCCC and then to their fiscal agent, ESC 13 in Austin.

COST OF CSCOPE AND ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

The Senators asked the ESC 13 witness how much school districts have paid for CSCOPE over the last several years, but that information did not seem to be readily available.  Sen. Campbell mentioned that Ector County ISD alone had spent $1.7 for CSCOPE just this school year. 

 

Questions were also raised about whether the ESC staffers who handle CSCOPE  full-time are paid by TESCCC/ESC 13 or by their own ESC’s and whether such an arrangement represents a type of double-dipping.

 

Sen. Campbell wanted to know who owns the proprietary property of CSCOPE if it was developed using public funds — “Do the people of Texas own it?”  She also questioned whether only parents should have access to CSCOPE since all Texas taxpayers paid for it. She said there are many good educators who are active and retired who have a commitment to helping children gain a good education and that everyone in the general public should have easy access to CSCOPE — in the same way that they do to copyrighted textbooks.  Sen. Campbell wanted to know where the checks and balances are to verify the content of CSCOPE.

 

Sen. Patrick told Wade Labay, Statewide Director of CSCOPE, that when a governmental body seeks to form a 501(3)(c), TESCCC should have sought legislative authority.  None was sought by TESCCC.

 

The Senators were very troubled by the fact that the Texas Attorney General’s office has said that the TESCCC is a governmental body yet it is using public funds to develop its product; uses public dollars to pay its ESC employees;  has no TESCCC business office; does not post its agenda; does not allow the public into its meetings; and will not allow public access to its minutes. 

 

“PLAYBOOK” RESPONSE FROM EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENT

Throughout the hearing, whenever members of the “education establishment” testified (e.g., school administrators, curriculum directors, representatives from Texas Association of School Board/Texas Association of School Administrators), it was as if they spoke from one “playbook” which had obviously been put together by ESC personnel. 

 

The common line used by the education establishment was, “Our district bought CSCOPE as a cost-saving curriculum management system to help our students to raise their academic achievement and to master the new STAAR/End-of-Course tests. Our teachers could not live without CSCOPE.” 

However, when hard data and research were sought by the Senators from the “ed establishment” to prove the effectiveness of CSCOPE, none could be produced — only their subjective opinions.  Almost all of the ed establishment witnesses mentioned their close-knit relationships with the ESC’s, and most said they had first heard about CSCOPE through the ESC’s.  Nearly all said their districts were constantly trained by ESC staff on CSCOPE.

 

CONCERNS OF THOSE CLOSEST TO THE CHILD

When classroom teachers, parents, or the general public testified — the ones closest to the classroom students — they told a completely different story.  One of the most poignant moments in the hearing occurred when a veteran Algebra teacher almost broke down in tears as he told of having to quit his teaching job recently because he was required to teach CSCOPE.  He said he could not look his students in the eyes, knowing that he was “aiding and abetting ignorance…and giving them an allusion of an education.” 

 

A well-credentialed education researcher, who works with many Texas school districts and who intensely dislikes CSCOPE, said she had had doors slammed in her face when she sought to uncover the ideology behind CSCOPE.  She said teachers are afraid to speak out about the content of the CSCOPE lessons and the links that students are directed to investigate.  Several of these links take students to sites where Wiccans are said to be similar to Christians and where Islam and Christianity are harmonized as being similar. 

 

A current classroom teacher of 30 years’ experience told about being offended with the lesson in which students were required to make a Communist/Socialist  flag.  She said her father had proudly fought in World War II to keep our nation free and that our students should be taught American exceptionalism.  She also said that CSCOPE content teaches none of the great novels and does not teach the young readers a systematic approach to reading using phonics.  She complained that CSCOPE instead teaches whole language and that there is no formal instruction of grammar, usage, and correct writing.

This experienced teacher gave the Senators a copy of the TESCCC/CSCOPE legal document passed out during a CSCOPE 2012 summer training session that states, “To support implementation of this detailed curriculum, districts must have processes and people in place to insure that there is sustained monitoring of the curriculum and that individual teachers do not have the option to disregard or replace assigned content.”  This teacher said that when parents put their children on the school bus to come to school, they are not sending them to school for a controlled and compulsory learning environment.  They want their children’s teachers to be able to be creative and to meet the individual needs of each child.  She said, “I want it recorded for the record that I have never voted for a conglomerate to take over the Texas school system, and parents have not either.”

 

Another witness said there was no need for CSCOPE because the curriculum standards (TEKS) are on the Texas Education Agency website along with many other excellent helps that teachers can use to prepare their students for the new STAAR/EOC tests.  Good teachers working together can create their own timelines and lesson plans.

 

One witness asked why the TESCCC was incorporated as a non-profit.  Was it to be able to hide the content of CSCOPE from the public?  Was it to keep their meetings, minutes, and agendas secret? 

 

TESCCC/CSCOPE PERSONNEL — OOPS!

 

When confronted with this evidence, the CSCOPE personnel at the hearing repeatedly admitted they had “Oops! Dropped the ball.”  As the meeting proceeded, it became clear that a pattern of cover-up by Wade Libya/TESCCC/CSCOPE has been taking place since the public “sleuths” started digging out the facts.  The website has been changed substantially since the Senate Education Committee public hearing was announced. Now Labay says teachers are not prohibited from allowing parents to see CSCOPE materials, but Sen. Patrick could never get a confirmed “yes” that parents could go right now and see fully their children’s CSCOPE materials 24/7.   

 

OBJECTIONABLE CSCOPE LESSONS

When the CSCOPE lesson referring to the Boston Tea Party patriots as “terrorists” was discussed (which had been in CSCOPE for seven years), Labay said it had been removed. 

 

When Labay was confronted with concerns over a lesson teaching the 5 Pillars of Islam, a lesson in which students role play a trek to Mecca, a lesson that teaches Allah is the same as Almighty God,  a lesson on Christopher Columbus that cherry-picks his diary to take out any of his references to his belief in God, and a lesson in which students create a Communist/Socialist flag, he gave a lame excuse about those lessons having been a part of the “old” lessons, having been left in CSCOPE at the request of teachers. 

 

One Senator said he found it perplexing that when these lessons were first revealed by the public “sleuths,” TESCCC accused these concerned citizens of circulating “fallacious claims.”  

 

Senators Taylor and Paxton were deeply troubled about the student project in which students were to design a Communist/Socialist flag.  They cautioned that teaching children to role play and sympathize with a particular cause is indoctrination of the mind, and they asked Labay to tell them who came up with that lesson plan?  Labay gave the lame excuse that there are over 1600 lessons and that ESC 12 CSCOPE staffers are the ones who are in charge of the content. 

 

One of the Senators responded, “Oh, you mean the same group that has the closed door board meetings…We have already talked about several egregious lessons today.  How many more are there that are buried up in the rest of the CSCOPE lessons that we have not located yet?”

NO OUTSIDE, INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF CSCOPE

The Senators kept hammering at the fact that 875 Texas school districts have been using CSCOPE for the last seven years; yet there has been no outside, independent review of CSCOPE to make sure that its lessons align with the SBOE-adopted curriculum standards (TEKS) upon which the new STAAR/End-of-Course tests are based. 

 

Sen. Patrick said he found it highly upsetting that it had taken the chair of the Texas State Board of Education six months to get a password to CSCOPE.  Former SBOE member Charlie Garza testified that he had asked TESCCC to have extra time to study the CSCOPE lessons, but his request was denied. 

 

It was also brought out that besides the per-student CSCOPE rental, TESCCC also makes money by charging publishers $100,000 per event to see the CSCOPE lessons so that textbooks can be produced that align with it.  Other vendors pay fees, and TESCCC also makes money from its yearly educators’ conference. 


Senator Patrick said that the public had brought most of the CSCOPE problems to their attention over the last six to eight months and that he was upset over the lack of transparency and the secrecy demonstrated by TESCCC/CSCOPE.  He said this is the reason we need transparency, open meetings, and posted meetings  — so that a governmental body cannot violate every entity of being a public entity.  “How many more mistakes are there? … What is behind the curtain? … You are in 875 school districts … This is a very serious matter.”

 

SBOE OVERSIGHT OF CSCOPE CURRICULUM CONTENT

One Senator said he was investigating the possibility of charging the elected members of the Texas State Board of Education with the task of verifying the content of CSCOPE to make sure it is aligned with the TEKS.  Barbara Cargill, the chair of the SBOE, said that the Board has a review process already in place that could be used for CSCOPE since it is being used in 70% to 80% of Texas school districts. 

 

Cargill also mentioned her concern that TESCCC in its incorporation papers states that if TESCCC is dissolved, CSCOPE goes to the federal government.  She mentioned that she is concerned CSCOPE is not aligned with publishers’ textbooks and that it is very confusing for students when they read a CSCOPE lesson (or CSCOPE test) that says one thing and a textbook that says another. 

 

Ms. Cargill complained that CSCOPE does not align itself with the new Science TEKS in which all sides of scientific theories (both strengths and weaknesses) are to be taught. Instead, the only links she could find in the CSCOPE lessons go to material that teaches evolution as fact.

 

Barbara Cargill was asked by one of the Senators whether SB 6 (passed in the 82nd Legislative Session) triggered the explosive growth of CSCOPE since school administrators can now purchase CSCOPE (i.e., instructional materials including software and hardware) with state dollars without those materials having passed through the rigorous SBOE adoption process.  She said that having “100 eyeballs” to evaluate the instructional materials at the SBOE level is far superior to having only a few CSCOPE employees do so.

 

Pat Hardy, also a member of the Texas State Board of Education, verified that CSCOPE is a curriculum [not a “curriculum mnagement system” as claimed by TESCCC/CSCOPE] and that it is the SBOE who adopts the curriculum standards — TEKS.

 

A parent whose children are in the public schools where CSCOPE is being utilized believes that the elected SBOE should have authority over CSCOPE.  However, she has a serious reservation because one of the present SBOE members is a registered lobbyist for Microsoft; and she wonders about the possible conflict of interest and corruption that could bias the SBOE/CSOPE alignment process.   

 

COMMON CORE STANDARDS INFILTRATING CSCOPE?

One retired science teacher said that at some point, Common Core Standards tried to purchase CSCOPE; and she is concerned because the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) is having a convention in California, using public dollars to pay for Texas school personnel to attend.  At this conference,  Common Core Standards and Linda Darling-Hammond will be featured.  Gov. Perry and both Texas Education Commissioners have said Texas will not participate in Common Core Standards.  Since CSCOPE is already in 70% to 80% of Texas’ school districts, the retired science teacher is afraid the CCS ideology could be permeating CSCOPE’s lessons right now.

 

CHILDREN BELONG TO PARENTS — NOT TO THE STATE

One of the last witnesses reminded everyone that children belong to their parents and not to the state; school children should be able to take their CSCOPE materials home each evening; and the public should have open access to see everything except the tests and answer keys. 

 

Women On The Wall Radio ~ Join in the conversation Monday 10 am CST. Call in number 714-242-5220

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Feb. 4th 2013 Show Guests/Issue:

Join in the conversation with us Monday morning at 10 am CST. Call in number 714-242-5220  

Women On the Wall Radio with hosts Alice Linahan and Rebecca Forest has a mission to Seek the TruthShare the Truth and Stand For The Truth. Tomorrow we take on the issues that matter to the safety and security of our children and we don’t hold back!!

We believe that the women of America play a central role in the protection and security of our sovereign nation. The grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and sisters of American women of all political persuasions, age and race are the stewards of the home and hearth and will stop at nothing to defend and protect their families and their country.

We are the daughters and granddaughters of the women of America’s GREATEST generation.  They answered the call to save America and the world from Hitler’s horrific plan for humanity. Once again, America was awakened.  Since 9/11, our nation’s women have been vigilantly standing watch, calling attention to the dangers facing our children and our homeland.

We are so excited to have Donna Garner Education advocate and writer for 33+ yrs. We will take on CSCOPE and specifically the TESCCC/CSCOPE who has contracted with Resources for Learning (RFL) to do an independent review of CSCOPE. Who is RFL? Are they connected with Common Core Curriculum? Donna Garner has the answers.

Here is a link to our last show on CSCOPE with Donna Garner.

The issue of CSCOPE is very important and Donna Garner does an exceptional job of explaining the history of CSCOPE and why it is so important that we push back against it.

WBTM Women On The Wall Radio with Donna Garner

We are delighted to have national security policy hawk Lisa Benson is back to up-to-date us on the important issues that effect the safety and security of our children and grandchildren. Lisa’s segment is titled- “The Subtle and Effective Jihad: The Infiltration into Community By the Muslim Brotherhood.” 

Of course Rebecca and Alice will take on the latest issues of the day. 

 

Knowledge is Power and together we can make the difference!!

Alice Linahan

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