Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Obama’s “Community Schools” Aim to Replace Parents
The New American ^ | 8/12/2015 | Alex Newman

Posted on 08/13/2015 4:40:41 AM PDT by HomerBohn

Lawmakers and the Obama administration are plotting to unconstitutionally commandeer local schools and turn them into “full-service community schools” — government centers that will usurp vast new responsibilities over children that have traditionally been handled by parents and families. Under the plan, adopted in the Senate last month as part of a massive “education bill” solidifying federal control over children and schools, federally funded so-called community schools will “target” families and children for “services” covering their “academic, physical, social, emotional, health, mental health, and other needs.”

If Congress and the Obama administration get their way, these full-service parent-replacement centers will soon be coming to a community near you, along with the swarms of government workers in charge of “home visitation” and “parenting education” under the program. In fact, even without legislation to authorize it, Obama’s education bureaucracy has already started using tax funds to create the “community schools” nationwide.

So what, exactly, is a community school? According to the legislation, it is a government-run elementary or secondary school that “participates in a community-based effort to coordinate and integrate educational, developmental, family, health, and other comprehensive services through community-based organizations and public and private partnerships.” These Orwellian schools will also provide “services” to students, families, and the community, including before and after school, during weekends, and even during the summer. A 2014 Federal Register “notice” by the federal Department of Education announcing lawless grants for community schools defines them in a similar way. In other words, children ensnared by “community” schools can spend virtually all of their time there and receive all of their “services” there — one step short of Obama Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s recent pitch for government boarding schools that he said should have children 24 hours per day, seven days a week.

A broad array of government “services” should be provided by the “community” schools. The list of those, outlined in the Democrat-sponsored legislation, is bewildering. Among them: home visitation services by teachers and nurses; early childhood education; primary health and dental care; “mental health counseling services”; “nutrition services”; remedial education activities and enrichment activities, including expanded learning time; summer or after-school enrichment and learning experiences; programs that promote “family literacy”; programs under Head Start and Early Head Start; mentoring and other youth development programs, including peer mentoring and conflict mediation; parent leadership development activities; parenting education activities; child care services; community service and service-learning opportunities; developmentally appropriate physical education; job training, internship opportunities, and career counseling services; adult education, including instruction in English as a second language; juvenile crime prevention and rehabilitation programs; homeless prevention services; and undefined “other services.”

Essentially, these Obama-backed “community” schools will become your child’s parents, nanny, educator, doctor, dentist, food source, psychiatrist, and more. It was not immediately clear whether hugs would be included, but practically everything else is. In other words, these “schools” will expand and accelerate the ongoing usurpation of the role of families and parents in raising the next generation of Americans. And just in case, parents can receive home visits from the swarms of federally funded school bureaucrats — in addition to parenting lessons from Big Brother on how to care for Big Brother’s children. The federally funded “full-service community schools” will also be keeping watch for Big Brother, with tax funding allocated to help the parental-replacement centers create data-collection systems aimed at knowing everything about everyone.

The radical legislation to turn federally controlled schools into federally controlled overseers of all aspects of a child’s life, though sponsored by Democrats, was able to pass thanks to Republicans. While introduced as a stand-alone bill, it was attached as an amendment to the equally radical “Every Student Achieves Act” that was passed by the GOP-controlled Senate on July 16. The similar “Student Success Act” was passed by the Republican-dominated House of Representatives on July 9. Now, the two versions of the legislation, which purport to re-authorize a dizzying array of unconstitutional federal “education” schemes, must be put together in conference. Obama already supports the “bipartisan” legislation and plans to sign it, the White House indicated in a statement.

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the chief sponsor of the “community schools” measure in the Senate, celebrated his success. “Challenges at home can undermine classroom performance and leave students struggling to keep up,” Brown said. “Community schools have a proven track record of connecting students and their families to critical services. This amendment will help expand this model so more students can access essential resources like medical care and after-school care. This will ensure that students can focus their attention on succeeding in school.” House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who has been pushing the same legislation in the House, praised the Senate for taking a “major step forward to promote the full-service community schools model across the country.” “I hope the House and Senate will go to conference soon and produce a final version that includes support for full-service community schools,” Hoyer added in a statement.

Under the legislation, the Education Secretary would be empowered to unconstitutionally hand out taxpayer funds to “entities,” schools, and state governments that help “integrate multiple services into a comprehensive, coordinated continuum supported by research-based activities that achieve the performance goals … to meet the holistic needs of children.” Secretary Duncan, who openly boasts of turning your children into “green” and “global” citizens with his “global partner” UNESCO via the “weapon” of education, will also receive some high-level assistance in the effort. The bill establishes a “Full-Service Community Schools Advisory Committee” consisting of the Secretary of Education, the U.S. Attorney General, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Labor. Parents, of course, will not be invited to sit on the board.

To obtain a “grant,” the entities applying need to submit a “comprehensive plan” that includes a “needs assessment that identifies the academic, physical, social, emotional, health, mental health, and other needs of students, families, and community residents.” The plan also needs to show “an increase in the percentage of families and students targeted for services each year of the program.” And those “services” need to be geared toward making sure children “are ready for school,” are “physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally healthy,” and are “contributing to their communities.” Of course, that government-funded “plan” for children sounds a lot like the traditional role of parents. The “services” should also aim to create “neighborhoods” that are “safe and provide a positive climate for learning that is free from bullying or harassment.” In essence, then, the sky is the limit.

The legislation also aims to “provide support for the planning, implementation, and operation of full-service community schools”; “improve the coordination and integration, accessibility, and effectiveness of services for children and families”; “ensure that children have the physical, social, and emotional well-being to come to school ready to engage in the learning process every day”; “facilitate the coordination and integration of programs and services operated by community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, and State, local, and tribal governments”; and “engage students as resources to their communities.”

Despite the lack of any statutory or constitutional authority to do so, Obama’s Department of Education has been busy pushing and funding “community schools” since at least last year. “The awards will help encourage a coordinated and integrated set of comprehensive academic, social, and health services that respond to the needs of its students, their families, and community members,” the bureaucracy boasts online about a grant program it developed to finance the machinations in states and cities across America. There are already an estimated 5,000 “community schools” in operation nationwide, according to news reports. If the measure gets signed into law, Americans can expect thousands more.

Secretary Duncan, in a statement congratulating his department for spending millions of tax dollars promoting the scheme, also celebrated the Brave New Schools he is helping to unleash on America. “Across the nation, we've seen schools come together to partner with key organizations to support comprehensive services for students and their families in some of our toughest communities,” he said last year while lawlessly handing out $5 million of your money to create the parental-replacement centers. “Great schools require the entire community to work together, and these grants will help leverage our resources to create a range of wraparound services that help all students grow in the classroom, and graduate ready for college and their careers.” Duncan's "cradle-to-career" education-reform agenda, as he calls it, is essentially a blueprint for total indocrination and ultimately, tyranny.

Critics, though, are speaking out forcefully about the agenda. “This is modeled after the Soviet system,” said Charlotte Iserbyt, author of the book Deliberate Dumbing Down of America and a former senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Education. “It is part of a long-range plan outlined by the Carnegie Corporation to abolish local elected boards and use education to transform America from a capitalist system to a planned economy. The charter schools are a huge part of this agenda too because they already do not have elected boards, and the plan is to have unelected commissions and boards, at the same time as we move away from local tax funding of schools. We are watching it all happen right now. The simplest solution is to cut the international/federal/state umbilical cord!” Iserbyt also linked the scheme to a 2013 policy paper by Marc Tucker, written for the ultra-left, Obama-aligned Center for American Progress, calling for a total end of local control over schooling.

The “full-service community schools” component of the “education” bills passed by Congress is a relatively tiny part of the overall legislation. As reported by The New American last month, the broader bills are packed with attacks on real education, local control of schools, student and family privacy, and the rights of parents. Despite false campaign promises by Republicans to rein in the Obama administration, the legislation also purports to reauthorize a plethora of unconstitutional federal “education” schemes — including the same draconian tools Obama has lawlessly used to nationalize and dumb down education through the hugely unpopular Common Core standards.

If the American people hope to remain free, real education and strong families are key. Obama and his allies in Congress know that, hence the full-fledged assault on real education, families, local control of schools, and parental rights. American parents, teachers, and taxpayers must understand all of that, too — and demand that their elected officials act accordingly.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: communityschools; education; federal; schools
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-44 next last
To: HomerBohn

Kind’a sounds like that “Agenda 21” thing.....


21 posted on 08/13/2015 5:53:03 AM PDT by unread
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rocketmag
They destroyed the family in the inner cities so now they have an excuse to totally take over

Exactly

Exactamente
(For all you people in Rio Linda)

22 posted on 08/13/2015 5:56:33 AM PDT by Vinnie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: HomerBohn; TEXOKIE; george76; MarMema; july4thfreedomfoundation; MileHi; huldah1776; ...

Agenda 21 Ping

Freep Mail if you wish to be added or removed from the list.


23 posted on 08/13/2015 6:04:28 AM PDT by Whenifhow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HomerBohn
Madrases come to America.
24 posted on 08/13/2015 6:10:30 AM PDT by deweyfrank
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PGalt

I started paying attention to the Ed activists in my state. Listening to real experts who trace the origins, get the documents that reveal the end game, hours of speeches on U-tubes, etc..very intriguing. I pulled my 5th grade son out of Houston ISD and have been developing my own curriculum from online sources. Great stuff on the net. No need to buy books. Historical societies,e-books from archives...fabulous. The whole family wants to be in my history class!
Pre-communism math books also out there...
Bought a wall map that is gigantic and we will will learn geography via terror strikes worldwide. How many map pins will I need?


25 posted on 08/13/2015 6:21:37 AM PDT by magna carta
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: HomerBohn
Community organizers...don't you just love'm....

Complete List of Full Service Community Schools Grants

2015

2015 Austin Voices For Education and Youth Lanier FSCS Project 5 $499,453 $2,482,865 Austin TX 96

2015 Children and Families First Red Clay Communities School Initiative 5 $499,286 $2,492,274 Wilmington DE.

2015 Columbia College Chicago ACCESS 5 $489,262 $2,482,479 Chicago IL.

2015 Homewood Children's Village HCV FSCS Community Schools Ed. Pipeline 5 $499,633 $2,499,633 Pittsburgh PA.

2015 Lowell Public Schools FSCS Tranformation at Lowell HS Career Aca 5 $499,184 $2,493,911 Lowell MA.

2015 Mary Rigg Center Circle City Learning Community Schools 5 $467,108 $2,275,690 Indianapolis IN.

2015 Mercer Street Friends Trenton Community Schools Initiative 5 $276,114 $2,217,867 Trenton NJ.

2015 New London Public Schools Project Connect 5 $497,307 $2,434,535 New London CT.

2015 Paterson Public School District Continuing our Commitment to Excellence 5 $499,928 $2,499,640 Paterson NJ.

2015 United Way of Buffalo and Erie County Closing the Gap in Student Performance 5 $499,258 $2,495,827 Buffalo NY.

2015 West Chicago Elementary SD WeGo Together For Kids 5 $363,441 $2,310,713 West Chicago IL.

2015 YMCA Long Beach YMCA Full Service Community Schools 5 $499,944 $2,499,334 Long Beach CA.

2014

2014 Berea College Berea college Knox FSCS 5 $499,690 $2,498,121 Berea KY.

2014 Frida Kahlo Community Organization Resources Invested in School Enrichment 5 $499,700 $2,498,500 Chicago IL.

2014 Lancaster County Partners for Youth Lancaster County Partners for Youth 5 $464,857 $2,206,317 Lancaster SC.

2014 Los Angeles Education Partnership South Los Angeles Neighborhood Partnerships 5 $500,000 $2,500,000 Los Angeles CA.

2014 Montclair State University University Assisted Full Service Community Schools 5 $497,156 $2,490,450 Montclair NJ.

2014 Oakland Unified School District Community Schools Thriving Students 5 $499,684 $2,498,211 Oakland CA.

2014 San Antonio Independent School District Wheatley Community School 5 $498,606 $2,276,179 San Antonio TX.

2014 Southwest Key Programs El Sueño de Esperanza (A Dream of Hope) 5 $499,984 $2,499,597 Austin TX.

2014 Youth Policy Institute Los Angeles Promise Zone Full-Service Community School Program 5 $500,000 $2,500,000 Los Angeles CA.

2010

2010 Bert Corona Charter School San Fernando Valley Full Service Community Schools Program 5 $500,000 $2,500,000 Pacoima CA.

2010 Boston Public Schools Boston Public School's Full Service Community School Grant 5 $500,000 $2,500,000 Boston MA.

2010 Children and Families First Eastside community Schools Initiative 5 $419,878 $2,344,862 Wilmington DE.

2010 East Austin College Prep Academy, Inc. Community DREAM-Link 5 $500,000 $2,500,000 Austin TX.

2010 Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation Evansville Vanderburgh Full Service Community Schools 5 $499,845 $2,498,283 Evansville IN.

2010 Flowing Wells Unified School District Flowing Wells Full-Servie Community Schools Program 5 $438,954 $2,194,766 Tuscon AZ.

2010 Greater Lawrence Community Action Council South Lawrence East Full Service Community School Program 5 $487,047 $2,460,901 Lawrence MA.

2010 Green Dot Public Schools Locke Full-Service Community Schools Collaborative 5 $102,240 $1,852,558 Los Angeles CA.

2010 Indiana University The Martindale Brightwood Alliance for Educational Success 5 $498,090 $2,485,296 Indianapolis IN.

2010 Paterson Public Schools A Renewed Commitment to Exellence through Full Service Community Schools 5 $466,111 $2,465,147 Paterson NJ.

2010 Spartanburg School District 7 Family Circle: From Cradle to College 5 $497,703 $2,496,035 Spartanburg SC.

Maybe your school is on the list..???

26 posted on 08/13/2015 6:27:27 AM PDT by unread
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HomerBohn

I do not believe that a Conservative will ever again even get nominated, let alone elected to the Office of President. Before the first ballot was cast, there would be three organizations out to slay him politically, the Republican Party, the media. and the Democrat party. Each year a group of older people die and a group of indoctrinated brain washed robots take their place. In the next few years, factor that in plus the legalization of every narcotic drug known to man, plus the parasites living off the labor of the producers that use Governmental force to take from the producers and give it to the parasites.


27 posted on 08/13/2015 6:44:48 AM PDT by sport
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HomerBohn
Ayers was one of three keynote speakers at a major conference organized by a consortium of schools of education at some 30 or so middle sized universities called The Renaissance Group. Ayers was given the only keynote luncheon speaker spot at the conference. The two morning keynote speakers were none other than Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education – and former foe of Ayers (and Obama) in the Chicago School Wars, and Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter. (emphasis addded) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3294411/posts

Jeb Bush’s correspondence with the Department of Education shows the Florida Republican offered to help Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on the re-authorization of the controversial education law. (emphasis addded) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3296203/posts

28 posted on 08/13/2015 6:57:16 AM PDT by Ray76 (When a gov't leads it's people down a path of destruction resistance is not only a right but a duty.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HomerBohn; ADemocratNoMore; Akron Al; arbee4bush; agrace; ATOMIC_PUNK; Badeye; Bikers4Bush; ...

Ohio Ping
Cradle to work soviet style education coming to your community.

...passed by the GOP-controlled Senate on July 16. The similar “Student Success Act” was passed by the Republican-dominated House of Representatives on July 9. Now, the two versions of the legislation, which purport to re-authorize a dizzying array of unconstitutional federal “education” schemes, must be put together in conference.

snip

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the chief sponsor of the “community schools” measure in the Senate, celebrated his success. “Challenges at home can undermine classroom performance and leave students struggling to keep up,” Brown said

Snip

“This is modeled after the Soviet system,” said Charlotte Iserbyt, author of the book Deliberate Dumbing Down of America and a former senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Education. “It is part of a long-range plan outlined by the Carnegie Corporation to abolish local elected boards and use education to transform America from a capitalist system to a planned economy. The charter schools are a huge part of this agenda too because they already do not have elected boards, and the plan is to have unelected commissions and boards, at the same time as we move away from local tax funding of schools. We are watching it all happen right now. The simplest solution is to cut the international/federal/state umbilical cord!”


29 posted on 08/13/2015 7:11:51 AM PDT by Whenifhow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: St_Thomas_Aquinas

Mises wrote a book set before World War 1, where the communists take over everything. They take the children into communal centers, where parents can visit, but anything they bring is divided among the children, and the youngest child in the center dies from neglect when sick because there are too many to receive personal care. But because the children are with the most trained nurses and educators, the mother isn’t allowed to take the child and care for her, because the state literally knows best.


30 posted on 08/13/2015 7:20:52 AM PDT by tbw2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: HomerBohn
The Federal Government was never intended to have any role in civilian education, outside of the Federal territories. None!

Read the Constitution. By its very nature, education--that is real education--is inherently local. Indoctrination, on the other hand; indoctrination for life in a Police State, is an entirely different subject.

For a Conservative approach to education, see Education.

The Obama policy on "education," is a clear reflection of the war on nature, that has motivated the Left increasingly over the past two generations. It is what the obsession with "inequality" is all about. Anyone who really cares about people in need will understand that making equality of condition a goal, is the absolute enemy of human progress--an implication that human achievement is somehow wrong; and making envy, not application or emulation, the proffered remedy.

31 posted on 08/13/2015 7:36:33 AM PDT by Ohioan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HomerBohn

Our local school decided to stop ranking students. It would be so “unfair” you see....The valedictorian for the year refused to speak at graduation in protest. A lot of people couldn’t understand why he would do it. I was pretty blunt that I agreed with him and gave him kudos.


32 posted on 08/13/2015 8:28:15 AM PDT by reed13k (w)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: IC Ken
BTTT!
33 posted on 08/13/2015 8:29:15 AM PDT by Jane Long ("And when thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: tbw2
Who needs parents? Who wouldn't have preferred to be raised in a Soviet collective daycare?


34 posted on 08/13/2015 8:34:20 AM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas ( Isaiah 22:22, Matthew 16:19, Revelation 3:7)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: HomerBohn

They have manipulated young people into favoring gay marriage and transgenders. Now they can manipulate them into central planning of their whole lives.


35 posted on 08/13/2015 8:37:26 AM PDT by DungeonMaster (Of those born of women there is not risen one greater than John The Baptist.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HomerBohn

And don’t ask about cost because it’s for the children!


36 posted on 08/13/2015 8:38:46 AM PDT by DungeonMaster (Of those born of women there is not risen one greater than John The Baptist.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: magna carta
I pulled my 5th grade son out of Houston ISD and have been developing my own curriculum from online sources.

Congratulations! You won't regret it.

I despised my years in school and spent my 20s trying to figure out what happened to my head.

After researching the history of schooling, I found out that modern schooling is much more sinister than I even imagined.

I decided to homeschool long before I was even married. My wife and I have absolutely no regrets.

37 posted on 08/13/2015 8:40:05 AM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas ( Isaiah 22:22, Matthew 16:19, Revelation 3:7)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: HomerBohn

In 2010, Education Secretary Arne Duncan mused on a macabre vision of the school as the center of community life. “Schools need to be open 12, 13, 14 hours a day, six, seven days a week, 12 months out of the year, with a whole host of activities, particularly in disadvantaged communities,” he said on the PBS News Hour. This year, he upped the ante, declaring “Certain kids we should have 24/7…”


38 posted on 08/13/2015 8:49:30 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HomerBohn

After reading a number of early posts to this article I thought I’d bring up how this whole “Community Program” described in the article reeks of the stench of William (Bill) Ayers.

Just a thought.


39 posted on 08/13/2015 11:05:30 AM PDT by rockinqsranch ((Dems, Libs, Socialists, call 'em what you will. They ALL have fairies livin' in their trees.))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vinnie

>>School lunches has morphed into school lunches and breakfast.
What about summer vacation? Why let’s have a program to feed them over the summer.<<

If they register with the Family Resource office at the school, they can get a bag of food to take home for the weekend.


40 posted on 08/13/2015 11:12:32 AM PDT by ItsOurTimeNow (Cleganebowl 2016 - GET HYPE!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-44 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson