\doc\web\97\09\kitchmi.txt http://www2.southwind.net/~educate/bob22.html Governors, CEOs to Mold Education Policy in Private by Robert Holland Richmond Times-Dispatch March 13, 1996 God bless the establishment. Many are the contributions that Americans with money and power make to civic improvement. Noblesse oblige? Nothing necessarily wrong with that if it improves the lot of less fortunate people within a framework of freedom. But when a major initiative by the Big Boys of government and business, indeed one on a national scale, derails because of the resistance of everyday folks all across the country, shouldn't the establishment sit down with the common folk, hear their concerns, and consider shifting course? Guess not. Not in the case of the faltering effort to implement National Education Goals that President Bush and the nation's governors launched at a summit of the elite in 1989 at the University of Virginia (America 2000), and that the Clintons subsequently put the combined muscle of the Education and Labor departments behind. The establishment is now rallying to salvage the top/down standards-setting, for which the Clintons' Goals 2000, enacted in 1994, provides the bureaucratic infrastructure. When the second National Education Summit convenes March 26 at the IBM conference center in Palisades, New York, participation ''will be limited to 130 people, including all Governors (40 had accepted as of Monday), one key business leader from each state invited by the Governor, and a limited number of others, such as educators, state legislators, and chief state school officers,'' according to an announcement from the National Governors Association. The press will be allowed in the front door for a technology dog-and-pony show and press conferences, but most of the two-day powwow will be behind closed doors, according to an agenda distributed by IBM. At ''breakout sessions'' the first afternoon, for example, ''governors and business leaders will be clustered into six groups to discuss strategies and barriers to developing and implementing standards, new assessments, and new technologies. Each group will be facilitated by a governor and business leader who will summarize discussion for the group.'' Question: Should governors who are elected to represent the people, and their will for the education of the young, stand for such ''facilitated'' secret meetings? After all, this is not to be just an informal chat. According to the advisory, the summit ''will seek agreement on a policy statement that establishes a series of measurable goals to be achieved during the next two years.'' Public policy should be made in public. That's the purpose of local, state, and federal Freedom of Information laws. Conspicuously left off the guest list are the customers of public education, the everyday parents who supply the children and the bulk of taxes to support the schools. Funny, I thought customer service was supposed to be the hallmark of modern corporations. OH YES, the hosts -- IBM chairman and CEO Louis Gerstner and Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, chairman of both the NGA and the Education Commission of the States -- are inviting one new participant to the summit: the National Education Association. The February 26 issue of U.S. News & World Report documents how the NEA is stifling good teaching, rewarding mediocrity, and throwing bureaucratic roadblocks in the way of genuine reform. But the NEA is plenty big -- 2.5-million dues-paying (not always willingly) members -- so I suppose it's only right that the NEA be asked to caucus with the other Big Boys. I know the word ''militia'' makes the bigwigs nervous, but they really should invite in one branch described on computer bulletin boards by Chey Simonton from out in Washington State. Chey is a feisty grandmom who is the West Coast coordinator of the National Citizens Alliance. The real story, says Chey, is not the men who gather in the piney wood to tote guns. Nope, it's the Kitchen Militia that has the firepower. ''We are thousands of mothers- and grandmothers-cum-researchers located in every state of the country. We have micro-researched every facet of the so-called 'restructuring'. . . . In short, if there is any program or agenda we perceive as a threat to our families, somewhere there is a Kitchen Militia mother who tracks it down and gets the word out on the grapevine; radio call-in shows, fax networks, audio cassette, video tape, or any other jungle drum available. ''We're not armed with guns! Guns are so messy. . . . We've got congressional rec-cords, legislation, and official documents. We document whatever we say and hoard quotes from air-head politicians like a miser hoards his gold. The media dismiss us as the Christian Right, although Christians, Jews, Buddhists, and atheists are all involved in this relentless research and dissemination. . . . ''We are the most dangerous threat to the 'restructuring' of this nation. Remember the old slogan, 'The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.' This is fair warning. The fastest-growing militant group in this country is the Kitchen Militia. Our numbers swell every day, every time some new piece of socialist garbage is introduced that threatens our families.'' Indeed, intelligent women across the country are leading the way in questioning the squishy working-in-a-group kinds of standards they see as the product of the power elite's collaboration. One of the most articulate among them, Peg Luksik of Pennsylvania, called this The Battle of All Mothers (with no apologies to Saddam Hussein). SOMEHOW I doubt the Kitchen Militia is mightily impressed that an advance discussion paper for the Palisades summit refers to the ''world-class'' education standards the governors are to adopt after their facilitated secret meetings. Ah, the elusive ''world-class'' education standard -- much invoked since 1989 but never defined. Will the Big Boys explain exactly what in tarnation they mean and provide concrete examples? The Guvs also will ''pledge to make curriculum and technology decisions based on reaching those standards.'' Excuse me, but when did governors start writing curricula? Regarding technology, the summiteers, even before gathering, are convinced that ''if applied thoughtfully and well-integrated into a curriculum, (it) can be used to boost student performance and ensure a competitive edge for our workforce.'' Well, the Kitchen Militia is certainly well-practiced in the technological arts. However, there are legitimate questions about the utilitarian motives behind wiring every classroom, and the effect on the depth of each child's education. And some wonder, too, about the vested interest that IBM, the world's largest computer manufacturer, has in convincing governors and legislators to spend mega-bucks on buying its product. Unless the Big Boys satisfy the Kitchen Militia that children really will be better educated, they can forget their grand plan. It will continue to be a grand flop. ******************************************************************* Click here to send comments to Robert Holland. http://www.techmgmt.com/restore/kitchen.htm Attn: Letters to the Editor Re: The Kitchen Militia Dear Sirs: I have been following the media-hyped concerns over the various growing militia movements across the nation. I must say that the media is once again in the Johnny-Come Lately mode in accurately covering this movement. The REAL STORY is not about the men's patriot movement where a few GI-Joe-Style gun totin' guys get together once in awhile; the REAL STORY is the Kitchen Militia that has been called to arms around this nation since George Bush first acted upon his announcement to become "The Education President". We are thousands of mothers and grandmothers-cum-researchers located in every state of this country. We have micro-researched every facet of the so-called "restructuring" and in the process have become experts on the United Nations, the US-Soviet Education, Technology and Cultural Exchange Agreements, federal and state legislation (past and present), philosophy, sociology, psychology, and pedagogy. In short, if there is any program or agenda we perceive as a threat to our families, somewhere there is a Kitchen Militia mother who tracks it down and gets the word out on the grapevine radio call-in shows, fax networks, audio cassette, video tape or any other jungle drum available. We're not armed with guns. Guns are so messy... we have Congressional Records, legislation and official documents. We have documentation to prove whatever we say and hoard quotes from air-head politicians like a miser hoards his gold. The media dismisses us as the Christian Right; although Christians, Jews, Buddhists and atheists are all involved in this relentless research and dissemination. Our numbers include people in government agencies and local school districts. We are the most dangerous threat to the "restructuring" of this nation. Remember the old slogan, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." This is fair warning. The fastest growing militant group in this country is the Kitchen Militia. Our numbers swell every day, every time some new piece of socialist garbage is introduced that threatens our families. Written by: Chey Simonton, National Citizens Alliance, West Coast Coordinator PO Box 610 Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043 HM (206) 367-0529 KITCHEN MILITIA PRAYER Heavenly Father, grant us strength, direction, and guidance so that we might protect our children; our families, and our beloved country, America. Give us wisdom to awaken and activate our fellow slumbering citizens, so that we might remain a free people; a free nation. Open our eyes and enlighten us to the oppression and tyranny of Big Government. You are our Master, Lord,--not government--- We bow only to Thee, not Caesar! Grant us wisdom and courage to guard against all attempts to subvert, violate, or alter our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Deliver us from compromise, pragmatism, and those politicians who would sell their birthright of freedom for expediency, power and control, and earthly riches. Grant us discernment enabling us to expose and defeat the dismantling of our American sovereignty as a nation. Instill in us a yearning for a return to our heritage, our identity, and a true understanding of our historical traditions that have made our country so richly blessed. Grant us mercy for obedience, not to deceivers and traitors in our midst, but to a Just and Merciful God we surrender and ask forgiveness . Create in us a will that tolerates no surrender to the Enemies of Freedom. We reclaim America in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen! Carolyn Lanham Kitchen Militia 2750 LaRosa Drive Grove City, Ohio 43123 Phone 614-539-0543 Fax 614-539-1669 http://www.speakeasy.org/~civic/environm.htm Property Rights Groups Freedom 2000 USA Chey Simonton, 206.367.0529, PO Box 610, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043. http://www.netins.net/showcase/conscience/cc_index.htm The Christian Conscience P.O. Box 17346 Des Moines, IA 50317-0346 DECEMBER 1996: THE PIED PIPER The Corporate Takeover of American Education, Roxanne Sitler --A riveting exposé about how the nation's governors are working in concert with top corporate excutives to enforce educational reform. The Rockefeller/Heritage Connection, Chey Simonton --If you thought the Heritage Foundation was a beneficial conservative think tank, think again! The History of OBE/Mastery Learning, Part 3, Charlotte Iserbyt --B.F. Skinner's influence on education in the 1960s.