Please visit Truth in American Education:

Truth in American Education (TAE) shines a beacon of light directly on the government’s behind-the-scenes efforts to drastically alter American education. As taxpayers, parents and concerned citizens, we believe that proper respect for the American people requires that major educational changes be subject to an open and public discussion prior to approval and implementation, not the other way around.

In particular, TAE focuses on the interrelated system of national standards, national curriculum and national testing connected to Washington’s Race to the Top (RTTT) program, although both the RTTT program and the proposed reauthorization of the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, whose most recent reauthorization appeared as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, also presented historic changes in public education. The top-down mandates and billions of dollars spent according to the NCLB Act did little to benefit improved education results for all students.

Americans rightly have voiced these concerns that we address:

• Operating outside of the system of checks and balances that Americans rely on is dangerous to our freedoms. They are an affront to parents’ rights, the 10th Amendment and our tradition of local control over education.
• The mixing of public, corporate and foundation money without proper accountability is troublesome, as taxpayers contribute a significant portion of education funding.
• A one-size-fits-all set of national standards, curriculum and testing controlled by a few will affect us all.
• Impacts to public school, private school and home school education will be felt, as mandates increase and curriculum choices will diminish.
• Students are not widgets and require individualized learning. More top-down control is not in the best interests of educating individual students.

Truth in American Education provides information to parents, taxpayers, school board members, educators and legislators who are concerned about these issues. At the heart of it, the disposition of these issues will determine whether the federal government and elite, special interest groups have the right to form the hearts and minds of children and whether we will reject, or affirm, the concepts laid down by our founding principles.

Current information about the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI), CCSSI-related assessments, RTTT, privacy issues, state longitudinal data systems (SLDS), and the ESEA is provided for individuals and organizations to understand and to take action on behalf of our students.

The CCSSI is a major connecting thread tying the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), CCSS assessments, RTTT, SLDS, and ESEA together. The assessments developed by two non-public entities, the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC), will assess the CCSS. PARCC and SBAC are funded with RTTT grant funds. RTTT criteria called for states to adopt common standards and implement longitudinal data systems. Student assessment data will be included in the state longitudinal data systems (SLDS). The reauthorization of ESEA/NCLB, A Blueprint for Reform, promotes the adoption of common standards and will require SLDS.