The federal government took away your Constitutional right to control education in our state. What that means is no matter how bad a job the federal government does with education (like it does with everything else) we are powerless to fix it. Our campaign is very simple. The government took your rights away. Do you want them back?
The U.S. Constitution grants the federal government 17 enumerated powers with which it may spend our tax money on. Education is not one of those powers. That means education is left up to the states under the Tenth Amendment and epitomizes our American form of government by delegating that power up to the local and state school boards to decide standards. Common Core takes away our right to that power so that means no matter how terrible a job the federal government does with education like it does with almost everything else there is nothing we can now do to stop it.
We can change that by repealing this law and that is what our campaign will do .
For sixteen months groups of activists across Maine tried to be heard but were not able to get their message out, then contacted the Maine Equal Rights Center.
August 14th, 2013 the Maine Equal Rights Center issues a press release announcing it’s campaign to repeal and nullify the Common Core Standards in Maine through a citizens initiative.
August 16th, 2013 Commissioner of Education Steve Bowen unexpectedly and abruptly announces his resignation.
August 21st, 2013 the Maine Equal Rights Center holds a press conference outside the Governors office.
September 5th, 2013 Governor LePage issues an Executive Order blocking the implementation of the standards.
Commissioner Bowen said in various media interviews in response to the Maine Equal Rights Center press conference in the Hall of Flags on August 21st that:
“This is a joint project of the states and the federal government did not have any involvement with it, they (the feds) did not give us any money to do it, they didn’t write it, it was a project of the joint governors and the state governors education committee, really the states are coming up with a common set of standards.”
The only problem is nothing Commissioner Bowen said is true. Let’s take a closer look at Commissioner Bowen’s remark.
Commissioner Bowen said Common Core was developed by the states so that is not true.
Commissioner Bowen said that the feds did not give the states any money to change the law but the fed was supposed to give the states money. 45 states have signed onto Common Core to win some of the 2009 stimulus money that was made available through a federal competition called Race to the Top (RTTT) and had to create or change laws to meet the requirements of the application.
Maine complied by making the changes to the law to do this and two years later we still have not seen one penny even though getting stimulus money was the sole reason law makers had to pass this “emergency legislation.”
Here is the timeline.
April 4, 2010 Governor Baldacci issued an Executive Order to “Convene Stakeholders to Begin Reviewing Evaluation Models That Meet Federal Race to the Top Criteria” where Governor Baldacci directs the Department of Education to convene the stakeholders group defined in LD 1799.
April 12, 2010 Maine passed LD 1800, “An Act to Adopt Common Core State Standards Initiative” as emergency legislation.
June 10, 2010 our Race To The Top (RTTT) application was submitted, which was before any Common Core standards were ever released.
On August 2, 2010 Acting Commissioner Angela Faherty puts forth a Proposed Rule Change for Adoption of Common Core Standards.
January 6th, 2011 Governor Paul LePage took office in 2011 and the CCSS was presented to the Education and Cultural Affairs committee.
March 7, 2011 the committee unanimously passed LD 12. Maine became the 42nd state to approve the Common Core State Standards.
April 1, 2011 when Governor LePage signed that bill into law.
The problem with all of this is the U.S. Constitution outlines what the federal government may spend money on in its enumerated powers and education is not one of those powers. This means the federal government has no business in education. By passing Common Core the government has taken away our Tenth Amendment rights which are vital to our system of checks and balances of power.
Also, nothing was more uniquely American about our form of government than our education system which allowed we the people and local school boards to control education.
Commissioner Bowen asked:
“What is the group calling for the repeal planning to do instead?”
The plan will restore our Tenth Amendment Constitutional rights and return power back to local people and communities to make decisions as to how their tax dollars are spent and how and what their children will learn instead of allowing fascist government and special interest groups.
Here is how you sum this issue up so that everyone can understand it. Just ask, "The federal government took away your Constitutional right to control education. Do you want your rights back?"
Below is a screen shot of the summary of the law the Maine Equal Rights Center wrote in response to this latest example government overreach and abuse of power.
The U.S. Constitution grants the federal government 17 enumerated powers with which it may spend our tax money on. Education is not one of those powers. That means education is left up to the states under the Tenth Amendment and epitomizes our American form of government by delegating that power up to the local and state school boards to decide standards. Common Core takes away our right to that power so that means no matter how terrible a job the federal government does with education like it does with almost everything else there is nothing we can now do to stop it.
We can change that by repealing this law and that is what our campaign will do .
For sixteen months groups of activists across Maine tried to be heard but were not able to get their message out, then contacted the Maine Equal Rights Center.
August 14th, 2013 the Maine Equal Rights Center issues a press release announcing it’s campaign to repeal and nullify the Common Core Standards in Maine through a citizens initiative.
August 16th, 2013 Commissioner of Education Steve Bowen unexpectedly and abruptly announces his resignation.
August 21st, 2013 the Maine Equal Rights Center holds a press conference outside the Governors office.
September 5th, 2013 Governor LePage issues an Executive Order blocking the implementation of the standards.
Commissioner Bowen said in various media interviews in response to the Maine Equal Rights Center press conference in the Hall of Flags on August 21st that:
“This is a joint project of the states and the federal government did not have any involvement with it, they (the feds) did not give us any money to do it, they didn’t write it, it was a project of the joint governors and the state governors education committee, really the states are coming up with a common set of standards.”
The only problem is nothing Commissioner Bowen said is true. Let’s take a closer look at Commissioner Bowen’s remark.
Commissioner Bowen said Common Core was developed by the states so that is not true.
Commissioner Bowen said that the feds did not give the states any money to change the law but the fed was supposed to give the states money. 45 states have signed onto Common Core to win some of the 2009 stimulus money that was made available through a federal competition called Race to the Top (RTTT) and had to create or change laws to meet the requirements of the application.
Maine complied by making the changes to the law to do this and two years later we still have not seen one penny even though getting stimulus money was the sole reason law makers had to pass this “emergency legislation.”
Here is the timeline.
April 4, 2010 Governor Baldacci issued an Executive Order to “Convene Stakeholders to Begin Reviewing Evaluation Models That Meet Federal Race to the Top Criteria” where Governor Baldacci directs the Department of Education to convene the stakeholders group defined in LD 1799.
April 12, 2010 Maine passed LD 1800, “An Act to Adopt Common Core State Standards Initiative” as emergency legislation.
June 10, 2010 our Race To The Top (RTTT) application was submitted, which was before any Common Core standards were ever released.
On August 2, 2010 Acting Commissioner Angela Faherty puts forth a Proposed Rule Change for Adoption of Common Core Standards.
January 6th, 2011 Governor Paul LePage took office in 2011 and the CCSS was presented to the Education and Cultural Affairs committee.
March 7, 2011 the committee unanimously passed LD 12. Maine became the 42nd state to approve the Common Core State Standards.
April 1, 2011 when Governor LePage signed that bill into law.
The problem with all of this is the U.S. Constitution outlines what the federal government may spend money on in its enumerated powers and education is not one of those powers. This means the federal government has no business in education. By passing Common Core the government has taken away our Tenth Amendment rights which are vital to our system of checks and balances of power.
Also, nothing was more uniquely American about our form of government than our education system which allowed we the people and local school boards to control education.
Commissioner Bowen asked:
“What is the group calling for the repeal planning to do instead?”
The plan will restore our Tenth Amendment Constitutional rights and return power back to local people and communities to make decisions as to how their tax dollars are spent and how and what their children will learn instead of allowing fascist government and special interest groups.
Here is how you sum this issue up so that everyone can understand it. Just ask, "The federal government took away your Constitutional right to control education. Do you want your rights back?"
Below is a screen shot of the summary of the law the Maine Equal Rights Center wrote in response to this latest example government overreach and abuse of power.
On August 14th the MERC issued a press release announcing it’s campaign to repeal Common Core. Two days later Education Commissioner Steve Bowen resigned. On August 21st the MERC held a press conference outside Governor LePages office and September 5th he issued an Executive Order blocking the standards.
Common Core passed was because it was considered “emergency legislation” to get federal stimulus money. It’s been four years and we still haven’t been paid.
Article 1 of our U.S. Constitution establishes the federal governments powers and education isn’t one of them. This means that power is left up to the states and local school boards. Common Core doesn’t have the authority to impose education standards which is why the feds had to bribe the states.
The Sun Journal published an article called ‘We Must Not Abandon Common Core’ and wrote, “We tried setting education standards locally. Didn’t work” and, “While it has an appealing ring, leaving standards up to local schools and school boards is inefficient and impractical.”
The Sun Journal just said your rights have a nice ring to them but are inefficient and impractical and a federal government with a 13% public approval rating can do a better job.
The Sun Journal adds, “One of the several flaws of No Child Left Behind was that it allowed states to set their own educational standards” and that isn’t correct. No Child Left Behind doesn’t let states set their own standards. The Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects our right to possess that power. We the people control education, not the federal government.
Communists argue since students do better in some states but worse in others underachievers will never be equal unless the government takes our Tenth Amendment rights away. The Tenth Amendment is states rights which gives local people power over a centralized government.
The Tenth Amendment also provides a system of checks and balances making it harder to overthrow our government. Instead of one centralized government you have 50 state governments and then all the individuals that make up those communities.
We aren’t a top down government where the 1 percent dictates mandates over the collective. We are from the ground up which protects individual rights.
The Tenth Amendment is a brilliant safety feature and Common Core deactivates that safety feature making a government takeover easier. THIS is why Common Core is dangerous and must be stopped. This is what the Maine Equal Rights Centers campaign will do.
When you hear that Common Core are “international” standards that is another way of saying not American.
Commissioner Bowen said if parents want local control then run for school board however that isn’t the case anymore because Common Core took away that right.
This means no matter how terrible a job the federal government does with education there is nothing we will be able to do because we lost those rights and that power.
Common Core is not only unconstitutional but criminal and violates three federal laws; the General Education Provisions Act, the Department of Education Organization Act and Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Do you really think the only way under achieving students will perform better is if the government takes away your rights? Do you really think violating three federal laws and bribing the states with money that was never paid is setting a good standard?
This is why we have local control and why we the people will vote on it. Common Core also attacks our parental rights, privacy rights and others.
If a student can’t read or write by the time they graduate high school taking away peoples rights will not change that.
Common Core is another Trojan horse used to progressively take over our government.
The United States Constitution limit’s the power of a centralized government because when it gets to a certain point government is no longer accountable to the people. That is when bad things happen.
Our campaign will repeal Common Core, restore our Tenth Amendment rights and power back to the people.
Common Core passed was because it was considered “emergency legislation” to get federal stimulus money. It’s been four years and we still haven’t been paid.
Article 1 of our U.S. Constitution establishes the federal governments powers and education isn’t one of them. This means that power is left up to the states and local school boards. Common Core doesn’t have the authority to impose education standards which is why the feds had to bribe the states.
The Sun Journal published an article called ‘We Must Not Abandon Common Core’ and wrote, “We tried setting education standards locally. Didn’t work” and, “While it has an appealing ring, leaving standards up to local schools and school boards is inefficient and impractical.”
The Sun Journal just said your rights have a nice ring to them but are inefficient and impractical and a federal government with a 13% public approval rating can do a better job.
The Sun Journal adds, “One of the several flaws of No Child Left Behind was that it allowed states to set their own educational standards” and that isn’t correct. No Child Left Behind doesn’t let states set their own standards. The Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects our right to possess that power. We the people control education, not the federal government.
Communists argue since students do better in some states but worse in others underachievers will never be equal unless the government takes our Tenth Amendment rights away. The Tenth Amendment is states rights which gives local people power over a centralized government.
The Tenth Amendment also provides a system of checks and balances making it harder to overthrow our government. Instead of one centralized government you have 50 state governments and then all the individuals that make up those communities.
We aren’t a top down government where the 1 percent dictates mandates over the collective. We are from the ground up which protects individual rights.
The Tenth Amendment is a brilliant safety feature and Common Core deactivates that safety feature making a government takeover easier. THIS is why Common Core is dangerous and must be stopped. This is what the Maine Equal Rights Centers campaign will do.
When you hear that Common Core are “international” standards that is another way of saying not American.
Commissioner Bowen said if parents want local control then run for school board however that isn’t the case anymore because Common Core took away that right.
This means no matter how terrible a job the federal government does with education there is nothing we will be able to do because we lost those rights and that power.
Common Core is not only unconstitutional but criminal and violates three federal laws; the General Education Provisions Act, the Department of Education Organization Act and Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Do you really think the only way under achieving students will perform better is if the government takes away your rights? Do you really think violating three federal laws and bribing the states with money that was never paid is setting a good standard?
This is why we have local control and why we the people will vote on it. Common Core also attacks our parental rights, privacy rights and others.
If a student can’t read or write by the time they graduate high school taking away peoples rights will not change that.
Common Core is another Trojan horse used to progressively take over our government.
The United States Constitution limit’s the power of a centralized government because when it gets to a certain point government is no longer accountable to the people. That is when bad things happen.
Our campaign will repeal Common Core, restore our Tenth Amendment rights and power back to the people.
