Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

302 O N N OVEMBER 11, 1992, SEVERAL DAYS AFTER THE 1992 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION , M ARC Tucker, director of the National Center on Education and the Economy in Rochester, New York, wrote a letter to Hillary Clinton on NCEE letterhead in which he outlined a lifelong, (socialist) workforce agenda, most of which—interestingly enough—had no problem being approved by a Republican-controlled Congress within three years. 24 (See Appendix XV and XVIII.) The letter’s introductory paragraph stated: I still cannot believe you won! But utter delight that you did pervades all the circles in which I move. I met last Wednesday in David Rockefeller’s [Jr.] office with him, John Sculley [Apple Computer executive] et al. It was a great celebration. Both John and David R. were more expansive than I have ever seen them—literally radiating happiness. My own view and their’s is that this country has seized its last chance.... …We propose, first, that the President appoint a national council on human resource development.... It would be established in such a way to assure continuity of membership across administrations, so that the consensus it forges will outlast any one administration.... Second, we propose that a new agency be created, the National Institute for Learning, Work and Service. A MERICAN F EDERATION OF T EACHERS AFFILIATE , THE P HILADELPHIA F EDERATION OF T EACH ers, stated its opposition to Outcome-Based Education (OBE) in a November 20, 1992 letter to Pennsylvania state senators as follows: OBE should be a pilot project at best, and tested in several schools as a welcome addition to the existing Carnegie Units. It should not be implemented statewide because it could be a costly disaster. OBE has no grade designations. OBE has minimal “benchmark” designations. There are no time designations. For example, a student completes all English requirements in one and one-half years. This student is not required to further develop English skills in the remaining two and one-half years of his/her high school career. There are NO safety nets for students. OBE is really non-graded schools and non-graded classrooms. It is a very dishonest approach to slipping this whole structure into place. Parents, teachers, and students have a right to honestly discuss these very important educational plans. We would appreciate your support in the closing days of this legislative session to block any implementation of Outcomes-Based Education here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. S CHOOL ’ S O UT : A R ADICAL N EW F ORMULA FOR THE R EVITALIZATION OF A MERICA ’ S E DUCA tional System by Lewis J. Perelman was published (Avon Books: New York, 1992). The book’s cover stated that: Dr. Perelman earned his doctorate in social policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Edu cation. A Senior Fellow of the Discovery Institute, he was formerly Director of Project Learning 2000—a study of restructuring education and training sponsored by nine U.S. corporations and foundations. George Gilder, author of Wealth and Poverty , also recommended the book by Perelman as follows: “A compulsively readable rush to a vital new paradigm for technology and learn-