Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

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The Noxious Nineties : c. 1998

1998

T HE A MERICAN I NSTITUTE FOR C HARACTER E DUCATION (AICE), A LEADING DEVELOPER OF character education materials, funded by grants from the Lilly Endowment as well as other foundations and best known for its development of materials for the Thomas Jefferson Research Center’s controversial character education program, transferred its assets to Learning for Life in 1998. Information downloaded from Learning for Life’s website reveals that Learning for Life is extending AICE’s curriculum development efforts into the area of “school-to-careers” (school to-work). One of its brochures states that: Learning for Life can provide the basis for operating and meeting the goals of the School-to Work Opportunities Act of 1994 . The Act has three basic components that are used to accom plish its goals: school-based learning, connecting activities, and work-based learning. Before a School-to-Careers program is developed, an assessment is conducted to de termine precisely how the Learning for Life program can help the school or school system help the students address the transition from school to careers. Only after this is done can a program be designed to help meet the school’s needs. Learning for Life will become a catalyst for establishing relationships between com munity-based organizations, including both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, and the local school district, selected schools, and students…. • Camps, retreats, conferences and workshops • COPE courses, with team building, leadership, self-reliance, respect for self and others, and self-esteem • Community-wide service projects, such as food drives, crime prevention programs, and service learning • Program resources, such as leadership development workshops and scholarship opportunities • Ethics in Action in Exploring: Five components that assist with the development of ethical decision-making. [Ed. Note: The last “connecting activity” listed in Learning for Life’s materials should be of par ticular concern for parents upset over the Thomas Jefferson Research Center Curriculum.] I N 1998 THE E UROPEAN C OMMISSION D IRECTORATE G ENERAL OF E DUCATION , T RAINING and Youth in Brussels, Belgium announced the availability of their Leonardo da Vinci Programme Co operation in Higher Education and Vocational Education Document entitled “Cooperation in Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training between the European Community and the United States of America—Third Call for Proposals. Launching Date: 17 February 1998.” Excerpts from the announcement taken from the Internet follow: On 23 October 1995, the Council adopted a decision concerning the conclusion of an agree ment for cooperation in higher education and vocational training between the European Community and the United States of America. The Cooperation Programme aims to add a new European Community/United States dimension to student-centered cooperation and Some of Learning for Life’s connecting activities are listed as: