Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

440 the key to systems change.... Collaborative strategies, in which partners share a vision, estab lish common goals, and agree to use their power to achieve them are necessary; commitment of resources and willingness to alter existing policies are a vital part of such strategies. Most importantly, the children and families who participate in our education and hu man service systems are essential to its reinvention. They are indispensable partners with educators, human service professionals, business leaders, civic and religious leaders, leaders of community-based organizations, and other citizens in creating the profamily system that the guide envisions. The School-Linked Integrated Services Study Group consisted of representatives of: “In stitute for Educational Leadership, Washington, D.C.; Florida International University Human Resource Service Professional Development Center, Miami, Florida; Walbridge Elementary School, St. Louis, Missouri; National Center on Adult Literacy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Center for Collaboration for Children of California State University, Fullerton, California; Prince Georges County Public Schools, Suitland, Maryland; San Diego City Schools, San Diego, Cali fornia; Public School 146M, New York City; Savannah-Chatham County Youth Futures Authority, Savannah, Georgia [Anna Casey grant recipient which promoted school-based clinics]; School of Education at Stanford University, Stanford, California; Early Childhood and Family Education division of North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, Oak Brook, Illinois; Danforth Foun dation, St. Louis, Missouri; Cities in Schools, Charlotte, North Carolina; Community Education Leadership Project of the Institute for Educational Leadership, Washington, D.C.; Better Boys Foundation, Chicago, Illinois; National Center for Services Integration of Mathtech, Inc., Falls Church, Virginia; Community Schools of Rochester City School District, Rochester, New York; Clinic Services/Family Counseling Center of the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Boston, Massachusetts; Lansing School District, Lansing, Michigan; Parent Action, Baltimore, Maryland; New Jersey Department of Human Services, Trenton, New Jersey; School of the Future of El Centro Familiar Office of the Family Service Center, Houston, Texas; New York State Department of Education, Brooklyn, New York; Walbridge Caring Communities Program, St. Louis, Missouri; and a practicing psychologist.” In the interest of fully informing the reader of just exactly what these projects are about and hope to accomplish, the writer is including highlights of a two-part appendix which are so totally invasive and frightening in their implications that they should relegate George Orwell’s 1984 to the “light reading” stacks!

Appendix A Checklist 1 Process for Crafting a Profamily System of Education and Human Services

Stage One: Getting Together

• Has a small group decided to act? • Do the players meet the following criteria for membership in the collaborative: ___clout; ___commitment; and ___diversity? • Are the right people involved… • Have partners reflected on their work and celebrated their accomplishments?