MERRIANNE’S EDUCATION UPDATES
Check out new info posted on the Issues for Parents page!
I’m still going to be very involved in education issues. I specifically want to inform parents and other taxpayers about the the Federal Curriculum enacted in 1994 which I recently found out about. I’m also still very opposed to the extremely expensive IB program which is sponsored by the UN and UNESCO. It is paid for with taxpayer dollars which go OUTSIDE of the United States!!
Good job everyone who voted for conservative values this last election!! We must keep pushing forward to restore the Constitution to it’s proper place as the guide to government’s role in our lives. To that end, we need to make sure that our children are educated as to the proper role of government, NOT indoctrinated to think that government is to take care of them.
Check out my latest post on Issues for Parents! House Democrats Pass Bill to Grill School Children about Sexual Preference
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And our current Education Secretary wants to make our children good little environmentalists!!! ARGHHH!!!http://visiontoamerica.org/story/education-secretary-vows-to-make-american-children-good-environmental-citizens.html
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6 Comments
Your candidacy gives me hope for America. This country is truly blessed to have the opportunity of a leader like you. Your common sense and patriotism will lead our children into the future. Thank you for wanting to hold our children accountable for American history! It is a travesty that our children are not exposed to direct standards about our Constitution. Children these days need a sensible, strong, leader to appropriate government money, not to throw it away on frivolous transportation and morning breakfasts! You truly know what you are talking about! God bless your motives for getting all the correct facts out there!
Thank you. I appreciate your comments.
Good morning Merrianne,
I was one of the parents at the MPAQS meeting last night. Thank you for taking time to be there to address the group. I would like to comment on your response to one of the questions asked of you last night, which happens to be a question I submitted.
In your opening statement, you made statements regarding Federal involvement in the schools, and the need to reduce said involvement. My question to you was “with the state unable to balance its budget, how do you propose reducing federal involvement/funding”. Your response, following a long, uncomfortable silence and an “I don’t know”, was a garbled “there has to be some way to do it” non-answer. You then proceeded to call my question a “loaded question” for which you “don’t have a glib response”.
Frankly, that last statement was galling. YOU put that out there, and the question I asked, as a concerned parent, was a legitimate one. It was not loaded, again, it was based on statements YOU made, and I felt it bore further clarification. And furthermore, I didn’t get a sitter for my children and drive in the awful weather to go listen to “glib responses”. Like the other parents/community members in attendance, I was there because I care. Because I want answers prior to heading to the polls. REAL answers, not “glib responses”. If you haven’t done your homework, and can’t back up statements you make, that’s on you, and shame on you for trying to save face by insulting the person who asked the question.
Jennifer Zakaras
Dear Jennifer:
You are absolutely right. I owe you – and everyone who attended Tuesday night – an apology. I made the statement and I should have been able to back it up. Not only was I nervous, I was not prepared enough. I certainly did not mean to insult you, and I did not mean to make a “glib response.” I regretted the statement the moment it was out. I was very pleased to see the large turnout despite the weather, and I know that everyone was there because they are concerned about their children and their schools. The questions were all very good ones, well thought out. They deserved well thought out answers.
I will do my best to answer your question, “With the state unable to balance its budget, how do you propose reducing federal involvement/funding?” I don’t know what all of the federal programs are, so I cannot speak to a specific one. If the federal funding went away and that was all that supported a particular program, the program might have to be dropped. The state, the school district and parents would have to decide if the program was worth keeping.
Right now the federal government is borrowing money to fund these programs, money that you and I and our progeny are obligated to pay back. At some point in time, the federal government will run out of money and will not be able to fund the programs any more. Then we as a state will be stuck with trying to figure out how to fund them or let them go. We need to start now to take back our schools and fund the programs Arizona parents want. I believe that we have educators and others in Arizona who would be able to do this.
As I’ve been campaigning, I’ve spoken to several teachers. Recently, I was told that a school administrator had gotten new office furniture while many of the students’ desks at the same school are literally falling apart.
I spoke to a school bus driver a couple of weeks ago. She said they have to inspect their buses each morning before they leave to make sure everything is working properly. They’ve always checked the bus over and written down anything that was wrong. Now they are using something called Zonar to check the buses instead. She and other bus drivers feel it is a waste of money.
We need to look at all levels of personnel from Administration on down to make sure that all are truly needed. Are any employees possibly “double-dipping,” meaning they’ve retired and been rehired. Are there jobs that could be combined or done by lower paid staff, thus reducing the higher paid position? I know at one of the school board meetings I attended, Dr. Cowan said they had recently reduced the number of Assistant Superintendents. I’m sure each Assistant Superintendent has their own support staff as well. With the additional loss in enrollment, perhaps there could be additional reductions in this area.
I believe there needs to be an independent audit of the Mesa School District books to see exactly where taxpayer funds are being spent. The district needs to post their expenditures online and make the information available for the taxpayers.
One federal program that I am aware of is No Child Left Behind, President Bush’s addition to the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965. It was supposed to do just that, leave no child behind. Instead, some children have been passed along from grade to grade and ended up graduating without being able to read. I’ve copied the following from an article by Phyllis Schlafly written in September 17, 2010:
“The No Child Left Behind Act, which allowed states to set their own public school standards for “proficiency,” is opposed and considered a failure by all factions in the education world. Therefore, we obviously should force all kids in every state to be held to uniform national standards of proficiency. Right?
No; wrong. But that bad idea is being aggressively promoted by the Obama Administration. The mailed fist in the velvet glove is the extraordinary river of taxpayers’ money used to force compliance.”
The states were required to put into place certain standards to qualify for NCLB funds. The ultimate result was that our education scores as a nation went down. If we told the federal government we weren’t going to comply with NCLB any more, we could conceivably get rid of the tests and paperwork associated with that program. While we wouldn’t get the money for the NCLB programs, this would free up teachers to actually teach rather than teach to a test and fill out endless reams of paperwork.
While Mike Hughes said that we need to make sure the teachers know that they are important and valued, in my conversations with Mesa teachers I have learned that:
• Many teachers do not feel like the administration listens to them. Often, when new programs are required, they have been developed by personnel who do not work in the classroom. The teachers feel that they do not have enough input into the programs that they are required to implement. The teachers are the ones who SHOULD be listened to. They know what works and what doesn’t work in their classrooms. We need to get input from the teachers regarding programs that might be cut.
• Out of approximately 4,000 teachers, only about 1,400 belong to the union (MEA). There is another professional organization with fewer members (Mesa Professional Educators), but the district and board only recognize the union (as stated in the district policy) for matters pertaining to policy. The majority of the teachers in the district do not belong to either organization, but they are not recognized by the superintendency or the board for important matters such as salary negotiations, textbook adoption and representation on committees. Again, this is stated in the district policy.We need input from ALL teachers.
I am not a politician, obviously. I am simply a concerned citizen. I was one of the silent majority who paid very little attention to politics until the current administration took office. Even though I’d read an overview of the duties of the school board, I did not realize everything that being a member entailed. When I made the decision to run for School Board, I was mainly concerned about the curriculum and the way the federal government is slowly taking over our education system by dangling money in front of the states. I believe that public education should be under state and local control, not federal government control.
I had just learned about the International Baccalaureate program which is sponsored by UNESCO and the UN. It is also one of the most expensive educational curriculums available. Then I read a book called, “From Crayons to Condoms.” It is a compilation of stories by parents, teachers and students from all over the United States who had objected to classes or ideas that had been brought into the classrooms that they felt were inappropriate. It details how they were ignored, threatened and/or ridiculed. I wanted to make sure that parents were informed about these things and that it was not happening in Arizona.
Since my decision to run, I have tried to learn as much as I could about Mesa schools, Arizona statutes and standards for education, ELL programs, federal programs, etc. I’ve looked at the School District budget and asked questions. Several times I was told “those are federal mandates.” One included in that statement is my question about a line item of $8.7 million for Desegregation. I was told that some of the money is used for ELL programs. I wasn’t told what the rest was used for.
There is still a lot I don’t know. If elected, it will take me a while to get up to speed on everything. The state and current board members seem willing to keep taking federal monies without even considering NOT taking them. This is more likely an issue that needs to be addressed the state level rather than the local school district level, but I believe that it definitely needs to be addressed NOW. I would like to be part of that.
I believe that our Constitution has been trampled on for way too long, and that we need to get back to using it as a standard for government. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that the federal government should control education. That is to be left to the States.
I appreciate your comments and your attendance Tuesday evening. Again, I apologize for my lack of preparedness, and I am very sorry that you felt insulted.
Merrianne Geisdorf
Merrianne -
I emailed you as well. But would like to state on your blog, since you were gracious about posting my comments, as well as taking time to fully address my concerns and original question, that I appreciate not only your apology, but the opportunity to gain a better understanding of your views and positions. Thank you very much!
Jennifer Z
There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with wanting our kids to be environmentally aware. However, I believe we PARENTS should be teaching this to our children, not the schools! I’ve been teaching my children and grandchildren about the environment by example for years. I recycle, clean up after myself, etc. Why do we need another “federally subsidized” school program with more federal strings in our schools? They are continuing to push Global Warming. I personally do NOT believe in Global Warming. We now seem to be having Cooling trends vs. Warming trends. I believe the earth is doing what it has always done – changing itself. We do need to be aware, not allow “junk” to be dumped in our waters and grounds. I hate that we have a “throw away” mentality. But I don’t believe we need to take away from essential learning time for students at school to push environmentalism. Also, please check out Sustanability on the Education Action Committee website, http://www.teach1776.ning.com. Thanks for checking out my website!