Workers for the 21st Century

Beyond Goals 2000
Author

The battle of the decade is upon us and the majority of Christian parents are snoozing through it. The outcome will determine whether or not your children or grandchildren will be raised in the Christian faith. Such language is alarmist but for one thing: it's true.

You are about to be barraged with a media propaganda blitz designed to push the federal government's case for seizing control of education. You will hear buzz words like "voluntary," "partnership," "involvement," "competing in the 21st Century," and "national standards"-all designed to convey a cushy glow about the future of education. The reality is a far cry from the PR.

The Careers Act (School-to-Work) is the last major plank of a federal education plan involving Goals 2000 and Outcome-Based Education to rip control from local school boards and states. It is being conceived and executed largely by unelected officials, psychologists, and education "experts" in private organizations or foundations through "partnerships" with the Departments of Labor and Education. Although currently called "voluntary," it is being mandated to the states by financial blackmail. "Careers" is a product of the National Center for Education and the Economy, an organization dedicated to unifying education and employment. NCEE was founded following a 1986 report entitled A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century, which called for fundamental restructuring of American schools. It involves such socialist left luminaries as Marc Tucker, Ira Magazine and Hillary Clinton.

Now their plan for converting education by "restructuring" is at our door and will abolish education as we have known it, converting it into a process whereby workers are trained rather than educating human beings. It is based on the Russian system of indoctrination used so effectively for decades in the Soviet Union. Unknown to most Americans are the mid-1980s education exchange agreements between the U.S. and the Soviets. We gave them technology and they explained to us how to brainwash children.

"Work Permits" Required

A Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM) will replace diplomas. According to the NCEE, the Certificate of Initial Mastery is "what everyone in the society ought to know and be able to do to be successful at work, as a citizen and as a family member."

It will be virtually impossible for anyone in society to obtain a job without the CIM. According to NCEE, those who meet the outcome standards "will receive a Certificate of Initial Mastery, further education and good jobs." Workers who do not possess CIMs "will be condemned to dead-end jobs that leave them in poverty even if they are working." Those of us following this agenda know that very quickly it will become illegal to hire anyone without a CIM.

Lifelong Learning

The system also features "lifelong learning," whereby workers already in the work force will be monitored by a computerized national database containing everyone's (and we mean everyone's) academic and psychological work profiles as well as their career history. This is modeled after the Communist Chinese Dangan system.

When educrats talk about CIM standards, they're not talking about the ability to read and write, do math and know facts. The outcomes for the CIM are loaded with sociological "outcomes," many of which follow politically correct thought and behavior guidelines. Students will be assessed on how well they are "quality producers," "self-directed learners," "involved citizens," "constructive thinkers," "effective communicators," "understand diversity," "deliberate on public issues," and a host of vague, relative outcomes.

Private and home schoolers will not be exempt. The educrats are well aware of the massive hemorrhage of students from public to private education; the new system is all-or-nothing and cannot afford to let private and home schoolers jump off. These groups can expect massive legal coercion to conform to the system. Just the fact that a CIM will be required for a job will be the first major threat to begin with.

The bottom line is that the new educational system will resemble nothing of the previous one. It is being called voluntary but is being forced on states by withholding federal funds from those that don't comply. The new standards are anything but academic but are designed to create a compliant work force in a politically correct thinking mold. Since these values will be required and will clearly often be in conflict with the Christian world-view, it is easy to see where the collisions are going to occur.

The entire education agenda consists of an interlocking set of laws, government departments and foundations. When one zooms back and views all the interactive parts as a whole, the future is nothing short of horrifying. The time to become involved is now. If you don't, you were warned.