Another entry in the Essay Contest, this one by Lindsey Ohlin.
**************
by Lindsey Ohlin
There are hundreds of reasons why I oppose the Common Core initiative, but all of them boil down to my support of the United States Constitution and the Natural Rights of Men. Not only is Common Core unconstitutional, but it also goes against my God-given rights as a parent to raise, guide, and educate my own children in the way I see fit.
The 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution established that the power to oversee and control education belonged to the states. Those powers which are not explicitly granted to the Federal Government by the Constitution are reserved to the States and the people. Education is NOT listed as a power granted to the Federal Government, and therefore it is the right of the states and the people to control the educational system at a local level. Not only does the Constitution NOT authorize the federal government to control our education system, but even the law that organized the U.S. Department of Education states that they are not authorized to “exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system […], or over the selection or content of library resources, textbooks, or other instructional materials by any educational institution or school system […].” (Department of Education Organization Act Section 103-b). This information alone is enough to tell me that Common Core overstretches the rights of the federal government and encroaches on our rights as Utahns.
Not only is Common Core unconstitutional and in violation of federal law, but it is also in violation of my beliefs in the Natural Law and the laws of God. As a firm believer in God and a belief that we are all children of our God, I know that I have been entrusted with a sacred stewardship over my children. I am to raise up my children in righteousness and look out for their best interest. In Proverbs, we are commanded as parents to “[t]rain up a child in the way he should go […]”; yet, somehow I missed the part where it commanded the government to take on that responsibility. It is my responsibility as the parent to stand guard over my children and ensure that the things they are being taught are in line with truth and decency. When the control of curriculum is taken away from the local school districts it is also taken away from the parents who have a say in who controls their school districts.
So basically, although I could go on and on about why I oppose the common core agenda, the two all-encompassing components of my reasoning boils down to the fact that without question it is unconstitutional and hinders my responsibility as a parent, entrusted to me by God, to raise and guide my child through this scary world we live in.
Abraham Lincoln measured by common core… introverted, shy beyond a fault, non communicative, unapproachable due to a near catatonia, unattractive in social settings, catatonic, unresponsive to hypotheticals, undriven to any decent purpose, uninvolved, introspective beyond a fault, unusable in team environments, possibly socially damaged, undriven or uninspired, overboard in questioning and answer seeking, motivated by nothing, querying little, over querying when querying, opinionated, sad, morose, unsocial, unattractive, bad genes, unusual and unwelcomed in social settings, ……
You get the idea, Common core can miss everything God hides in people which must be incubated over a greater period of incubation. Common core is mans lecherous pursuit to vainly assign worth by behavior in mundane circumstances driven mostly by an already established juvenile setting wheras most people aren’t released as adults until a far later period in their lives. This is corporate abuse of immature stages of life for deployment into irrationalities and life long grooming to executive wishes. This is an abandonment of freedom to crows pecking your eyes out starting at birth.