The Destruction of the First Amendment of the US Constitution

• APRIL 3, 2012
• BY: ROBERT SOBEL

Growing up, you probably remember doing or saying something that got you in trouble and a common response was often "it's a free country!" The United States is a free country, in a sense at least. The First Amendment is always looked at as free speech, but there's more to it than just saying whatever you want. The First Amendment is clear in what it says, but sometimes it's interpreted by others to gain points politically.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The opening line of the First Amendment gives Americans across the country the right to believe in any religion or lack of religion they want, but the First Amendment also makes it clear that the United States will not make any establishment of religion and no religion will be forced on any American.

Over the last few years, the Republican party has taken a hard right turn in the political spectrum. The far right views of the Republican party are showing in all political aspects, whether its economic policy, social issues or foreign policy. The place where the extreme conservatism is showing the most is in their attack on science, education and facts and evidence.

The Republican base is growing in size with evangelical Christians making up a large majority. While conservatives often talk about their love for the Constitution, the Republican evangelicals seem to ignore many parts of the document and it starts with the First Amendment. Conservatives see the United States as a "Christian Nation," but the founders never intended for that to be the case. Some of the Founding Fathers were Christian, some believed in a higher power, but wanted no part of organized religion and others wanted to no part of either.

In Florida, the religious war on science and education is at the top of the "to do list" for the Republican party. In March of 2012, the state Republican party pushed through a bill that would make it legal to impose religious prayer in public schools. Traditionally, religious practice in public schools was not allowed, following the Separation of Church and State as described in the U.S Constitution and the words of Thomas Jefferson. In a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut on January 1,1802, Jefferson made it clear about the wall of separation between church and state.

"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."

Letting religious aspects into public, taxpayer funded areas will start to tear down the wall of separation. In March of 2012, the Republican controlled state Senate in Tennessee passed HB 368, also known as the "anti-evolution" bill. The bill would promote the religious story of "creation" to be taught side by side with the scientifically proven theory of evolution. Nearly 99% of all scientists back evolution, and the remaining one percent who side with the story of "creationism" are often evangelicals who to school to gain a degree. Forcing the stories of the Bible into a science classroom does nothing but distort facts and reason and take away proper education from millions of American children.

In many Christian private schools, they often use history books like U.S History from a Christian Perspective. These radical right wing textbooks don't teach accurate history, but instead push an extreme form of conservatism that only distorts proper history that is being forced on many American children. This education is now being attempted to be put into pubic schools, as the Texas State Board of Education has revised many of their history books to eliminate much of Thomas Jefferson's impact on America and claims that Communists were a legit and major threat to the country. Many historians have spoken out about these changes saying that they are "historically inaccurate and that they would affect textbooks and classrooms far beyond the state's borders."

The Republican war on science and education is at an all-time high and they are using one of the worlds most dangerous weapons to lead the attack, religion. Religion is a weapon, and like any weapon, when put into the hands of someone with bad intentions, only a bad result will occur. If conservatives and others around the country want to follow the beliefs of Christianity they have every right to do so, but it should stop there. Americans personal, private beliefs should stay in their own homes, with those who share the same beliefs as they do and not into the public sector where others might think differently. We must all respect people with different beliefs, but not judge others because they think differently. The wall of separation must remain high and strong so that the United States can continue to move forward.

A Very Pricey Pineapple

Gail Collins/ by Earl Wilson NYT

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OP-ED COLUMNIST New York Times
By GAIL COLLINS Published: April 27, 2012

 Let's talk about "Talking Pineapples."

Actually (spoiler alert!) I’m going to use the pineapple as a sneaky way to introduce the topic of privatization of public education. I was driven to this. Do you know how difficult it is to get anybody to read about “privatization of education?” It’s hell. A pineapple, on the other hand, is something everybody likes. It’s a symbol of hospitality. Its juice is said to remove warts. And you really cannot beat the talking-fruit angle.

This month, New York eighth graders took a standardized English test that included a story called “The Hare and the Pineapple,” in which you-know-what challenges a hare to a race. The forest animals suspect that since the pineapple can’t move, it must have some clever scheme to ensure victory, and they decide to root against the bunny. But when the race begins, the pineapple just sits there. The hare wins. Then the animals eat the pineapple. The end.

There were many complaints from the eighth graders, who had to answer questions like: “What would have happened if the animals had decided to cheer for the hare?” They were also supposed to decide whether the animals ate the pineapple because they were hungry, excited, annoyed or amused. (That part bothered me a lot. We’ve got a talking pineapple here, people. You don’t just go and devour it for having delusions of grandeur.)

Teachers, parents and education experts all chimed in. Nobody liked the talking pineapple questions. The Daily News, which broke the story, corralled “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings, who concluded that “the plot details are so oddly chosen that the story seems to have been written during a peyote trip.”

The state education commissioner, John King, announced that the questions would not count in the official test scores. There was no comment from the test author. That would be Pearson, the world’s largest for-profit education business, which has a $32 million five-year contract to produce New York standardized tests.

Now — finally — we have tumbled into my central point. We have turned school testing into a huge corporate profit center, led by Pearson, for whom $32 million is actually pretty small potatoes. Pearson has a five-year testing contract with Texas that’s costing the state taxpayers nearly half-a-billion dollars.

This is the part of education reform nobody told you about. You heard about accountability, and choice, and innovation. But when No Child Left Behind was passed 11 years ago, do you recall anybody mentioning that it would provide monster profits for the private business sector?

Me neither.

It’s not just the tests. No Child Left Behind has created a system of public-funded charter schools, a growing number of which are run by for-profit companies. Some of them are completely online, with kids getting their lessons at home via computer. The academic results can be abysmal, but on the plus side — definitely no classroom crowding issues.

Pearson is just one part of the picture, albeit a part about the size of Mount Rushmore. Its lobbyists include the guy who served as the top White House liaison with Congress on drafting the No Child law. It has its own nonprofit foundation that sends state education commissioners on free trips overseas to contemplate school reform.

An American child could go to a public school run by Pearson, studying from books produced by Pearson, while his or her progress is evaluated by Pearson standardized tests. The only public participant in the show would be the taxpayer.

If all else fails, the kid could always drop out and try to get a diploma via the good old G.E.D. The General Educational Development test program used to be operated by the nonprofit American Council on Education, but last year the Council and Pearson announced that they were going into a partnership to redevelop the G.E.D. — a nationally used near-monopoly — as a profit-making enterprise.

“We’re a capitalist system, but this is worrisome,” said New York Education Commissioner King.

The Obama administration has been trying to tackle the astronomical costs of 50 different sets of standardized tests by funding efforts by states to develop shared models — a process you will be stunned to hear is being denounced by conservatives like Gov. Rick Perry of Texas as “a federal takeover of public schools.”

Education Secretary Arne Duncan has also begun giving out waivers from the requirement that children in failing public schools be given after-school tutoring. Idea sounded great. Hardly helped the kids at all. But no for-profit tutoring company was left behind.

The pushback against privatization isn’t easy. We’re now in a world in which decisions about public education involve not just parents and children and teachers, but also big profits or losses for the private sector. Change the tests, or the textbooks, or the charters, or even the rules for teacher certification, and you change somebody’s bottom line.

It’s a tough world out there. Ask the talking pineapple.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
MY THOUGHTS:

Those who support Privatizing of government services claim that by privatizing public services they will be more competitive, hire higher quality workers, be more efficient with money, because they are profit driven and reduce cost to the consumer.

Gail Collins in her short OP-ED piece starts the dialogue about the implications of this approach. Starting with education she is clearly showing how corrupt the system becomes when profit is the motivator.

Just look at the Utah charter school system:

This message from Chris Bleak for the recent legislative session.
Chris Bleak – Head of State Charter School Assoc. – Ed is critical to state. We need fantastic ed system. Charters have grown at rapid rate since 10-12 yrs. 81 charters currently, 45,000 now, 50,000 students next yr. Lumped as 5th or 4th biggest district. Students chosing b/c so good. Focusing on disadvantaged students. Carolyn Sharette has 2 schools in SL Valley. For new immigrants. PProvide comp. 7.6% of all students. Facilities are biggest charter problem. Critical to way teach. They pay much higher % rate than normal districts. Districts can use full faith and credit state’s AAA credit rating.3 3.5 4 % Charters paying 7, 7.5, 8% despite state schools. Original charter ideas of renovating existing bldgs is not feasible b/c school bldg codes too strict. $ back to east coast bond firms. 1. Working with State Treasurer, Richard Ellis, Valentine, industry folks, to allow “moral obligation” AA rating which would save $100,000 to $150,000 per year for carters. 2. Only to those w/ strong track record of finan success, fgood management. Need Investment Grade Rating—many in state have now. No charter in country has failed in 20 yrs w/ Investment Grade Rating. Even with 2 economic downturns. 3. Create funding, State Charter Reserve Acct. Pay premium from rates to create insurance if there were a problem to protect state. Currently required to have 1-yr reserve anyway, other protections. Save $150-200 k yr per $10 mill in debt. More than 100 k in transaction fees. More buyers b/c more attractive bonds.
? W/ reg schools, district is responsible entity. Charters, the Assoc. is respon entity? Group that gets charter is governing board. Have open meeting, reporting req.s Non-profit. They bond for their school. ? WPU funding follows all students? [Weird question.] This is a state funded public school. Income $ follow. Charters manage operations off WPU.
?What is context of “moral obligation” that gets ;lower rate? State responsible if default? Some Steve guy with Bleak– County provided rate for 9 charters but not respon. Moral oblige for all students. ? Why bank would give 3% less? Not contractually required for state to back loan. But I believe state would. So better rate b/c of State's "almost" promise.

I often wonder if Utah Senator (R) Howard Stephenson has some monetary gain in his push for charter schools. He is also the chairman of the Senate Education Committee and has introduced countless bills to enhance the financial benefits of charter school owners and deplete funding to the public school districts.

He states that the class sizes are smaller, thus the students have higher test scores. But an independent review found no difference in outcome of test scores between charter schools and public schools. In fact the cost per student is rising for the charter school student and flat for the public school student. So I would suggest that the budget increase for charter schools is directly related to the profitability of the company that owns the "non-profit" entity that is contracted to operate the charter school. The profit is passed from the non-profit entity through "consulting fees" to the for-profit company. How sneaky...

If this continues, education will only be available to those who can afford it and the rest will be ignorant peasants, returning us to old Europe prior to 18th century.

The Republican attack on public education and unions

By: Robert Sobel Orlando Liberal Examiner April 5, 2012,

The true foundation of a person is their education. Whether it's in the classroom or knowledge that is gained throughout life, the education of a person is important. In the United States, it seems that education is under attack as public schools see their funds cuts by conservative lawmakers, and many college and university tuition are rising faster than people can keep up with.

At over $1 trillion, The USA Today reports that student loan debt is now greater than credit card debt in the United States. In 2010, over $100 billion was given out in student loans. According to a report by credit.com, the average college debt held by students when they graduate is over $25,000. However, before students can get to college they get educated in elementary school, middle school and then high school. While college tuition is increasing, public education is under attack by Republicans across the country, putting children in America at a severe disadvantage.

In Florida, Republican Governor Rick Scott, proposed a budget that would cut $1 billion in property taxes and $1.5 billion in corporate taxes over a two year period. Off setting the lack of revenue coming into the government would be massive cuts to the Department of Children and Families, cutting billions out of Medicaid and slashing the education budget by nearly $5 billion over a multiyear time period. If Scott was able to pass his budget, Florida teachers would suffer a pay cut of over $2,000 a year. Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker, who is dealing with a possible recall, proposed a budget that would cut $1.5 billion from public education and local governments. Democrat State Representative, Tamara Grigsby, said the cuts would: "be an annihilation of education in this state."

The usual response to the extreme budgets by Republican lawmakers is to blame unions. Unions work together to form a voice for the people in the workplace to negotiate, with either the private company or local government, to create a fair working environment. Republicans look at unions as a major obstacle at their financial bottom line, the profit motive. Whether it's Republicans running the government or a conservative private company, unions demand fair pay, better working conditions and adequate benefits. Republican governments and business owners bring in less profit by paying their workers a living wage and making sure they are treated fairly. Recently, Republican presidential front runner, Mitt Romney, blamed teachers unions for California's failing schools. Romney put the blame on the teachers unions claiming that: "we've basically given our school system to the teachers unions." A report by Thinkprogress.org shows that the real reason for the decline in public education in California is due to massive tax cuts.

"Specifically, a ballot initiative enacted in 1978 called Proposition 13 that capped property taxes, which were, at the time, the primary funder of public schools."

The report states that by the late 1980s, California had dropped in educational funding. 

"Despite recent funding increases for K–12 education, California schools have continued to spend far below the national average. Measured in year 2000 dollars, spending per pupil in California went from more than $600 above the national average in 1978 to more than $600 below the national average in 2000."

According to the Manhattan Institute, ten out of the bottom eleven states in graduation rates occur in "right to work" states, where unions are the weakest. The majority of the schools with low math, science and SAT scores also occur in right to work states. The conservative claim that unions destroy public education and their state budgets is false. While certain unions have their problems, in general, unions are there to protect the worker in all aspects. The real problem is the Republican obsession with cutting spending and giving massive tax breaks to the wealthy.

Mitt Romney is the prime example of what is wrong with education in the United States. Romney made the majority of his money at Bain Capital where his company would invest in a small business, layoff workers and make a profit that he would then pay to their shareholders.The Republican ideology is more than just profits, however, to a big part of the base, it's about theology.

A major part of the Republican base are evangelical Christians. The war from the extreme religious fringe of the Republican party is out in the open and can longer hide. The religious right want to force children out of the public school system and place them in small Christian private schools, Charter schools or be home schooled where the "word" of god and stories from the Bible can replace factual science and reason. Religion should be kept private, and the religious right are trying to force their beliefs into the public sector.

Whether it's the corporate conservative or the religious extremists, it's clear that the Republican party is waging a war on public education. Children in the United States deserve better than what they are getting, even with a high national debt, education shouldn't be on the chopping block.

Continue reading on Examiner.com The Republican attack on public education and unions - Orlando liberal | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/liberal-in-orlando/the-republican-attack-on-public-education-and-unions#ixzz1rCe7A5GA

Oklahoma and many other states are stripping the provision in their constitutions for the separation of church and state.

Heads up, residents of Oklahoma: There’s a move afoot to strip your state constitution of its strong language protecting separation of church and state.

Rep. Jason Nelson, an Oklahoma City Republican, has proposed a ballot initiative that would ask voters to remove Article 2, Section 5, of the state constitution. This just happens to be the part of the constitution that separates religion and government.

Oklahoma, like a lot of states, has very specific church-state language currently in their constitutions. The provision in question states, “No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.”


Nelson and his allies want to remove this provision to clear the way for voucher subsidies for religious and other private schools. The Rules Committee has already passed House Joint Resolution 1081 by an 11-1 vote, and now it faces a vote in the full House.


Those of you outside of Oklahoma should be concerned as well. Across the country, state constitutional church-state provisions are under attack. In Florida, the issue will appear on the ballot this November. Proponents there tried to rig the language to make the change sound benign. Church-State Separation organizations filed actions against it and succeeded in stopping the benign language and forcing it to state clearly the amendment would eliminate the separation of church and state. The measure is still scheduled for November. Hopefully the language will not be changed to something that masks what the measure would actually do.

There is legal action defend church-state provisions in Georgia, Alaska and Missouri. The problem could surface elsewhere. Many of the language is masked in a way that it looks like it is approving an education voucher program that can be used at private schools. The voter may not read the fine print that states that the separation clause will be repelled so that religion and state (government) would be able to commingle without violation of the state constitution.

To keep control on the states that are attempting to remove this separation of church and state provisions in their constitutions, most legal scholars thought that the US. Supreme Court would enforce the US constitution as the supreme law and require maintaining the separation. But in 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Ohio’s voucher plan aimed at the city of Cleveland. Since then, advocates of church-state separation have relied on state constitutional provisions to knock down vouchers in some states.

So now these religious zealots are hoping that by masking the language about the elimination of church and state, by making it about school vouchers and referring to that Supreme Court ruling, they hope the voter will not recognize that they are changing the their constitution to allow intertwined religion and governance.

The right wing has seen these victories and realizes that state constitutions are an important second line of defense in protecting taxpayers from mandatory support for religion. Their answer is to attack those provisions.

The irony is rich. The Religious Right, which so often claims to revere tradition, is willing to trash the basic freedoms found in state constitutions to promote its goal of taxing everyone to pay for the religious education of a few.

Though some of these legislators may only have religious education in mind when they eliminate the separation clause, but it does open the door for actual religious infiltration at all levels of government and law, including Christian, Jewish and Islamic law incorporated into our civil and criminal laws. But Oklahoma has already passed a law that prohibits Islamic law to be used in the courts.

Rick Santorum, IN HIS OWN WORDS!

The words of Rick Santorum:

This is a long interview and hard to hear at times, but it is very telling about this man and how he is basing his entire public policies on the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, which he wants to make as American Law.

Right to privacy:

5 Right-Wing Governors Gutting Schools to Fund Prisons, Tax Breaks for the Rich...And a Bible Theme Park

 February 9, 2012  |   

When state after state slashes education dollars, we see what matters to them--and where they spend while cutting schools tells us even more.

It's budget time again, and with the economy still in rough shape, that means it's time for governors to show where their priorities are.

It's probably not surprising that right-wing governors claim they can't fund education properly when revenues are low—we've been seeing this happen for years, even before an actual economic crisis knocked states sideways. But cutting funds to schools isn't the only option for states even if they do have to balance their budgets. There are many other places to cut—and of course, they have the option of raising taxes, something the conservative crowd simply refuses to do.

Like any other choice made by a politician, budgeting is a decision laced with ideology. When state after state slashes education dollars (and often at the same time funnels more of the money they do spend to private companies running charter schools, or gives it away as vouchers) we see what matters to them. And when you take a look at the programs that get funded, or the people who get fat tax cuts as money is drained out of the schools, well, you see what matters to state governments.

Here's a look at five of the governors taking money away from their states' kids, and a look at some of the things they are still funding.

1. Pennsylvania

Governor Tom Corbett set off a wave of anger this week when his new budget hit—and slashed a full $1.2 billion from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade education. According to the Education Law Center, that's taking a full 15 percent out of the budgets of the state's already-struggling schools.

That would be bad enough. But, as the Law Center noted, “the cuts fall hardest on school districts with the greatest student poverty.” That means schools in poor districts will get less funding, while wealthy districts lose very little. So the Reading School District in Berks County, which has a frighting 90 percent student poverty rate, loses $1,083 per student, while the Wyomissing School District, with only 22 percent student poverty, is losing just $112 per student.

Corbett expects the schools to make up the funding cuts, naturally, by cutting teachers' pay and firing more experienced teachers—which probably means bigger classes and more work for those who remain with lower salaries.

And then there's the state's universities, which already took a 20 percent hit last year. According to the Delaware County Daily Times, Corbett's cutting $230 million from Penn State, Pitt and Temple—an “astounding” 25 percent.

Meanwhile, what doesn't get cut in this budget? While schoolkids in poor districts will see their teachers laid off and their classes get bigger, Corbett's pumped up funding for prisons (11 percent) probation and parole (6 percent) and state police (6 percent). Guess we know where he expects those kids to wind up.

2. Ohio

Ohio governor John Kasich should be used to protests by now—he certainly has seen enough of them since he decided to attack his state's public workers last winter. So although candidates for the state legislature joined Occupy protesters in decrying Kasich's budget cuts to education while eliminating the estate tax for the state's wealthiest, it doesn't seem to have made much of an impact.

According to Policy Matters Ohio, the state's budget (signed this summer) takes $1.8 billion in funding away from Ohio's elementary and secondary schools over the next two school years. The new report noted that 65 percent of respondents to its survey of Ohio school districts say they are facing budget shortfalls as a result of state budget cuts—that means pay freezes, pay cuts, not replacing teachers who retire; 45 percent report “reductions in force”--layoffs.

In his State of the State speech, Kasich touted education as a solution to the state's struggles, but it's hard to see how the state can educate its way out of anything when school districts keep facing cuts. (He urged universities to “commercialize” their research, which is a fancy way of saying produce things they can sell to corporations or that will entice grants from corporate America.)

If Kasich really wanted to demonstrate a commitment to education, he could change his mind about the state's estate tax, which hit the 7 percent of wealthy Ohioans who inherit more than $338,333, and will be abolished next January. That'd save about $250 million a year that could go to the far more than 7 percent of Ohioans who make use of public schools.

3. South Carolina

Kasich's elimination of the estate tax is certainly one example of policies that favor the 1 percent and leave students out in the cold, but South Carolina governor Nikki Haley has gone Kasich one better and proposes to entirely eliminate the corporate income tax in her state. That would cost nearly $140 million in the first year alone—so Haley's taking a chunk of that cash out of public schools.

Her budget, according to Columbia, SC news channel WLTX , cuts “a key funding stream” for public schools, one that primarily goes to teachers' salaries. And another local station, WJBF, reports that while Haley cut public school teachers' incomes, she includes an extra $10 million for charter schools. So that's less money for public employees, more money for private companies using state education funds.

John Ruoff, policy analyst and founder of South Carolina Fair Share, pointed out that eliminating the state corporate tax is likely to have little impact on job creation—but a big impact on much-needed public programs like the schools. "Governor Haley ought to be a lot more concerned about how we develop a state that businesses want to come to," Ruoff told Tax Analysts. That means having decent infrastructure and a well-educated workforce, not just a zero tax rate.

4. Alabama

In no state is it so abundantly clear that the governor is prioritizing other spending over education than in Alabama, where Governor Robert Bentley has proposed taking $230 million from the Education Trust Fund and putting it into the General Fund, which pays for prisons, courts and other parts of the state government.

Henry Mabry of the Alabama Education Association (a teachers' group) told the Birmingham News, “The governor's actions are absolutely outrageous and do nothing but cut education to bail out the prison system.” And Bentley seemed to inadvertently echo Mabry when he defended his move by saying, “By doing that, we will not have to let a single prisoner out of prison.”

He also wanted to shift Medicaid costs for children's healthcare into the education fund, an additional drain of about $185 million, and his budget for 2013 cuts 1,381 public school teachers, principals and other staffers, and takes $41.1 million from universities and $5.4 million for two-year colleges.

Bentley's plan is so outrageous that it's drawn condemnations from both parties in the state legislature—including the chair of a committee it would need to pass. "It's not going to fly. It's dead," Rep. Jim Barton, 

 R-Mobile, told the Birmingham News.

5. Kentucky

Just to note that it's not just Republicans who cut education dollars and spend on ridiculous things instead—Kentucky governor Steve Beshear is a Democrat, albeit one who brags on his official Web site about “trimming the state workforce” and “reforming” child welfare. Yet his budget offered up a 6.4 percent cut to higher ed and a decrease in funds to K-12 students as well.

But that's not the best part. Travis Waldron at ThinkProgress explained that the governor did preserve a $43 million tax break for a “Bible-themed amusement park — which will include a 500-foot by 75-foot reproduction of Noah’s Ark,” as well as $11 million in spending on the highway interchange that will be near the park.

Waldron pointed out, “...lawmakers could jeopardize Kentucky’s substantial gains in K-12 education and ensure ballooning tuition rates at its colleges and universities, all while they preserve tax breaks for what critics have dubbed the “Ark Park.”

Sarah Jaffe is an associate editor at AlterNet, a rabblerouser and frequent Twitterer. You can follow her at @seasonothebitch.