With unprecedented speed and seemingly an unending supply of COVID money, the Federal Department of Education (DOE) is feverishly handing out grants to the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE).
The OSDE received almost $1.5 billion in American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funds in July.
On Aug. 25, another $13.5 million came to OSED to fund beyond school-day activities. On Sept. 27, a new grant was given to OSDE and TSET.
On Oct. 1, $15.2 million to support students’ social and emotional, nutritional, safety & academic needs.
It’s enough to make us wonder what’s going on.
Any grant recipient of DOE/OSDE money must include elements of the liberal philosophy of the DOE and the OSDE. As government educational organizations, they consider their liberal social agenda as important as, if not more important, than an actual program they fund.
One great place to see what the DOE wants for their money is to look at the NEA’s Biden-Harris Playbook (Racial & Social Justice | NEA).
Expanding the influence of government through programs that extend a school day or the number of years a child is in school is one more step in undermining the importance of parents as shareholders in the lives of their children.
In a recent Senate hearing, Senator Mike Braun (R-Indiana) asked Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona if he (Cardona) believed parents were the primary stakeholder in their child’s education. Cardona skirted the question and instead responded, I believe parents are important stakeholders, but I also believe educators have a role in determining educational programming.
When Cardona refers to educational programming, parents should think about CRT, equity, and sexual identity in every subject at every grade level. On other occasions, Cardona has referred to the barrage of government programs as pipelines and educational cradle-to-college-to career initiatives.
When Democratic Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe stated that parents should have no say in their child’s curriculum, parents were outraged.
Most Oklahoma parents believe God gave them the responsibility of raising their children. They would never knowingly cede that responsibility to the government; however, they may unknowingly relinquish their position as the major influencer in their children’s lives through free public school expansion programs.
The DOE would like to be the only stakeholder in our nation’s children, a position they have long sought and could make a reality soon if parents do not take action.
As parents, grandparents, and citizens, we are responsible for being aware and confront those who would steal the minds and hearts of our children. We must learn to resist and fight where needed.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was often asked, “There were more of you than there were of them, so why didn’t you resist when they arrested you?”
His answer: “In order for you to resist, you have to first be willing to fight. We simply were not willing to fight.”
God help us learn to fight.