News from the Plains: All this RED can make you BLUE
Fallin goes deep
by Barry Friedman
The order specifies that all state agencies "will aggressively oppose any future attempt by the federal government to force the state to adopt standards that do not reflect Oklahoma values."
That was Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin on Wednesday, channeling this
guy, and letting the federal government know, when it comes to education, the line will be
drawn heeeeeeere.
Except the Borgs aren't attacking (nor seem even interested in doing so)--something even the governor admitted.
Oklahoma hasn't received a federal directive regarding implementation of the curriculum standards, nor has the state received federal funding related to adopting the standards, Fallin said.
So why is she still getting
verklempt? For one thing, it's Oklahoma. We need to be angry with the federal government, even if we have to manufacture the slight--like protecting "Oklahoma values" in the teaching of, say, calculus--otherwise we get bored and start doing stupid things like
this.
(I kid, of course. We do those stupid things anyway.)
The other reason: she's showing off. This is batting practice.
"It sends a message to both our constituents and the Obama administration that we will not tolerate Washington trying to control Oklahoma's education policies."
Oh, please. You will not
tolerate something that's not happening? And you're going to make sure Obama doesn't do what Obama has never done.
In fact ...
President Barack Obama with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan released the list of waiver states this morning in Washington. NCLB, passed in the early years of the second Bush (George W.) administration was a massive reform effort that had bipartisan support. NCLB oversees U.S. government funding of primary and second education, and standardized testing requirements.
And what state received one of the waivers and was rescued from a Republican administration's attempts at one-size-fits-all education
solution?
I'll give you a hint. It's where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.
Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Janet Barresi and other state officials applauded an announcement today (Thursday, February 9) from Washington, D.C. that the Sooner State has been granted a waiver from enforcement of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) provisions.
We continue.
Fallin vowed that the state will be "exclusively responsible" for deciding the assessment methodology used to measure student performance and that local districts may adopt additional supplementary assessments to measure educational progress at their discretion.
And the crowd, chasing balls in the bleachers, goes wild.
Okay, fine--that's what this is about: methodology? This is why you're leading the charge against the feds?
Apparently so.
Oklahoma Speaker of the House, T.W. Shannon, also wants to take a few swings in the cage to show, he, too, can hit batting practice pitching. As pointed out here before, Shannon doesn't think the federal government should have a role in healthcare--so it shouldn't come as much surprise he thinks it should have no role in education, either.
"If you believe for one minute that if we nationalize our standards for Oklahoma that we are not going to become somewhat open to a takeover of our educational system by the federal government, you are fooling yourself," said House Speaker T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, during an Oklahoma City forum hosted by the State Chamber on Wednesday. "It is going to happen. We should get out now."
Ladies and gentlemen, that's a GOP
rising star right there--one who wants no coordinated national effort in the fight to raise education standards, because, well, that would be socialism and it's better for, say, the
Big Pasture Oklahoma School District to go up against the Godless
Finns alone than it is for the town to be part of some greater nationwide initiative.
When it comes to the president and Oklahoma, Shannon and Fallin are used car salespeople and they're lying about the mileage and horsepower.
Laura Belmonte, a professor of modern U.S. history at Oklahoma State University, is tired of the bait and switch.
"Governor Fallin's response should not surprise anyone who pays close attention to Oklahoma politics. This administration consistently rejects anything even remotely related to federal intervention or President Obama's policies, even in cases where doing so undermines the state's best interests."
Unfortunately,
Whap!-- Fallin just parked another one three rows deep into the upper deck in right field.