This week
exposes the extreme direction of our current U.S. Congress. Within
hours of each other, Congress will be voting on both a federal curriculum
for preschoolers requiring gender/diversity/ training, and they will vote
on the dangerous
Hate Crimes Bill to add special federal civil rights protections for
homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgenders. It's a stark picture of where
the new majority's priorities are.
Re-authorization of the federal Head Start program, H.R. 1429,
requires Head Start curricula and assessments based on the
radical ideas
of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. They
include gender issues, diversity, multiculturalism, mental health,
environmentalism, and careers to very young children. These required
"outcomes" constitute a federal, centralized curriculum for
preschoolers. This will not close the achievement gap. Federal
bureaucrats will be setting childhood norms in controversial areas for
our nation's very young children. These Head Start curriculum and
assessments are a No Child Left Behind system for preschoolers.
Is
social-emotional (mental health) screening of very young children the
purpose of Head Start? HF 1429 includes ongoing assessments of
children. Very young children will be continually screened and assessed
based on the controversial content and expectations of the outcomes. This
strategy will not eliminate poverty or raise academic achievement.
Psychological
screening of young children increases the psychiatric labeling and
drugging of children with ineffective and dangerous medications.
Continuing
to assume the right and constitutional authority that it does not have,
the federal government is extending its illegitimate takeover of K-12
education downward to the birth to five age range in this reauthorization
of Head Start.
1. HF 1429 implements radical curriculum standards for
preschoolers in every state.
Head
Start has published a
Head Start Child
Outcomes Framework, heavily influenced by the National Association
for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), which is known for its
controversial early learning credentialing system. (See
"Child Care
Credentialing and NAEYC's Anti-Bias Curriculum.")
HR 1429
requires states to align their Head Start programs with either the
radical Head Start Child Outcomes or with their own state early learning
curriculum standards, many of which are also based on this same Head
Start/NAEYC Framework. Curriculum standards for preschoolers in
individual states are then applied to other state programs. In this way,
Head Start sets the norm for what must eventually be required of all
children. The Head Start Outcomes become part of a seamless system of
controversial government required standards from birth through twelfth
grade.
- The
Head Start Outcomes do the following:
- put the state and federal governments in charge of what is normal
mental health. The Outcomes use extremely vague and subjective criteria
under the mantle of social and emotional standards;
- bring up issues of gender and group identity to three and four year
olds; and
- begin discussing careers and jobs with young children.
2. Extends No Child Left Behind standards and testing to
preschoolers.
HR
1429 requires Head Start to be aligned with NCLB content standards and
its assessments. Significant opposition has developed against extending
NCLB to high school. Extending them to the nation's youngest and most
vulnerable children makes even less sense than extending NCLB to high
school. (See next point, below).
3. Extends curriculum standards to all children via state and
local integration.
This
aligned system of standards and programs is not just for poor, at-risk
children, but rather for all children due to required integration on the
local and state levels with public preschool programs.Eventually this
forces faith based programs to teach Head Start curriculum standards. As
described above, some of these curriculum standards are radical, and
would be contrary to their philosophy. The result would be to force faith
based programs out of Head Start or out of business altogether.
4. Continues the role of government in the mental health of very
young children and their families.
HR
1429 re-inserts mental and behavioral health care into Head Start. These
diagnostic criteria for mental disorders are extremely vague and
subjective, as admitted by the US Surgeon General, the World Health
Organization, and many psychiatric textbook authors.They are very
difficult to accurately apply to young children. As a result of the New
Freedom Commission recommendations for screening and drugging, this
emphasis on mental health for very young children will result in
increased screening and psychiatric drugging of infants and toddlers with
drugs admitted to be ineffective and dangerous for children. (See
here for details)
Parental
consent for health services and screening is included in the legislation,
but consent cannot be an excuse to implement an expansive federal
curriculum for childhood outcomes.
Urge your Member of Congress to vote this week to amend
HR 1429 --
- To remove mental health teaching and assessments;
- To remove the requirements for a federal curriculum for preschoolers.
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