International baccalaureate is anti-U.S. Constitution

BY DOMENICK J. MAGLIO, Traditional Realist
Published: September 15, 2011
Updated: 09/15/2011 04:10 pm

The Valley Education Corporation in Yellow Springs, Colo., is making a big splash in educational circles. This multi million-dollar enterprise is starting K-12 charter schools throughout the U.S. The cost for this program is expensive, although the company is receiving high marks for the staff's credentials and international awareness.

The program focuses on global educational standards and curriculum in order to develop global citizens. They emphasize the United Nations worldview, which has primary importance over any state educational standards. By making state standards subservient to the U.N. ideology, students will realize they are not citizens of a single country, like the United States, but citizens of a coming one-world government.

This international awareness will prepare them to be "comrades" to create a peaceful, equitable redistribution of wealth and save the earth resources from capitalist exploitation.

There is a strong commitment to all human rights, which take precedence over any nation's laws. Educational values are inculcated by integrating them into the subject areas. Students learn about the antiquated notions of the U.S. Constitution, judicial system and unnecessary borders of the U.S. All national treaties and laws including those deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States would and should be subservient to those policies to those passed by the United Nations.

"Valley Ed. Corp." is fictitious but the curriculum discussed above is not. This curriculum has been marketed in public schools as the "be all and end all" of high school diplomas: the International Baccalaureate Program. It has provoked controversy in many of the school districts that have adopted the program. Through taxpayer dollars our federal government is sanctioning the IB program although it is a direct attack on our Constitution and our laws.

Article 6, clause 2 in the Constitution of the United States unequivocally states the Constitution is the lynchpin of all of our laws of the land. "This Constitution and laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the Unites States, shall be the supreme law of the land, and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding."

European diplomats started the International Baccalaureate Organization, IBO, in 1968. These diplomats wanted a uniform education for their children in whatever nation they were assigned. However, in 1996 IBO unfortunately united with UNESCO, part of the United Nations. They formed an international education program that is dominated by a One-World-Government view. The U.N.'s radical leftist perspective of the world and its reputation for mismanaging its funding is a dubious organization to place above the leader of the free world.

Yet, the International Baccalaureate, IB Program, is being adopted by school districts throughout the U.S. This course of study exists in 139 countries worldwide.

The goal of the International Baccalaureate Organization is to impose global education standards and curriculum. This course of study is to produce global citizens, not citizens of America who are loyal to the principles of our founding documents: the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

All students in the program are indoctrinated with the virtues of the United Nation's treaties even though the United States has not ratified them. By endorsing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the IB program has agreed to promote the U.N.'s actions and treaties.

Such treaties include: the UN International Court Treaty, which would nullify the Supreme Court of the United States; the Bio Diversity program to redistribute financial aid from developed countries to underdeveloped countries while supposedly preserving genetic resources; the Rights of Children Treaty, which strips many prerogatives from parents in raising their children; the Kyoto Treaty, whose focus is to reduce global warming by lowering carbon dioxide emissions in developed countries; and any other treaty approved by the UN. In reality, these treaties will end the sovereignty of America.

Our children in an IB program are being taught to see the world through the lens of the United Nations with a Marxist tint. The IB program is instilling moral values and ideals that are undermining our student's positive attitudes and beliefs towards the United States.

The IB program is contrary to the interests of the United States. It is indoctrination under the guise of education. All American citizens should be alerted to the purpose of this program so our government officials can be held accountable. The IB program could continue in private schools as a program for children of diplomats or other families who agree with the utopian failures of the United Nations.

Our government has a vested interest in promoting programs where students are being taught the goodness, uniqueness and advantages of being an American citizen. Instead of being proud of our special heritage these students are being propagandized to despise their own country.

Under no circumstances should the IB program receive a single tax dollar.

Turning Education into a Virtual Game: Is do it yourself learning just around the corner?

Domenick J. Maglio, Ph.D. Neo Traditionalist
Modern public schools have become a Walmart-type one-stop big-box store depository for children. In the pursuit meeting the unfulfilled needs of children from dysfunctional families, modern schools have unintentionally given many intact families the opportunity to unload their responsibilities on the government. Students from preschool to high school receive food, healthcare, therapy, after school recreation, career specialization, sex training, mini society exposure, alcohol, drug and gambling counseling under the guise of education. Our public schools have taken on most of the functions of the traditional family.

Presently educational elites are not only interested in social engineering of our present society. They have embarked on leading us into the radical virtual world of the future. These are people of a similar ilk who predicted in the 1960s that automation in the workplace would make manual work obsolete. They predicted the "dotcoms" would become the future Fortune 500 companies. For more than a decade they pushed the laptop computers as a panacea to correct problems in the classroom and are now gung ho to revamp government education to meet the projected needs in a futuristic virtual world.

Unfortunately, the use of laptops has not shown the predicted positive results. "Last month (April 2007) the United States Department of Education released a study showing no difference in academic achievement between students who used academic software programs for math and reading and those who did not." Winnie Hu, "Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops:, New York Times, May 4, 2007. The difficulty of preventing the abuse of the laptop in the classroom is well documented.

Here we go again with another "group think" fad. American government schools have a long history of going off the deep end on tangents that result in discontinuity and confusion for students and continual training and retraining for staff. In fact these think tank opinion shapers are dissatisfied with changing the present society piecemeal. Their intent is to create learning which would maximize technological innovations to motivate the brightest and most creative students rather than transmitting fundamental knowledge, skills and character development to the majority.

Another marketing benefit of this technological approach, besides being attractive to the future Bill Gateses, is that it would accommodate a significant segment of the upper and middle class gaming addicts and their parents. By using mobile digital devices like PDAs, cell phones, Ipods, and mashups the gamer can be drawn back into purposeful learning. Digital play and networking through video games, video and photo logs and podcasting, would create a personal learning school without walls, accessible anywhere or anytime.

In this virtual-gaming education world, teachers would become "context experts", "learning coaches", "network navigators," or "internet managers." The traditional role of a teacher would be simplified to being merely an internet guide.

This would make many uncommitted parents and teachers ecstatic as it places the responsibility for learning squarely on the shoulders of the youngster relieving the adults of another series of obligations to the child. This sink or swim technological environment would be a treasure for the self-initiating, academically sound student although it does little to motivate students who are disengaged in developing the character, organization and study skills necessary to take control of their addicted, non productive lives.

Throughout history from the Golden Age of Greece to Modern America the goal of education has been to elevate students to function successfully in society. Academic skills and moral values were taught and reinforced in school to insure the child had the tools to conform to the expectations of society. The basic core understanding of how to perform in the present culture gives students the ability to adapt to anything they have to face in the future.

Even to conceptualize a world where students will be DIY (do it yourself) learning through the format of technological gaming is folly. It might be an easy way to appease students in general, especially the segment of dysfunctional students who are addicted to video gaming, but it will not prepare children to compete with other students worldwide. Other than the family, the institution of education has the most potential to inculcate moral values and skills that preserve society.

Children do not need to be prepared to exist in some hypothetical cockamamie world that will never come to be. They need to learn how to read, write, calculate, express themselves, work, critically think and be good human beings who follow the Golden Rule. It is improbable students will learn all of this on digital devices with minimal guidance from parents and teachers.

Principals need to be allowed to lead

By Domenick J. Maglio, Traditional Realist
Published: June 30, 2011
School districts in America are not only too large but so are the individual schools. In the 1950s there were political and economic reasons for moving away from manageable local schools. Consolidation of political power and economy of scale, not excellence of education, were the driving forces. Public education became a gravy train for community leaders rather than economical quality education.

As U.S. schools became unmanageable monstrosities, the administrative bureaucracies and educational specialists ballooned. At the same time the local Principal's autonomy diminished. Recruiting, hiring, training, inspiring were parceled out to specialists. Principals became the figurehead of these large facilities. Their power was no longer derived from being the head of the school but from the relationship they cultivated with the superintendent of the school district and local leaders.

The autonomous power of the Principal has to be restored to improve the academic quality of our schools. He/she has to primarily remain in the school rather than travel from one conference training seminar or committee assignment to another. Without his presence on the school grounds, the Principal loses the necessary knowledge and opportunities to lead.

The principal is the person officially charged with ensuring the highest level of functioning of the school. The head of any group communicates the vision, establishes the rules and procedures while keeping everyone on the same page. He has to keep his finger on the entire school community's pulse to ensure its health.

Principals should investigate incidents on the spot to determine the proper cause of action. Student, teacher and parent conflicts have to be justly and quickly resolved in order to keep the harmony. When the person in charge is out of the loop his effectiveness is limited. In modern public schools, Principals for the most part are outside of the school building looking in.

Without the power and accessibility of administering the school, the dignity of the position is undermined. The Principal becomes nothing more than a figurehead and lackey of the superintendent's policies and whims. He no longer exercises his own judgment, convictions and authority in decisions concerning the school. His major focus is weighing his actions in the political reality he faces. He is stripped of his professional integrity along with his passion and strength to develop a quality program.

The position as head of a school should automatically come with the authority to call the shots according to his and the community's educational viewpoint. He needs power to create an organization by picking and choosing the right staff to carry out his vision. His discussions on policies and curriculum should shape the school philosophy.

The philosophical ideas of the Principal should guide him in his interactions with students, teachers and parents. As his convictions are shared with others, his professional reputation will be shaped giving him the clarity to arrive at hard decisions. There is no reason he should look over his shoulder to appease anyone to maintain his position. Instead, it is the merit of his performance that would decide his fate.

The local community, parents and students, the consumers, will be the evaluators. His conscientious effort will allow him time to grow into the leader of the school. The uniting of the school community and school programs he has helped to create establishes his personal involvement and investment in the school.

The passion for his task of improving the learning community will naturally result in celebrating accomplishments of students, teachers and parents. His leadership will inspire his staff to do the little things necessary to improve the educational process.

This commitment to his creation motivates him to think of appropriate ways to help liberate students from their lack of enthusiasm to become independent learners. As students become more involved with their education they take ownership of it to become the best they can be.

Each successful Principal has his/her own way of reaching this goal but every one is like an orchestra leader bringing out the best in each member of the educational community. The course of study may be unique in different settings although all excellent learning environments will teach the students that they will be required to make sacrifices to successfully reach their well thought out goals. They will learn they have to delay immediate gratification, which is a difficult but mature decision.

It is the role modeling established under the guidance of the Principal that is the crucial ingredient. From dedicated teachers, to supportive parents, to conscientious students, to supportive staff, any can be the person who will say the right thing at the perfect time to heighten the awareness of the students concerning the importance of doing their studies with focus and enthusiasm.

It is the Principal who builds this system that can miraculously unleash the power to energize the student to be in control of his or her learning and future success.