THE ASSAULT ON PARENTHOOD: HOW OUR CULTURE UNDERMINES THE FAMILY (A Chilling Account Of What Is Happening To Families)

THE SCHOOLS WE NEED: AND WHY WE DON'T HAVE THEM (The Very Best Account Of What Is Really Wrong With The Reform Movement)

In 1994, Regnery published the first full biography of Bill Clinton. Entitled ON THE MAKE it was written by Meredith L. Oakley about whom the jacket says: "Only one reporter has followed him in his political rise from Arkansas to Washington. For 13 years - beginning with his first days as Arkansas's governor - Meredith Oakley and Bill Clinton spoke daily." Even while trying to be objective, Oakley can't help supporting her main thesis: Clinton's "ability to appear great without actually being so." Starting with the incredibly sordid story of his family background, she leads us through the many 'adventures' that marked his meteoric rise to the presidency. At one point she describes his campaign for the presidency of the freshman class at Georgetown. Even at that early period he "first expressed the carrot-on-a-stick approach to politics that would place and keep him in elective office: Promise but never completely deliver in the same time period; start a project in one term, execute it in another during which a new long-term project is launched; lay a foundation on which work can begin as a means of extending your stay for the purpose of finishing the job." Similar gems may be found throughout the book. The long (591pp) book is a must for a thorough understanding of Clinton's character.

GOALS 2000: RESTRUCTURING OUR SCHOOLS, RESTRUCTURING SOCIETY, was published last year and authored by Kathy Finnegan. It is the definitive study of Goals 2000, and fills in the lacunae found in studies such as Esposito's TANGLED WEB. Following a highly informative Preface, we have a chapter entitled "A Seventy Year Chronology of Education Related to Goals 2000." The core of the book is a detailed analysis of each Section and Title of the law. The Conclusion is addressed to parents and is full of wise advice. The book ends with a 36-page highly informative Glossary, a 10-page bibliography, and a 12-page listing of resources. The book jacket ends with these words: "Goals 2000 is part of the entangling web that is being woven slowly around us. It is happening tirelessly, methodically --and with great effect --to bring about the age-old-dream...that the world may be as one."

The 360pp book retails for $14.95 and is available for $10 (+$1s/h) by sending payment to ESTEEM, c/o Mrs. Reta Bernardo, 25 Third St., Johnson City, NY 13790.

(Former Senior Policy Advisor, U.S. Department of Education, author "Back to Basics Reform OR...OBE...Skinnerian International Curriculum", 1985; and "Soviets in the Classroom... America's Latest Educational Fad", `1986.)

The who, why, how where and when? behind the planned collapse of our nation's once superb public school system... it's transformation from "education" to "global work force training" and behavior modification. The origins of Skinnerian OBE/Mastery Learning are meticulously researched... ...astounding international connections are exposed.

Charlotte takes the reader on an exciting trip through the 20th century, backing up her chronology with direct quotes from official documents. An important book to use with elected officials to prove that education restructuring is not new, but is in the final phase of a century-old plan to place America under an international socialist system (planned economy/ Soviet Polytech system).

Advance orders taken by Conscience Press, P.O. Box 17346 Des Moines, IA 50317-0346 Fax -515-262-9854... Price is $15.00, includes postage.

Anyone who would like to see the tenuous foundations on which OBE rests should read the book by Cheryl Taylor Desmond, SHAPING THE CULTURE OF SCHOOLING: THE RISE OF OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION. It was published by the State Univ. of NY Press in 1996 and runs to 181 pages. It is the "whole" story of how and why the Johnson City, NY program became the national model. The program's development is traced from its inception in 1971 down to 1996. The work is thoroughly documented, but its interpretation of the documents reflects the kind of mentality that saw in OBE the true start of the new millennium. The author tries to show why and how the Johnson City model "succeeded" where others failed. She does this by fitting it into the context of studies by sociologists, psychologists, philosophers, and educrats whose ideas are presumably at the base of OBE.

In giving a chapter by chapter synopsis of the work, the Preface states that Chap. 5 "...probes the questions of who rules within a school district and with what justification as the struggle for power reshapes the praxis of the school leadership." In Chap. 6 & 7 we "follow the development of the power/knowledge relationship in mastery learning and the shift in Johnson City schools from a paradigm of scarcity to one of synergy." Chap. 8 "examines the inner layers of the social institutional context as school and community interrelate to shape a conception of power as a shared relationship, and examines how this discourse of power was facilitated in the leadership of the JC schools." Chap. 10 "places the cultural analysis of the educational reform in JC within the national context of OBE...."

What marks the "success" of the JC system? On p. 129 we find that JC has excelled in realizing the 'exit behavior' that states that students must learn to show "concern for others." Two examples are (1) district students raised $15,000 through various fund-raisers to help build a senior citizens center..., and (2) in a county Thanksgiving food drive for the needy, the students gathered more food than the 11 other districts combined." This leads to the following observation: "This ethic of caring worked with the synergistic paradigm of mastery learning and coactive power to further the integrative principle of community in the schools. Together, staff mediation of both learning and human value contributed significantly to the feeling 'that we are greater than we know'."

The final paragraph of the book states, "To reform schools, to find the Life lost living in schools bound by scarcity, to find wisdom in the overabundance of knowledge about schools, we will need to gain ways of knowing that are centered in the mediation of daily work, shared powers, mutual dialogue, and ethical relationship, and are embedded in the culture of the school- community."

The book appears to be an extended analysis of the meaning of "village" in the schooling of the future. In fairness, the author does indicate shortcomings of the current school reforms, and suggests how these may be overcome. Her account of how OBE developed, how the various camps jockeyed for position, and why the JC program prevailed does have some fascination. Likewise, her summary of conservative opposition [which centers on Peg Luksik in PA and Kay Wall in CT] leaves much to be desired. On the whole, however, the book does offer insights into why the reformers seem to insist on the need for "systemic change." It provides a kind of learning that results when a school system is fully integrated with the entire life of a community. In short, it projects a Utopia that is simply unrealizable in the modern world of large cities and fulminating communications. This is reflected in the capital 'L' used for the word "Life" in the last paragraph cited above.

Most of you have seen my article exposing the failure of the Johnson City system AFTER 25 YEARS OF TRYING. As a resident of Johnson City for 40 years, with 3 children and 2 grandchildren who attended the local public schools, I must confess that I have never experienced the "synergy" which this book says is the distinguishing characteristic of the system.

If you would like to see my article, The Johnson City Story, click here.