EdAction
Maple River Education Coalition PAC
105 Peavey Rd, St 116 
Chaska, MN  55318 
952-361-4931
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Stopping Minnesota's FED-ucation System

June 28, 2000

Citizens of Minnesota expect an educational system of local control and academic achievement for their children.  The Profile of Learning and School-to-Work, however, are using Minnesota students as guinea pigs for a radical system of workplace development.  Academic achievement in the classroom has been replaced with minimum skills competencies and behavior modification for the supposed needs of the marketplace.

Our nation has a long, well-tried history of education that for generations has made our nation the foundation of leadership and advancement throughout the world.  We know what works in education. Those who would replace a liberal arts education (education for a "liberated" people) with central planning, and who would reduce our children to mere resources, must be stopped.  The intent of this system is that no person will be exempt - that means every student, every employer, every parent and every citizen.  The "Seamless System" is for all.

ELECTIONS: 

All 201 of Minnesota's Senators and Representatives, all eight of Minnesota's U.S. Representatives and Senator Rod Grams are up for election in November of this year.  The Profile of Learning and School-to-Work have been imposed upon an unsuspecting public through expansive changes in laws and rules.  Restoring academic excellence, therefore, also requires changes in laws and rules. We must be represented in our law-making bodies by men and women who will respond to the public, who will understand the radical transformation now being forced upon our schools and who will provide support and leadership for academic freedom and genuine local control of our schools.

ELECT PUBLIC SERVANTS WHO WILL MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE:

Find candidates at both the federal and state levels who support academic freedom for our children.  Elections require more than a vote in November if we expect to make a difference.  Volunteer to help good candidates, contribute financially and build support among your friends and co-workers.  Where there is a contested primary, September 12^th is the first election day.

Excerpts from Education Brochure: U.S. Senator Rod Grams 2000:

Profile of Learning:

I have followed with interest the debate in St. Paul over the Profile of Learning and a new, competing standard entitled the "North Star Standard" that is comprehensive and academically demanding.

Many parents have expressed their concern to me about the vague, indefinite nature of the Profile standards and the consequential decline of academic rigor in the classroom, in addition to the sometimes intrusive test questions that are asked.  The thousands of students I visit with almost universally believe the time spent on fulfilling Profile requirements has shortchanged them from obtaining real, academic instruction.  Moreover, the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, which publishes a review of state standards nationwide, stated that in the English portion of the Profile, "a large number of standards are not specific, measurable, or demanding."

Our children's education is too important to be the subject of experimentation with the latest politically correct instructional fad, and I want to make sure Minnesota school districts have a choice of standards, if the Profile is to be continued...it is my priority to see that nothing in the federal mandates contained in the education bill will prohibit Minnesota local districts from having the opportunity to choose the North Star Standard as a standards and testing option.  States must have maximum flexibility in developing their standards and tests without risking receipt of federal funds.

I have long been a proponent of reassessing and reducing the federal government's involvement in education...

Copies of this brochure may be obtained by contacting:

Senator Rod Grams
257 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3244
(202) 228-0956 (FAX)
(202) 224-9522 (TTD/TTY)

2013 2nd Avenue North
Anoka, Minnesota 55303
(612) 427-5921
(612) 427-8872 (FAX)
(612) 427-5902 (TTD/TTY)

OR:
Grams 2000 Office:
P.O. Box 1029
320 East Main Street
Anoka, MN 55303 

612-422-8570
Fax: 612-422-0561
For e-mail inquiries

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