TO THE EDITOR:
Please read the two e-mails below from two of our top Catholic sources in the country who serve to educate the Catholic Faithful and the entire country on the dangers of Common Core. Like I have been saying since Day I, when you put the terms “Government”, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Agenda 21, the United Nations and Planned Parenthood in the same paragraph with the word “Education” – you better run!! They do not go together because our beloved Education system has nothing to do with groups and organizations that do not have the best interest of our children in their minds. These groups are out to manipulate the system; to undermine our country; and to try to indoctrinate their corrupt and immoral policies on our beloved children – the future of our country and the future of our church…This is how the liberal government can control the entire country as it begins at the elementary level – the lowest and beginning denominator – the education of our citizens…Once you have our children – you have our country…
And, if the Church leaders, the Bishops and the Catholic school leaders refuse to accept this Truth and continue to push the envelope to see how far they can get away with this injustice to our school children – then, it’s the church leaders, school leaders and bishops who are at fault and need to humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways and come clean with the 68 million Catholics in this country – and “Reverse the Curse”…Enough is enough…
See below:
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
FOR RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL RIGHTS
Common Core’s Strong-Arm Tactics
September 25, 2014
Bill Donohue comments on the way Common Core is being promoted:
The implementation of Common Core in New York State, one of the first states to adopt it, is an abject failure: academic achievement is regressing. Whatever merits it may have, its most vociferous proponents are out of line when they try to strong-arm Catholic schools into accepting it.
The Council for a Strong America (CSA) is pressuring Catholic educators to adopt Common Core. That wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t doing so at the behest of its benefactor, the Gates Foundation, or if it weren’t bashing the Cardinal Newman Society (CNS), a respectable Catholic education non-profit, for opposing Common Core. But the fact is that CSA has received $1.7 million from the Gates Foundation, and its Florida office is hammering CNS for making “strident attacks” on the program. God forbid that Catholic schools exercise their independence by rejecting Common Core.
A little more than half of Catholic dioceses have accepted Common Core, and some are having misgivings about doing so. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops observes that the Catholic education community is split on its utility, noting that it was “developed for a public school audience,” and “is of its nature incomplete as it pertains to the Catholic school.”
Bill and Melinda Gates have spent upwards of $200 million promoting Common Core, so a lot is at stake. But instead of having the results speak for themselves, those pushing Common Coreāand there is no end to the lobbyists, activists, researchers, unions, think tanks, and politicians who have been paid to get on boardāhave from the beginning acted more like salesmen than educators. To wit: five respected scholars on the Validation Committee of Common Core refused to sign off on the final version because it was being promoted as a done deal before the committee had a chance to provide its input noting certain deficiencies.
We have no interest in grading Common Core, but we do object to the tactics being used by its paid advocates to whip Catholics into line.
Phone: 212-371-3191
E-mail: pr@catholicleague.org
Our mailing address is:
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
450 7TH AVE 34TH FL
New York, NY 10123
September 26, 2014
Dear friend,
I think you’ll be shocked to know what one Cardinal Newman Society leader received in his emailā¦
An employee of the Council for a Strong America (CSA) accidentally sent our K-12 Education director a request to help advocate for the Common Core in Catholic schools.
It turns out that CSA was given $1.7 million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to push the Common Core.
Now they are attempting to recruit about 50 Catholic leaders to its cause, including Catholic school superintendents in a dozen states and even officials of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA)ā¦
ā¦and the Gates-funded CSA acknowledges that The Cardinal Newman Society is a key target of its campaign to discredit critics and push the Common Core into Catholic schools!
I need your help to counter this effort and continue our work to promote and defend faithful Catholic education!
With a serious and sober approach, the Newman Society has urged Catholic leaders to exercise caution and carefully evaluate the many concerns surrounding the Common Core, and we are having an impact.
Which is why I hope that you’ll send an immediate donation to support our critical work!
We’re standing in the way of the Gates Foundation and its heavy-handed tactics to interfere with Catholic education.
Our special CatholicIsOurCore.org website is a one-of-a-kind hub of information and resources to help Catholic parents, educators and clergy navigate the often confusing issues surrounding the Common Core.
We’ve been told that our latest report, “10 Facts Every Catholic Should Know About the Common Core,” is a “must read” for Catholic parents and other educators.
So in some ways I’m not surprised that the Gates Foundation is reacting to how effective we have been, especially since it was The Cardinal Newman Society that last year exposed the Gates Foundation’s grant of more than $100,000 to the NCEA to advance the Common Core in Catholic schools.
Sadly, the NCEA grant is dwarfed by the Gates Foundation’s $1.7 million grant to CSA.
The Gates-funded CSA campaign is an attempt to counter the Newman Society’s effectiveness and push Common Core in Catholic schools with no concern for how it might impact the schools’ Catholic missions.
This is dangerous because the Catholic faith should be the core of every Catholic school, not the latest education fad cooked up by the secular education establishment.
Principals, superintendents, pastors, parents and even a few bishops have told us how grateful they are for our work on this issue.
But in the face of a nearly two-million dollar campaign, I worry that we are going to need to do a lot moreā¦ and fast.
Can I count on you to make a donation today to help us in our important work, to promote and defend faithful Catholic education?
Thank you so much for your prayers and your support of our mission. Your financial contribution helps us protect the extraordinary legacy of Catholic schooling from outside influences!
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Patrick J. Reilly
President
[To donate by mail, please send your check to The Cardinal Newman Society, 9720 Capital Court, Ste 201, Manassas, VA 20110. Thank you!]
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The Cardinal Newman Society
9720 Capital Court, Suite 201
Manassas, VA 20110
alert@CardinalNewmanSociety.org
Ph: 703-367-0333 Fx: 703-396-8668
