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| Why Famous: Unified most of the German states into a powerful
German Empire under Prussian leadership and became the first chancellor
of a united Germany. |
We
haven’t heard what the Common Core curriculum has planned for foreign
language instruction, if anything. But we offer this German lesson as an
introduction and a warning to all those who want central control over
what is taught and what it thought in this country: “Wir sind nicht preußischen" We are not Prussians!
Millions
of Germans flocked to this country in the nineteenth century. They came
here from all regions of that rising European power. They came from
disparate backgrounds in Germany. Some were Catholics, fleeing
Chancellor Otto von Bismarck’s Kulturkampf. There were also Baptists, Calvinists, Lutherans, and Jews.
All
of these Germans wanted greater freedom of religion. They came from
various regions of the new unified Germany, too. From Saxony, Bavaria,
the Rhineland, and, yes, Prussia, too.
They
were a diverse company, especially politically, representing very
conservative views and very radical ones. We even had a fair share of
Marxists among these immigrants. But whatever their differences, most of
these Germans had an aversion to the Blood and Iron (Blut und Eisen) policies of Bismarck, the man they called the “Iron Chancellor.”
Bismarck used his power to crush all domestic opposition. He ruled with an iron rod.
And he used the schools to impose his own brand of discipline on the German people.
He
cowed the parents by conscripting their children into government
schools taught by government-appointed teachers, following a Berlin
curriculum. He legislated all this with his schulaufsichtsgesetz. That’s German for “School Administration Law.” And that’s bureaucratese for Common Core.
Oh,
and Bismarck was big on STEM. Science, technology, engineering and
math. His new German Reich astonished the world with its technical
achievements. Drive your diesel-engine auto to get an X-ray and you’ll
be benefiting from the amazing advances in science that Germany provided
the world.
Bismarck
was not so hot on literature, philosophy, history, and ethics. He said:
“This is not a matter of right or wrong, but of force. And we have it.”
So much for ethics.
If
Americans loved the story of young George Washington and the cherry
tree (no matter how much sophisticates snickered at it), Germans were
taught to laugh at the cynicism and lies of the Iron Chancellor. He
forged a cable from the theatrically absurd Napoleon III. Bismarck got
what he wanted, an aggressive war with France. He used the
Franco-Prussian War to forcibly unite the squabbling German states under
his stern Prussian leadership.
Now
what has all this to do with Common Core in America? It’s simple. Much
of our criticism of Common Core has to do with the fact that it “dumbs
down” the curriculum, that it will impose mediocrity on our students,
that it will hamstring their striving for excellence. All this is true.
But what if the centrally-directed curriculum really was a first-rate academic curriculum?
What
if those who are pushing us to race to the top could really deliver the
goods? What if they kept their promise: If you like your curriculum you
can keep it?
Wouldn’t our principled opposition to Common Core fade? No!
We
oppose a national curriculum like that of Common Core, we oppose
central control of education because it takes power away from local
education authorities, from locally elected and responsive school
boards, from parents and teachers and students, too.
We
oppose the centralizers, the Prussians, because our wisest presidents
opposed them. President Eisenhower and President Reagan firmly opposed
federal control over education.
And
don’t give us the “what about segregation?” rejoinder. Ike sent the
101st Airborne to Arkansas, Bill Clinton’s home state, to ensure that
fundamental rights were respected. Apart from that, however, Eisenhower
wanted Americans to run their own schools.
Bismarck’s
plan of education brought about many advances, it is true. But it also
subordinated the German people. Britain’s great prime minister, Benjamin
Disraeli, wisely observed: “Bismarck made Germany great by making the
Germans small.”
Louisiana
Governor Bobby Jindal gets it right. So does Ohio Treasurer Josh
Mandel. Both of these officeholders readily admit they were taken to
school by the mothers opposing Common Core. These moms who took the
trouble to inform themselves about Common Core are leading the
opposition to it -- and politicians in both parties are beginning to sit
up and take notic
We
also admit that Common Core was slithering silently through state
education offices on a track well-greased by foundation money before we
ever heard of it. Some claim it was a state initiative. It was always a
national scheme stealthily inserted into the states. Just Google:
Garden, Eden.
When
you hear that 45 states signed up and were “on board” before any
opposition arose to Common Core, take note. Does that sound American to
you? We are a fractious bunch, to be sure. So were the Americans of the
Revolution. So were the Athenians. So were the Florentines of
Renaissance Italy. We have this quaint notion that we should govern
ourselves.
Ronald Reagan said it well: “We the People”
are the three most important words in the Constitution and ours is the
only constitution in the world that begins with those powerful words.
“We
are a people who have a government; it’s not the other way around,”
said the Gipper. Reagan thought the appropriate appropriation for the
federal education department was zero. And that’s how
much he allotted for it in eight of his eight presidential budgets. You
simply cannot say you oppose an unconstitutional, intrusive, and
wasteful federal education department and yet support Common Core.
Common
Core is dedicated to the idea that Americans, like those Prussians of
150 years ago, are subjects, not citizens. Jefferson disagreed. He was
the first to write -- in an early draft of the Declaration of
Independence -- that we are Citizens, not Subjects. He crossed out the
word Subjects.
So should we. If you would like to remain Citizens of the Great Republic, Oppose Common Core!
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