An Open Letter to Louisiana Senate Education Committee

Sara Wood, a contact and fellow advocate in Louisiana, shared a letter with me via email. She graciously gave permission for me to post it here. This is a letter she sent the Louisiana Senate Education Committee after they killed SB73. SB73 would have allowed “each public school governing authority to determine the education content standards and assessments to be used in the schools under its jurisdiction.” Thank you, Sara, for permission to publish your letter and more importantly, thank you for your advocacy efforts. I know many parents who, unfortunately, will relate to what you expressed so well in this letter.

Dear Senators,

For years our hope as informed parents has proven to be eternal in the face of stonewalling by those who are meant to protect freedom and limit government—>you, the members of this Committee and the entire legislature—>while at the same time unabashedly kowtowing to special interest/donors. In spite of the stonewalling and cronyism, and in the face of the highest of financial and otherwise interested opposition, we, the informed parents, have remained vigilant and persevered in our endeavor to shed light on the destructive and abusive path upon which we were forced so many years ago. This destructive and abusive path of the Common Core State Standards Initiative was heaped on parents and children in a very undemocratic and unconstitutional manner as we have proven until blue in the face to no impact on you, who were elected to protect freedom and limit government. What was heaped upon our children and what continues to manifest itself is overwhelmingly, in too many degrees, a form of mental and emotional child abuse to those of us outside of the special interest/ruling elite circles and whose decisions are not financially motivated (you and your cronies). Nonetheless, here parents were again today attempting to have you do your job to protect our freedom and limit government and again you failed. This attempt was in the form of Senator John Milkovich’s SB73 which the majority of you gave short shrift, as usual. TRUE LOCAL CONTROL IS THE ONLY WAY OUT OF THIS FAILING INITIATIVE FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE SCHOOLS IN THIS STATE! I know you don’t give a squat beyond maybe GIVING THE APPEARANCE of care for anything with regards to non-special interest, parents and children. No need to deny it, the conclusion comes from many years of rational observation. So I really only write to convey my disgust with this majority, though it was totally expected, because I want to burst any delusional bubble in which you might be living with regards to your obligation of acting to protect freedom and limiting government.

Thank you for doing nothing once again to actually stop the centralization of education and the standardization of children, AS EXPECTED. If I believed in Karma, I would take comfort that one day what you have brought around to us, the everyday taxpaying parents and their families, will come around tenfold to you and yours. But I don’t believe in Karma, I believe in God and so I will continue to pray for God to move you to that which is right. A move that would have you act TRULY, GENUINELY AND HUMBLY to protect our freedoms and to limit government in education and in all else greatly affecting our everyday lives rather than burdening our freedoms to the point of decimation, growing government through increased laws; unelected commission/boards passing regulations; taxes, fees, licensing, etc.; and doing so in a manner that serves yourself by serving your special interest cronies/donors. Further, I pray that one day, my children will see a true shift towards having A TRUE AND GENUINE MAJORITY of our elected officials uphold their oaths and promises of protecting freedom and limiting government. God help us!

Sara Wood