Today ESEA Finally Released; Congress to Vote in Two Days Without Reading or Debating It

 

Over a thousand pages long, the ESEA bill is now online for all to see.  [UPDATE:  another new version was re-released on Tuesday, a day after the first version, a day before the vote.]

You can divide it up among your friends and read it.  [Newest version here] Or you can call Congress (202-224-3121) and tell them that this is a familiar (Obamacare) recipe for disaster:   A thousand pages.  No debate.  Vote in two days. Strike that; vote in one day.

Did you know that the average reader can read nontechnical information at about two minutes per page?  (This bill is highly technical, legalistic, ed reform language)  So it will take a genius  reader at least 2118 minutes (over 35 hours) to read the bill.

That’s without stopping for a meal or a potty break, without having his or her mind wander from the sheer absurdity of the reading marathon– reading this breathtaking page-turner straight for about nine hours.  That’s without stopping to define terms, research context, look at background on policies and initiatives and programs that a reader will come across.

Next, that genius Congressman or woman who will read the ESEA bill without pause, without proper sleep or food, in 48 hours, will have analyzed it thoroughly, from Constitutional, pedagogical, technological, logistical, financial and moral angles; not missing any key clause that could alter the meaning of a section; and then collect constituent (teacher) input, while finding time to discuss this with fellow members of Congress– which will at best happen at Burger King or on the phone, because there’s no time being put aside for a real debate on the actual floor of the House.  Simultanesously, he or she is responsible for other issues and other bills.

Ridiculous is not a strong enough word.

And valiant is not a strong enough word for the Indiana moms who, on their own dime, have flown to Washington D.C. this week to plead for sanity from Congressmen in this ESEA reauthorization process.  God bless them.

Something is rotten in the state of the Republican party when such disgraceful processes and policies are presented as good and right.

Call their bluff.  Let them know that we are onto them.

It’s so obvious!  It’s all about top down, centralized control, and the crony partnerships and so-called philanthropies and chambers of commerce that make so much money standardizing our educational universe— without a thought for the effect on actual knowledge, actual education; children, teachers, and American liberty.

CALL THEM.  202-224-3121.  Hold them accountable.  Tweet them.  Call again.  Call again.  Tweet and Tweet.

If this bill passes, I predict that there will be political careers lost that will trace their demise back to this moment.

This is the moment, Congress.  We are watching you.