by Diane Robertson
Parents if you haven’t thought about homeschooling yet, this just might provoke it.
The senate recently passed a bill– S. 227 or SERTA (Strengthening Education Through Research Act)—that will allow the federal government to conduct academic research on the psychological make-up of children in the public schools. Parents, students, and even local school boards are not offered a way to opt out of this program. It will just happen without anyone’s consent.
You may not have known it. I didn’t, but the federal government has already been collecting academic data on public school students through the Education Sciences Reform Act. SERTA takes this a huge step further.
Check out section 132. SETRA will begin research on “social and emotional learning.” SERTA defines this as: “the process through which children . . . acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.”
SERTA will bring in outside businesses to conduct the research, and to collect and analyze the data. Section 174 actually calls these businesses “regional educational laboratories”. Yes, laboratories will be established throughout the nation to conduct psychological research on public school children.
SERTA will make the data available publically. You won’t have a say about whether or not the government can use your children as research subjects, but you and everyone else will get to see and use the data from the findings. In fact, SERTA makes it clear that “policymakers” will be able to make use of the data.
I’ve often thought that public schools are becoming indoctrination camps. If the senate has its way, public schools will become laboratories as well.
It’s possible doubling government schools as psychological laboratories is meant to assist the government in more thoroughly indoctrinating children. One can only speculate.
One may also wonder if those in the Senate voting for SERTA have children and grandchildren because what parent in their right mind would want the government to conduct research on their children’s psychological and emotional reactions? Maybe all senators’ children are all safe in private schools, and they just don’t care what other parents and children would think about this.
When I asked my high school children how they feel about it, they had a hard time getting over the shock and then, of course, declared that there is no way they would participate. But SERTA would not give high school students or their parents the opportunity to opt them out.
It’s not too late yet. SERTA is awaiting a vote in the House. Parents can call their Representatives and tell them to vote no, or to keep SERTA from even coming up for a vote. SERTA as written is a disaster for parental rights and an incredible over reach by the federal government. It must be stopped.