“Few people really know what is at stake in this election,” said Teiro Cuccinelli, wife of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli. “It is very important that we elect a governor who recognizes the importance of holding back the tentacles of the federal government.”
Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, the current Attorney General for Virginia, entered the national political stage for filing the first lawsuit by an attorney general against Obamacare. In the polls for the Virginia governor’s race, Cuccinelli currently trails Terry McAullife, the former chairman of the Democratic National Party.
Teiro Cuccinelli, a home schooling mother of seven, spoke to parents in Spotsylvania County, VA, Friday night about “the real Ken,” as well as her husband’s efforts to protect Constitutional state sovereignty, especially related to education.
Cuccinelli discussed the federal stimulus monies for education that—like a Trojan horse—have come with strings attached. Forty-five states have signed on to implement the Common Core Curriculum (CCC) that was part of stimulus funds. Although the Governor refused the stimulus money and the CCC, making Virginia one of the five states that has not yet signed onto to it, all students, including those in private schools and home schooled, will be affected by it because the SATs and other standardized tests will be changed to reflect CCC standards.
Teiro Cuccinelli talks about the importance of local control of education. Photo: Lori Elizabeth Photography“The states that signed up for the Common Core Curriculum,” Cuccinelli explained, “were told—and it sounds very nice on the surface – that we are going to get everyone is on the same page. So if someone moves from Oregon to Florida, they are going to have the same education. Everyone is using the same books and all are on the same level, so it won’t be too difficult to transition. Everybody is going to be the same.”
“However, that is all the states were told,” Cuccinelli added. “So 45 states signed on to receive that money before they knew what was in the CCC.”
The Common Core, Cuccinelli continued, “was developed with no parental input, no teacher input, no administrator at the local level input. It was developed by Obama appointees in the Department of Education. In response to a public outcry, the Education Department gathered together an approval committee, which suggested many changes, but none of those suggested changes have been implemented. It is really rather shocking once you start delving into what this really is.”
“What is rather disturbing is a requirement to keep data on our children: 400 data points on our children from kindergarten all the way through high school. The data includes religion, political party, attitudes in the home, identifying marks on the body. It goes on. Why do they need this data? There is no provision to keep this information private.”
“As you start getting into the actual curriculum,” she emphasized, “it gets even worse. I have actually seen the writing program for the first grade. It reads (and I paraphrase): ‘The purpose of this program is to help children identify social problems and to use emotional language to motivate the reader to bring about the social change the child desires.’ Some of the instructions say things like: ‘Use words that generate fear and anger to get them to do what you want them to do.’ One of the exercises says: ‘My mom tells me to clean my room. My mom nags me to clean my room.’ And the right answer is ‘nags’ because it elicits anger in the reader.”
“I’m not sure if you have heard of Saul Alinsky,” Cuccinelli asked, “but these are Alinsky tactics being taught to first graders and they teach them all the way through to 12th grade. Many of the states that signed up for the CCC, are now trying to get out of it.”
Mrs. Cuccinelli closed by reminding those present that education is just one issue of many, but the results of this election will have a dramatically different affects upon the Commonwealth of Virginia and all of its citizens.