GraniteGrok

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Your local education tax dollars may already be supporting the UN agenda

by Jane Aitken

The taxpayers of the NH's local school districts should understand that local education dollars may already or soon be used to support the United Nations/UNESCO agenda. The tremendous amount of money we spend on education in this country is not lost on the International Baccalaureate Organization. The IBO has not only found a way to nab this piece of our American Pie, but has found a way to influence our students politically. It's a sweet deal, for them.

What is the IBO? Because some school boards and parents have fallen for slick sales pitches fraught with educational "newspeak" such as "competing in the global marketplace", the Geneva, Switzerland-based International Baccalaureate Organization (www.ibo.org) in partnership with UNESCO (www.unesco.org) has found a real CASH COW within the U.S. educational system. The IBO is now trying to get its foot in NH's school systems.

After a school is authorized by IBO to use IB program(s) and pays the "annual fee," it can be referred to as an "IB World School." IBO charges for using their "programs" (curriculum, teacher training, instructional methods, assessments done outside the USA, etc) in OUR schools in the U.S.A., that are then referred to as THEIR schools.

The 2008-2009 International Baccalaureate Diploma Program "annual fee" has increased from $8,850 to $9,150 per school this year. (Note: There are different "annual fees" for IBO's "Primary Years Program" and  "Middle Years Program.").

The various individual "per candidate" costs (covering registration with IB, per subject fees, exam registration fee, per exams costs, etc) have also risen.

In NH, the bulk of our local tax bill goes to support public education under the assumption we have local control and thus, some 'say' about what goes on there. Why should taxpayers shell out more money to support interests from OUTSIDE the country? School boards, once committed to IB, are bound by IBO's 'rules'. The contract between the IBO and IB schools is bound by the "World Court".

There has been an ongoing behind-the-scenes attempt to institute the IB Diploma Program at Bedford High School. Most parents did not know this until after the fact.  Aside from the extra costs, some parents object to this program because of its broad political mission, which does not seem to include supporting our nation's unique and superior form of government. Much of the curriculum is centered around activism regarding redistribution of the wealth within and among nations. Belief in nationalism and sovereignty is considered 'poisonous'.

I urge parents to please find out all they can about this program, especially its values-based methods, overall philosophy, and stated mission which is to create acceptance for "global citizenship" under the United Nations, and to create acceptance of the United Nation's authority for governance of the U.S.A. under the UN's UDHR and Millennium Development Goals. A similar international mission statement and curriculum has been in place in some states' schools even before IB came along, thanks to Goals 2000. As a teacher in 1995, I was once asked, but refused, to sign a contract which stated that I "pledged to teach the mission of world government".

By all means, taxpayers should learn all they can before giving IB their stamp of approval.

Please visit www.ibo.org and www.unesco.org (and click on the Education tab) to see what this is about, in their own words.

Jane Aitken of Bedford is a retired schoolteacher who remains active in educational and taxpayer issues.