At G20, Betsy DeVos puts America last

On September 5^th, 2018, in what can only be described as a mind-boggling stab to the gut of Americans, the US Secretary of Education committed US education to the globalist agenda of collectivism, corporatism, and social engineering; to a global agenda that was decidedly rejected by a diverse array of Americans through the election of Donald Trump in 2016.

DeVos attended the G20’s first ever Education Ministerial Meeting, held in Argentina. Out of those meetings came the eight-page G20 Education Ministers’ Declaration 2018. The document details the goals, priorities, and world-wide agenda of the G20 ministers in the areas of Education and Skills Policies, Financing Education, International Cooperation, and The Way Forward.

THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION

The first statement of the document’s Preamble illustrates what the authors grievously believe to be the purpose of education (italics and spelling patterns in the original):

We, the Ministers of Education of the G20 members and invited countries, met in Mendoza, Argentina on 5 September 2018 to affirm the unique role of education as a key driver for sustainable development for all nations, recognise the need to place education at the centre of the global agenda and call for collective action.

This is a distressing indication that the US Secretary of Education’s philosophical beliefs are gravely inharmonious with those of most American parents who humbly and rightfully desire a quality education for their children; education which bestows the fundamental skills and knowledge necessary to thrive.

VOWS OF COMMITMENT TO GLOBALIZATION

Statements 20-22, among others, are especially illuminating: the statements therein shine a spotlight on both the relativistic-globalist mindset of DeVos and the other G20 education ministers, as well as these ministers’ narcissistic presumptuousness.

Reading the declaration, it becomes evident that the authors believe themselves to be the noble representatives of the “shared” aspirations and values of all peoples the world over, and the bearers of a fruitful philosophy which will usher in a new and prosperous future to be welcomed with open arms.

Key statements to this effect include:

We commit to facilitating the internationalisation of education.

We will work to meet our commitments affirmed in this Declaration… to building a robust set of education and skills policies from a global perspective that fosters inclusive and sustainable human progress in every nation.

ALLEGIANCE TO UNESCO’S AGENDA 2030

The second statement is quite curious, given that the United States has pulled out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which will officially take place at the end of this year. Statement 2 reads (italics in original):

In line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda, we affirm our commitment to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.

In fact, loyalty to UNESCO and to UNESCO’s Agenda 2030 is communicated several times within the declaration.

At the time of the UN-member adoption of Agenda 2030, Alex Newman of The New American noted:

Top globalists such as former NATO chief Javier Solana, a socialist, are celebrating the plan, which the summit unanimously “approved,” as the next “Great Leap Forward” — yes, the old campaign slogan of the Chinese Communist Party.

Additionally, listed as having provided the “expertise” and “reports” on “key issues” which informed the G20 education ministers’ declarations on educational goals and policy are UNESCO, the Organization for Economic Development (OECD), the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank.

This leads one to question whether Secretary DeVos is simply falling in line with the status quo or if she is quietly undermining the president’s America First agenda.

President Trump wouldn’t be the first American president to have his agenda thwarted by his education secretary.

As noted by Mary Byrne at Truth in American Education:

When President Reagan worked to keep his campaign promise to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and restore control of education to parents and local school boards, his vice-president, G. H. W. Bush supported Reagan’s first Secretary of Education, Terrel Bell, in preserving the Department; and it was another Senator from Tennessee, Lamar Alexander’s mentor, Howard Baker, who thwarted Reagan’s efforts. Alexander worked to get Devos confirmed as Secretary of Education (or is that Minister of Education?). Now, as President Trump works to keep his campaign promise to return education to the states, his efforts are thwarted by his own Secretary of Education and Senator Baker’s protégé. Trump would do himself a service by requesting Secretary DeVos’s resignation, and Tennessee would do America a great service by settling Senator Alexander’s quandary about running for re-election in 2020, and clearing the way for President Trump to accomplish what he was elected to do.

OTHER PROMINENT THEMES THEREIN

Almost too predictable to be worthy of mention, one theme reverberates throughout the G20 Education Ministers’ Declaration: the collectivist-corporatist social engineering of a world-wide labor force and the development of an idyllic, world-wide society.

I have already written an in-depth series on the topic of the Big Data/Workforce movement – within which DeVos is actively involved, attempting to persuade President Trump to merge the Department of Education with the Department of Labor – and the big money which is driving it. Thus, for the sake of brevity, I will not expound further. You may read about this subject here, here, here, and here.

“It is important that education keeps pace with societal and technological innovations such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Internet of Things,” the ministers tell us.

What is worth noting are the education ministers’ emphasis on monitoring the implementation of their policies and measure the success of said societies-altering through the means of data-mining world-wide citizens and international data-sharing of said information.

As statement 13 declares (spelling in original):

We recognise the value of policies based on evidence and the importance of having robust and comprehensive learning assessment systems and data in order to measure progress and learning outcomes, to help ensure quality education for all at all stages of life. More broadly, assessments systems should provide quality input for decision-making at every level…

As elaborated upon in statement 16:

Strengthening governance, management, monitoring and accountability is key to addressing this shared challenge. Increased social and economic returns on investment can have significantly positive impact on human development, and encourage greater commitments in this area.

To assuage (likely anticipated) concerns, the authors commit to “highlighting the importance of interpretation and responsible use of results.”

Also worth noting are the education ministers’ intentions to install upon the peoples of the world a societal consensus which the ministers refer to as a “global and cultural competence” by means of an organized, world-wide, top-down communications effort, “sharing our common values among our education institutions.”

To the same ends, DeVos and the other G20 education ministers emphasize a recruitment process which will “attract and retain the most suitable and passionate individuals from a diversity of backgrounds into the teaching profession.”

“Suitable” teachers are identified as being individuals “equipped with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes free from gender stereotypes…” The document does not identify which “values and attitudes” an individual must possess.

And, of course, the G20 ministers of education stress international funding for their scheme.

IT’S TIME TO SEND DEVOS PACKING

UNESCO has not changed in the years since an impassioned President Ronald Reagan said, “UNESCO has extraneously politicized virtually every subject it deals with. It has exhibited hostility toward a free society, especially a free market and a free press, and it has demonstrated unrestrained budgetary expansion.”

Why does Betsy DeVos believe that she has the right to circumvent the president and become a side-line partner with UNESCO? What happened to America First?

In what ways does Secretary DeVos believe that the unsustainable economic and social theories of United Nations bureaucrats, especially the euphemistically named “sustainable development” cause célèbre, have to do with ensuring American youths have the education necessary to succeed?

Under what authority does Secretary DeVos believe she may impose the G20 education ministers’ “shared values” upon American youth?

Who gave her the authority to employ the Department of Education in a scheme against the American people?

Is Betsy DeVos a naive stooge simply falling in line or, given that she has now declared herself a globalist through the full consensus of the G20 team, is the secretary quietly undermining the American First agenda?

Obedient to the status quo or cold betrayal and circumvention of the will of the people?

Truth be told, the answer doesn’t matter; both choices produce rotten fruit.

Americans need a George Washington; not a Benedict Arnold.

It’s time to send Ms. DeVos packing.