Update: the board member in the video is Michael Jones, not John Martin as stated originally. The post has been updated to reflect the correct information.
At a recent hearing conducted by the Missouri State Board of Education, board member Michael Jones defended Common Core by telling a parent that the “war of northern aggression” resulted in a national government that ended state sovereignty.
Transcript courtesy of the Missouri Torch:
Jones: The presumption of this question is that this is a single country made up of a whole lot of different people. The question is if there ought to be some objective to education, whatever that is, I am not stipulating what it is for the purpose of this question. How do you establish for a country, what all children need to know? What is the vehicle for teaching them that?
Parent: Your question seems to be set around the premise of us being a democratic society instead of being a Republic. I think that is where education may have went wrong. Maybe even in yours. Education should be handled right here at the state level without federal involvement.
Jones: Well, I would, you know, when I went to school I did take that part of history.
Parent: Sure, but the premise of the question was nationally.
Jones: I would argue that the war of northern aggression settled the issue about whether you are 50 different states or one national government. The fact that we have got a federalized system of government is totally different than the issue of 50 sovereign states. So, that got resolved in 1864. So, my question is, given the fact (inaudible) how do you create in an inclusive way, generally speaking, how do you create an educational system that assures that all children, no matter where they come from, have the ability to know what they need to know to be productive human beings for the 21st Century.
Parent: That is where you and I would completely disagree. Sounds like you are more of a globalist and I am more of a localist. I think education should come from the local level.
Jones: Okay, we disagree.
According to Duane Lester at the Missouri Torch, the video was shot in an overflow room “where opponents of Common Core were funneled into, despite the fact they were there first and were testifying.”
Parents in the audience were clearly shocked by what they were hearing, responding with “Seriously?” and “What?”
Jones, whose biography says he has “more than 30 years of experience specializing in public policy development and implementation” has no problem with a federal takeover of his state’s education policies because he truly believes they have the right to do so — and he probably thinks the feds should do a lot more — seemingly ignorant of the past abuses of powerful centralized governments of the past.
And the worst part? He’s been using his revisionist history views to influence public policy in St. Louis for decades.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member