NOTE: My GEN-DAY is Sept. 19th. Do you know when is YOUR GEN-DAY ?
REMINDER: 1) Check out this week's broadcast of ''Truth ThatTransforms'' (http://www.truthinaction.org/index.php/tr/uth-that-transforms This week’s sermon is entitled “ A Godly Education" and explains what is happening in our public schools. It also presents a feature about a courageous home-schooling German family; and 2) I came across this fantastic message by Jentezen Franklin on 9/6 that could simply be entitled, "Be There!" This message is well worth your time. http://event.cbn.com/weekofprayer/2013-fall/default.aspx?ventID=143699&cpid=DM1309061 PLEASE take time to check these programs out!
REMINDER: 1) Check out this week's broadcast of ''Truth ThatTransforms'' (http://www.truthinaction.org/index.php/tr/uth-that-transforms This week’s sermon is entitled “ A Godly Education" and explains what is happening in our public schools. It also presents a feature about a courageous home-schooling German family; and 2) I came across this fantastic message by Jentezen Franklin on 9/6 that could simply be entitled, "Be There!" This message is well worth your time. http://event.cbn.com/weekofprayer/2013-fall/default.aspx?ventID=143699&cpid=DM1309061 PLEASE take time to check these programs out!
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: "Syrian Christians Brace for Strike, Ask for Prayer," - by Gary Lane, August 31, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/Syrian-Christians-Brace-for-Strike-Ask-for-Prayer/"As Syrians brace themselves for a possible U.S. military attack, many of the county's Christians are praying for divine intervention. They say military action against the Assad regime will only bring them greater hardship and suffering and they're asking Christians worldwide to pray that God intervenes to bring peace to their nation. They believe the collective prayers of Christians around the world could reverse an escalating conflict..."
[EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.]
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST- Update on Kenneth Bae: "US Ready to Bargain with N. Korea for Bae's Release,"- CBNNews.com, Aug 14, 2013 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/S-Ready-to-Bargain-with-N-Korea-for-Baes-Release/ - The United States is willing to engage North Korea to secure the release of imprisoned American Christian Kenneth Bae. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the United States is "willing to consider a number of different options" to bring him home.In a video recently released by a North Korean newspaper, Bae requested the United States send a high-ranking official to North Korea to seek his pardon. It is unclear if he spoke of his own volition in the video. Bae, 45, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for sharing his faith. He suffers health problems such as diabetes and is currently hospitalized.[PRAY for 1) God's healing of and presence with Pastor Bae, 2) His earliest release by the North Korean government, and 3) God's comfort for his family and friends.]
UPDATE: Iran Rejects Saeed's Appeal, Family 'Devastated' , CBNNews.com, August 27, 2013 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/Iran-Rejects-Saeeds-Appeal-Family-Devastated/ "By keeping the 8-year prison sentence in place, Pastor Saeed, now potentially faces additional beatings and abuse inside Evin Prison -- treatment that has significantly weakened him during his first year in prison,"....{
“Abandoned” For Christ" - Graham Calls On White House To Support Abedini - By Dr. Tom Askew, Aug.8, http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/opinion
Franklin Graham is the latest to join the chorus of voices calling for U.S. State Department and White House officials to take a more vocal role in protesting the Iranian imprisonment of American pastor Saeed Abedini. September 26 will mark the one year anniversary of Abedini’s imprisonment for allegedly “endangering the national security” of Iran.
Graham pointed out that, in contrast to Iranian accusations, “Pastor Saeed was in Iran trying to help children. With the permission of Iran’s government, he was working to build an orphanage. But his humanitarian mission led to an arrest on bogus charges and nearly a year of inhumane treatment, simply because he loves Jesus Christ.”...
Behind the scenes, more than 600,000 people around the world have signed a petition sponsored by ACLJ in support of pastor Abedini. A concerted movement this past May brought together Christians from many nations to set aside Pentecost to pray for Abedini. On June 13, demonstrations were held at Iranian embassies in at least six countries to protest Abedini’s treatment. And, on July 29, Arizona Republican Representative Trent Franks spoke on the floor of the House to urge other Congressmen to join him in “adopting” Pastor Abedini through the bipartisan Defending Freedoms Project.
Saeed’s response…and yours - Through his family living in Iran, Pastor Abedini has been made aware of these efforts on his behalf, and is grateful. “I heard that the persecution, my arrest and imprisonment has united churches from different denominations, from different cities and countries. That the churches have united together in prayer to put one request (my freedom) on one day (Pentecost) before God,” he wrote in a letter.
The story of Saeed Abedini, the jihad against Syrian Christians, the attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt, and the ongoing desecration of churches in Nigeria and India should cause every American to reflect on the blessings of freedom still enjoyed in this nation.
PRAY: - For comfort and peace for Saeed’s wife and children here in the U.S.
- For a strong witness and testimony from Pastor Abedini in the prison where God has placed him
- For Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ
- BOLDly (Beside Our Leaders Daily) for leadership from the White House and State Department in defending the freedoms of Abedini and other Americans
Go to SaveSaeed.org to sign a petition over 600,000 others asking for his immediate release.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Back to School by the Numbers: Government vs. Parents -by Brittany Corona, September 9, 2013Franklin Graham is the latest to join the chorus of voices calling for U.S. State Department and White House officials to take a more vocal role in protesting the Iranian imprisonment of American pastor Saeed Abedini. September 26 will mark the one year anniversary of Abedini’s imprisonment for allegedly “endangering the national security” of Iran.
Graham pointed out that, in contrast to Iranian accusations, “Pastor Saeed was in Iran trying to help children. With the permission of Iran’s government, he was working to build an orphanage. But his humanitarian mission led to an arrest on bogus charges and nearly a year of inhumane treatment, simply because he loves Jesus Christ.”...
Behind the scenes, more than 600,000 people around the world have signed a petition sponsored by ACLJ in support of pastor Abedini. A concerted movement this past May brought together Christians from many nations to set aside Pentecost to pray for Abedini. On June 13, demonstrations were held at Iranian embassies in at least six countries to protest Abedini’s treatment. And, on July 29, Arizona Republican Representative Trent Franks spoke on the floor of the House to urge other Congressmen to join him in “adopting” Pastor Abedini through the bipartisan Defending Freedoms Project.
Saeed’s response…and yours - Through his family living in Iran, Pastor Abedini has been made aware of these efforts on his behalf, and is grateful. “I heard that the persecution, my arrest and imprisonment has united churches from different denominations, from different cities and countries. That the churches have united together in prayer to put one request (my freedom) on one day (Pentecost) before God,” he wrote in a letter.
The story of Saeed Abedini, the jihad against Syrian Christians, the attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt, and the ongoing desecration of churches in Nigeria and India should cause every American to reflect on the blessings of freedom still enjoyed in this nation.
As the summer comes to an end and children put on their backpacks and lace up their sneakers for the new school year, let’s look at what kind of school system they are entering.
More Spending: $11,800 per Pupil
Education expenditures have reached new heights. This year, the national average for per-pupil funding exceeds $11,800 [2] annually—that’s $500 more per student than last year and a 50 percent increase since 1996. At this rate, a child entering kindergarten today can expect to have no less than $153,400 spent on his or her education by high school graduation. The total expense to taxpayers for K–12 education exceeds $591 billion [2] this year. Yet, despite large increases in per-pupil spending, educational achievement has hardly improved. [3]
More Government: $75 Billion Pre-K, $16 Billion Common Core
As spending increases, so does government control of education. Two initiatives currently being pushed by the Obama Administration are universal pre-kindergarten and the Common Core national standards.
Last December, the Department of Health and Human Services found that the federal pre-kindergarten program, Head Start [4], proved a flop—despite the taxpayers spending over $160 billion [5] on the initiative since 1965. Now the Obama Administration wants to expand to preschool for all. President Obama has proposed an initiative [6] to enroll all four-year-olds in government-subsidized preschool. The price-tag: $75 billion [7], including $1.4 billion for Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships.
Students are also going to be coming home with new textbooks [8] this year. The federal government has been using federal dollars to push states into adopting Common Core national standards since 2009. Forty-five states have signed on to the standards, agreeing to fully implement them by 2014–2015. Most of these states are already seeing implementation problems [9], and many [10] are attempting to bow out of the standards. This initiative has a projected $16 billion [11] price tag over the next seven years and is also costly in terms of educational liberty.
More Choice: 220,000 Students Eligible for Education Savings Accounts
Despite the looming further federal encroachment into education, the new frontier of educational opportunity is blossoming. Governor Jan Brewer (R–AZ) signed the nation’s first education savings accounts [12] (ESA) program into law in 2011. The ESAs were originally available only to children with special needs, but this year they were expanded to include children in active-duty military families, foster care, under-performing schools, and kindergarten.
ESAs allow eligible families to use 90 percent of the funds the state would have spent on the child to be deposited into a savings account and used to customize the child’s educational options. This means ESAs save taxpayer money and empower parents with educational choice. This school year, over 220,000 [13] children are eligible to receive a customized education through ESAs.
Today, America faces a fork in the road. One direction is toward increased centralization of education and government spending; the other is toward greater educational choice. Reform is in the air as parents send their kids back to school. The path American citizens take will dictate what type of schools their children will be heading into for years to come.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org
URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2013/09/09/back-to-school-by-the-numbers-government-vs-parents/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://blog.heritage.org/wp-content/uploads/school-parent130617.jpg
[2] 11,800: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/projections2021/tables/table_18.asp?referrer=list
[3] hardly improved.: http://nationsreportcard.gov/ltt_2012/
[4] Head Start: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/01/head-start-earns-an-f-no-lasting-impact-for-children-by-first-grade?query=Head+Start+Earns+an+F:+No+Lasting+Impact+for+Children+by+First+Grade
[5] $160 billion: http://blog.heritage.org/2012/12/21/hhs-dusts-off-head-start-evaluation-finally-publishes-results/
[6] initiative: http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/early-childhood
[7] $75 billion: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget
[8] new textbooks: http://shop.scholastic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/teacherstore/nav/shops/IMPACT/SearchCmd?NEW_QUERY_PARAM=true&storeId=10751&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&viewParam=Search&N=0&searchDropDownFilter=All+Products&Ntt=Common+Core&x=-792&y=-91
[9] problems: http://blog.heritage.org/2013/06/12/common-core-implementation-proves-problematic/
[10] many: http://truthinamericaneducation.com/common-core-state-standards/states-fighting-back-map/
[11] $16 billion: http://pioneerinstitute.org/download/one-page-primer-on-common-core-cost/
[12] education savings accounts: http://www.edchoice.org/Research/Reports/The-Education-Debit-Card--What-Arizona-Parents-Purchase-with-Education-Savings-Accounts.aspx
[13] over 220,000: http://goldwaterinstitute.org/article/education-savings-accounts-questions-and-answers
No comments:
Post a Comment