More Proof that CES, a Nationwide Progressive Organization Launched in Part by President Obama, is Behind Recent Controversy in Texas Schools

By Danette Clark

As I wrote here, Texas ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is linked to the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES), a nationwide progressive education reform movement that, as a matter of practice, indoctrinates students in a racist, pro-communist, anti-American environment and curriculum.

In an apparent attempt to fly under the radar in Texas, the Texas ASCD website does not specifically refer to Theodore Sizer’s Coalition of Essential Schools (CES), as does the national ASCD website. In fact, a few pages that did connect Texas ASCD to other progressive organizations are now no longer found on the internet.

Texas ASCD’s website does, however, name many progressive educators that can be directly connected to CES schools.

For example, here are just a few of the keynote speakers to past Texas ASCD conferences and professional developement seminars that are affiliated with CES schools:

Howard Gardner – partner with CES founder, Theodore Sizer, in the creation of Atlas Learning Communities, a CES partner organization.

Heidi Hayes Jacobs – curriculum designer for CES schools.

Pedro Noguera – educator who has partnered with Theodore Sizer and CES on many programs and initiatives.

H. Lynn Erickson – consultant to CES mentor schools and other schools and districts for the implementation of CES reform.

Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe – consultants to schools and districts for the implementation of CES reform.

Robert Marzano – research and consulting to schools and districts regarding the implementation of reform, including the CES reform model.

Interestingly enough, five of the Texas ASCD professional development keynotes listed above (Jacobs, Erickson, Wiggins, Tighe and Marzano) are also developers, along with Linda Darling Hammond, of the Texas CSCOPE curriculum.

Linda Darling Hammond is a board member of the Coalition of Essential Schools Bay Area location in Oakland, CA (now named the National Equity Project).

Each of these people also work for progressive organizations to implement Common Core State Standards.

The largest private funder of CES schools, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is also the largest private funder of Common Core. Gates also funds several organizations, including ASCD, to support implementation of Common Core standards.

Read about the connection between President Obama, Bill Ayers, and CES schools here and here. Also, see other radicals involved in CES schools at Name Names (where a new radical will be added each week, including state representatives, school superintendents, and school board members).