RWBN Commentary: In the course of all the changes happening in America under the Obama administration, little has become truly surprising anymore. In my opinion this is no different. One of the issues that is most important to the progressive agenda is the educational system as a whole. What better way to monitor our systems of higher education than to add government approval of each and every program being offered.
(WorldNetDaily) President Obama's Department of Education, where Secretary Arne Duncan appointed a longtime homosexual activist who was part of the sometimes-violent Act Up organization to head his "safe schools" office, now is proposing to force colleges and universities to submit to a political agenda, according to critics.
Under the proposed federal rule change, institutions of higher education "would be required to have a document of state approval … to operate an educational program, including programs leading to a degree or certificate," explained an analysis by Shapri D. LoMaglio for the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities.
"I think it is the greatest threat to academic freedom in our lifetime," former Sen. Bill Armstrong, now president of Colorado Christian University, told WND. "But only if you love liberty."
Armstrong is so alarmed over the proposal identified by the federal agency as a rule change regarding "Program Integrity Issues" that he's joined with another former Colorado senator and higher education leader, Hank Brown, in writing a commentary on the subject. Brown was president of the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Colorado.
The educators were joined by prominent columnists Cal Thomas and Jay Ambrose in alerting readers about the proposal.
Armstrong is encouraging members of Congress to look into the measure, since as a proposed "regulation" change, most lawmakers probably haven't even heard of it.
Armstrong said the implications are not complicated, despite the 86 pages of tiny type in the federal agency's rule change.
"The Department of Education is attempting to subject every college and university in America – public and private – to political supervision," he said in an e-mail to WND.
Somebody, he said, needs to blow the whistle and put a stop "to this takeover, a huge threat to institutional autonomy and academic freedom."
Accreditation, now established by relatively independent educational councils, already is a life-or-death rating that requires institutions to meet high educational standards. But the new requirement for a "state approval" provides that "the State is expected to take an active role in approving an institution and monitoring complaints from the public about its operations and responding appropriately."
"While these regulations only encourage rather than require state involvement and oversight, if these proposals are passed as written, it is…"
(Read more here)
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