On 27 September 2007, then Senator Obama introduced the “Positive Behavior for Effective Schools Act” in the Senate. Obama’s education bill, S.2111, significantly redesigns and amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to allow, in part, for “State . . . local educational agencies, and schools to increase implementation of early intervention services particularly school-wide positive behavior supports.”
According to Section 3, “the term `positive behavior support’ means a systematic approach to embed proven practices for early intervening services, including a range of systemic and individualized strategies to reinforce desired behaviors and eliminate reinforcement for problem behaviors, in order to achieve important social outcomes."
Section 5 called: “Teacher and Principal Preparation to Improve School Climate,” mandates a new requirement for teachers and principals. It is described as “an understanding of social or emotional, or both, learning in children . . . such as positive behavior support.” Obama’s bill also provides for “instructional leadership skills to help teachers” satisfy this requirement.
In Section 8 Obama’s bill creates what’s called the “Office of Specialized Instructional Support Services” which shall “administer, coordinate, implement, and ensure adequate evaluation of the effectiveness of programs” via a new “Director” who provides “continuous training and professional development opportunities for specialized instructional support personnel” comprised of “school counselors, social workers, psychologists, and others.” These “instructional support personnel” provide “assessment, diagnosis, counseling, educational, therapeutic, and other necessary corrective or supportive services” for students.
Obama’s bill intends to extract–without restrictions from Title I funds. The bill “re-designates” funds to allow State educational agencies to “allocate funds to develop and implement coordinated, early intervening services (including school-wide positive behavior supports) for all students, including those who have not been identified as needing special education (emphasis CFP) but who need additional academic and behavioral support to succeed.”
Obama’s bill did not specify the “systematic approach” he plans to “embed” in America’s students to achieve the “desired behaviors” or “important social outcomes” his legislation mandates. Inquiries to former Senator Obama’s Presidential campaign and now to the White House to define them have thus far gone unanswered.
Perhaps Obama should explain to parents exactly what he means before he addresses America’s unwitting school children this Tuesday. In other times and in other regimes they called this indoctrination. What shall we call it?
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