Category: US Department of Education

Don’t Back Down – Your Prayers Change History

August 28, 2018
Standing for LIFE in front of the Supreme Court

Lately, I’ve been reminded of the first time I took fifteen intercessors to Washington, DC to pray. Early in the planning process I contacted Sandy Grady, who had worked for years as a key intercessor for David Barton of Wall Builders. As I shared with Sandy my desire to pray at educational sites in DC, she said, “Nancy, everyone who comes to DC goes to the same places. They go to the White House, the Capitol building, the Washington Monument, and other famous landmarks. But I’ve never known a group to go to the National Department of Education. Please go there and pray. Our schools need our prayers and intercessors don’t think to include education in their prayer trips to DC. What you want to do will be hard, but don’t back down.”

That was in 2001 and Sandy’s words never left me. That first time to pray at the Department of Education was every bit as difficult as she’d prophesied it would be. Over and over, I heard her words ring in my spirit, “Don’t back down. Don’t back down. Don’t back down.”

In order to go inside the Department of Education building one must have an invitation from someone employed there. Somewhere I’d been given the name of a man from Oklahoma—Jim—who worked in the Department of Education, so I called him a couple of weeks before my group was to be in DC. We had a nice chat. He agreed to host our group, give us a tour of the building, and allow us to have a brief moment in the building’s small auditorium to pray. I hung up thinking everything was all set.

I called Jim early on the day of our visit. He didn’t answer of return my calls. With our appointment “iffy.” I gave those in the group an option to stay behind if they wanted to not take a chance on whether or not the appointment would actually happen. Eight people decided to stay behind. To be honest, I was the most frightened of any one in the group, but I felt the need to go as Sandy’s words repeated over and over in my mind. “Don’t back down. Don’t back down.”

We entered the National Department of Education building, went through security, and asked to speak to Jim. Instead of Jim, two burley security guards came to greet us. They demanded to know why we were there and what our relationship was with Jim. I told them we had come to pray for America’s educational system and gave them the name of the man from Oklahoma. One man left and a few minutes later came back and told us that Jim was busy and couldn’t meet with us.

Scared, I then asked if there were a room we could use to pray. The security men ushered us to a small auditorium where we placed chairs in a circle and began to pray for America’s schools. They eventually realized we were harmless and disappeared. Twenty minutes later, “Mr. Oklahoma” showed up and confessed he had been afraid and had backed out (without telling me). He redeemed the time as he showed us around the building and introduced us to the head of the Department of Education as well as key people in the building. We ended up praying in every office, even the office of the head of the department. It was a victory that would not have happened without one seasoned intercessor telling me, “Don’t back down. Don’t back down.”

No matter what circumstance you find yourself in as an intercessor for you, your family or for the children of America, don’t back down! It’s not an easy task and certainly not for the faint of heart, but persistence and tenacity are paramount when taking on a spiritual giant.

Should We Do Away with the Department of Education?

August 27, 2018

The US Department of Education employees approximately 5000 people and has an approximate annual budget of $69 billion. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics there are 57 million elementary and secondary school age children in the United States, of which 8 million are either enrolled in private schools or homeschooled. That leaves 49 million children educated by America’s network of public schools and for whom the Department of Education serves. Does the Department of Education produce $69 billion dollars worth of results for the public school children in America? It produces no curriculum, teacher training, or personalized educational training. So what does it do?

According to the Dept of Ed web site, they have four areas of concentration:
1. Establish policies and administer financial aid,
2. Collect data and oversee research on America’s schools,
3. Identify major issues and problems in education and bring national attention to them,
4. Enforce anti-discrimination in public education.

Since the US constitution does not mention education, but the constitution does state that all powers not mentioned in the constitution are delivered to the individual states. Which is the reason why many Americans believe that the US Department of Education has no constitutional standing and must be dismantled. I believe that it is imperative that we pray on a regular basis for the Department of Education—it will remain only if it serves the best interest of our children and improves the educational quality of our schools.

Prayer for the Mountain of Education During the Month of Sivan

May 23, 2018

When settlers came to America in the early 1700s, they established schools with Judeo-Christian instruction that instilled in their children a strong Christian foundation. These schools taught individualism and personal responsibility, traits that prepared their children for the rigors of frontier life in the new world. It wasn’t until 1884 that the first public school was established as the fulfillment of a campaign promise to the Unitarians by Horace Mann, known as the Father of Public Education. As the newly elected Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, Mann promised he would start schools totally funded by tax payer money without religious instruction. Beginning in 1884, America had two school systems. In the beginning, there wasn’t a lot of difference between the two because the teachers were from the local communities and were strong Christians, but over time the two systems have diverged with totally different objectives.

The month of Sivan is the month of twins. As a result of Horace Mann’s actions we now have twin educations streams – one secular and one religious. During this month, we choose to nurture America’s Godly educational inheritance with our declarations, prayers, proclamations and decrees. This is also the month of Firstfruits, cause, alignment, strength and clear vision.

• We decree and declare that the Godly stream of America’s education flourishes. We speak life into that Godly stream and command it to live, grow and mature so it will feed the minds of our youth with God’s Word.
• We decree that the Mountain of Education to come into alignment with the intents and purposes of God.
• We speak to schools, teachers and administrators who serve God in America’s schools and we decree that you go from strength to strength.
• In this month of Firstfruits, we decree that new revelation will be given to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. She will share her revelation with those in her team who are new wineskins and who will receive the Firstfruits of her revelation, and align themselves with God’s mindset.
• We decree and declare as this is a month of giving, our students will be given an education second to none in the world.
• We decree that Secretary DeVos and each member of her team will find his/her place of strength during this time, and they will move from strength to strength. That strength will open doors for them to share new battle plans.
• We declare that those in leadership will see clearly what needs to be done to reform education in America.

Nancy Huff
HAPN Mountain of Education Leader

Teacher Protests: The Vehicle for Humanistic Take Over in Education

May 7, 2018

The scheduled teacher walk-out on April 2 in Oklahoma is not only about the very real need to increase teacher salaries. It reveals how the leaders behind a humanistic global agenda use these types of crises to further their control in the field of education.
Raising the bar in education is a need and concern across our nation. We watch as test results have declined and mo re and more students graduate without the reading skills or life skills needed to succeed after graduation. However, at the heart of this issue, there is a hidden agenda that many of us miss. It is a behind the scenes take-over of the education of our children to indoctrinate them with humanistic ideology.
Crisis is the Vehicle They Use to Implement Change
In Oklahoma, there is very real need for teacher pay raises. In 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report that showed Oklahoma has the lowest average teacher wages in the nation. Those behind the push for a humanistic take over in education have used this crisis to push through their agenda. Here’s how it works.
On March 26, 2018, the Oklahoma Legislature voted to give public school teachers and support staff a raise. Beginning salaries would be increased by $6,000 per year. Yet, that wasn’t enough to avert a planned teacher “walk out” scheduled for April 2, 2018. Why? Because while the amount fell short of their unrealistic request of $10,000 over the next three years. The voices behind the humanistic agenda recognize that in order to completely implement their plan, they must use this imposed crisis to gain control. Their goal from the beginning of the teacher salary issue was not to achieve a raise for the teachers, but to create unrest, division and failure so that they could point blame which would position them for take-over in the mid-term elections.
Where is there a “crisis” in your state’s educational system? It is important to look at who continues to stoke the dissension to keep emotions running high and prevent reconciliation. In the case of the teacher salary issue, we only need to look at those behind the “walk out” —how it was handled and those who support it—which reveal the hidden impetuous behind the continued push for a teacher strike.
Ultimately, this is the battle for control over the sphere of education not only in Oklahoma, but we can see similar battles in almost every state. Crises are fertile ground to stir dissension and dissatisfaction to gain the upper hand. It is a Saul Alinsky tactic – never let a good crisis go to waste and if there is no crisis, create one. Once in position they can continue their goal to promote an ideology of humanism to the students in the classroom and curriculum. And they will do anything to achieve their goal.

This is how it works and what you need to look for:
The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States with a branch organization in each state. For Oklahoma it is the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA). But if you believe the welfare and education of our students in the pursuit of “reading, writing and arithmetic” through these organizations is their primary goal, think again.
At the 72nd Annual Meeting of the NEA, held in Washington, D.C., in a report titled “Education for the New America,” Willard Givens (who went on to become executive secretary of the NEA in 1935 and served for 17 years) said:
“The major function of the school is the social orientation of the individual. It must seek to give him under-standing of the transition to a new social order.”

This is the mentality and ultimate goal behind the NEA and any of its state related offices in the United States.

Track What is Happening in your State
Always look deeper than your local organizations at who is assisting to promote your state’s educational agenda. Scrutinize mentioned associations like separate non-profits, law firms, and businesses. In Oklahoma, the OEA recently hired a Colorado consulting firm, Harstad Strategic Research, Inc., to work with them to achieve their goals. A closer look at Harstad reveals that their specialty is to get liberals elected to leadership positions as governors, senators, and congressmen as well as to get liberal state campaigns passed. They are a partisan group with a socialist globalist agenda. The OEA also uses the non-profit, Oklahoma Professional Educators, to make public statements that mirror OEA’s views. Often nonprofits are created to “help” by being the political mouthpiece or shield in order for an organization to distance itself from criticism when speaking out on an unpopular issue

What do they really want?
While the goals may sound good by title, after all – who doesn’t want their teachers to be well paid – those goals will be used to gain political support in order to continue to promote a humanistic, globalist, agenda.
In the late 1800s, John Dewey, known as the Father of Modern Education and a prolific writer on the theory of education, began proposing changes that would promote socialism and thereby produce a globalist child prepared for the 21st Century. In 1932, the National Education Association made John Dewey their honorary president adopting his progressive educational reform agenda. Since that time, the NEA has been successful in implementing their plan, but it is not complete. In order for the NEA to achieve a complete takeover of America’s educational system, they must continue to promote socialism. In order to do so, they must obtain control of governing bodies and insert leaders who will be favorable to their agenda. In Oklahoma, where the issue of teacher’s salary is not new, they have pushed hard for it to hit crisis level—a teacher strike—just before the upcoming mid-term elections. By fueling dissension and the argument that current leadership is “out of touch,” the teacher pay raise issue is a perfect vehicle to achieve their goals. The teachers are simply pawns in their playbook.
The goal is for children to be taught social curricula at the expense of their learning basic skills. Samuel Blumenfeld, one of America’s more prolific voices in defense of traditional education referred to Dewey as the man responsible for “dumbing down” America’s children and promoting socialism in our schools – mainly using the NEA. The process of socialism undermined the role of the parents in a child’s education. The perfect example of a program that bypassed parental and local voices is the Common Core curriculum, birthed and initiated as a federal curriculum, voted on by the governors of the states and implemented on the local level with no local or parental choice.

Not a Democrat vs. Republican Issue
This is not about Republicans vs. Democrats. There are both Republicans and Democrats, who are party to this one-world government agenda. There has been much contention in our government on a national level as well as within each state especially in this past year. With confusion and selfish ambition, the enemy has gained ground.
What Can be Done?
It is important to remember that our battle is not with flesh and blood. Our first response must always be in prayer. It is time that we speak up in prayer and speak forth what we want to see accomplished this year in the Mountain of Education. Here are some prayer points nationally. Look into the issues in your state and add them to this list:

• That teachers will not be used as political pawns in a humanistic battle for the minds of our children.
• That teachers will receive fair, just and equitable salaries. That our teachers will cry out to God and that He will deliver them from their oppression. Our teachers will not be a slave to Pharaoh.
• All ungodliness in our state legislatures will be revealed and those who need to go will be replaced by godly men and women who will judge righteously.
• Thank and praise God for the unmasking/revealing of all those who have ungodly agendas for our children and our state.
• That the restrictions that have been placed on our teachers to remove Christian values will revert back to the original intent of our forefathers in which the Bible and biblical principles were part of a child’s educational process not prohibited from their process.

May we be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” as this battle ensues. We can no longer afford to allow our educational system to be hijacked. We must look at who and what are behind the “solutions” offered. We can no longer sacrifice the well-being of our children and the educational process to those whose agenda is not to train up our children, but to dumb them down and turn them into “better global citizens.”

To Repair or Replace the Foundation?

May 4, 2018


America has had two educational systems in our past. One foundation can be restored, the second foundation is beyond repair. The one on which we put our emphasis will determine the future of our nation.

The foundation of our original schools—Our country began with schools that included religious instruction. As settlers came to America, one of their first community endeavors, after constructing a church, was to start a school. They often utilized church facilities and local teachers who held the religious beliefs of the community.

The foundation of public schools—Because some of our founding fathers were Unitarian and considered themselves more “enlightened” than their religious counterparts and wanted schools that embraced the new humanistic thoughts of the day that were being discussed in the public squares of Europe and Prussia. They wanted these schools funded with tax payer money. Eventually, they found a willing elected official to help them—Horace Mann, who later became known as the Father of Modern Education.

Horace Mann ran for Secretary of the Board of Education in Massachusetts and in 1837 fulfilled a campaign promise to the Unitarians to build the first public school funded with tax payer money and without religious instruction. At first, the schools didn’t appear to be any different from the religious schools of the day, as most of the teachers in the 1800s and 1900s held strong religious beliefs. But as time progressed, humanistic teaching trickled down through the generations until we are at the point that it is unlawful to have any religious instruction in public schools.

It has taken decades, but the second foundation has eroded to the point where we as a nation can no longer ignore the broken condition of our public schools. Students who fail, cause our nation to be at risk as our citizens become less educated and less moral. Humanists tell us, if they just had more money, public schools could be repaired, but there is never any mention of utilizing that money to repair the cracked foundation by putting God back in our classrooms.

The spiritual battle is evident—If you want to see a violent reaction to the suggestion of reorganizing public schools, just mention, Charter Schools, Vouchers, or even our Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. These reactions are indications of a spiritual battle that is waging in the heavens. Public school defenders emphatically state that tax payer money should go exclusively to support public schools with no tax payer money used to educate the children in any institution that has religious instruction. We must reframe our argument and say, “Tax money should be used to educate the children of this nation in any manner the parents see fit.”

Let us pray that those who embrace Jesus will walk in the truth of Isaiah 58:12, “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age old foundations…” It is not the time to despair because of resistance, it is the time to press forward in prayer. If we pray, in the not too distant future, we will shout in victory as foundations are restored!

Prayer for Oklahoma Education

April 16, 2018

This is the Hebrew month of Nissan, the month of Passover! Nissan is the time for redemption, miracles and a time for us to evaluate every political structure with which we are aligned.

With this in mind, I’ve put together some thoughts on the upcoming proposed Oklahoma teacher “walk out” scheduled to take place on April 2, 2018. I ask that you read the overview with discernment and determine to enter into praise so God can reveal His plans for the teachers of Oklahoma.

Teachers across Oklahoma have organized a classroom “walk out” on April 2, 2018, in order to bring pressure on the Oklahoma State Legislature to pass legislation that would give teachers a salary increase of $10,000 per teacher over the next three years. State employees also want higher base salaries and have plans to join the teachers on April 2.

As many of you have already recognized in the Spirit that the “walk out” has more to do with what is happening spiritually in Oklahoma and less to do with actual pay raises. While teachers certainly deserve a pay raise, there are people and organizations that are using this need for a pay increase to promote their globalist, humanistic mindset. They will do anything they can to continue to feed humanism to the students in our classrooms.

Two Organizations to observe and pray about are:

1. The Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) – The OEA is the state office for the National Education Association (NEA – the largest labor union in the US). Recently the OEA hired a Colorado consulting firm, Harstad Strategic Research, Inc. that specializes in getting liberals elected for positions as Governors, Senators, House Representatives, and getting liberal state campaigns passed. There is also a non-profit that is helping OEA to accomplish their goals – The Professional Oklahoma Educators.
2. The Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce – Two newly created Chamber of Commerce backed non-profits that are helping to push the legislature to pass a pay raise are: Step Up Oklahoma and One Voice. The Chamber of Commerce is a humanistic organization that repeatedly pushes its liberal agenda in education. The use the education platform to blame the current OK state legislature for everything going wrong in this state.

What do they really want?
The OEA and the Chamber of Commerce want two things:
1. These two organizations are humanistic and therefore globalists. In order to achieve their purposes, the Oklahoma Legislature must become governing body that aligns with their agenda.
2. They want the children in our state to be taught social curricula at the expense of their learning basic skills. This was John Dewey’s plan that Samuel Blumfiel called “dumbing down” America in order to make them better global citizens.

Unrealistic Request
The OEA and the Chamber of Commerce are both asking for $10,000 per year salary increase implemented over the next three years. With Oklahoma’s budget short-fall, this is unrealistic and will set our governing body up for failure, which is what the enemy wants.

The result will be:
1. The Oklahoma Legislature will fail
2. The OEA and the Chamber of Commerce will be able to point to the Legislature during an election cycle and cite lack of teacher pay raise, voting records, public statements, and the budget shortfall as reasons why they should not be re-elected.

The people of Oklahoma have voted down past initiatives that would increase taxes for the purpose of increasing teacher pay, because the increased revenue brought in from taxes would not be specified for teacher salaries – they were tied into additional administrative and higher education expenses.

What’s going on in the legislature that would help the enemy?
There are some in the OK legislature who are party to the one-world government agenda, and do not belong in our governing body. Some, both Republican and Democrat, are hirelings. There has been much contention within our government during this legislative session. With confusion and selfish ambition, the enemy has gained ground. Those who are not interested in furthering God’s agenda for our state are unaware that the enemy is crouched at the door poised for an attack.

Prayer and Praise Assignment!
As Nissan is also the time to enter into violent praise and speak forth what we want to see accomplished over this year in the Mountain of Education.

• The teachers in Oklahoma will not be used as political pawns in a humanistic battle for the minds of our children.
• The teachers will receive a fair, just and equitable pay raise!
• All ungodliness in our state legislature will be revealed and those who need to go will be replaced by Godly men and women who will judge righteously for the good of Oklahoma.
• Thank and Praise God for the unmasking/revealing of all those who have ungodly agendas for our children and our state.
• Our teachers will cry out to God and He will deliver them from their oppression. They will not be a slave to Pharaoh.
• Teaching in our state will revert back to the original intent our forefathers had in education – that they will be able to read God’s Word for themselves.

Common Core is Dead!

March 19, 2018

Did you hear the news that Common Core is Dead? The obituary was rather short, a mere 250 words, not much for such a weighty historical effort, and for the most part, the media paid little, if no, attention. My guess is that they long suspected that Common Core would find its way into the graveyard of programs developed by past US Presidents that did nothing to improve this nation academic test scores. Every President since George H. W. Bush has had a national educational program implemented through the Department of Education: Bill Clinton—Expanding Educational Opportunities; George W. Bush—No Child Left Behind; Barak Obama—Race to the Top which included Common Core. The surprising thing is that none of the federal programs worked!

 

January 18th Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at a conference hosted by the American Enterprise Institute on “lessons learned”  about school reform specifically during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. Her conclusion was that the only thing the two Department of Education programs had in common was that they were federal programs. Secretary DeVos said, “Common Core is a disaster, and at the U.S. Department of Education, Common Core is dead.”

 

Many times we pray and we never see the answer to our prayers.  I dedicate this article to the many prayer warriors who have prayed in small home groups for years for America’s schools. Their prayers intensified when Common Core became the . Yes, some of the teaching methods of Common Core were questionable, but teachers know new methods of teaching come and go. It was the clandestine agenda that lingered in the background of Common Core that was more dangerous than teaching methods. The curriculum was produced by globalists who want a moralist society that is easily controlled. They followed the footsteps of Communists like John Dewey who began in the late 1800s and worked diligently (and successfully), in our public schools to produce global citizens for the 21st century.

 

Secretary DeVos’ new plan for education is for the states to exercise control over their individual educational programs, and for more “parental empowerment.” She stated, “Ideally, parent and teacher work together to help a child discover his or her potential and pursue his or her passions.” Her statements do not mention the federal government.

 

Secretary DeVos’ statement on Common Core is a brave move. In her declaration, she stood against the largest, most powerful, and most liberal labor union in the United States, as well as a lot of other liberal educators who will consider her demented. Let’s pray for Secretary DeVos—protection from verbal attacks as well as safety. Also, pray for her to complete her mission to reform American education. Pray for our schools to teach students to grow in the knowledge and the grace of God!

 

Prayer Points for the US Department of Education and Betsy DeVos

November 9, 2017

1. Pray that long reaching Department of Education policies will be minimized as local communities rise up and take responsibility for the
education of the children on a local level.
2. Pray for wisdom for Ms. DeVos as she makes decisions on school choice options, vouchers, charter schools, and public schools. Pray that
the best options for our children and our nation will prevail.
3. Pray for Betsy DeVos’ protection every place she goes. Let those who would taunt her and say vile things about her, be quieted.
4. Pray that only those with a heart for children would be hired at the Department of Education. Those who are there only for a paycheck
and to oppose Ms. DeVos because of her political affiliation will be removed from their positions.
5. Pray that anyone who works at the Department of Education who is a Communists, Progressive, Socialists, and/or Anarchists will be
revealed and removed.
6. Pray that Betsy DeVos is free to do her job and she has great favor with President Trump.
7. Pray for a multitude of Godly counselors to surround Ms. DeVos to help her make the best decision for America’s students.
8. Pray for strategic meetings with people who will help her and not hinder her. (The president of NEA has refused to meet with Ms. DeVos.
Pray they will meet only if they have the potential to work together.)
9. Pray that Ms. DeVos will achieve her goals as she has set her priorities to: (1) encourage parents and educators; (2) reduce red tape;
(3) utilize and build evidence of what works and what doesn’t; (4) make strides toward ensuring equal access to high-quality,
affordable education every American student deserves in an educational environment that is safe and respectful of all viewpoints and
backgrounds.
10. Pray that Betsy DeVos will be like Nehemiah in her resolve to restore education in America. She will not be deterred by those who want
her to quit.
11. Pray for strength for Betsy DeVos to continue to be a reformer in education.
12. Pray the Department of Education would produce Godly policy for the students in all of our schools.
13. Pray that the Department of Education under Betsy DeVos will be able to curb Student Loan Debt that now exceeds $1 trillion dollars
and exceeds Credit Card debt in our nation.
14. Pray for innovative ways to pay for college tuition.
15. Pray for the red tape to be removed and the Department of Education to be productive.

Nancy Huff
Mountain of Education Leader
contactTCI@aol.com