I truly had planned not to remain fixated on the Holocaust Education Mandate effort, but there has been

a lot of communication occurring on multiple levels that requires prompt dissemination, inasmuch as a vote could occur @ 1 p.m. on MONDAY; therefore, we have one working-day to clarify matters. The letter written on 1/2/2014 by the PDEs Government Relations Director [vide infra] differentiates standards [or, in my parlance, topics and subjects] from curriculum; the former are used on the state-level to assess what has been achieved locally. Thus, this letter is congruent with the precise approach being adopted, notwithstanding how a lobbyist might choose to spin it otherwise; we want to mandate the TOPIC be covered in all local School Districts WITHOUT issuing a top-down curriculum [and CEs, to-boot]. This would NOT be an unfunded mandate, because other such standards permeate the relevant statute; localities would be free to integrate this unit in whatever way desired. Some may consider the upcoming rhetoric to be a bit harsh, but the Informed Consent Process has gone full-cycle and, thus, the world should be apprised of the results thereof. I held two major chats with people who have apparently worked with Hank Butler, today, that have corroborated my views; one call I initiated, and one call was initiated by an individual who had received my name from Hank as a contact-person whose efforts he had been opposing. Thus, I presume he has read my prior memos. I was explicitly challenged to provide statutory-evidence that comparable topics have indeed resulted from a statutory mandate, and this was easily achieved; the reader simply is invited to hyperlink to the appropriate page, and then to search for the word Genocide to yield the [buried] topic. Thus, a UNIT encompassing the necessary-triad [The Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Violations ] is NOT covered in any way, certainly not in a cursory fashion [as had been alleged by the (anonymous) staff-man who had written a memo regarding this bill to the House Education Committee]. http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/022/chapter4/s4.83.html Relevant statutes are @ the very-top, and sprinkled throughout; with regard to APPENDIX C - Academic Standards for Civics and Government and Economics and Geography and History, the Academic Standards for Civics and Government cite is to the following Source: The provisions of this Appendix C adopted January 10, 2003, effective January 12, 2003, 33 Pa.B. 283, unless otherwise noted. The only reference to this topic is approximately one-third-of-the-way down the page: Four Standard Statements within the Academic Standards for History: An Overview Academic Standards for History [in a box, flush-right] Conflict and Cooperation Among Social Groups and Organizations Domestic Instability (political unrest, natural and man-made disasters, genocide) Both individuals recognized that Hank represents an entity that is lobbying for $$$ in this R/D-climate, and both appreciate the prospect that a Dem-Governor appears likely in 15; both have delved into the exhaustive documentation I have generated during the past two months, and neither refuted any of it. Thus, inasmuch as both were already up-to-speed regarding this issue, I have concluded that these data have been corroborated by critical minds; both will be chatting with others [including Hank] urgently, and I have explicitly requested that Hank promptly issue a letter that rescinds the errors in his last one. One individual is a journalist who received this [double-speak] reaction from Hank:

This is not course curriculum These are standards by which students will be assessed. The individual school boards will set their curriculum to meet these standards, - but they are being told to teach a specific course Do they understand this is not what we are talking about This is precisely correct; we want them to teach a specific course on this topic, absent a curriculum dictated from on-high [here, the PDE, expending $ laundered via the PJC]. Indeed, as I immediately wrote, This mandate is PRECISELY what we are talking about! As a result, I sent an observation [ The PDE-letter does NOT oppose the mandate, and anyone arguing otherwise is disingenuous [as many lobbyists are, unfortunately].], conclusion [Both Hanks letter and that from the PDE clearly differentiate curriculum from topics/assessments, mandating the former is locally-controlled; thats why we want the Commonwealth ONLY to mandate the TOPIC be taught to everyone.], and declaration [I DEMAND an apology from Hank, for it is not desirable for this split to be forced into the public on Monday! ] to Hank. Absent a formal response, this will be escalated further.