Chapter 3, Part VI: Merging Health and Education Goals

“In a part of the health care reform bill there is a piece called The Youth Initiative� and there’s money in there for comprehensive health education from K-12, and there’s money in there for over 5,000 school-based clinics� for schools that have a high percentage of high risk students in their school.”[1]

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t is no accident that both health and education reforms are taking place at the same time.Â? Health and education reform go hand-in-hand since schools are part of the infrastructure through which universal health care is to be distributed.

The federal legislation for national education reform, called Goals 2000: Educate America Act, or public law 103-227 passed on March 31, 1994.

“Goals 2000� schools are those which participate in the programs described under Title III of this act [State and Local Education Systemic� Improvement].

“One of the programs described under Title III is a federal assistance program called Grants for Local Reform.� These grants� are awarded to school districts on a competitive basis based upon a peer review process.� The purpose of these grants is to provide federal assistance for districts to develop or refine a local school improvement plan and to initiate implementation of the goals outlined in this plan at the individual school building level.� Schools in a district with reform activities being implemented that are funded in part or whole with Goals 2000� funds� are referred to as Goals 2000� schools.

“Districts may select one of six systems on which to focus their reform efforts; governance, preservice-professional development, curriculum and assessment, community outreach and participation, health and human services”[2] (emphasis added).

Request a copy of your school district’s Local Improvement Plan from your State Department of Education.� You may find that a large part of it is devoted to forming school/community linked partnerships, whether it be for purposes of health, social services, or labor.� The School Improvement Plan� will also be embodied in the district’s five-year plan.� The Goals 2000� School Improvement Plan is generally phased in over a number of years by concentrating on one or a small number of schools within the district each year.

A School Improvement Committee (panel), and an advisory council� are formed. The advisory council conducts a “needs assessment� (surveys) conducted to identify strengths, weaknesses, “needs,” and community agencies with whom collaborative agreements can be made in order to provide services.� The advisory council makes recommendations to the School Improvement Panel regarding the comparison and possible partnerships.� The end result will most likely include a school-based clinic or a school/community linked partnership� with one or more community health care providers.� You can bet it will be a Medicaid� provider.� See the chapter titled “Schools As Medicaid Providers.”

Federal health goals are found in documents such as Healthy People 2000� and the National Health Education Standards� -Achieving Health Literacy.� This second document contains a copy of “The Joint Statement on School Health” signed by the secretaries of Education [Richard W. Riley] and Health and Human Services [Donna E. Shalala] issued on April 7, 1994.� It states in part:

Health and education are joined in fundamental ways with each other and with the destinies of the Nation’s children.� Because of our national leadership responsibilities for education and health, we have initiated unprecedented cooperative efforts between our Departments.� In support of comprehensive school� health programs, we affirm the following:

-Â? America’s children face many compelling educational and health and developmental challenges that affect their lives and their futures.Â? These challenges include–unintended pregnancy.

-Â? To help children meet these challenges, education and health must be linked in partnership.

-� School health programs support the education process, integrate� services for disadvantaged and disabled children, and improve children’s health prospects.

-� Reforms in health care and in education offer opportunities to forge the partnerships� needed for our children in the 1990s.� The benefits of integrated health and education services can be achieved by working together to create a ‘seamless’ network of services, both through the school setting and through linkages with other community resources.

-� Goals 2000� and Healthy People 2000� provide complementary visions that, together, can support our joint efforts in pursuit of a healthier, better educated Nation for the next century.� In support of Goals 2000� and Healthy People 2000, we have established the Interagency Committee on School Health co-chaired by the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education and the Assistant Secretary for Health, and we have convened the National Coordinating Committee on School Health to bring together representatives of major national education and health organizations to work with us.� We call upon professionals in the fields of education and health and concerned citizens across the Nation to join with us in a renewed effort and a reaffirmation of our mutual responsibility to our Nation’s children.” [3]

This author believes this consortium� of politically correct professionals, organizations, philanthropies, and individuals is the consortium involved in “establishing valid and reliable mechanisms for building a broad national consensus� on American education reform.” [4]

“In establishing the academic standards� and statewide assessment� system, the State Board of Education shall adopt the work that has been done by consortia� of other states, and subject to appropriations, may contract� with such consortia to implement the provisions of sections 3 and 4 of this act.” [5]� (See information on the New Standards Project� in the chapter titled Local Accreditation Reflects National Standards and Assessments.)

Goals 2000:Â? Educate America Act contains three primary topics:

1. Education Goals Standards and Assessment

a. National Education Goals Panel

b. National Education Standards and Improvement Council

c. Opportunity To Learn Standards

The purpose of the National Education Standards and Improvement CouncilÂ? is to:

- Certify and–review voluntaryÂ? national content standardsÂ? and–national student performanceÂ? standards

- Certify State content standardsÂ? and state student performance standardsÂ? submitted by States

- “Certify and–review–national opportunity-to-learn standards.

- “Certify opportunity-to-learn standards submitted by States, and

- Certify State assessments submitted by States or group of States–” [6]

2. State and Local Reform- “State and Local School Improvement Plans”

a. The “plan must provide for the adoption of–strategies to provide comprehensive educational, social, health, and other services to meet the needs of all students.”

3. Workforce Standards

a. National Skill Standards BoardÂ? [7]

Schools and communities will be expected to meet “family planning” and pregnancy goals and objectives found in federal documents such as Healthy Communities 2000, the Comprehensive School Health section of Goals 2000: Educate America Act, Healthy People 2000, and the President’s Health Security Plan.

Page 211 of President Clinton’sÂ? Health Security PlanÂ? states that the “Adolescent and School-Aged Youth InitiativeÂ? supports the delivery of clinical services through school-based or school-linked sites (consistent with health reform goals and Goals 2000) and comprehensive healthÂ? education–[whose] curriculum is linked to Healthy People 2000Â? objectives.”

Clinton’s� Health Security Plan� targets “low-income groups” and “adolescents” up to age 21.� Low-income is defined as comparable to a family of four making $28,700.[8] Dr. Joycelyn Elders� acknowledged that Medicaid� is to become the health insurance coverage for ALL of us.� She publicly nodded “yes” when an individual speaking to her from the floor microphone stated to her, “As I see it, the infrastructure is in place for Medicaid to become the universal health insurance coverage.” [9]

The Health Security Plan� guarantees “family planning� and pregnancy-related services” as national benefits.� Such “services” include contraceptives� and abortion� referrals� to minors� without parental consent� through school-based clinics� and school/ community-linked services which are Medicaid funded.