Back in December, Mississippi's Lt. Governor Tate Reeves (a Republican) spoke at a luncheon sponsored by Mississippi State University’s Stennis Institute of Government and the Capitol press corps.  During his speech, Reeves announced that he believes that Mississippi should, at the least, review Common Core standards for the state.  

Gov. Phil Bryant approved this statement by Reeves in a press release following Reeves’ announcement: "I thank Lt. Gov. Reeves for joining me in opposing Common Core in Mississippi, and I look forward to working with him and the Legislature to codify the points of my December 2013 Executive Order. That order, which still stands in effect, plainly states that Mississippi has the right to determine its own public school curricula and is under no obligation to comply with any future federal mandates for uniform academic standards. As I said this June, Common Core is a failed program.  State-led policies like the Third Grade Gate will have a greater effect in our classrooms than one-size-fits-all bureaucratic standards controlled by Washington.”

“Mississippi children deserve standards developed by teachers and parents,” stated Reeves at the luncheon.

In the 2014 legislative session the Reeves-led Senate rejected efforts by some senators to abandon the math and English arts standards, though at the time Reeves said he was monitoring the progress of the curriculum, and how it was implemented across the state.

This press release started a fire in Mississippi. Leaders of the State as well as County Conservative Coalitions, the Tea Party, and other conservative grassroots groups in Mississippi began to plan for the upcoming Legislative session.  Legislators, specifically senators that are members of the coalition started by Chris McDaniel began writing bills that would abolish common core in MS. No one really knew what to believe, with Lt. Gov. Reeve’s track record, it was all a test.

Two key women were in the fight and got to work planning events to inform parents and educators about the dangers of the standards.  Brandie Correro and Marsha Babb planned workshops, meetings, and ultimately opening up the 2015 Legislative session by letting our MS legislators know that we will hold them accountable.

On January 6th, over 200 constituents from all over the state joined together for the MS FREE event and rallied against common core.  This event was covered by local and national media, and included speeches from Gov. Phil Bryant, Sen. Michael Watson, Sen. Angela Hill, and Rev. C.L. Bryant.  Lt. Gov. Reeves did not attend this event. The day was ended by Students releasing 82 red balloons in honor of the students in all 82 counties.

The United Nations "Disabilities Treaty" (CRPD), is back in the Senate and a committee hearing will be held on July 22 at 10am Eastern Time.  This dangerous treaty would surrender parental rights and national sovereignty to the United Nations, while not actually benefiting Americans with disabilities.  Treaty proponents are pushing hard for ratification, knowing that conservatives are likely to pick up several additional U.S. Senate seats in November, making it even harder to ratify the treaty.

See the list of Senators that sit on the Foreign Relations Committee here, and call your senators through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Learn more about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities here.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  The name sounds simple and straightforward enough, right?  Who wouldn't support a treaty about the rights of disabled Americans?

But despite its name, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (or CRPD for short) actually threatens our national sovereignty and does little to nothing for Americans with disabilities.

Under the Constitution, international treaties ratified by the United States become the law of the land -- overruling the US Constitution, federal laws, state constitutions, and state laws.  The CRPD also gives the United Nations power to ensure that the United States is complying with the treaty, surrendering sovereignty directly to unelected bureaucrats at the UN.

In addition to undermining our national sovereignty, the CRPD, if ratified by the U.S. Senate, would turn the parent-child relationship on its head by establishing a dangerous new legal standard for dealing with children with disabilities: the best interests of the child standard.

In Article 7(2), the CRPD states: “In all actions concerning children with disabilities, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.”  What this essentially means is that the government and the UN determine what is best for a child, not their parents.  Putting a government bureaucrat into all parent-child relationships will never prove to be beneficial for society.

Proponents of the CRPD will often point to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and say that the CRPD contains the same standards as the ADA.  But in a recent Townhall.com column, former Senator Rick Santorum, a national leader in the fight against the CRPD, bluntly deals with this falsehood:

Senator Santorum goes on the explain the differences between CRPD and the ADA in his column, which we highly recommend that you take a few minutes to read.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio makes an important point about the path America should follow in the international arena when it comes to the rights of the disabled:

US ratification of this treaty has no impact on other nations.  Even nations that have already ratified the CRPD are not complying with its terms, and they will not suddenly decide to do so if the United States ratifies the treaty.

In closing, Rick Santorum sums it up well:

For more information on the CRPD, as well as common misconceptions about the treaty, please visit www.freedomsdefenders.com/crpd.  There, you can also email your Senators and donate to help raise awareness about the dangers of this UN treaty.  Don't forget to like RejectCRPD on Facebook and follow @RejectCRPD on Twitter as well!

Michael Farris just posted on Facebook:

This amazing news comes right on the heels of a disappointing announcement yesterday by the Supreme Court that they would not hear the Romeike case.  With this new announcement from the DHS, however, the case would have been unnecessary, and the Romeikes can stay in the United States.

Praise the Lord!

MARRIAGE IN UTAH: The US Supreme Court issued a stay on a December ruling by federal District Court judge Robert J. Shelby that would have forced the state to accept homosexual "marriage".  The stay issued yesterday by the Supreme Court allows Utah's ban on homosexual "marriage" to remain in place while Judge Shelby's decision is appealed to the Tenth Circuit court.

Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, released the following statement:

MARCH FOR LIFE: On Sunday, news broke that Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus is delaying the start if the GOP's winter meetings so that RNC members can attend the March For Life on January 22.  The party will also charter a bus to transport committee members to the March For Life.  Read the story in the Washington Times here.

While we don't always agree with Chairman Priebus, we applaud this decision and hope that he will continue to show strong pro-life leadership as the chairman of the Republican Party.

PARENTAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT: Over the Christmas and New Years holidays, the Parental Rights Amendment gained five new cosponsors, bringing the total number up to 70!  Click here to see if your Congressman is on the list, and if they're not, give them a call and ask them to support parental rights!