They’ve Sent In the Clowns

America is being dismantled from within.

There’s a quote I use in some of my emails to friends which expresses a sentiment which I identify with. It says, “Remember: When something goes wrong in the circus, they send in the clowns to distract the audience. Well, something has gone very wrong with the circus. Now, the clowns are everywhere.” Such a statement, for me, has not rung more true for today than this.

The sub-title I’ve used refers to our nation’s future when it comes to our education system. As my readers know, my career was in the public education system for 40 years. While I’ve written about many issues related to its gradual decline when it comes to producing results, what I’m now reading regarding the New York City mayoral race and who candidate Mamdani is looking at for running the city’s public school system, takes the cake!

As Rush Limbaugh used to say, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Therefore, in that vein, I shall cite a few sources I’ve read recently which achieve that objective and avoid a lengthy post.

The following four paragraphs quoted below are, from my 40 years’ experience, accurate when Torrence Stephens, a fellow Substack author, posted a recent article about his views on public education and its impact on students from the black culture.

The ‘Leave No Child Behind’ act [technically it was titled “No Child Left Behind Act”] ruined the entire education system, and added way more leniency to ignorance. Instead of being taught what to do properly, kids are pushed even further into grades with topics brand new to them, when in the grade before, they were already struggling. It has had a disproportionate impact on poor and minority schools. First, schools in high-poverty areas were more likely to be labeled failing, and the policy made no room for adequately addressing the root causes of achievement gaps. In addition, its ‘one-size-fits-all approach’ did not consider differences between schools, districts, or states, yet still applied uniform standards regardless of local context or capacity.

Common Core was no better. Unfortunately, Common Core isn't about truly knowing the answer or the material. It's about demonstrating a willingness to follow directions. Too many in public government schools lack a foundation in logic and have no method for distinguishing verifiable truth. or baseless assertions in a reliable manner.

In the U.S., Education is gradually losing its value for the students it's meant to support. The school system changes incredibly slowly; meanwhile, the way children are raised evolves every year. As a result, 90% of kids in 20 years won’t be able to access the same education we received through our current system. Schools don’t focus on students’ strengths; instead, they only aim to improve weaknesses and eliminate options. School started to decline when vocational instruction was removed and turned into a pipeline for colleges.

The problem is these kids aren't learning critical thinking or problem-solving skills. On top of that, having an addiction to one's phone diminishes one's attention span and increases irritability because their brains are wired for constant dopamine hits. Having an entire generation of people with an inability to focus on the physical world around them is going to have some very drastic consequences, especially with AI on the rise.

Now that we’ve reviewed the abysmal background of our education system, let’s return to today and what’s happening with it as it pertains to the coming N.Y. City mayoral race. More specifically examining what the leading candidate – Zorhan Mamdani - is looking at doing to run its school system, should he actually be elected mayor.

Another, more well-known author, Christopher F. Rufo also has posted his most recent article on education titled, “Is New York Ready for Jamaal Bowman as Schools Chancellor?” Rufo points out the following.

If Zohran Mamdani wins the mayoral race later this year, analysts believe Bowman is likely to be tapped to oversee America’s largest public school system, with nearly 1 million students in more than 1,000 schools.

But a new controversy, tracing back to his days as a school principal, should be enough to put such an appointment on pause: Bowman violated state education law.

Prior to being elected to Congress, a position he held from 2021 to 2025, Bowman was the founder of the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, a public middle school in the Bronx, and served as principal from 2009 to 2019.

To legally serve as a public-school principal, “an individual must hold a valid certificate authorizing such service,” according to the New York State Department of Education. State records indicate that Bowman was issued a School Building Leader Initial Certificate on February 1, 2009. But Bowman allowed the certificate to expire on Jan. 31, 2014, and did not reestablish his certification until Dec. 16, 2015.

In other words, for a period of nearly two years, Jamaal Bowman operated a public school without a license — a violation of New York law.

If this man’s name doesn’t ring a bell with my readers, Rufo goes on to say,

…while serving in Congress, Bowman pulled a fire alarm as Democrats were attempting to delay a vote on a bill, resulting in an unnecessary evacuation. Initially, Bowman claimed to have pulled the alarm by accident. His office distributed suggested “talking points” to political allies, including a reference to Republicans as “Nazis.” Bowman later admitted to falsely pulling the alarm and agreed to pay a fine and write a letter of apology to first responders.

His record as principal at Cornerstone Academy was also checkered with controversy and failure. During his tenure, Bowman likened standardized testing to “modern-day slavery.” He caused outrage by commissioning a “Wall of Honor” that featured portraits of black militants Mutulu Shakur and Assata Shakur, both convicted of murdering police officers.

Finally, our third Substack author, Sam Faddis of AND Magazine, has posted a new article enlightening his readers about the objectives of the Democratic Socialists of America – of which Zorhan Mamdani is a member of - and provides us an even more disturbing insight on their agenda.

I’m not sure what the New Yorkers who voted for Mamdani thought they were supporting. I suspect it was some vague notion of a generally better quality of life and a future where we all got along and lived our lives in peace and harmony. That, of course, has nothing at all to do with Mamdani’s agenda.

Mamdani and the DSA stand for the radical, Marxist takeover not only of our government but of society. They stand for total totalitarian control, and in order to make that a reality, their first target is the family.

It doesn’t take the public education’s Common Core math curriculum to connect the dots about what’s going on in a country that’s allowed the DSA a foot-in-the-door for implementing a takeover in America. Given what we’re learning currently about what’s been going on in our halls of power in Washington, D.C. over the past ten years, it should be blatantly obvious!

As early as the late 1950s, George Meany, President of the AFL-CIO union, is quoted as a warning to us, with the following statement. “The conflict between communism and freedom is the problem of our time. It overshadows all other problems. This conflict mirrors our age, its toils, its tensions, its troubles, and its tasks. On the outcome of this conflict depends the future of all mankind.” This statement is on the cover page of W. Leon Skeousen’s book titled, The Nake Communist: Exposing Communism and Restoring Freedom.

Given what has transpired over the decades of my life, it would appear that with the looming possibility of our country’s largest city being controlled by those who support such ruinous ideals proves that our nation’s generations over the past seventy years have allowed the foot-in-the-door to now include a leg and a shoulder as well.

If the potential danger pointed out here becomes reality in N.Y. City this coming fall, we can only imagine how much longer it will be before other candidates in other large cities achieve the same goals in those cities.

If you’ve got grandchildren, pray it doesn’t happen!