The Scientology front group Applied Scholastics is yet another vehicle for recruitment.
tilman@berlin.snafu.de (Tilman Hausherr) wrote:
>
> (found on the LAT web site. Please inform the people that "study
> technology" is scientology)
>
> Charter School Bid Draws Scrutiny
>
> Los Angeles Times
> Thursday, July 24, 1997
>
> Education: L.A. district officials are concerned that organizer's
> ties to Scientology could raise 1st Amendment questions.
> By DUKE HELFAND, Times Staff Writer
>
> A proposed charter school in the east San Fernando
> Valley is receiving close scrutiny from Los Angeles
> Unified School District officials who are concerned
> about the organizer's ties to the Church of Scientology and
> are questioning whether church teachings would appear in
> the new public school.
An even MORE serious concern should be that Scientology uses
various front groups, such as WISE, to lure individuals into
Scientology centers, with the intention of selling Hubbard's courses
and methods. For enlightenment into how this is done, read
Hubbard's policy called "HCO PL 9 May 1965 Field Auditors Become
Staff". This policy governs and dictates how Scientology's "FSMs"
(field staff members) "select" people into Scientology's organizations.
The purpose of a "Field Staff Member" as given in this policy
is to: "contact, handle, salvage and bring to understanding
the individual and thus the peoples of Earth."
Another Scientology policy of 21 October 1971 entitled "You
as a Scientologist" states: "Don't forget, you are Ron's [L. Ron
Hubbard's] Ambassador in the Field."
> Advocates of the Northwest Charter School
> acknowledge that they want to employ teaching methods
> developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, but say
> his system emphasizes common-sense strategies
> appropriate for a public school setting and children of any
> religion.
> After hearing of a possible Scientology link, however,
> school board President Julie Korenstein placed the charter
> school proposal on the agenda of the board's closed-door
> session for discussion Monday. She and other board
> members expressed concern that the Hubbard materials
> could violate the separation of church and state.
> "We cannot turn our public school students and monies
> into a religious institution," said board member David
> Tokofsky. "It's a problem on a fundamental constitutional
> level."
> Scientology was founded by Hubbard in the early 1950s
> as a movement combining philosophy, modern
> psychoanalysis and Eastern religion into a system aimed at
> self-improvement. Criticized as a cult unforgiving of
> defectors and a front for a profit-driven business, the
> controversial movement received official status as a
> tax-exempt religion in 1993 from the Internal Revenue
> Service.
> Its potential ties to the proposed Northwest Charter
> School are especially sensitive because under state law,
> charter schools are allowed to operate outside many rules
> that constrain curriculum and budgets, even though they
> usually receive their state funding through their sponsoring
> school districts.
> The author of the Northwest Charter School petition, Los
> Angeles school district special education teacher Linda
> Smith, insisted that the teaching approach she wants to
> employ--known as Applied Scholastics--is nonsectarian.
> Smith, who said she has been a Scientologist for 16
> years, maintained that the method's books are drawn from
> Hubbard's educational "technology" and not his religious
> tenets.
> "Scientology is a religion. This is Hubbard Study
> Technology. It has nothing to do with religion," said Smith in
> an interview at Applied Scholastics' central office in
> Hollywood, just down the street from the Church of
> Scientology's headquarters. "It's totally above board."
This is nonsense. If, as she says, "It's totally above board.",
then why did her 62-page charter proposal NOT mention her association
with Applied Scholastics and Scientology?
> Applied Scholastics President Ian Lyons said the
> organization is an "independent, nonprofit corporation"
> separate from the church, with its own board of directors.
> However, he acknowledged that Bridge Publications, which
> prints Applied Scholastics materials, also produces
> literature for the Church of Scientology.
Applied Scholastics may very well have seperate directors,
but the fact remains that they are answerable to Scientology's
Religious Technology Center, since Applied Scholastics may
only use Hubbard's writings through a licensing agreement with
Scientology. And, it is very probable that Applied Scholastics
board of directors is comprised entirely of members of Scientology.
It would be revealing to ask whether their board members are
Scientologists, *and* to get an answer to the question.
An examination of the licensing agreement between RTC and
Applied Scholastics would be enlightening as well.
> Under Smith's charter school proposal, about 100
> students would attend kindergarten through grade 8 on a
> new campus to be established in the Sunland-Tujunga
> area; a site has yet to be secured.
> There are now 15 charter schools in the Los Angeles
> Unified system, almost all of them on pre-existing district
> campuses.
> Smith, 45, would be the principal of her proposed
> school, and most of her students would come from private
> schools after their parents heard about her plans through
> "word of mouth," according to her written proposal and
> interviews.
> The curriculum would include standard texts, as well as
> Hubbard's Applied Scholastics, which Smith said helps
> bolster student achievement by addressing three "barriers"
> to learning: Students use dictionaries to look up words they
> do not understand, they apply their lessons to real life, and
> they master each rung of material to obtain a thorough
> understanding of a subject.
Hubbard wrote in HCO PL 7 February 1965 "Keeping Scientology
Working":
"When somebody enrols, consider he or she has joined up for
the duration of the universe-never permit an 'open-minded'
approach. If they're going to quit let them quit fast. If they
enrolled, they're aboard, and if they're aboard, they're here on
the same terms as the rest of us-win or die in the attempt."
and
"When we instruct half-mindedly and are afraid to offend,
scared to enforce, we don't make students into good Scientologists,
and that lets everybody down. When Mrs. Pattycake comes to us to
be taught, turn that wandering doubt in her eye into a fixed,
dedicated glare..."
and
"The proper instruction attitude is: 'You're here so you're a
Scientologist. Now we're going to make you into an expert auditor
no matter what happens. We'd rather have you dead than incapable."
> Smith said she has been using the methods informally
> for two decades as a special education teacher, including
> the last six years at Esperanza Elementary School in
> downtown Los Angeles.
> Lyons, who sat in on the interview, said that other
> schools in the district use the method, as do schools
> elsewhere in the state and around the country. Applied
> Scholastics maintains its own site on the Internet.
Ask for specifics as to which "other schools in the
district use the method, as do schools elsewhere in the
state and around the country".
It would also be appropriate to determine whether Linda
Smith and Ian Lyons are members of the International Assoc-
iation of Scientology, and whether they are members of IHELP
(the International Hubbard Eccliastic League of Pastors).
> "I have found an incredible tool," said Smith. "I use it
> because it works."
> Still, 1st Amendment experts say that, regardless of any
> merits, the Hubbard materials present the school district
> with troubling constitutional and legal issues.
> "I think that the [district] ought to do everything within its
> power to ensure that this is not a subterfuge for teaching
> about the Scientology religion," said Doug Mirell, a 1st
> Amendment specialist and American Civil Liberties Union
> board member. "The concern is certainly a legitimate one,
> and one the school district ought to take seriously."
Indeed there is cause for concern. Scientology's Field
Staff Members have as their responsibility the task of
getting "raw public" or "wogs" (Scientology terms for non-members)
into Scientology's centers for further and continued instruction
on Hubbard's methods, geared towards indoctrination into, and
complete loyalty towards, Scientology.
> The charter school controversy is not the first time that
> Smith has come to the attention of school district officials
> for her Scientology ties, as Smith acknowledged Wednesday.
> Smith said she was reprimanded by her principal at
> Esperanza in early 1995 after she wrote a letter on school
> district stationery seeking advice on the legality of
> purchasing Hubbard materials for her students.
> Smith defended her actions, saying her only mistake
> was using the school letterhead.
Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, wrote in HCO Policy Letter
21 June 1965 "Distribution Division (Div 6)" that the purposes of
this division of Scientology are:
"1. To distribute data and information to anybody not currently
employed or being trained in an org.
2. To encourage such people to study and continue their studies.
3. To encourage them to take Courses and/or auditing or further
courses for their advancement.
4. To encourage them to introduce Scientology to other people.
5. To encourage them to train and audit other people within
the limits of their training and classification.
[...]
9. To foster, watch, monitor and even promote any activity likely
to come into the sphere of Scientology until such time as promotion
is made for such activity within the other Divisions of the org.
[...]
11. To undertake any action or activity considered necessary by the
Board to further the aims of Scientology and which is not already
provided for within the org structure."
In a directive written by Hubbard on 28 June 1965 entitled "Dissem
Division - Distribution Division" that the "Distribution Division
should sort out the needs of broad public handling and selling
independent of the other divisions or former org activity."
In HCO PL 30 September 1965 "Statistics For Divisions" by L.
Ron Hubbard, the statistics of Scientology's Division 6 (Distrib-
ution Division) is given as "The number of field staff member
commissions paid". (Later policy added the dollar value of FSMCs
- field staff member commissions - paid.) This policy also states
"New people is the business of the Dist[ribution] Div[ision]."
> Her principal at Esperanza, Rowena Lagrosa, praised
> Smith's teaching skills in a June 9 letter of
> recommendation. "Miss Smith has done a remarkable job
> of individualizing the instructional program of her students,"
This is consistent with Hubbard's policies which demand that
all courses be taught using "checksheets". Does Rowena Lagrosa
have any affiliation with, or membership in, any Scientology
organization or Scientology-controlled organization, such as
the IAS, IHELP, WISE or CCHR? Is she a Scientology field staff
member?
> Lagrosa wrote. "Additionally Miss Smith has worked
> toward building a community of learners within her room
> who are respectful and caring toward one another."
> When Smith made her pitch for the Northwest Charter
> School before the Board of Education on Monday, she did
> not mention her involvement with Applied Scholastics or
> Scientology, nor did her 62-page charter school proposal.
> Smith said she did not mention the details because she
> has yet to be licensed by Applied Scholastics to use the
> Hubbard materials, and because Northwest's "curriculum
> committee" ultimately would have to decide what to teach in
> the school.
Apparently Scientology's RTC approves of her use of Hubbard's
materials, since other individuals have been sued for similar
unauthorized use of Hubbard's writings.
> Smith's proposal drew mixed reactions from the board.
> Some members called it vague, while others applauded
> her novel teaching ideas, which include individualized plans
> of instruction for students and a "quality control department"
> in which each student must demonstrate knowledge of a
> given lesson before he or she can advance to new material.
Again, this is consistent with Hubbard's Scientology methods.
Do Smith's "novel teaching ideas" and a "quality control depart-
ment" include the use of "demo kits", "clay demos", "clearing
words" and the use of "supervisors" who give "spot checkouts"
or "star-rated checkouts"? If so, then these are the same methods
as the ones used in a Scientology organization training academy.
> Proponents of the charter school said that Smith is
> being treated unfairly. They say the school would serve a
> diverse population, including the children of Scientologists,
> Jews, Catholics and others.
For this reason, the parents (of non-Scientology members' children)
should be informed of the program's connection to Scientology
and L. Ron Hubbard. This way they may make an informed choice.
> "Religion has nothing to do with a public school," said
> Evelyn Hoy of a La Crescenta. The mother of four said she
> is a Methodist and her husband is a Roman Catholic and
> they want to send their children to Smith's school. "There is
> no connection between church and state here."
Scientologists _say_ this in an attempt to "make inroads
into society" by getting Hubbard's methods accepted by the
public in general. A key goal of Dianetics and Scientology
organizations is "broad public acceptance" of Hubbard's
methods, called "study tech[nology]", and ultimately world-wide
acceptance and use of Dianetics and Scientology.
Does Evelyn Hoy belong to the Scientology organization? Has
she taken Scientology and/or Dianetics training and/or auditing?
Is she a member of IHELP or the IAS? Is she an FSM? Has she received
commissions from any Scientology organization? If Linda Smith has
"yet to be licensed" by Applied Scholastics, is there a submitted,
pending license proposal, agreement or contract? Has she been
licensed elsewhere by Applied Scholastics?
I think there are many more questions which need answering...
Warrior - Sunshine disinfects