Delphi Technique at Work: Parent Arrested at Public Meeting for Asking Unauthorized Question

“Look, I am being manhandled and shut down because I asked inconvenient questions.  Why won’t they allow an open forum where there can be a debate? We are told to sit there and be lectured to about how great common core is.” -- Robert Small

The Delphi Technique, developed by the RAND Corporation during the 1950s, is simply a method developed for the purpose of maneuvering segments of the public into accepting a predetermined outcome or course of action, while, at the same time, presenting the illusion of participatory democracy. In other words, people are "included" to create a false consensus.

In this case, the Baltimore County School district held a public meeting to go over the "Common Core" curriculum now being taught in Maryland schools. All questions from parents were required to be written down and submitted beforehand in order to avoid ones that might derail their pre-planned agenda. 

“Dr. Dallas Dance, Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools, and Lillian Lowery, Maryland Superintendent, had the opportunity Thursday night to make minor amends at an MSDE-sponsored informational meeting after a three-plus year information blackout on Common Core, the new federal curriculum for Maryland schools.

Instead, Dr. Dance added insult to injury by screening, omitting, and editing parents’ questions.

Questions from the audience of about 160 people, which consisted of parents, PTA members, teachers, and school administrators, were submitted on cards prior to and during the 1-1/2 hour meeting for the Q&A period which lasted about 40 minutes.

Dr. Dance chose which questions to read or omit, opting for teacher and school administrator or softball questions. But he also altered the wording of the questions themselves.

[...]
“As the pom-pom and rah-rah session neared an end about 20 minutes before the meeting close, parental frustration was mounting as our questions were still going unanswered. One parent, Robert Small, decided to interject to try to force some answers (see video at top of article).
He said: “I want to know how many parents here are aware that the goal of the Common Core standards isn’t to prepare kids for full-fledged universities, it’s to prepare them for community college.....Parents, take control. We’re sick of this. This is not a CNN political game. This is a public town hall... Listen, don’t stand for this. You’re sitting here like cattle. You have questions. Confront them. They don’t want to do it in public.... Parents, you need to question these people....Do the research, it’s online.”

According to the Baltimore Sun he was taken to the Towson precinct, detained, and charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, which carries a fine of $2,500 and up to 10 years in prison, and disturbing a school operation, which carries a fine of $2,500 and up to six months.



Parents questions unanswered at Common Core meeting:



The Delphi Technique--How to Disrupt It.