In case you missed it, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has expanded on his colorful rhetoric aimed at the peasants a.k.a, parents.

No longer is the ‘white suburban mom’ the target of his umbrage. Now any parent opting their kids out of the Common Core tests is fair game. He’s put the states on notice that they better get the peasants back in line.

#KingDuncan has spoken, peons! Common Core Tests — Parents #optout, Government Steps in http://t.co/fMNJf7cbYh pic.twitter.com/fgirKJYmYH

— LL1885 – A.P. Dillon (@LadyLiberty1885) April 29, 2015

While I mock King Duncan, but I also want to echo the warning from the Homeschool Defense League article in the linked Tweet above.

In short – Don’t underestimate the Fed:

Nearly 200,000 students have opted out of taking these tests in New York State alone—and nationwide, the numbers of Common Core student test-takers continue to diminish. So with unprecedented numbers of parents keeping their children at home on test day, the federal government will be tempted to “step in” more than ever.

HSLDA is concerned that federal officials will again resort to financial incentives—or threaten to withhold funding—to coerce students into participating in these tests. As demonstrated empirically by 2009’s “Race to the Top” grants, state governments have a track record of prioritizing federal funds over their own sovereignty. Lured by the promise of funding, many cash-strapped states could not or would not resist the offer of billions of dollars in exchange for what seemed, at the time, a small sacrifice: adhering to a set of K–12 learning standards.

But far from being just another set of standards, Common Core revolutionized education in America—and not for the better. Concerns over data collection, high stakes testing, and a lack of transparency have provoked a groundswell of resistance among parents and educators.

As grassroots movements and parental opposition continues to dismantle Common Core piece by piece, concerned citizens should remain vigilant and take Duncan’s threats seriously. Whenever the government threatens to “step in,” the right of parents to be involved in their children’s education is bound to suffer.

Children and their welfare do not belong Arne Duncan, to a testing consortia, or to the Big Ed Reformers.

They aren’t numbers for you to crunch.  They belong to their parents; their family.

It is their parents that work in the best interests of their children.  It is the parents who are rebelling and, in doing so, are exposing the elaborate system in place that attaches data sets and a dollar sign shaped target to the backs of our children.

The rebellion has just begun, King Duncan. The peasants are just getting started.