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My blog and I have been missing in action the past month or so. This is primarily because I have been struggling with the State of Indiana Department of Revenue. Rather than sharing the entire gruesome story, I will give you shortened version.

But first, a warning – I have been under a lot of stress and I am angry!

Someone at the State erroneously sent a tax warrant to a collection agency demanding a several thousand dollar tax payment for 2009. I did not owe

this money. The result was that I also received a warrant from the county sheriff; a letter garnishing my wages; and a notice from my bank that my savings account was under a levy. And since my savings account did not cover the amount of the levy, and that account was attached to my checking account for overdrafts, my checking account was also levied.

I had no money!

I have called the State Department of Revenue so many times since the beginning of March that I have easily spent 20 plus hours on the phone. All of the people assured me they would look into it because “it shouldn’t have happened” and call me back. ONE very nice lady in South Bend did call me back with additional and helpful information. That’s one out of more than 15 people!!

My relentless calls finally got results, and the levy was withdrawn, but not before the bank sent my savings account in total to the state. And none of my bills were paid since I could not access my checking account.

Although I now have my checking account back, I still do not have my savings account money. The state cashed that instantly! (The bank very kindly provided a copy of the cancelled check.)

Now the reason I am sharing all of this is that the ability of a government agency – or someone in that agency – to have unfettered access to all of my money – and yours – and take it without knowledge is very frightening! Consider that everyone with whom I spoke – always after a considerable amount of time on hold – could just tap a few keys on her computer and instantly all of my personal information was there!

The fact that the State of Indiana is the entity that put this into motion is unsettling. How did it happen? Who is responsible? Who is going to help me clean up my credit because payments were late? How many other people experience this?

Actually I think it must happen frequently if the number of apologies I received from numerous people is any indicator. However, apologies don’t fix anything. As a matter of fact, I have heard them so many times; I put very little credence in them.

One’s financial information is probably one of the most private and critical. What makes you think that all of the scores of your children’s standardized tests, many or most of which are on line, are not accessible by anyone in the government claiming to have a need to see them?

Anyone who has read my blog knows I do not support Common Core. Common Core assumes that all children will achieve the same thing at the same time, and then it tests to see if the teacher achieved that “goal.” Sadly, although Indiana has pulled out of Common Core, the new “standards” are pretty much Common Core.2.

Tests used to be administered to see what the children learned. Now they are used to see what the teachers did.

Do you realize how easy it is to “track” a child via test results?

I don’t know, but since the granting of federal education money is linked to test results, I wonder how many schools immediately check new students’ test scores? And then ponder how their scores might affect the school’s overall rating? I wonder if we will get to the point where a school will not accept a new student because of test scores.

Some of you may think I’m crazy, but I certainly never thought the government could raid my savings account without my knowledge!

One can already go online and check the composite scores of schools, the number of paid lunches, nationalities, etc. of any school system. If the general public can access this information, we can be sure that anyone in the educational bureaucracy can access individual scores.

Your child is becoming a number – a score. This is not the fault of the teacher, but the encroaching federal bureaucracy.

We need to get the federal government out of our personal lives and that includes our children’s. This experience has provided proof that I have no control over my personal affairs.

Have you read 1984 by George Orwell? If not, pick it up. It will send shivers down your spine.