Children are more than test scores

This blog welcomes readers who believe that No Child Left Behind and Race To The Top, and Every Student Succeeds Act are misguided educational reform policies that rely too heavily on standardized test scores that are too focused on punitive measures against local schools. This is also the diary of Jesse Turner's 2010/15 walks to Washington DC from Connecticut, and his occupation of the DOE in DC with United Opt Out, and his opposition to public school choice policies without equity.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Ain't nobody gonna turn me around

The more things change, the more they remain the same. In Raleigh, NC, this week a coalition of ministers and community leaders asked the Wake County School Board and the District Attorney's Office to seek mediation instead of trials for 30 protesters arrested at school board meetings in 2010.

before you read the rest of my blog please read more here:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/01/24/1803530/coalition-calls-for-mediation.html#storylink=cpy‎

I salute my brothers and sisters in Raleigh who understand the value of Civil Disobedience.

"Ain't nobody gonna turn me around" My Mom taught me about Civil Disobedience when I was 8 years old. Her lesson began on Good Friday, April 12, 1963, as we sat and watched TV and saw that Dr. King had being arrested with Ralph Abernathy by Police Commissioner Bull Connor for demonstrating without a permit, I could see how genuinely upset my Mom was. I asked her "Why did they keep arresting him?"

and I remember her reply "Little Jess, the way I see it, Dr. King's arrest is like that bible story when King Darius decreed that no one could pray to any God for thirty days. But the good Daniel continued to pray to our Lord in defiance. The king then cast Daniel into the lion's den. Everyone thought Daniel would be killed, but they did not know God was on Daniel's side. That big old lion just walked over to Daniel and sat down beside him, letting everyone know that Daniel and those like Daniel are safe."

She told me how Dr. King was probably reading that very bible passage in jail right now, as he sat in his jail cell. "Come on" she said to me, "Let's be like Dr. King and read that passage, we need to pray to the Lord to deliver Dr. King from the lion's den." My Mom, way back then, recognized Civil Disobedience, and made darn sure her son understood it too!

Bravo to those brave ministers, hats off to those community leaders who like Daniel continue to step into the lion's den in Raleigh and everywhere else around our country.

My very favorite Teacher "Dorothy Menosky" always loves to say "Not everything that is taught is learned, and not everything that is learned is taught." There are many resistance lessons all around us in this struggle to tell our leaders that America's Children are More Than Test Scores. Don't believe the hype ~ learn the lessons.
Ready to occupy the DOE,
Jesse

If you want to know what I was listening to on my walk today:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/205787/music-and-the-arts-the-freedom-singers-aint-gonna-let-nobody-turn-me-around

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