Mr. President, we want equity, empathy, and humanity not Common Core Standards

Is the above our new image of segregation in the Twenty-First Century in America?

The 14th Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren concluded in our nation's 1954 landmark Brown Vs the Board of Education: "Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group...Any language in contrary to this finding is rejected. We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.  ”
61 years later, 22,462 days later I find our public schools more segregated than ever, not only by race, but by poverty. 22,462 days later I find 50 states and my nation compromising on equality at every step, and committed not to equality in our public schools, but to scams that harm our nation's children, their parents, their communities. Chief Justice Warren was clear: "We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place." I view high-stake assessments and the Common Core State Standards as clear evidence that we as a nation are in violation of the law, and more importantly of our moral obligation to our nation's children. I see no evidence that thousands of new charter schools have done anything to desegregate our public schools. I would even argue that their creation has increased segregtion in our public schools.

Common Core Standards do not differentiate instruction for individual learners.

Common Core Standards do not valued our rich linguistic, racial and cultural diversity in America.

Common Core Standards cannot adjust for poverty.

Teacher licensure examinations cannot measure a teacher's ability, willingness, and competence to differentiate learning for all learners.

In reality any set of standards that limit themselves to benchmarks of performance without understanding that learners drive learning not bench marks become examples of intolerance.

Any set of standards that are intolerant to the natural diversity within our communities, schools, and classroom are:

1. Inherently bias against learners with special needs,

2. Inherently bias against multilingual learners,

3. Inherently bias against learners living in poverty, and

4. Inherently bias against immigrants and children of color.

Any teacher licensure examination cannot measure a teacher's ability, willingness, and competence to differentiate learning for all learners is not work the paper it is written on!

Any set of standards that promise to save our public schools without requiring equity in our public schools are not worth the papers they are written on!

No education reform without equity for all is not worth researching.

No education reform that fails to affirm our nation's rich tapestry of diversity is rooted in bias against the very nature of who we are as a nation.

We will know genuine education reform by the only standard that really matters EQUALITY in our public schools.

We will know genuine education reform that affirms children, parents, and teachers by the standard ensuring we lift every voice.

We will know genuine education reform that affirms children with special needs by its empathy, its humanity, and its love for all children.

We will know genuine education reform that affirms all learners by its efforts to provide wrap around services not for some schools, but for all schools.

We don't want your Common Core Standards.

We want equity, empathy and humanity.

If your education reform can't begin with these, than you cannot claim to value all children.
Silence and apathy are not acceptable,

Dr. Jesse Patrick Turner

If you like to know what song I was listening to on my walk this morning, it's Sweet Honey and the Rock's "eye on the prize". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_tcZAqQUAg