I am an SOSer, a street fighter against the tyranny of pain known as NCLB

I am an SOSer

I am going to Washington DC, 
again.

I am relentless,

I am unwavering, 
and

I am still marching.

I am Jesse The Walking Man Turner.

Bruce Springsteen sings in Rocky Ground

"Rise up shepherd, rise up
Your flock has roamed far from the hills
Stars have faded, the sky is still
Sun's in the heavens and a new day's rising

The angels are shouting "Glory Hallelujah" 

I am a Shepard rising up. 

I am traveling over rocky ground

Glory Hallelujah!

I am calling for A Gathering of Shepards' 

I clearly remember that day, 
some 45 years ago ~
when my father abandoned us.

I was 10 years old, 
This time, I took the slap that was meant for Momma.

I fell to the ground,
 but I got right back up ~ ready for the next.

He knew it was time to go.
And so he did.

Before we knew it,
 we were on the streets.

Momma tells me I was born fighting for life. 

We knew Thanksgivings without a turkey,

The Christmas without a tree,

The winter without heat, or electricity,

Lived in emergency housing,

Know that a loaf of wonder bread and a jar of mayonnaise can be a Thanksgiving feast for the hungry.

"There go I,  for the Grace of God ~ one of Mom's constant sayings.

I was taught to be grateful for what I have,

There is always someone far worse off.

Our schools and libraries were warm, 
reading is magic by candle light ~ in a house without electricity.

My teachers made a difference, everyday.
Just by being there to teach.

Who says "Poverty doesn't matter?"
Poverty Matters America!

Momma and my teachers taught me to stand up for what is right.

I learned about justice and hope at home and in school.

I found heroes on the book shelves at my local library.

I didn’t have much, but I had Momma, teachers, and books.

Growing up without a male role model is hard, 
but I found Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mocking Bird”. 

Atticus Finch, 
moral hero of heroes 
in a narrative that can be found at every local library.

I read it with Momma every night for two weeks straight ~ by candlelight.

Momma cried when Tom Robinson died, 
we both fell in love with Boo Radley, the reclusive hero.

Harper Lee’s book was the first family read in our home.

To Kill A Mocking Bird ~ a narrative to take to the bank.

Narratives 
the kind of books 
that these Education Reformers and their Common Core Cheerleaders say 
children need less of.

These reformers who say we need to test everything.

These reformers who say we need computerized tracking systems 
and 
tests for every subject.

  

During these days of tight budgets 
one might wonder
"How will these reformers pay for their reforms?"

Their plan is to make schools compete like Greyhounds. 
Run them until they drop.

Increase class size.

Underfund libraries.

Hire drive by "pension-less" teachers who come and go.

Attack teachers.

Attack Schools of Education.

Attack democratically elected Boards of Education.
Attack everyone who dares to fight back. 

In the words of Atticus Finch

“They're certainly entitled to think that, 
and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions... 
but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself.  
The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule 
is a person's conscience." 

Momma was right ~ I was born fighting for life.

Momma your boy was also born to fight injustice.

America ~ reading narratives can give poor boys a conscience!
Perhaps, Who Knows, 
is that why they want to replace narratives with non-fiction?

Tell it on every mountain top 
the Walking Man is coming to DC ~ year # 3. 

Send it in a telegram to Secretary Status Quo Arne Duncan, 

I will fight the injustice of his policies.

His policies that reduce children to test scores.

His policies that remain quiet, as poor communities have to slash the budget of their library in order to pay for Duncan's unfunded mandates... 

His policy that forces special education teachers to spend their days 
writing reports, attending meetings, 
and not teaching children in need.

His policy that allows for the madness that increases class size 
in order to pay for computerized testing.

Washington DC policy that spends billions on Duncan's mad Race To The Top.

Policy where some children win,
 and some lose,
 in schools that are forced to compete for limited resources. 

Tell the world,
 I am going to DC, again.
Just to tell our nation's leaders,
 and those fake DC reformers, 
that children are more than test scores. 

I am still walking,

I am still marching,

I am still blogging,

I am a proud SOSer,

A fighter against the tyranny of Race To The Top.

It’s simple, America.
Silence and Apathy are not acceptable,
especially when it comes to our children.

Meet me in DC at the Save Our School People’s Education Convention 
Friday August 3rd to Sunday August 5th, 2012.

Just another Shepard 
traveling on Rocky Ground,

Jesse ~ The Walking Man ~ Turner.  

The song taking me all the way to SOS's People Education Convention in DC this Friday August 3, 2012 is  Bruce Spingsteen's Rocky Ground

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J_Fcrthxws

Imagine a day without testing!

Here is a thought people:
What if next May 1st everyone walks out of school, and holds a public teach-in?
What if students, parents and teachers worked together for a teach-in day of without testing?
What if students spent next May 1st learning for the sake of learning?
What if no politicians were invited?
What if Arne Duncan was not invited?
What if no hedge fund mangers were invited?
What if children, parents, teachers read together for enjoyment?
What if we painted community murals?
What would happen if we celebrated music and dance on that day without testing?
What would happen if we practiced our democratic right to march, to assemble, and protest this madness that spent 1.2 trillion dollars on testing and standards?
What if children, parents, and teachers shouted class size matters?
What if the people shouted poverty matters?
What if we registered new voters, and educated all voters on that day about how school reform should be more than a race?
What if we did this in every city, town, village in the nation?
What if everyone demanded main stream media cover it?
What if we boycotted any company that supports more testing?
What if grandmas', grandpas', guardians, uncle, Tio(s) aunts, Tia(s), our bothers and sisters joined us?
What if we all banded together for one day without testing?
My thinking is that day would change the world.
I'll be there next May 1st,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner


Guess what song the Walking Man is listening to all the way to the SOS People's Education Convention on August 3-5 in DC?
john Lennon's Imagine!  Imagine

Imagine a world Ed Reform drive by teachers

Here is an excellent short blog by a elementary student responding to a teacher volunteer first year post. Read it for yourself, and see my poetic reply to our nation's education deformers.
Link of blog: http://www.theonion.com/articles/my-year-volunteering-as-a-teacher-helped-educate-a,28803/?ref=auto 

Counter Point Blog: 

My Year Volunteering As A Teacher Helped Educate A New Generation Of Underprivileged Kids

BY MEGAN RICHMOND, VOLUNTEER TEACHER

When I graduated college last year, I was certain I wanted to make a real difference in the world. After 17 years of education, I felt an obligation to share my knowledge and skills with those who needed it most.

After this past year, I believe I did just that. Working as a volunteer teacher helped me reach out to a new generation of underprivileged children in dire need of real guidance and care. Most of these kids had been abandoned by the system and, in some cases, even by their families, making me the only person who could really lead them through the turmoil.

Was it always easy? Of course not. But with my spirit and determination, we were all able to move forward. 

Those first few months were the most difficult of my life. Still, I pushed through each day knowing that these kids really needed the knowledge and life experience I had to offer them. In the end, it changed all of our lives.

In some ways, it's almost like I was more than just a teacher to those children. I was a real mentor who was able to connect with them and fully understand their backgrounds and help them become the leaders of tomorrow.

Ultimately, I suppose I can never know exactly how much of an impact I had on my students, but I do know that for me it was a fundamentally eye-opening experience and one I will never forget.

Counterpoint

Can We Please, Just Once, Have A Real Teacher?

BY BRANDON MENDEZ, JAMES MILLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENT

You've got to be kidding me. How does this keep happening? I realize that as a fourth-grader I probably don't have the best handle on the financial situation of my school district, but dealing with a new fresh-faced college graduate who doesn't know what he or she is doing year after year is growing just a little bit tiresome. Seriously, can we get an actual teacher in here sometime in the next decade, please? That would be terrific.

Just once, it would be nice to walk into a classroom and see a teacher who has a real, honest-to-God degree in education and not a twentysomething English graduate trying to bolster a middling GPA and a sparse law school application. I don't think it's too much to ask for a qualified educator who has experience standing up in front of a classroom and isn't desperately trying to prove to herself that she's a good person.

I'm not some sort of stepping stone to a larger career, okay? I'm an actual child with a single working mother, and I need to be educated by someone who actually wants to be a teacher, actually comprehends the mechanics of teaching, and won't get completely eaten alive by a classroom full of 10-year-olds within the first two months on the job.

How about a person who can actually teach me math for a change? Boy, wouldn't that be a novel concept!

I fully understand that our nation is currently facing an extreme shortage of teachers and that we all have to make do with what we can get. But does that really mean we have to be stuck with some privileged college grad who completed a five-week training program and now wants to document every single moment of her life-changing year on a Tumblr?

For crying out loud, we're not adopted puppies you can show off to your friends.

Look, we all get it. Underprivileged children occasionally say some really sad things that open your eyes and make you feel as though you've grown as a person, but this is my actual education we're talking about here. Graduating high school is the only way for me to get out of the malignant cycle of poverty endemic to my neighborhood and to many other impoverished neighborhoods throughout the United States. I can't afford to spend these vital few years of my cognitive development becoming a small thread in someone's inspirational narrative.

But hey, how much can I really know, anyway? I haven't had an actual teacher in three years.

The Walking Man reply:

Welcome to the education reformer drive-by-teaching world

Imagine a world full of drive by teachers

A world, where teachers take shortcuts to the classroom, 


A world where teachers are labeled highly qualified after attending a five-week summer crash course on teaching,


A world, where teachers want to move on after a year, or two,

A world where your children are stepping stones to something more,

Welcome to teaching world our education reformers dream of for your children.


Welcome to teaching world of teaching that took 150 years to build



The world where teachers take that more difficult traditional road the classroom,


The road that requires:


At least five years hard work, 
Real dedication, 


Spending large amounts of time in real classrooms in course related field experiences,


Passing a rigorous student teaching assignment under the supervision of a teacher, 


Passing multiple licensing exams the old fashion,


A world where the teachers dream of teaching children for the next 35 years, 


A world where teachers see the classroom as something more,

A world without drive by teachers,


This is the world education reformers want to destroy.


Imagine thinking anything less than the hard road to teaching is better.


Guess which teachers teach their children?



Still walking,

Still marching,

Still teaching, and

Going to the SOS People's Education convention,


Jesse The Walking Turner

Over 30-years later I am still inspired by the faces in my classroom, and baffled by the views of our nation's policy makers and politicians on education.   

The Walking Man is listening on his walk is listening to Bruce Springsteen "Rocky Ground" as he gets ready for the SOS People's Education Convention. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYUYnoWqct0