Day # 3 Two visions

Where do I begin? Where does a man go when he sees his dream coming through right before his eyes. This SOS dream is real, it is so real, there is a revolution growing here in Washington DC.  For as long as I can remember I have been the lone ranger in the room saying, “but, but, but, children are more than test scores”  it’s been over a decade now of NCLB.  But here in DC everyone is a ranger, everyone is speaking up, speaking up loudly,  for children, parents, teachers, and public schools.

I am humbled by their chorus of “we are marching”. Honestly, I am in awe of these conference attendees here at SOS.

Keynote: Let me say first that Diane Ravitch is powerful, her voice carries out the truth, the suffering, and the hopes of children, parents, teachers, and our public schools. SOS have been blessed, she is our gift, and she walks in beauty!

Making the choice over which session to attend  is just too hard here. It’s like you are in the candy shop, and someone tells you everything is free.   But the sessions I could not resist yesterday was “Wisconsin Teachers Organize and Take Action on Social Justice.” Again, I just sat, listening to three teachers tell the story of how they risked it all, how they stepped up to assume leadership roles in Wisconsin. Step by step, they gave their stories on how they grew a resistance.  Three beautiful souls Amy Mizialko, Amy Daroszeski, and Judy Gundry use become organized, have mass sick outs, even how to write petitions. Their story is truly inspiring.

Being teachers of course, they had us break into small groups and share what we had learned. You know the old saying, “You can take the teacher out of the classroom, but you can’t take the classroom out of the teacher.”

The Eureka moment for our group came as we worked on reframing the message”

A Tale of Two Public Schools
NCLB/RTTT Schools	SOS Schools
Children as data Children as test scores Children as proficient, Children as standards, Children as not proficient, Children as not being at standard.	Children as human beings, Children as critical thinkers, Children as artists, Children as writers, Children as Readers, Children as saviors of our democracy, Children as change agents, Children as responsive citizens. Children as gifts.
Schools as data factories Schools as for profit institutions, Schools as assembly lines of proficiency, Schools of choice places you change like your socks, place you never really come to know. Schools as places where teachers are silence, Schools as places where parents are silent, Schools as a race where most are losers, and only a few are winners, Schools as places where students are no more than Washington DC’s data.	Schools as change agents, Schools as depositories of our collective nation’s story, Schools as holders of our past, present, and our future, Schools places where our history unfolds, School places where our brothers and sisters went, Places our parents went, School where our grandparents went, Places where our children go, Schools places where teachers are respected, Schools places where parents are respected, Schools as places where children are more than test scores.

This morning, in about two hours time, I am marching.  We are marching as SOS, we are marching in the light of God.

Jesse

Day number 2 at SOS

We are not alone any more.  For the first time in many years I sat back, and listened to other people fight the good fight.  After two years of walking for change I was able to sit down, and rest these tired feet. The SOS House is full; people are not on their knees, they are not silent; they are working for change.  This  house is not a house of silence and apathy, it is the house of change, and we are marching.

 Jonathon Kozol gave the challenge, and the challenge is being met by people from every corner of America. This is a sharing of actions, a sharing of resistance stories; this is a sharing of parents, teachers, educators, and yes-even students.  There are vocal students here from New Orleans, and I am in love with their energy, their passion, and most of all their commitment.

Yesterday I attended the session “ The New Parent Involvement” by Parents Across America’s Karran Harper Royal and Pamela Grundy. I leaned that our parents in New Orleans and Charlotte-Mecklenberg, North Carolina are truly organized, fighting back with information, and resisting the mental slavery of NCLB/RTTT.

Pamela shared the story of how parents reached out to teachers, and how a North Carolina district chased a “Can’t Get Enough testing crazed Superintendent” out of Charlotte-Mecklenberg.  Karran took us through the tragedy of what is happening to the New Orleans Public Schools where state approved charter schools use push-out/trick out schemes to remove special education and low performing students from their schools.  Their goal is to get these students out . This is why The Southern Poverty Law Center is suing the State of Louisiana. Karran said “ I am here to tell you that New Orleans is the canary in the coal mine, and the canary is dead! Please do not replicate what is happening in New Orleans”.

Another session I attended was “Think/Do Tank”

Mike Klonsky led a brain storming session on how we need to defend ourselves from the forces of privatization in public education. This session was like something from the 1960’s. At this session we began the work of building a foundation under this resistance to NCLB/RTTT.

This session focused on reframing the public school debate from teacher bashing to supporting teachers, children, and our local schools.

When asked about why people were here…over and over again conference attendees said “we are here to march, to act, do something, to stand up for children and teachers, and we are marching”.

My favorite moment came from a Principal named Buzz Howard who said: “We should frame this discussion around who we are and what we do.

 I suggest the following mantra:

We are your public schools, the place where young people come to develop habits of

·      The mind and intellect

·      Character and citizenship

·      Social and emotional intelligence

In a nourishing and challenging environment to become happy, responsible, and responsive participants in American society. The place where teachers are professional men and women who make school work”

At the end of the day we invited the White House to our March:

We sincerely appreciate the interest of the White House in the Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action. We’d be pleased to host any White House or Department of Education personnel on the Ellipse on Saturday so they can hear firsthand what teachers, students, parents & community members from around the country have to say about public education. Thousands of concerned citizens will be sharing their experiences and their thoughts on the future of our schools. July 30th is your opportunity to listen to us. After the March, we will be open to meeting with White House or Department of Education leaders to further discuss our specific proposals.

All in all, the cat is out of the bag, the revolution is here, and we are marching. Come one, come all to DC, your schools need you this Saturday.

I am marching,

Jesse

The Walking Man is in DC!

This one is rough people it’s nearly 2:AM, and I just unpack. I’m in DC people. I'll edit it in the morning, but in the meantime I want my readers to feel what it is like.

Well, well, well, the Walking Man is here in DC for the Save Our Schools March. I am looking forward to attending the SOS conference at the American University, and meeting all those stand up do right marchers. A year ago Bess Altwerger, Sabrina Stevens, Vivian Vasquez, and I were praying someone would show up in DC last Labor Day to hear about my walk to DC, and to discuss the negative impact of NCLB on children, parents, teachers, and local schools. 80 people show up at Bus Boys and Poets, and 25 people show up at the American University the next day. We saw that as a success. Bess Altwerger always said Jesse walks this year, and next year we all walk. We joined Chris Janotta and Laurie Murphy from SOS Million Teacher March, because they said they were marching to DC. We started plotting, but the National Park Service said we would need to raise 150, 000 to hold a rally in DC.  Well that left some of us with shaky legs, but Bess said we could do that! I like to say I felt confident about that, but I was shaking in my boots.

The seed for Save Our Schools started there short a 150, 000 dollars. Somehow Laurie and Bess convince people we could to it. We wanted parents in so we grew into Save Our Schools March and became a genuine grassroots movement when Rita Sonnet from “Parents Across America” said we’re in. Then Rita said I think I might be able to bring Diane Ravitch on board as well. Anthony Cody’s Teacher Letters To Obama were always in, but when they officially came on board things really started to take shape.   

CELT, the Center Expansion of Language and Teaching, (CELT) gave us our first real donation, (We were only 149, 000 dollars away at that point). Then brought the NCTE, (National Council of Teachers of English), and IRA, (International Reading Association). CELT members kept their support coming, and Diane Ravitch not only came on board like Rita said, but gave us a 10,000 donation, (only 139,000 short then). Then the endorsements just started rolling in every single day, and people started giving small donations 10 and 20 dollar ones. They started to add up. We were nearly at 90,000 with those small donations. I forgot to mention that the Freedom came on board. They empowered us, and lifted us morally and spiritually as well. They wanted to come, but needed help. Matt Damon even kicked in some money to help bring the Freedom Riders to the March as well, and said I’ll be there my mother is a teacher.
Then the American Federation of Teachers said we want in, and we want to help, and help they did. Next the National Education Association jumped, and started helping as well. Parents, educators, and teachers started registering for the conference, the conference sold out, but people said that’s alright we are still coming for the march.

People came through it looks like we raise the necessary funds, but the executive committee is still a little worried that we might end owing money. We have put our names on the line for this, and let me tell you I haven’t slept easy for the past 6 months. We most certainly are grassroots.

My Momma use to say sometimes a person has to testify. You just have do what is right no mater what the consequences. She knew silence and apathy are not acceptable.  That who we “Save Our School Marchers” are the do right- no matter what people.

Well back to my walk from Connecticut to DC to protest NCLB/RTTT I met with individuals, small groups (2-4 people), and groups ranging between 12 to 30 people all along the way.  One day I calculated I met and spoke to roughly about thousand people on my walk. A couple of newspapers gave my walk a passing glimpse. No CNN, MNBC, or Fox news they were too busy hanging on every word Arne Duncan had to say. Not one person out of that thousand told me they had a positive view of what NCLB was doing to their children and schools, and messages of support were coming by the truck load from Facebook groups like "Stop Senate Bill 6", " Parents Across America, Teacher letters to Obama. These were my lifelines on the days were no one show up. Teachers and parents from every corner of America started emailing me, and posting messages on our Facebook Children Are More Than Test Scores group. Membership in that group went from 2 in March to over 7000 members a year later.  Last year people use to say are you really walking. This year people are saying walk Jesse walk.

I’m in DC Secretary Duncan, and I am available to meet with you anytime you are ready. I think you know my message, but just in case Mr. Secretary I am here to tell you that Children Are More Than Test Scores.

Jesse