No one is above the law, but Congress

I thought this one might interesting to those of us who are paying back student loans. The children of Congressional members do not have to pay back their students loans. Government by the people for congressional privilege. Congress we make the laws for other people to follow! 
As longs as the people who make the rules don't have to follow them we are a people bondage of inequity. Dr. Martin Luther King wrote in A letter from Birmingham Jail That " Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" (1963). How many many humiliations must we endure. 
I am walking to DC,
Jesse



You say you want a revolution by the Beatles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrkwgTBrW78
We sure could use one now people!

I am walking to DC

Anthony Cody wrote another excellent piece in Education week: "Education Reform Dichotomy: Big Choices Ahead", (http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2013/01/the_education_reform_dichotomy.html). Anthony ask people to respond.
My response is let us act, let us continue to fight back, let us push Civil Disobedience to the max, children are suffering. This is the time to occupy, march, sit in, disrupt, and yes for the Walking Man to Walk to DC again. Silence and apathy are not acceptable. Since NCLB's birth over a decade ago we have see our nation's schools becomes more segregated, less democratic, spend hundreds of billions on failed reforms, false choice, demoralized both students and teachers via more and more meaningless testing.
My thinking is NLCB created one lost generation, and RTTT is losing another.
I don't see side effects Anthony, but Collateral damage that David Berliner wrote about in 2007 "Collateral Damage: How High-Stakes Testing Corrupts America's Schools" Real lives have been destroyed by No excuse policy pushers.
Dialogue yes, but as Fredrick Douglas said: "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
Let us admit the No Excuses group is not backing down, conceding nothing, and seeking more top down control. They don't see children they see proficiency scores, profits, and power. They don't dialogue, they don't listen, and they care about children. Dialogue to them is we talk you listen not us.
I am still walking, still marching, and I'll be occupying Secretary Status Duncan's DOE in DC in April at Occupy the DOE 2.0 : The Battle For Our Public Schools. After that I plan my next next walk to DC this summer.
Sincerely
Jesse The Walking Man Turner
PS Read Anthony Cody's Blog, reply, and consider following him. I have always found him to be honest, fair, accurate, and informative.

Still listen to that old marching song Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Z1trynEHs

What the Word? Occupy the DOE!

What's the word Occupy the DOE

A good friend from South Africa, Vincent use to say before the fall of Apartheid people would chant "What's the word? Johannesburg!. In late April 1994 I remember clearly my friend's most joyous day in America.  
It was when he and some fellow South Africans living in Tucson Arizona drove 3 hours to cast their first votes, they stood in line for hours to vote for Nelson Mandela. 

A few months later he returned to his home land knowing the dark days of Apartheid had ended, but he had work to do. He returned to help build a new South Africa. That was his second most joyous day in America. Vincent's lesson to me was there are things worth fighting for no matter how long it takes.

Well America after over a decade of No Child Left Behind, (NCLB) policies our schools are more segregated than they have been in 50 years. Our public schools a tale of two cities, one with all the resources they need, and the other more isolated and abandoned than ever. Our politicians and school reformers point with pride to their efforts that have reduced our children to test scores, demoralizes our teachers, and forces our schools to compete for resources.
Welcome to the world of NCLB Apartheid. We have spent a trillion dollars on testing, and encouraged inequity in our schools.

All you anti school reformers shout this out What's the Word? Occupy DOE
Come one come all to Occupy DOE 2.0: The Battle for Public Schools. I urged all parents, students, teachers, and community activists to converge on the Department Of Education in Washington, DC April 4-7.
If you are planning on joining us in DC go to the following links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-the-DOE-in-DC/232665050126806
http://unitedoptout.com/event/occupy-doe-2-0-the-battle-for-public-schools-read-all-details-here/

What the word? Occupy the DOE,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

Want to know what the Walking Man is listening to today it's Gil Scott-Heron's Johannesbugh (Live) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N8IIN_1fL4