What If, policymakers and legislators listened to teachers?

There is no greater disconnect in education reform than between our politicians, policymakers and our nation's teachers than on the value of high stakes testing and standards.
One group feeds off the campaign contributions of for-profit education reformers,
Another group depends on elected officials to keep them employed,
And our nation's teachers dealt with the pain of damage left behind by policies driven not by data, but by greed.

How else can we accept hundreds of billions of tax dollars wasted on testing, while school budget after school budget is slashed?

America needs to ask only one question.
What if we started spending this money on other solutions?
Let me begin the list for us:
Summer schools,
Saturday schools,
Music teachers,
Art teachers,
School librarians,
Special Education teachers,
Reading Specialists,
Gym Teachers,
Real books,
Playgrounds,
School nurses...

WHAT IF, we change the same old, same old to something that mattered?
Respectfully
Dr. Jesse P. Turner

If you like to listen to the song that inspired my walk this morning its Rebel Diaz singing "Chicago Teacher". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yN7cRZP58k 

On my way to Chicago this week. You can bet your bottom last dollar, that this Walking Man will be meeting and listening to some Chicago Teachers.

Scientific Truth Seeker Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig

I know University of Kentucky School of Education Dean Julian Vasquez Heilig,  he is a scholar with a thirst for truth, and a human being driven by a deep sense of justice. Someone needs to seek the scientific truth of school reform. Someone needs to explain that equity and justice in our public schools should be truth-based. And to call it out when it is not! Dr. Vasquez Heilig has made this his life's work. 
I have been an avid reader of his blog > https://cloakinginequity.com/ < for years, and we have become professional colleagues over the last few years. He is a must-read, and follow a scholar.

"Ever wonder why a lion’s share of positive (non-peer reviewed) findings about school choice comes from certain places? We take on that question in our new piece published in the 2nd edition of the Handbook of Research on School Choice. " JVH 

Think about hair loss infomercials, they often claim to have science behind them, but even the slightest investigation reveals nothing more than testimonials. So, what sells their products without any real science behind them?  
The truth is simple men fearing baldness will grab on to anything to prevent baldness. It is the same with School Choice, parents are grabbing at anything to save their children from inequity in our public schools. Market-based Education Reformers behind School Choice, don't care about the science, the truth, they care about profit margins. 
Equity in America's Public School System has become a market-based infomercial scam. These marketers are not held accountable by our policymakers, legislators, or mass media. 

Why?
In the movie "Wall Street" Michael Douglas, (Gordon Gekko) said these lines to young brokers:
"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind." 

Tell us why Dr. Turner? GREED! 
Thank you Julian Vasquez Heilig for seeking the truth, exposing injustice, and for constantly disseminating the truth that matters.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jesse P. Turner 
Moral Monday Education Ambassador Connecticut

If you like to like to listen to the tune this walking man was listening to on his walk this morning. It's OneRepublic's "Truth To Power" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R01lwJ1K1Mg

Dear Bigot in the White House

Dear Mr. President, about this telling United States Congresswomen to go back home. It is simply astounding how little you know about our United States Constitution.  
I am not certain if you ever studied U.S. History in school. Perhaps this is why you threaten to sue any school/university you went to if they release your transcripts? 

However, as a former social studies teacher, I would be remiss if I did not point out two important sources for understanding who is eligible to serve in our United States Congress, and who is a citizen of our United States of America. 

First, Article 1, Section 2 of the United States Constitution: "No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty-five Years and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen".

Second, I like to point out something called the 14 Amendment in our United States Constitution.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." 

No amount of hate you hold in your heart changes the fact that Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar from Minnesota, Michigan's Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts are members of Congress and United States Citizens. 

Next, it is blatantly clear, that your rant targeted Black and Brown Female members of Congress. Which leads to something else I like to point out to you as well. 
In Webster's On-Line Definition of Bigot: "a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices especially: one who regards or treats the members of a group (such as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance."

Finally, I have an important heads up for you. Come November 3, 2020, We the people, are going to fire the Bigot in the White House.
Jesse The Walking Man Turner


If you want to listen to the tune I listened to on my walk this morning its Paul Cauthen "Everybody Walking This Land" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_ieGSsWd8U