Hold On, Got my teacher eye on the prize Selma 2020

Hold on, Got my eye on the prize Selma 2020 

I was talking about going to Selma for the Jubilee in the coffee shop with an old friend.
She said what does going to Selma do exactly?
I said it puts my eyes on the prize,
It puts me right with my teaching soul.

She said, but what does it really change?
I said friend,
It changes me,
It lifts me,
It stirs my soul,
It sets me right,
It puts me in that place where righteousness marched,
It puts me on that sacred Edmund Pettus Bridge, and
That helps me hold on.

Hold on BATs,
Hold on Teachers,
Hold on Children,
Hold on Parents.

"Paul and Silas in jail
Had no money to go their bail
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on"

Billionaires sipping champagne in Mar-a-Lago,
Tech Billionaires seeking profit margins from the souls of children,
Policymakers can't stop saying yes to the test,
Legislators counting those campaign contributions falling from that Wall Street Education Reform Money Tree,
They'll run that School To Prison Pipeline until we stop them.

"Paul and Silas thought they was lost
Dungeon shook and the chains come off
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on."

You know me,
I'm the Walking Man,
Got my feet to the ground,
Got my heart set on ending that School To Prison Pipeline,
Hold on all you BATs,
Hold on sisters and brothers,
Hold on AFT,
Hold on NEA,
Got my eye on the prize.

Gonna fly that plane in March down to Selma,
Gonna put these feet a walking,
Hold on teachers,
Hold on children,
hold on parents.

Ain't no Billionaires gonna turn me around,
Ain't no Tech Billionaires gonna turn me around,
Wall Steet can't turn me around,
Ain't no in those Wall Street Pocket Legislators gonna turn me around.

"I got my hand on the gospel plow
Won't take nothing for my journey now
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on"

Got my eye on the prize,
Got my ticket,
Don't know where I'll sleep,
But I got two feet,
Got two good eyes
I see that prize.
Equity and justice for every child and every school in the land.

"The one thing we did was right
Was the day we started to fight
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on"

Hold on Children,
Hold on Teachers,
Hold on parents,
This Walking Man got two good feet made for marching,
Got his eye on the prize,
Hold on.

Hold on teachers,
Hold on children,
Hold on Parents,
These eyes on Selma 2020,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

Just in case you like to listen to the song that inspire my walk over the Avon Mountain today...its Bruce Springsteen's cover of Got My Eye On The Prize https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBle58G0dsA

We are the guards at our prison gate of self ignorance

It is a new day, and this day like every day today offers us another chance to learn and grow.

Thich Nhat Hanh the Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist, founder of the Plum Village Tradition, and author of over 100 books said:
"The real power of the Buddha was that he had so much love. He saw people trapped in their notions of small separate self, feeling guilty or proud of that self, and he offered revolutionary teachings that resounded like a lion's roar, like a great rising tide, helping people to wake up and break free from the prison of ignorance."

I love how he dismantles the notion of the separate self, and the need to wake up, and free ourselves from that prison of self. That notion of breaking free of our private self, and waking up speaks deeply to my sense of faith. It reminds of another quote from that Great Soul Marcus Garvey:

“We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, for though others may free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind. Mind is our only ruler; sovereign.”

There is so much to learn from others, and all we really need do is open that self prison of ignorance gate...Remember we are the only guards at that gate, and none, but ourselves can free our minds.

Peace, Love, Joy, and may hope always follow you all the days of your life,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner
If you like to listen to the song that inspired my walk this morning it Leon Bridges cover of that Sam Cooke song "River" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_paZpQvca0 

Children are not failing you are failing them!

An interesting conversation, I had last week with an Ed Consultant sharing Connecticut Smarter Balance Test Scores "I am tired of the evil eye looks from teachers at my PDs. I am only sharing the data that shows children are failing. They need to get over it and start doing something different."

My reply: Perhaps they are wondering when policymakers, CEOs, and legislators are going to catch on, It is not the children who are failing. It is 20 years of your policies that are failing! Maybe those eyes are wondering you are going to give up on those old and failing policies. Perhaps we are all wondering when you realize your status quo is failing our children.
 

Maybe our nation's policymakers need to get over it and start doing something different. Perhaps giving teachers in Black and Brown schools the same resources and supports they give to those White Affluent schools?

Not one of us should be satisfied in a system that gives more to wealthy schools than to poor schools.

For 170 plus years the data has shown wealthy schools not only score higher on standardized tests, but they are funded better. Big Hint America, Black and Brown children are not falling through the cracks, inequity is pushing them through your immoral status quo cracks. 

I have often wondered what would happen if we switched this status quo funding around.
What if we gave Black, Brown, and Poor schools all the bells and whistles?
What if we flooded poor schools with art, music, librarians, social workers, counselors, play, and project-based learning?

What would happen if we took away recess, Physical education, art, music, librarians, counselors, and project learning from wealthy White Schools?
Switch it around, and let us see whose scores would be rising, and which children would be having behavioral issues.
But, better yet do the right thing. Give every school the resources and supports needed to reach all children.

Equity is not some children get more, and others less.
Equity is not school choice policies that demand poor schools compete against each other for limited resources. You can't blame children, parents, teachers, and public schools for this School To Prison Pipeline endorse and supported by our courts, our legislators, and racists for 170 years and counting.

Equity is giving every child what they need to succeed. I have not met policymakers fighting for genuine equity. It always ends being about test scores and standards without equity.

Any education system that gives more to some, and less to others. Is IMMORAL and CORRUPT.

If you are not fighting it, then you are part of the problem,

Dr. Jesse P. Turner Education Ambassador Moral Monday Connecticut 

If you like to listen to the song that inspired my morning walk today its Cosby, Still, and Nash cover of Teach Your Children by Play for Change https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZIx55cFf-o