It not an Achievement Gap America, it's an Opportunity Gap

1 trillion Federal Dollars has been spent on policy that forces schools to compete under the threat of closure during the last decade. We reduced learning and teaching to testing. This focus on outcomes conveniently helps the wealthy, the connected, and the powerful to justify not investing in our schools, our children, and our teachers.
What have we gained?
Over a decade of Ed Reform data points to little or no growth. Actually for our first generation to graduate knowing only No Child Left Behind, we find test scores that are lower than they were in 1992.
What are we losing?
In my view children are losing the opportunity to view learning as fun, and as something personally and socially meaningful.

We are we risking with a national common core?
We risk losing our democracy by emphasizing conformity rather than celebrating our individuality. By focusing solely career goals we lose history, science, art, music, physical education, and play. Trust me these are the subjects that liberate the mind, the soul, and spark a child's imagination.

It's simple while spending over a trillion tax dollars on testing and standards our schools have become more segregated. Rather than fight for equity in our schools, we have spent a decade increasing inequity in our schools. We don't have an Achievement Gap; we have a Gap between a system of have and have not schools.
Steve Jobs said: “I’m a very big believer in equal opportunity as opposed to equal outcome. Equal opportunity to me, more than anything, means a great education. Maybe even more important than a great family life. We could make sure that every young child in this country got a great education. We fall far short of that.”
Steve Jobs got it, the failure to focus on our Opportunity Gap places our children at risk. Focusing on outcomes cannot close our Opportunity Gap. Isn't it time the United States Department of Education started focusing on equity in our schools?
Something deep inside my soul tells me bowing down to childhood makes so much more sense than crushing it.
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you want to know what the Walking Man is listening to today on his walk...its Barry Lane "Know your higher self" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-i872w3D2w

The difference between 1961 and 2014, in 61 we had childhoods

No one tracked the data online,

No teacher listed his/her SLO on the board,

We took 3 standardized tests,
One in grade 3,
One in grade 6, and
One in grade 9.

The total time spent on this testing was less than 2 days each time.

The state sent no color-coded reports home.
No newspapers published any schools scores.

Our teachers and administrators told us do your test, and remember they really don't count.

There were no Education Reformers without decades of teaching experience.

Teachers and administrators were valued and respected.

The standards educators and parents worried about were bigger than any bubbles on a test.

Their standards in 61 were

Honesty,

Doing our best,

Being fair,

Respect for others,

Being timely,

Being Trustworthy, and

Do the right thing.

All beyond the scope and sequence of any curriculum.

None of it was perfect, but childhood strived and survived.

Parents and teachers tried to stretch it out for as long as possible for their children.

No one ever said he is smart, he'll go places, no they said anyone could go anywhere they wanted as long as they tried their best.

I was not shaped by data, but by my school experience, my time on the playground, my wanderings through our neighborhood, and a million opportunities to be just another boy.

It's simple young people are tested for nearly two months a year these days. With the Common Core it will be every year for 13 years.
That is 516 more days than in my youth. When you break it down by 180 day school years, children today spent nearly three years taking, practicing, or preparing for some standardized test. Testing is not teaching. It time to start teaching our children again.

Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you are wondering what this Walking Man will be doing on Sunday June 1, 2014, I be talking to a room full of parents asking them to join in this fight to take back childhood. It's what I seem to be doing every day these days. If you are wondering what the Walking is listening on his way to his talk it's "For what it's worth" >

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp5JCrSXkJY <

Before there was a United States Department of Education

Long before there was a United States Department of Education, the Federal government did something about inequality in our public schools. Our supreme did something before compromising away equity in our public schools.

1954 The Supreme Court rules on the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans., unanimously agreeing that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. The ruling paves the way for large-scale desegregation. The decision overturns the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that sanctioned "separate but equal" segregation of the races, ruling that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." It is a victory for NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, who will later return to the Supreme Court as the nation's first black justice.

1957 (Little Rock, Ark.) Formerly all-white Central High School learns that integration is easier said than done. Nine black students are blocked from entering the school on the orders of Governor Orval Faubus. President Eisenhower sends federal troops and the National Guard to intervene on behalf of the students, who become known as the "Little Rock Nine."

1962 James Meredith becomes the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Violence and riots surrounding the incident cause President Kennedy to send 5,000 federal troops.

1974 Lau v. Nichols U.S. Supreme Court: When children arrive in school with little or no English-speaking ability, "sink or swim" instruction is a violation of their civil rights, according to the U.S. Supreme Court. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lau_v._Nichols 

The United States Department of Education policies continues to chase test scores and standards rather than lead the fight for equity and justice in our public schools. The silence of our U.S. Department of Education on equity is shameful. Mr. President, members of Congress and the Senate, it's time to start doing something about inequality, and dump those do nothings NCLB, RTTT, CCSS, PARCC and SBAC. Once you stood by a six-year old little girl named Ruby Bridges, and we respected and loved you for it. Morality matters more than test scores. Isn't it time you started standing by our children again?

Love you Ruby,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If your wondering what the Walking Man is listening to on this bright April morning it "People Get Ready" by the Impressions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l04yM7-BWbg