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Thursday, February 12, 2015

Inspired to walk by the acts of courage of fellow teachers




This is a must read for every teacher and parent. It gives us a clear human picture of what these fake education reformers, and our policy makers and politicians are do to our schools. 

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/02/10/gasps-of-disbelief-as-live-with-kelly-and-michael-top-teacher-winner-resigns-over-common-core-testing/

Is this how the Common Core keeps good teachers in the classroom, or chasing them out? Is this how testing improves learning, or it?

Every day I find another reason to walk to DC, another reason to stand up, speak out, and act.
Today my reason to walk to DC came from Ohio Veteran teacher Stacie Starr when she announced her retirement.
She was chosen as the winner of the “Live with Kelly and Michael” 2014 Top Teacher Search. This past Monday she announced her retirement. Her reasons, she cited the increasing pressures on students and teachers under the mandated Common Core standards and testing mandates
.
At the same Board Meeting Dawn Neely another teacher told the board:
“I don’t know what to do. I am morally against what we are doing, and I think history will judge us for what we do to fight for our kids,” she told the Elyria school board. “Look through the test books and you tell me if you think they are developmentally appropriate. No one is advocating for our district, and I am asking my district to be honest with the parents about what we are doing to students.”

Board president Kathryn Karpus reply: The district’s hands are tied. They are bound by Ohio laws that mandate the testing.

Dr. Martin Luther King said this about laws: There are just laws and there are unjust laws. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.’

It is a teacher moral responsibility to obey just laws, but it is also his/her responsibility to disobey unjust laws. Ms Starr and Ms. Neely are answering the call to their moral responsibility as teachers. I am humbled by them, and salute them. God bless you Stacie, God bless you Dawn, and God bless every parent and teacher who answers this moral call to stand up for our children.
Why are you walking to DC Jesse?
I am walking, because someone has to tell them in DC that our children, our teachers, and our schools are more than test scores. More than their data, their profits, and their scapegoats that allow 49 states to spend more money on their wealthy schools than their poor schools. This walk is my moral responsibility, my higher call to serve the children in our public schools.
Who are you walking for Jesse?
I am walking for Stacie Starr, Dawn Neely, every teacher and student in Ohio. A change is gonna come, and I plan on fighting for that change.
One Man Walking In The Name Of Love,
Jesse


What am I watching as I prepare for my walk today? I am watching the utube video of Stacie Starr when her school found out she won Top Teacher award.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AGtFJ0qg9c <
My song of the day Sam Cooke's A change is gonna come"
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbO2_077ixs <

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