Thanksgiving Reflections

 I missed mass (Church Service) last night, because God has a mission for this once homeless kid.  I live a most blessed life, thank-you God.  My live could very well have gone another way... a little humanity goes a long-long way. It is indeed, in the giving that we receive.

I was once a homeless child, (age 11 and 12). For decades I did  not tell anyone about that part of my life. It was my shame. Although, I never forgot Mr. Bass the teacher who fed me lunch for a year, or the librarian who filled my life with books, cookies and hot chocolate; Sunday Mass Social donuts, or my friends Mom, Mrs. Talerico, whose table was already full...  yet always made room for me. She never once questioned why I wanted to sleep over.  My Mom worked in the local diner, six days a week, and somehow held nightmares back for her son while sometimes we slept  nights at the train station... They were my angels, they never asked for a  thank you. 

I am a teacher educator. I know, where we stand today, to is not where we stand tomorrow. About 10 years ago, I started opening up about my own memories of being homeless. It was at a  time when my teachers started sharing heart wrenching stories about the children they were teaching. Their students stories that made them feel helpless, and at times hopeless.  I very slowly and cautiously began sharing my story about Mr. Bass who fed me lunch for a year. I relayed to my students what I knew, that humanity and kindness are a teacher’s greatest lesson. The first time I shared my story with my teachers, I cried in the car on my way home from the university. As I began talking a little more about this period of time in my life, it became easier; each time I shared a little more. Every single teacher I have taught knows the story of "Mr. Bass". 

And to get back to why I wasn't at Mass last night, Fr Terry, James, Bill, and I brought hot meals/food to a homeless mens shelter in downtown Hartford CT.   We served 81 men hot meals. Every single man humbly showed gratitude and kindness ~ to us. One commented to me "thanks for the meal, it helps to know we are still human beings, and there are others who still care.

81 grateful souls that we ordinarily might pass by in the streets.  Who are these men? They are sons, husbands, brothers and even fathers. They deserve a little better ~ for they too are my brothers. 

Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center in West Hartford, donates this evening hot meal, monthly; Fr Terry has been doing this for years.  

Kindness, compassion, and humanity ~ make us human. 

Professor Emeritus Dr. Jesse P. Turner 

Saved by the kindness of others.

If you like too listen to the tune that inspired my morning walk today..it is "Roof For The Rain" an Irish Ballad by the Freedom Flames 

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpR6zp2U-1I <

Dear Mr. President, about this war on Christianity

 

ICE Brutal Attacks on Christian Clergy 

Dear Mr. President, you don’t need to go to Nigeria to look for some war on Christians.
Just look in the mirror.

You like to talk a war on Christianity. The truth is you sir are the one waging war on Christians.

Pastors shot with pepper bullets, Priests denied entrance to detention facilities to give communion.
Christian children held in detention centers.
Christian families brutally attack in our communities, outside our schools, shopping centers, neighborhoods.
A vast majority of Migrants are Christian.
Millions of Christians afraid to go to church.

You denied Migrants due process. You deport unaccompanied Christian Children to countries they do not know,                                                                                                                                                        Your ICE Agents brutally assault Christian Migrants in LA, Chicago, Charlotte, NYC, and cities all over America,                                                                                                                                                     Your ICE Agents fight your dirty war against Christain Migrants,                                                                                                                                              Yes, look no further than your polices to find who is waging war on Christians,

You are the face of war on the faithful.

Just in case you are unaware Pope Leo and the Catholic Church calls your war out.

We Christians are not helpless, we are gathering in our churches, peacefully resisting you on the streets, outside our schools, hospitals, and shopping centers,

Dr. Jesse P. Turner

Professor Emeritus of Literacy, Elementary, and Early Childhood Education

Faithful son, brother, husband and father

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps Michael Jackson's Man In The Mirror 

"I'm gonna make a change,                                                                                                                                        For once in my life,                                                                                                                                                        It's gonna feel real good,                                                                                                                                    Gonna make a difference, gonna make it right.                                                                                                 As I turn up the collar on my favorite winter coat."                    

"This wind is blowin' my mind,                                                                                                                                    I see the kids in the street with not enough to eat,                                                                                             Who am I to be blind, pretending not to see their needs?" 

Just 

National Writing Project Radio show with Dr. Bryan Ripley Grandall link and the Walking Man

Imagine writing, really writing as your Mirror, Microscope, and Telescope to the world? Diversity is the pathway to writing to change the world. Today CT Writing Project Dr. Bryan Ripley Crandall to us there on the Readman: Truth to Power Hour 103.5 FM New Haven

Radio Show Links

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/wnhhradio/videos/1555557505472713 

Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITojI4TALlY  

PS Give kid choices for reading and writing, and watch their pens fly.

Dear Mr. Baldwin, does writing change the world?

 

Join me this Friday 11/07/25 on 103.5 FM New Haven, Readman: Truth to Power Hour, where my guest shall be none other than Dr. Bryan Riply, English Professor, Director of the Connecticut Writing Project at Fairfield University.  

                                                                          

Two teachers talking writing to change the world

Two teachers talking real writing

Since 2002, to 2025, there has been  trillions of dollars spent on Failed Education Reforms and Mandates; billions that have been spent on “Fail Proof Curriculums”.   During this time ~  while all this money has been spent on our public schools,  hundreds of librarians, literacy specialists, special education teachers,  teachers of art & music, para-professionals, and regular classroom teachers were let go and never replaced; class sizes have increased.  Many of these new curriculums are so heavily scripted that teacher voices are silenced. These scripted programs come from publishing companies who do not trust teachers.  These multi million dollar companies/publishers have sold the same lie for thirty years ~ teachers are the problem…  

We all know it’s not teachers who get to choose their curriculums. Teachers have little or no say in the standards, the assessments, or the programs used in their schools.  

Ed Reforms read like bad tasting, watered down, alphabet soup ~  food that fails to feed learning and teaching.  The Silver Bullets we had pushed down our throats, like NCLB, RTTT, ESSA, RTI, and MTSS, have shut down the voices of teachers.  The data is clear, not one of their mandates or reforms have delivered. In a reasonable world, leadership would reflect and question the failures.  It appears in this High-Stakes Testing world, those in charge do the exact opposite ~ they just double down. 

James Balwin knew, humans write to change their world.  The purpose of writing is not to “score well” on some standardized test.  It’s mind boggling to think of the Language Arts teacher opening their class with these words “remember students, we write to pass that standardized test”.  No teacher has ever been heard saying “Gen Z’s ~ they are dying to write, just to pass their standardized exams”.  To quote James Balwin “You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world... The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even but a millimeter the way people look at reality, then you can change it.” 

All over this great country of ours, we have awesome teachers, who know and understand that everyone, especially young people,  need a reason to write!  One place of resistance to this silencing of teacher and student voices is America’s National Writing Projects.  These projects focus less on writing skills, and more on helping students find reasons to write personally, socially, and culturally. Writing Project Directors understand that with authentic purpose come reasons to edit, revise and write more. Writing Project Directors help teachers understand that purpose driven writing improves writing, by asking teachers to write with purpose from the heart for yourself.  

Tomorrow 0n Readman: Truth to Power Hour 103.5 FM New Haven,                                                Be There, or, Be Square                                                                                                                                   Dr. Jesse P. Turner                                                                                                                                    Professor Emeritus Central Connecticut State University,                                                            Literacy, Elementary & Early Childhood Education

If you like to listen to the tune that inspired my morning walk it's the Dire Striates "Romeo and Juliet" > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxfjSnMN88U&t=3s < 

Simple Truth: Writing Heals, Grows us, Empowers us! 

I will post the actual show link in my next blog 

Whose Public Schools? Our Schools!

 

A Half Million View preaching the truth, two 400 mile walks, exposing 23 years of false promises. 

10/30/25 My Children Are More Than Test Scores total Blog reach a Half Million Views, some 15 years of opposition to 23 years of abusive Hight Testing Abuse and to test driven education reforms that closed 25,000 local community schools. 

Policies that left Black Children and Brown Children, and Special Education children with less: 

Art Teachers,

Music Teachers,

Gym Teachers,

Special Education Teachers, 

Literacy Specialists,

School Counselors,

School School Workers,

Para Professionals,

School Nurses, and

With larger Class Sizes. 

Made Billions for CEOs, Ed Reformers, Testing Companies who lobbyists contributed millions and millions to the campaign coffers of both Republicans and Democrats.                                                    While, Black and Brown Parents were fed endless false promises that test scores would go up. In 2002 before this all began the scores of our high school children were higher than today. Trillions were spent on failed reforms. Children, teachers and parents were left with the blamed for 23 years of failing polices pushed by CEOs and Policymakers. 

Parents and Teachers 23 later, it is time to stop chasing test scores, and start demanding the return of those loss:

Education children with less: 

Art Teachers,

Music Teachers,

Gym Teachers,

Special Education Teachers, 

Literacy Specialists,

School Counselors,

School School Workers,

Para Professionals,

School Nurses, and

Smaller Class Sizes.  

Still fighting to Save Our Public Schools                                                                                                        Dr. Jesse P. Turner                                                                                                                                    Professor Emeritus of Literacy Elementary, and Early Childhood Education                                            Jesse The Walking Man Turner 

If you like to hear the tune that inspired my morning walk today, it is Barry Lane's Jesse Turner is a Walking Man  

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BRZUlpO75Q&list=RD3BRZUlpO75Q&start_radio=1 

Who knows, maybe there is one more walk left in me.

Her Lamp is no less dim 139 years later

On Oct. 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland. The teacher read L is for Liberty by Wendy Cheyette Lewison and Laura Freeman Hines. Next this image appeared on the board, and that inspirational Jewish Poet Emma Lazarus lived again in young hearts. 

Then her voice lived again as the teacher read her New Colossus Poem

                                        Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

The children asked a million questions about the statue, about Emma, and understood her message loud and clear. The teacher did not address ICE in the streets. She did not mention your name, she understood that Emma Lazarus far outshines the hater in our White House. For your information Emma Lazarus still outshines you in the hearts of our children. While ICE Agents are shooting pastors directly in the face with pepper bullets, and tear casing the Halloween parades of young children and their families in this place your hate was crushed by the poem of a young Jewish poet some 139 years ago. For your information the lesson needed with Woody Guthrie's “This Land is your land, and we all sang along. 

Emma still inspires school children from 1886 to 2025. She is the real danger to a President without empathy, historical memory and humanity. 

Well, Mr. President, her words and that lamp lifted high still inspire children. Her light far outshines your king's dreams. 

TRUTH BE TOLD you can't touch her spirit, for she outshines Steven Miller's war on immigrants. 

Dr. Jesse P. Turner 

Professor Emeritus Literacy, Elementary, and Early Childhood Education.

 If you would like to hear what song inspires my morning walk today? 

It's the Avett Brother's cover of Woody Guthrie's "The land Is Your Land"

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z3efR2Fu18 <

1886 the lamp is first lifted in America 

ICE Thugs 41 shots 2025

 

Black Lives Matter, truth rises, now ICE shots Pastors praying with pepper balls, and racial profiling any one who looks Spanish. 

I refuse to go back, if these ICE bullies come to my neighborhood, I shall defend my clergy, my neighbors, and my streets, and come 26 and 28, we are going to vote these bigots in the White House and Congress out. Then we are going to fire everyone of these ICE Thugs.

We know who they are, these 41 shots thugs, and we are not going to let them win.

Bruce Springsteen called them out in 41 shots my skin >https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQMqWAiWPMs

After 23 years, we discover our high school students did better in 2002

Silence and apathy in the face of 23 years of failed education reform mandates that close over 25,000 community schools in Black and Brown communities is not an option. New Orleans points to these High Stakes Assessment Driven mandates and curricula reforms as disruptive attempts to dismantling public education in Black communities. 

You might look at the education reforms in America of the past 23 years less as policy, and more as Black and Brown as profit margins for CEOs. It is not only New Orleans, it is Black and Brown Communities all over America.  

Come listen to the story of how education reformer dismantled the public Schools of New Orleans, and fired every Black Teacher in the process. 

Link yo show: > https://www.facebook.com/wnhhradio/videos/1846350836274817 

Stand up for local community schools now.

Because they are coming for your school next,

Dr. Jesse P. Turner

103.5 FM New Haven Readman: Truth To Power Show

Song of the day, Buffalo Springfield Everybody Stop and Look Around 

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

Dear Massachusetts Legislators: Something can't be boxed

 

Two powerful respected education voices 

(Dr John Barile and Max Page) 

worth sharing.

# 1 Dr. John W. Barile the inaugural School of Education Dean  at Central Connecticut State University writes in his new book, Leading from The Core  "In Schools that thrive, it's not mandates, test scores, or rigid oversight that make the difference; it's people. Leadership is about serving others:  In successful schools, influence comes from a principal who listens first, chooses consistency".  Barile understands mandates have never inspired teachers or students. Those who consider mandates can learn a great deal  about retaining and recruiting teachers in our public schools.   

# 2 Yesterday  Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page shared his notes taken from a talk given by  Former United States Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona at the Mass Budget Focus Conference.   

Cardona discussed his “ABCs of Public Education”:
A = “Agency.”  Trust our educators.  Give these professionals agency;  to do what educators are called to do.
B = “Better Working Conditions.”  Pay ~ yes, but also give them time to plan and collaborate, pathways for advancement, we need smaller class sizes.
C = “Competitive Salaries.”   There is a 20% pay gap between Massachusetts public school teachers and other professionals (with similar degrees). 

Page asks: "Is the Massachusetts Secretary and Commissioner of Education listening? Are our school districts listening?  It is the job of MTA members, and our statewide union to make them listen.”

On September 16th this year, I went up to Boston and testified at the education Committee, what can I do in 2-minutes?  My brief message that day, on the nature of the so called "literacy crisis" can be described as Groundhog Day Assessment moments.   The MCAS and the NAEP (high- stakes testing) use Norm Reference and Criteria Reference Assessments. In order to be valid these reference assessments require massive failure rates. I couldn't go into much detail with two minutes... but I did end with informing the Committee, "that is why I mentioned Groundhog Day above ~  I will see you again in 5 years".  

Barile was a guest on my Radio Show 103.5 FM New Haven, Readman: Truth to Power Hour recently where we engaged in conversation about building school climate, motivating teachers, children, and staff in our public schools. He speaks (with some 32 years experience in public schools, as a teacher, principal and superintendent) of mandates, and how they consistently demoralize teachers and students. This comes as no surprise to educators. 

I ask myself what is it that these mandates actually accomplish.  Sitting beside Max Page, (MTA President) waiting to testify, I questioned him "what are the Massachusetts Literacy Specialists asking saying they need"  "librarians at every school"  was his reply.   I told him of my home state Connecticut,  where the number of certified librarians in urban schools is now half what they were in 2002, before these mandates.   I didn't know Massachusetts, but Page confirmed it was the very same in MA. 

It is a known fact, there are six decades of rigorous research that shows access to books at home, in school and our communities correlate to higher test scores.  Students in poor urban and rural schools, have limited access to books in the home.  Access to public libraries often depends on distance from their home., and safe transportation. Taking away certified school librarians equals less access to books.  Understanding that correlation to books is only second to income, helps us understand that Massachusetts Literacy Specialists know what really matters!  

Where Have All The Teachers Gone..To Mandates Passing Everywhere 

Massachusetts is about to join nearly 40 other states who have passed literacy mandates. These literacy mandates remind me of the endless foolish quests for the Holy Grail in the middle ages, (just in case people have forgot, we never did find it).
  
Knights, Kings, Queens, Nobles, and Crusaders chase relics promising to cure all diseases give eternal life, and guarantee access to heaven. Perhaps these days, the lastest Holy Grail chase is rooted in the Science of Reading Programs. The Mandate sellers, claim to have found that Holy Grail in Science of Reading. Scripted Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension lessons are their Grail. SOR promoters, want policy mandates to insist teachers accept their Holy Grail.  

Of course they failed to mention to policymakers or legislators the 2008 Reading First Impact Study, following 6-years/6-billions dollars spent on Reading First schools. Schools that required these 5 scientifically proven to succeed reading instruction programs.  Reading First schools focused on scripted direct instruction in Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension in grades 1,2 and 3. They tracked the data for 6-years, and found no improvements in comprehension in any of those 6-years. Actually the only improvements in comprehension came from the "Control Group," the groups that change nothing, merely continued what they were already doing.. Trust me, Groundhog Assessments eventually catch up to all these Holy Grail Mandates. In the end Groundhog Day Assessments caught up with Reading First Schools. 

What are you suggesting, Jesse 

I don't want to argue programs, all mandated programs fail schools, teachers, children, and  parents. What will Massachusetts newest mandate get? In my professional opinion another wasted expensive literacy mandate and more demoralized teachers. Four Common Mandate concerns. 

1. Misalignment with Student Needs:

Many mandates fail to consider the diverse learning styles and socio-economic backgrounds of students. Standardized curricula often overlook critical thinking, creativity, and social-emotional learning, focusing instead on test preparation and rote memorization.

2. Bureaucratic Burden on Educators:

Teachers are frequently required to spend significant time on paperwork, compliance checks, and administrative tasks instead of focusing on instruction. This can lead to burnout and decreased job satisfaction among educators.

3. Resource Misallocation:

Mandates that prioritize standardized testing can divert funds from essential programs such as arts, physical education, and special education services. This imbalance hampers holistic student development.

4. Inflexibility in Curriculum Design:

Rigid mandates often limit teachers' autonomy to adapt lessons to their students' interests and needs. This can stifle innovation in the classroom and reduce student engagement.

Conclusion:

While the intention behind education mandates is often positive, their implementation can lead to unintended consequences. Effective reforms should involve input from educators, students, and communities to create policies that support meaningful learning experiences. What if we actually listened to educators and children? Can any of you imagine, children shouting please more SOR lessons? Not me!

Some Basis Recommendations:
 I say start with Dr. Miguel Cardona ABCs, Agency, Better Working conditions, and Competitive Salaries. Then start hiring librarians, para-professionals, literacy Specialists, and Tutors, (these are some of the things Elementary and Secondary Education Act use to fund before NLCB, RTTT, and ESSA.

• Engage teachers in policy development processes, (not 2 minutes speak outs)
• If you insist on Mandates, well design flexible mandates that allow for local adaptation.
• Focus on comprehensive assessments beyond standardized tests, (remember Groundhog Day never ends)
• Allocate resources to support diverse learning pathways.
• Hire more literacy Specialists, (the experts who are the most qualified to actually help struggling readers. 
• Fund Saturday and summer school programs that not only help with literacy, but are rooted in the three first go to for trauma, Art, Music, and Movement, (these are the things we use to fund before mandates. 
  
  

Sincerely,
Dr. Jesse P. Turner 
Professor Emeritus of Literacy, Elementary, and Early Childhood Education
Homeless kid saved by Mr. Bass 

My father could not give up alcohol, he left my mother and I alone, we were homeless for 2 years. I was a lost child, no free lunch programs in my day, no home to go to for lunch, but Mr. Bass saved me with a brown bag sandwhich in my desk for a year. If you like to listen to the song that inspire my morning walk today, it is Matt Butler song "Just One". Mr. Bass had no mandates, but he had that teacher gift of humanity. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fkvNwc7P7I

Mr. President, looking for extremist Terrorism, look no further than White Supremacy

 

Dear Mr. President, history consistently points to not to the left, but to right wing extremists. I am sorry about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, no one deserves to murdered for the political beliefs. Now you are for a witch hunt of the left, but the right has killed more than any other group. I am not certain how you have missed the data. Allow me to help you find it. "This analysis makes several arguments. First, far-right terrorism has significantly outpaced terrorism from other types of perpetrators, including from far-left networks and individuals inspired by the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. Right-wing attacks and plots account for the majority of all terrorist incidents in the United States since 1994, and the total number of right-wing attacks and plots has grown significantly during the past six years. Right-wing extremists perpetrated two thirds of the attacks and plots in the past six years.  " > https://www.csis.org/analysis/escalating-terrorism-problem-united-states <

Mr. President as you cry bogeymen on the left, White Supremacist are planning the next murders. So, while you play outrage, we remember 4 little Black Girls in Birmingham, Alabama at church on September 15, 1963. You did not ask the nation to remember today, you did not fly any flags at half mass. A refresher link to tweet your memory > https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/sep/15 <

While you convincely forget, we remember. We say their names
Denise McNair (11),
Addie Mae Collins (14),
Carole Robertson (14), and
Cynthia Wesley (14).
We clearly remember it was White Supremacist Haters who took their lives in an act of terrorism. Justice did not move swiftly. More than a decade later in 1970 Ku Klux Klan leader Robert Chambliss was convicted of murder for participating in the church bombing and later died in prison. Several more decades later, in the early 2000s, Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas Blanton were also convicted of murder for their roles in the bombing; both men were sentenced to life imprisonment.  Yes, justice is quick for the murder of White men, but four little Black Girls, well that takes decades. 

Mr. President,
we are not near broken,
We are not afraid,
We are determine,
We are fighting, and 
Our eyes are on the prize,
For we believe,
BELIEVE.  

 

If you like to listen to the song that inspired my morning walk this September 15, 2025, it is Rhiannon Giddens "Birmingham Sunday 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_T5KlTpvoM