What is the value of one art teacher's life?

http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-news/20130901/family-plans-lawsuit-against-bassett-unified-over-teachers-suicide
http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-news/20130901/family-plans-lawsuit-against-bassett-unified-over-teachers-suicide

The link above is to an article of a young art teacher who recently commit suicide. The article is not one of those feel good teaching stories.  The teacher's family and her colleagues are pointing to bullying as the cause of her suicide.  Bullying not by her students; but her administrators.  As a father and an educator this story hurts.  I remember the day I graduated from college like it was yesterday. It was the day I became a teacher, my Mom and my three sisters were so proud of the fact that their little brother had become a teacher. Mom has since passed away, but my sisters never stopped bragging about their little brother being a teacher ~ even 30 years later.  It is a source of great pride in our family that one of us became a teacher.  My career choice isn't looked down upon, it was never looked at as some career back up plan, it always was and remains to this day my first choice. I cannot imagine myself doing anything else. 

My wife is also a teacher . We both have extremely rewarding careers in teaching. However, we advised our own daughter against  becoming a teacher. Just writing that line hurts.  But something dreadful has been happening in our schools these past few years, somthing has changed, not only for the children who attend our public schools, but for the staff who work in them too.

In a world of winners and losers, and chasing unattainable test scores.  Do we need to begin to prepare our future educators for Value Added Measures pressure? Restricted curriculums? And what about high stakes untested teacher evaluation programs?  Perhaps we should put a warning label on our profession "This career may dehumanize you, may crush you, may cause you great emotional pain, and even death" ~ is this where we are heading? 

Karen Babcock wrote on Facebook in response to this story: "There may be a few people who thrive under a winner takes all, race to the top, atmosphere. I would guess many of them land in "high stakes" jobs. Many people crumble under such pressure. Sometimes it doesn't end well. We are all unique in our temperament and what motivates us. But first we are all human. I hope our legacy is that we live up to that title. We've already lost some really, really good ones. Is the money really worth it?" 

My wife and I decidided not to push teaching, because of the emotional damage we began to see our colleagues suffering from.  It began to enter our profession via No Child Left Behind and Race To The Top.  

My immediate hope for our profession is that we start to help prepare our future teachers, counselors, and administrators to recognize the warning signs of depression and stress.  We need to help them understand that sometimes we need the help of others. 

My deepest prayer for our profession, is that we bring some humanity back into teaching, into our public schools, and into the lives of those children who attend them. Tragically for everyone involved, something breaks down when the purpose of education becomes simply a game of numbers. 

For Jennifer (in the article above) my prayer is that you forgive us for not warning you, for not fighting harder to save the humanity of our teaching profession. 

Jennifer Lenihan was an art teacher, 

A human being, 

A source of endless smiles for her parents. 

She brought color into a dark world, 

She brought light into darkness, and 

She opened young hearts to the joys of art.
In essence she is like a million other young teachers,

Filled with a heart full of dreams to make school a more humane place for our young people.
What did administrators do to welcome her into our profession during this time of insane testing mandates?
They harassed her!
What did they do to welcome her into our profession?

What did they do during this time of focusing on producing proficient little workers for the 21st century?

They did nothing,
They harassed her!

Jennifer is no different than every other young teacher entering our profession.
She deserved more,
They all deserve more
They should be embraced,
They should be welcomed,
They should be supported,
They should be treasured,
And yes they should be loved.

Farewell Jennifer Lenihan, may angels carry you to that place of peace, that place of love, that place of infinite color and beauty. And as Don McLean sang all those years ago, like Vincent Van Gogh "this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you"
Respectfully,

Jesse The Walking Man Turner

 If you need to know what I listened to on my walk it was Don Mclean's Starry Starry Night > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi_P8XwrSCU < 

OMG, the faith of the world is in the hands of America's third graders

It has recently come to my attention that the weight of the whole world is hanging on our third grade students. It seems America grew lackadaisical with it's third graders. We let them spend years running, jumping, dreaming of home runs, touch downs, reading books for fun, and worst yet let them play outside at recess. Woe to childhood! Thus enters Wall Street's supermen and superwomen of Ed Reform. They have an army of super heroes know as Common Core Groupies. Now my super heroes are faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and can leap tall buildings in a single bound. These Groupies can't really do much, but cry wolf.  

These Common Core Groupies dream of a nation of proficient little third graders. It appears the very faith of the 21 first century depends on our public school third graders. These CC Groupies have some serious trouble with 8 year olds who just want to be 8.
Now remember these groupies have spent very little, or no time in third grade classrooms. It's not their fault they live very, very, very busy lives. They spend their days at ALEC happy hours, Ed Reform Think Tanks get together(s), and Pearson golf outings.
They love to discuss how third graders need to be ready for college. You have to feel for them. They are such timid little creatures. Their world is one of gloom and doom, where world markets collapse, and whole nations explode in chaos, because third graders in our public schools are not on task.
The good news it appears is 8 year-olds in private schools are born ready for college, so they don't have to worry about the Common Core. This is why no one is selling the Common Core to our nation's top private schools. You won't find it in their promo(s) to prospective students. They are above anything common. As for the other 99%, the Common Core is here to save our very common children.
God can you save our children from these groupies?
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Vf8cwTWRY If you like to listen to what the Walking Man listened to on his walk this morning, it was Barry Lane's More Than A Number. Sometimes when those Common Core Groupies start to get you down you just need a little Barry Lane,

Still marching with my SOS brothers and sisters

The news media cameras are all gone.
The crowds all gone home.
The press is gone searching for the next popular thing.
Sounds like they are already playing the minstrel role for war just days after our nation honored our prince of peace Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Be not mistaken America the dreamer's legacy has not been put to bed for another year.
Look around,
Listen to the people sing,
Open your ears and eyes,
The people are still marching.
Our nation's Fast Food workers are marching for a living wage.
Trayon Martin is at peace, but not the injustice that put him to rest.
In Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York parents and teachers are still marching to stop the closing of their schools.
My United Opt Out brothers and sisters are still marching,
My BATs brothers and sisters are still marching,
My Defending Public Education K to 16 are still marching,
My SOS brothers and Sisters who marched boldly in DC, are considering heeding Rev Sharpton's call to take this fight for justice and jobs on the road.
SOS is planning to go the Selma Bloody Sunday Jubilee.
While these Ed Deformers wave their flags of power, money, and political clout, SOSers have not stopped marching for our public schools.
They have chosen the slogan of Public Education Is A Civil Right.
Dr. King sad:
Cowardice asks the question is it safe?
Expediency asks the question - is it politic?
Vanity asks the question - is it popular?
But conscience asks the question - is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right."
Ring every bell, shout it on every mountain top, call it out on every corner, SOSers ask only one question, is it right, and they have never stopped marching for what is Right.
Heed my words, Secretary Status Quo Duncan, Michelle Rhee, Paul Vallas, and every other Ed Deformer all roads lead to Selma.
Going to Selma,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

Public Education Is A civil Right, not a choice, not a lottery, and it is not for sale. For those interested in why Selma see the following link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cNnG8xfy20

If you are wondering what the Walking Man is listening to on his walk over the mountain today...it's the Roots version "Nobody gonna turn me around" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ6mhRZ8LjM 

See you in Selma people