What does the face of a defender of childhood look like!

What does a parent defending children look like? I am seeing their faces everywhere, and they are called Opt Out Parents!

http://conversationed.com/2015/02/02/opt-out-orlando-just-took-fl-legislators-to-school/

"On January 29, 2015 she [the co-founder of Opt Out Orlando] addressed the Orange County Legislative Delegation. The legislators on this panel serve the Orlando area. Ms. Hamilton, one of the founders of Opt Out Orlando, began as she detailed the circumstances of one student’s current situation. He has a 2.9 GPA, has met all the requirements for graduation, but cannot pass the FCAT. Therefore, he will not graduate. Most of the legislators in the room were unmoved."

Who are these legislators who can't understand that a student who has pass every class for 13 years, should not be held back by a standarized test?

Who are these Ed Reformers who can not understand that no single test defines any student?

Who are these policy makers who mandate polices that denied parents their right to reject a test they feel harms their child?

Let us name them?

They are people who do not care for children, they are people who fear our children and the future, and they are in the pockets of the testing companies.  

When legislators can't see that our children are not test scores, not data, not profits it's time to vote them out. The people elect legislators not Pearson. I recognized evil, and I reject silence and apathy. I am walking to DC for every child, teacher, and school dehumanized, demoralized, and punished by this reign of testing terror. I will bring the stories of Florida's Opt Parents to DC for SOS's Education Malpractice Mock Trail to the BAT Teachers Congress this July 23-26. Silence and apathy are not acceptable when our America's children and teachers are demoralized, and parents are ignored. I stand with Ms. Hamilton and Orlando Opt Out.

One Man Walking In The Name Of Love To DC,

Jesse

If you are wondering what the Walking Man is listening to today preparing for his walk to DC on the treadmill...it's Ben E. King's Stand By Me > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTd2ylacYNU <

I am walking to DC again in 2015

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I Love Public Education

I cried the first time my Mother left me at your door,

I would learn to love you with every morning cookie and container of milk,

I would love you more with every song we sang within your hallowed walls,

I found your love in every teacher’s smile in your halls

I loved the reverence and respect you showed our flag every morning.

When the evil darkness of assassination

took the life of President Kennedy ~ you were there,

You calmed us, and helped us understand that although things could never be the same ~ our nation would be mended,

You kept us warm during the winters from 9:00 to 3:00 ~ when there was no heat in our old cold-water flat,

You were there when they murdered our heroes Martin and Bobby, to help us wipe away our tears,

You ensured that although they were taken from our world ~ these men would remain in our hearts forever,

You gave us hope through the riots and the protests,

You gave us color when there were no crayons in our homes,

You gave us poetry to ease our pain,

You gave us poetry to celebrate our lives,

You gave us history to give us roots,

You gave us geography, the stars and the moon landing ~ just to let us know we had no boundaries,

You taught us mathematics and science,

But most of all you gave us literature,

You gave us a love of books,

You handed us a little more of our dreams every single day,

You were there, year after year, as we spent our summer vacations under the cooling spray of fire hydrants ~ dancing in the streets,

As every summer ended we longed for another school year to begin,

You were beaming with pride at every graduation,

My loves still grows

I am confused by:

A nation’s leaders ~ who bash public schools at every opportunity,

An American media ~ that ignores 150 years of noble service to our nation’s children,

I find myself distraught ~ by the titans of industry, who blame you for every social ill, while they drink from the cup of plenty, time and time again,

I am troubled by their mantra of testing will save us,

I am saddened by their infatuation with fictional heroes like Superman, and homage to those with no real classroom experience,

I am bewildered by leaders who say teachers are the essential ingredients to success, and then in their next breath say our teachers are not good enough.

All I am I owe to you,

I can’t remember one single standardized test,

I do remember teacher after teacher telling us those tests were no measure of who we really are,

I remembered loving Mr. Bass’s reminders that poor boys and girls could be anything they dreamed,

His boys and girls were more than test scores,

We were his endless possibilities,

Yes, I love public education,

I love public education enough to fight for it,

I love public education enough to stand up for it,

I love public education enough to take it back from the

The billionaires club,

The politicians,

The policy makers,

The ones who only see test scores,

The ones who count numbers not tears,

The ones who refer to America’s children as “Data”

Yes, I love public education; enough to walk to Washington DC again in 2015.

Forever in your debt,

Jesse Turner

If you are wondering what song I am listening to today it is Jonh Legend's Selma >https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzbKaDPMoDU<
Friends, I have this deep down spiritual feeling that this is the year we shatter their walls of testing pains. If you happened to be free on July 23-26, consider joining us for the BAT Teachers Congress. We plan on taking our fight to the halls of congress, to the senate, to the White House. I bet a 1000 BATs, SOSers, UOOs, parents, children, and teachers walk that last mile with me. Momma said "You can trace the origns of every tidal wave to a single drop of rain" Come join our wave? 

A new narrative of love

Martin Luther King said "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

My dear friend Kris Nielsen, asked for some advice about addressing an audience tonight on Badass Teachers Facebook page. > https://www.facebook.com/groups/BadAssTeachers/ <
He asked what should I tell them.
So I said, tell them that Ed Reformers live in fear, sell fear, they fear the future. Their mantra of fear is, your children won't be able to compete in the twenty-first century. You need to be afraid of the future. Your children need tough love, more rigor, more testing. Know that these very same people pushing this fear-do not send their children to our public schools. Their children attend schools of love.
Kris, tell them you come in the name of love. A love of children, parents, teachers, and our public schools.
Tell them one man is walking in the name of love from Connecticut to DC for them.Tell them they are loved. Tell that I am walking for them.
One Man Walking In The Name Of Love To DC,
Jesse

PS, did I say it's official I am walking to DC(-: You can find all about my walk at https://www.facebook.com/events/297723840427078/ And if you want to find out more about my first historic walk to DC. From Mark Larson from his "Legion of Davids" an online community that shares the efforts of education activists. Here's Mark's 2012 interview with me about the genesis of his first walk to DC. http://americanstoriescontinuum.com/2014/08/jesse-turner/

Here I am Lord, let me be their radical witness

Dr. Mark Naison the founder of National Badass Teachers Association, asked all 52,000 BATS.  To become extremist in their actions to defend children, teachers, and local schools.  When I heard Dr. Naison call,  I remember a dreamer unjustly jailed. A man of the cloth, a man of God, a man of love. He who wrote a letter from his prison prison. He call upon American to become extremist for love. He wrote : “Was not Jesus an extremist for love? . . .then he asked: "the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.” So I am answering Dr. Naison's call, and I am answering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. question. What follow is my extremist plan of love for our nation's public schools, their children, and their teachers.

Ring every bell; shout it on every street corner, in every hamlet, and from every mountaintop.

Jesse The Walking Man Turner is walking to Washington DC again.

Tell everyone you know that silence and apathy are not acceptable, when children are turned in data and profits.

Tell every parent,

Every teacher,

Every child,

I hear their cries.

Tell the President,

Tell every Senator,

Tell every member of Congress,

Tell the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan,

That them that the people have a witness,

Tell that witness is coming to DC,

 Proclaiming an end this reign of testing abuse.

Tell every BAT, that the Walking Man is timing his walk to their Washington DC Congress,

Tell parents, students, and teachers I plan on meeting a 1000 parents and teachers on my walk.

I will open my heart, open my soul, and listen deeply to their stories,

I shall carry their tears, their hurt, and hopes to DC,

I will be their witness in in our nation's capitol.

Who Am I?

I have no money,

I have no power,

I am not connected to the politically powerful,

I do not dine with millionaires and billionaires,

Who Am I?

I am an AFT Legacy teacher,

At eight years old, I heard a man share a dream in DC in 63,

Holding on to my grandfather's hand that dreamer's dream,

Fell sweetly into my heart,

Where I have held it closely,

Where it comforted me on dark days,

Where it built my character,

Where it planted my integrity,

Where it planted my hope for better days,

Who Am I?

I am an AFT Legacy Teacher,

And that dream empowers me,

To walk,

To march,

And to bear witness to injustice,

Witness to the 12 years of abuse to our nation's public school children and their teachers.

So you tell everyone,

The Walking Man is coming to DC.

The mission is 400 miles

40 days,

Every step a blessing,
Heeding Martin's call to be an extremist for love,

Love, love, love,

Jesse The Walking Man Turner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BRZUlpO75Q If you want to know who I was listening to on my walk today? It was Barry Lane "Jesse Turner Walking Man" 

In the name of Love

Election came and went, now it's time to for the people to do the people's work. Freedom is not free, and injustice does not just walk away. Forcing poor schools to compete against each other will never be anything, but dog eat dog education policy.

Robert Fulghum, author of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten said:
“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge.
That myth is more potent than history.
That dreams are more powerful than facts.
That hope always triumphs over experience.
That laughter is the only cure for grief.
And I believe that love is stronger than death.”

So in the name of love, I will step up my battle against education policies that reduce our children to data, our teachers to wardens, and our schools into proficiency factories.
In the name of love,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If people are wondering what this Walking Man is listening to on his walk this morning? It's Leela James singing that old Sam Cook tune "A is gonna come"...>
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dtwpdgIUiQ &lt;

Billionaires amd Hedge Fund managers or Civil Rights leaders and groups?

http://wapo.st/1322W4W  Valerie Strauss article in the Washington Post today pointed out "Eleven civil rights groups urge Obama to drop test-based K-12 'accountability' system"

I wonder whose voice will the White House listen to?
Civil Right Leaders or Billionaires?
Let me put my thinking cap on...
There was a NAACP Resolution opposing charter schools in 2010,
Still this White House has made Charter Schools the center of their Race To The Top policies.
So no more wondering it's billionaires people,
It's raining billionaires in the white House,
It's raining billionaires in the senate,
It's raining billionaires in the congress,
It's raining billionaires in governor's mansions,
It's raining billionaires in state legislators,
It's raining billionaires in every mayor's office,
It's raining billionaires in every State Commissioner of Education office,
It's raining billionaires in mainstream media,
It's raining billionaires on Wall Street,
Those voices not heard by the powerful, the connected, and the wealthy,
America's parents,
America's teachers,
America's children,
America's Civil Rights Leaders.
They have made America's schools capital ventures,
Turned America's children into data points,
Turned America's teachers' into rotten apples,
I'm not urging anything,
Silence and apathy are not acceptable,
Occupy our public schools now!
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you like to know what the Walking Man was listening to on his morning walk today it's "We Are The Many" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq3BYw4xjxE

"We occupy the streets
We occupy the courts
We occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few"

Beyond the Achievement GAP, or it's the Opportunity Gap people!

Day 4,780 of NCLB's Reign Of Testing Terror.

Americans were told in 2001 that our education system was in crisis, and the solutions would be "Outcomes-based reforms," and NCLB would fix our schools.

Every child in grades 3 to 8 would be reading, writing, and doing math at grade level by 01/01/14. Never happened!

They promised they would reduce the Achievement Gap. Never happened!        

They promise they would reduce racial isolation in our public schools. Never Happened!
They promise that new standards and testing would wipe away special needs and second language learner issues. Their solution simply make all children take the same test. Another  promised not delivered!

Over a trillion dollars federal tax dollars went to pushing new standards and testing and outcomes-based education reforms. 4,780 days later the data is in. Our children in grades 3 to 8 are not reading, writing, and doing math at grade level. I call this, the single largest policy failure in American education history.  A massive policy collaborative failure at the Federal level and state level. 

No one in the United States Department of Education was ever asked to account for this policy failure, no one was fire, and no one was reprimanded. There were no legislative hearings held to question these policy failures. Not legislative hearing even as policy makers advocate once again new standards, new testing, and more "Out-Comes based solutions again.

I know of no legislators, policy makers, or USDE leaders in Washington DC advocating for any real significant change in policy. They advocate Common Core State Standards, new tests, more charter-schools, and every initiative is "Out-comes driven"

I can't help, but feel America's children, parents, teachers, and local schools are on their own. I do however suggest a different model for improving our public schools.

I propose shift to an "In-Put model. Others have advocated and are advocating for it. I suggest we drop the notion of “Out-Comes” based reforms, and put the Achievement Gap on the back burner.  I am not proposing we put special needs learners, children of color, or second language learners on the back burner. I want these learners on the front burner. We do that not by turning these learners into data, but by equalizing the learning field. 
The time has come to advocate for "In-Put' based solutions. We don't need more outcomes data; we need to start collecting, analyzing, and supporting "In-Put solutions that directly address the inequalities in our nation's public schools. If your improvement does not help reduce the inequalities of racial, poverty, and special needs students then we don't need it.  

Abraham Maslow over six decades ago proposed his Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs’” which suggested that before human beings could meet the higher expectations there basic needs had to be met. http://www.learning-theories.com/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs.html
In order to learn human beings must have their basic needs for food, water, sleep, shelter, need to feel safe, and need love, intimacy and friendship. OUT-Come based solutions cannot fill these needs in our schools, but “In-Put” driven solutions can. I am suggesting NCLB/RTTT reforms focused on the wrong data and held the wrong people accountable. Children, teachers, and public schools are not responsible for rectifying inequality, but society is.
It is time to make equity the standard, and hold policy makers and legislators accountable for reducing inequalities that are overwhelming our nation's public schools.

Abraham Maslow said: "All the evidence that we have indicates that it is reasonable to assume in practically every human being, and certainly in almost every newborn baby, that there is an active will toward health, an impulse towards growth, or towards the actualization." Something deep inside me has me thinking Maslow would say NCLB had it all wrong.


How many generations must be sacrificed, before we accepts that it's the “Opportunity Gap” not the  “Achievement Gap” that matters?
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

Wonder what the Walking Man was listening to on his walk in the rain this morning...It was Eric Clapton's "Change The World" > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kntzQiaFzOQ <