Barry Lane the one who never sold children and teachers out

So many authors in education have drank that standards will save us Kool Aid that i lost count. It's easy to look the other way when you are making a buck.
Day 6 of my walk is dedicated to our voice of reason, our voice of joy, and our voice of hope, The incredible Barry Lane from "Discovery writing" the guy that gave teachers 51 Wacky We-Search Reports: Face the Facts With Fun and Force Field for Good.
Many of today's education authors just go with the flow, ask no questions, fit any test, any standards, sign any bottom line, but Barry he writes the songs that question every attempt to crush children, their teachers, and our public schools. 
Barry Lane who preformed at the Save Our School March in 2011, the Save Our Schools convention in 2012, join United Opt Out's Occupy twice, serenades teachers" every single day. Barry Lane who somehow manages to capture how our nation's children feel in this insane age of test them until they hurt. Every single day on my walk I listen to Barry Lane & Amy Ludwig VanDerwater song "More Than A number"
"I am more than a number.
I am more than a grade.
I know the constellations.
Here’s a painting that I made.
I read books in my closet.
I will not be a ‘2’.
I am more than a number.
Walking to DC
Barry the guy who could have made a million dollars if he kept his mouth shut, but loved children and teachers to much to remain silent as high-stakes testing stole the joy out of teaching and learning. Barry Lane my hero of day 6, the voice that inspires me to fight to bring back the joy into our classrooms and schools. Barry Lane my dear friend who never sold his sold to the profiteers.
Walking to DC and smiling all the way listening to Barry Lane and Amy Ludwig VanDerwater "More Than A number" It's Barry Lane and Amy Lud
https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIIQiIBV5mEAPXz7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTByZWc0dGJtBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDMQ--?p=barry+Lane+More+Than+a+Number&vid=f0d32b04464756d327528c9e7c4b0353&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DWN.YVmBgmfVNxEjitH6M%252fjxqg%26pid%3D15.1%26h%3D168%26w%3D300%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D4_Vf8cwTWRY&tit=More+Than+a+Number&c=0&h=168&w=300&l=149&sigr=11bs8cib6&sigt=10i2elncv&sigi=12mdkjl4f&age=1364413953&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&fr=aaplw&tt=b

She walks the line for equity and jusitce

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Day 5, schools are still in session in Connecticut, so there were no walkers with me today. Two and half hours of walking in the rain on my own, check off 51 miles on my walk to DC.    My umbrella and raincoat did not prevent me from becoming cold and drenched to the bone.  I keep humming Michael Row the boat a shore, singing “the river Jordan is chilly and cold, chills the body not the soul.” When you stand on the side of justice your soul never gets cold.  Today’s walk is dedicated my dear friend and tireless soldier of equity in Connecticut Dr. Dianne Kaplan deVries. Dr. Dianne is the Project director for CCJEF, (Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding), and has been helping to lead the battle for equity in our public schools.  http://ccjef.org/.
CCJEF v. Rell has been in the courts for over a decade now, the final case is pending in the Connecticut Supreme Court. We are facing that historic question” do children have the right to an adequate education? YES, said the lower courts. Two Connecticut governors representing both political parties have opposed the right of children to an equitable and adequate education. How anyone could vote for any candidate fighting to maintain an inequitable public school system is beyond me.  The state has fought in the courts at every step to kick the case out of our courts. While Dianne and her colleagues for over a decade have travel up, down, and side to side to every corner of Connecticut to gather testimony and evidence for the people against their own state. Connecticut like 48 other states are dens of inequity in their public schools. While corporate education reformers peddle their fuzzy choice without equity scams my dear friend and fellow soldier for equity fights for our day in the courts everyday.  James Baldwin wrote in “The Price of the Ticket”:
“If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class. One goes to the unprotected--those, precisely, who need the law's protection most! --and listens to their testimony.”
Listening deeply and gathering the testimony of the unprotected has been Dr. Dianne Kaplan deVries life’s work, and that work is going to have it’s day in our supreme court this fall.
This tireless soldier is battling cancer; she no longer is driving our highways. She is using her phone and email to see this fight through. She will see her day in court.
As Dr. King wrote from his cell in a Birmingham jailhouse “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Some walk, some stand in our nation's classrooms, some testify before boards of power, and their legislative bodies, some write letters to editors, some fight on social media, some take to the streets, some battle in the courts, but we all stand together for equity in our public schools.
Someday these tests will go away, someday the standards will be more pliable, but we soldiers of equity will still be battling for equality in our public schools.
I humbly bow my head,
I salute you,
I whisper your name on the winds of hope,
I call you my sister,
This rain filled day’s walk is dedicated to my hero Dr. Dianne Kaplan deVries.
Sincerely,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

 

 If you are wondering what this rain soaked walking man was listening to on his walk to day...it was Johnny Cash's "I walk the line" > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq0fUa0vW_E <

10 for Eddie, and every other boy that testing killed their love of reading

http://childrenaremorethantestscores.blogspot.com/2010/10/another-parent-phone-call.html

21 miles down, and 30 more by Monday. Three Connecting The Dot Walking Man events in the next  three days. This campaign for Justice not just tests is rolling along. It sure feels good to meeting and listening to children, parents and teachers coming out to meet me. I am a man on a mission! A man on fire. I am one man walking in the name of love to DC for our children, their teachers and public schools. 

Today’s walk is dedicated to Eddie and all our boys who use to like reading. I first met Eddie when he was in second grade in 2011. Eddie’s mother reached out to me when Eddie had a fight with his best. His best friend noticed Eddie’s name on his school’s data wall in the parent/teacher resource room. Eddie was at the bottom of the list. His best friend tells Eddie you are the dumbest kid in the whole school. Next thing you know they are fighting.  His mother wanted to talk about the root cause of the fight, the data wall and the testing, but the school insisted they only discuss the fight. She wanted to discuss how Eddie a boy who loved reading, began to hate reading, because of all the testing. Eddie started coming to our Literacy Center 4 years ago, we turned around his reading attitude, but he still hates all the testing. I am worry about all the Eddie’s who are being tested 8 weeks of every school year. The price for many is reading has become something they hate. They may even do well on the test, but the testing has tainted their view of reading. If you like to know more about Eddie and his mother follow the above link to the blog I wrote about them on my 2010 walk to DC.
Today, I dedicate my 10-mile walk to Eddie, and every other boy like him who used to like reading,
Jesse

If you want to listen to what I am listening to this morning on my way from Willamantic to Bolton Connecticut...It's Peter Gabriel's Don't Give Up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjEq-r2agqc

Day # 2, Dear Lord, please don't let teaching lose this one

Day 2 of my walk to DC is dedicated to a young teacher from Texas. Jenn sent me a "Dear Walking Man" letter last night. She shared how she had always wanted to be a teacher, and chased her dream down. We are losing young teachers at an incredible rate. More than half leave before five years. In high stressed testing districts trust me that number is much higher. Jenna's letter, which I will share on YouTube tonight, starts off chasing her teaching dream. Then shares the pain of a young teacher feeling oppressed by endless testing. She has all the right tools to be a great teacher, but these Education Deformers have turned our public schools into testing factories. In her letter she starts doubting her teaching dream.
Readers make predictions as they read. Reading her letter my gut told me it would end with another teaching dream crushed. At one point I just stopped reading, and bowed my head and folded my hands in prayer. Dear Lord please Lord, don't let teaching lose this one. I started to read young Jenn's letter again still thinking I knew where this was going.
Then I read the last paragraph it came " All across the nation, teachers are quitting in droves. I must admit, I thought about it this year. However, at the end of the day I realized I am right where I am supposed to be and there is nothing I would rather be doing. And so I stand up and fight for my students and I fight for my school. I will not let someone who has never entered my classroom take my career that I have worked so hard for and destroy it. I will be the teacher I want to be despite standardized testing."
Today I am walking for a young Texas teacher who decided to stay. Today I am walking for every young teacher's dream of becoming a great teacher. A dream that is being crushed a little more each day with the insanity of high-stakes testing that crushes the desire to learn in our children, and demoralizes our teachers.
This 10 miles is for our young resilient teacher Jenn from Texas,
You inspire me to walk,
Jesse
PS if you want to know what I listened to on Day 2 of my walk it's Jackson Brown's "Stay"
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aljOzYLG57A < 

Day # 2 down, another 10 miles checked off. I wouldn't let anyone walk with me today, because I had to walk on some busy roads with just about enough room for one person. As you can see in this picture it can get a little tense on some roads.

I know what love looks like.

Today's walk is dedicated to beautiful Ethan Pratt Rediske whose life enriched his family, and all who knew him. Ethan was not a burden; Ethan was God's gift of love that lifted his mother, his father, and his siblings higher. Ethan was a blessing. He deserved more than the Florida Department of Education chasing him into hospice care to be tested as he was dying.

I know what love looks like; I see it in the arms of Ethan's father holding his son. I know love when I see it, and I see it in his mother's eyes. I see it in a mother lovingly holding her precious son's hand.
I know what evils looks like, it looks like a heartless Florida Department of Education chasing God's love and blessing during his last days to be tested.  Thomas Jefferson "“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” When NCLB law reduced our children to test scores, resistance became my duty. I know what injustice looks like; it looks like education reform unjust laws that reduce our children to data, to profits, to test scores. I know what goodness feels like, it feels like resisting evil. It feels like walking for change.

It begins today Thursday June 11th. My first 10 miles to justice, my first 10 miles to bring visibility to the biggest education reform policy failure in the history of public education. My mission is simple, listen to the people I meet along the way. Walking with me today as my guest walker is the Dean of Education and Professional Studies at Central Connecticut State University. CCSU has been preparing teachers for 166 years, it is the oldest teacher preparation college in Connecticut, and the sixth oldest in the nation. 

Dean Alfano is a former Marine, a father, and an educator.  Mike is walking the ten miles with me this morning, because children matter, teachers matter, and because he cares. 10 miles, 15 minutes per mile, means I listen to the Dean for two and half hours. Today Dean Alfano is every dean, and we are walking together for justice not just tests. Later on today I will share the reflections of a Dean of Education who cares enough To Walk For Change.

Walking to DC,

Jesse

Today I hope, tomorror I act in the name of love

 Tomorrow my journey of 2 million steps begins. Today it's get the hair cut and go scout the first 10 miles in Eastern Connecticut, pray deeply, and work on a million preparations.
George Bernard Shaw said: "Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it onto future generations."
My walk to DC is my way of lighting this candle of hope as brightly as possible for children and their teachers.
They inspire me,
They compel me to action,
They lift me,
For they are the candles lighting my path all along the way,
Today I hope,
Tomorrow I act.
Walking to DC,
Jesse

PS, if you want to know what song I am listening today? It's U2's "In The Name of Love"
https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0LEVzqJJnhV43IA2vhXNyoA;_ylc=X1MDMjc2NjY3OQRfcgMyBGZyA2FhcGx3BGdwcmlkA3E1dmpic1AxUU1lZEJWSTVNYXdSNUEEbl9yc2x0AzAEbl9zdWdnAzEEb3JpZ2luA3NlYXJjaC55YWhvby5jb20EcG9zAzAEcHFzdHIDBHBxc3RybAMEcXN0cmwDMjQEcXVlcnkDdHViZSBpbiB0aGUgbmFtZSBvZiBsb3ZlBHRfc3RtcAMxNDMzOTM4NzY4?p=tube+in+the+name+of+love&fr2=sb-top-search&fr=aaplw

One more day

I am almost one day out from my walk to DC. Everyday is busy at this point, between work, planning multiple events with organizers across states, and focusing in on making sense of Google maps that are not always helpful. But, it is a good kind of good, lots of excitement, calls and emails from people who are planning to meet me on the walk.
It's all-good, but at times it can be a little overwhelming. Sometimes it can be lonely, and sometimes to be honest it can be scary. I start thinking how the heck did you get yourself into this Jesse. Then I remember that everything I know professionally indicates these education reforms are failures. I find myself praying often on my walks, asking for strength and courage. Saying Dear Lord make it matter. Please make it matter.
Then like an answer to my prayers:
Someone post a positive comment on Facebook about the walk, a simple "You go Jesse". Every Facebook like gives me hope, every Go Fund Me contribution lifts me.
A School of Education Dean saying I am going to walk the whole 10 miles with you on Thursday your first day empowers me.
Manchester's Rev Josh Pawelek saying I want to walk with you on Monday reminds me I am not alone.
A retired couple from Kansas calling to say we are planning to walk with you in Philadelphia, and are walking with you again in DC.
Dr. Ricardo Rosa from Dartmouth calls to say I am walking with you everyday in New York inspires me.
Every time I grow weary someone reaches out. A few kind words refreshes me, empowers me, inspires me, moves me, and compels me to walk.
Finally just before I put my head down someone like Terrance Moore a retired teacher from NJ helping to organize our Newark event sends me a YouTube link to "This school is your school, this school is my school
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ4FztzKc3E >
Then like Saint George that Knight who fought the good fight everyday, fell to the ground, but always rose up renewed and ready to go again.
I am walking for:
Our children,
Our Parents,
Our teachers,
Our schools,
Our communities,
For justice not just tests, and
I never walk alone.
Thank you,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you want to know what song I was listening to on my walk today...It's one more day from Les Miserables > https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AirSAQZv63E7A5oZfwtpjsKbvZx4?fr=yfp-t-901-s&toggle=1&fp=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&p=one%20more%20day%20les%20miserables <

I am no one, I am everyone, I am you

5 days out from my walk to DC, and this boy is ready and able to carry this load for our children, parents, teachers, and our public schools.

I am a man on a mission,

A man with a heart full of hope,

A man inspired by the people,

A loving father,

A loving husband,

A loving teacher,
A man of the people and for the people.

I am a man on fire,

Inspired by:

That prophet Moses who walked for 40 years to lead his people to the promise land,

A student of American history,
A history of two great nations within a nation that walked for the survival of their nations, inspired by Cherokee people who walked a Trial of Tears, and

The Navajo People who walked that Long Walk.

A history of those Selma Bridge Crossers who walked for the right to vote,
I burn with the inspiration of all those who came before me.

Call me a dreamer, inspired by another Dreamer Martin Luther King who walked a nation out of Jim Crow,

A proud believer in the power of walking for just causes,

A student of labor's Cesar Chavez 340 mile walk to Sacramento,
I am a walking man on a quest to save our public schools, our children, and our teachers.

I am one of you,
I do not dine with CEOs,
I do not play golf with Senators and members of Congress,
No governor calls me,
The White House does not know my name,
I owe no alliance to the K-Street Lobbyists,
I know no billionaires,
I am own by no one, 
I am no one,
But I am everyone.

Tell it on every street corner,
Ring every bell, this walking man refuses to listen to these Education Deformers who have sold our children into the bondage of profiteers.

Tell them I am fortified with the scripture of Amos" Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps."

Tell them I am empowered by Micah 6:8 "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Our children are not their profits,

Our public schools are not for sale,

Our teachers are not their pawns of oppression,

Silence and apathy are not the pillars of democracy, but the enemies of a free people,

I can hear Dr. Martin Luther King calling to us, reminding us,

‘Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream" 

Can't you feel Martin saying my people you are a mighty stream of righteousness rolling?

Come walk with me brothers and sisters,

Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you like to know what this Walking Man is listening to on his morning walk, it's Lean On Me by Playing for change around the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiouJsnYytI