The federal government’s heavy-handed, top-down policy of closing schools as a “turnaround” strategy fragments communities, particularly communities of color. Corporate reformers like Arne Duncan and Joel Klein count it as a badge of honor never to listen to the cries of parents and teachers and community leaders when they close schools and replace them with charter schools where students must apply for admission.
Something new has been added: student voice. Students from Chicago and Philadelphia joined to oppose the heedless closing of schools in their community. Remarkably, they recognized “that there is a national agenda to privatize education.”
They are right. The privatization movement targets their schools and their communities.
When students awaken, the national conversation will change. When students start to stand up to the corporate forces that want to test them again and again, then rate them, rank them, label them and close their schools, it is a game-changer.
Diane
Diane Ravitch's blog 
mockingjay…
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From commondreams.org:
“More than 10,000 High School Chilean Students March for ‘Free Education'”
Realize that Chile was one of the first countries that instituted the Shock Doctrine neoliberal course of action, basically privatize any and everything. And the Shock Doctrine is being applied to public education in the USA now.
Under the radar we public school teachers must encourage the students to fight back. You might be surprised at how receptive they will be.
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No thank you Duane. I’d prefer we focus on educating the student instead of focusing on turning them into political activists. All that does is, dumb down education even more. THis is what the Nellie Mae foundation is doing with their grants; pushing political activism on students.
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@mom with a brain: politics absolutely affect the students. If they understand this and decide it’s OK with them or decide not to act, then fine. That’s their right. But I don’t think most students are paying attention to the way our education “leaders” are playing games with their future.
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@MomwithAbrain
Teaching students to think is part of education. Teaching students to research the facts and form opinions is teaching them to think. If after they are satisfied with their findings and want to voice an opinion, that’s a good thing. If that means becoming an activist for a cause the believe in, that’s their choice. If education is that cause,
good for them!
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MOMwithabrain,
Could I suggest a couple of readings from Paolo Freire, if you haven’t read them yet, to help you get an understanding of the type of education that we need to be engaging in, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” and “Pedagogy of the Heart”
Duane
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Another good reason to abolish the U.S. DOE. That should be everyone’s goal and focus.
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MOMwithAbrain,
I’m not sure to which reason you are referring. Please explain as I think I agree that we need to get rid of the U.S. DOE or at least a very slimmed down version that only insures that the federal monies are distributed in a fair and equitable fashion (and “fair” and equitable” is a wide open debate).
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Whoa, big news yesterday afternoon! The students not only awakened, they’re filing civil rights suits in five cities.
I’ll give you Alexander Russo’s link, because thet’s honest-to-God how I learned about it:
http://scholasticadministrator.typepad.com/thisweekineducation/2012/06/foundations-progressive-advocacy-group-announces-lawsuits.html
The Ford Foundation is giving them support, through a new group called Alliance for Educational Justice.
Diane, I emailed you some research I did in November 2010, on the Boston take-overs targeting minority districts. Can you make contact with the Alliance, and see if you can get the document to their Boston team? There are some names that should get a subpoena.
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Teachers in high-poverty urban areas-
If you go to the AEJ national site, or to the Opportunity to Learn Campaign’s award notice for AEJ, you’ll see a list of member youth organizations. Find one in your area. I think this is something we can link our own students up with.
I’m on it. If anybody else has real-world ideas for our actual students, please post here and I think we can find a way to link up. This is our side, and the young people have raised a banner. We should go to them, and bring reinforcements.
the Alliance for Educational Justice and the National Campaign for Quality Education
http://www.allianceforeducationaljustice.org/
http://www.otlcampaign.org/content/spotlight-alliance-educational-justice
http://phillyeducationjustice.org/alliance-educational-justice-dismantling-school-prison-pipeline
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I would like to share the work we are doing at Imagining Learning (www.imagininglearning.us). Imagining Learning is working to create a national collective voice on the wisdom of young people on how they would reinvent education.
We are currently planning our summer listening session schedule in the South Eastern part of the country. We have done 14 listening sessions to date and our hope is to do 50 more over the next year. We also are presenting our findings at various speaking venues, workshops and educational conferences. Please email us if you have people or students who might want to help us plan a listening session.
Students have started to speak up and their wisdom and creative energy is needed to truly reclaim our education system.
Thank you for using your voice to amplify the call for students and young people to be part of education transformation conversation!
-David Loitz
Seed Steward of Imagining Learning
david@imagininglearning.us
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