Stephanie Rivera is a junior at Rutgers University preparing to become a teacher.
Stephanie was one of the leading forces in creating Students United for Public Education, a new organization in which students are joining to stand up against the privatizers, profiteers and naysayers now besieging our public schools.
She has her own blog, where she regularly debates other students who support corporate reform policies.
Stephanie is an activist on behalf of the teaching profession and on behalf of social and educational equity.
She joins our honor roll as a hero of public education because she has bravely taken on powerful forces and dared to ask hard questions.
She understands that teaching is hard work, and that it is a profession, not a pastime.
I admire her spunk, her willingness to debate, her energy, and her courage.
The future belongs to you, Stephanie, and to all the other students who understand that public education belongs to them as a democratic right to build their future.
It must not become a plaything for Wall Street and billionaires, nor a stepping stone for politicians, nor a profit center for entrepreneurs.
It belongs to you and your generation. Preserve and strengthen it for future generations, doors open to all by right.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
#jeRseystrong and #jerseypride. Way to rock Stephanie!
Has any member of the honor role demonstrated commitment to implementing their state’s response to CERD (aka ICERD)? Why is this not a prerequisite for the honor role–or the NEA Friend of Education award?
Ms. Rivera–with teacher preparation students throughout the nation–deserves an honest assessment of the strained relationship between her profession’s luminaries and the rule of law. Where in teacher preparation programs do students become fluent with the principles of democracy and ethics?
Is anyone taking up the task? Or will we collectively betray our nation’s teacher preparation students?
This is great for the students as they know more about what they need generally than the adults who have generally ideological agendas which have nothing to do with students. We are working with students here in California on the same subject and I am forwarding this to them.
Stephanie RIvera gives us all hope! Thanks for your work!
I am from Sumter, South Carolina and our newly-merged school district is facing the issues of a “Broadian” for a superintendant (as I term the graduates of Eli Broad’s Academy for Superintendants) and a school board whose decisions are almost always divided along racial lines. Because of the policies of our school district, our districts teacher morale is at an all time low. They have to wake up every morning and wonder whether or not their careers are going to be ruined by surprise audits from the districts new teacher evaulation system. To add to their frustration, they’re scared to speak out because they are afraid that they will be put on the superintendant’s “hit list.”
On September 11th, I started the Sumter School District Student Coalition and I currently serve as the co-chair with another classmate named Lance Foxworth. We are a group comprised of students. We are voice for the students by the students. We don’t want to see our teachers go to better paying and employee-friendly districts. The children of my school district are at risk of having their chance at a true quality education destroyed because of the concerted efforts by the “Billionaire Boys Club,” with weatlhy members such as Eli Broad and Bill Gates, to name a couple.
I have had the pleasure to talk with Stephanie and I am trying to find ways I can help her group and her initiatives as best as possible.
I beg anybody and everybody who reads this to look closer into what is happening in my school district. We have unhappy teachers, a multi-million dollar debt with a projected multi-million dollar deficit for this fiscal year, and, above all else, children who are not getting what they truly need to become productive life-long leaders.
Help us. 17,000 children depend on it.
To get an idea of how passionate I am about this issue, take a look at a recent speech I made our last school board meeting:
This is the last comment, I promise.
Diane, I hope you are reading this. I was reading more about your website and I noticed you live in Brooklyn, New York so I think when you get to the end of this comment, you will have 100% understanding of Sumter, South Carolina’s situation.
To give you an idea about our superintendent, Randolph D. Bynum, Sr., he graduated from the Broad Academy in 2007. 2007 is also the same year that Jean-Claude Brizard graduated from there. You, living in New York, should probably be familiar with that name. He was Superintendent in the Rochester City School District before he was given the boot and Rahm Emmanuel hired him to be “CEO” (as the Broadian’s view education as a business) of Chicago Public Schools in May 2011. We all saw how his ideals worked out and how far he got into his agenda……
Need I say more?
I understand your situation. I am sorry for you.
Link up with Parents Across America and get their information about the unaccredited Broad Academy.
Also check out Sharon Higgins’ website, where she has the Broad Report.
Form a parents’ group and let me know what you call it.
All you need is a website.
Thank you for your suggestions. Fortunately, parents in Sumter have already formed a group. It is called the Sumter Education Task Force. They are an affiliate of Parents Across American and our Student Coalition keeps in consistent contact with them. I know the SETF has a Facebook page but I am not sure about a website. I do greatly appreciate any additional advice you could give me on how I, as a student, can stop these atrocities!