This is the final video that I will post from the Second Annual Conference of the Network for Public Education. Every keynote was superb, and this one was no exception. Brother Jitu Brown is the leader of Journey for Justice, which organizes parents and grassroots leaders to demand their rights; with others, his organization is filing civil rights complaints against cities that deny equality of educational opportunity. Tanaisa Brown from the Newark Students Union opened first; she and seven other high school students conducted a sit-in in the offices of Newark superintendent Cami Anderson. Tanaisa is finishing her junior year.

Brother Jitu and Tanaisa opened the conference on a high note and set the tone for everything that followed.

It is wonderful; please watch.

I have a special debt to Tanaisa, as she and her colleagues from the Newark Student Union presented me with a selfie-stick at the end of the conference. I didn’t even know such a thing existed! Tanaisa showed me how to use it. When she was done, she said, “Now, let me see that  you can do it yourself.” I said she was a born teacher. Thanks, kids!

Several people have told me that some of the slides were not available on the link I posted to Yong Zhao’s fabulous presentation.

Here is the raw footage, with all the screen images. You have to skip the first 14-15 minutes, because it consists of audience members filing in and taking their seats. But the amazing slides he put up are there to enjoy along with his remarks.

Here it is again:

http://original.livestream.com/schoolhouselive/video?clipId=pla_f13ff94f-6381-4654-8d0f-201e0d1bdc2f&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb

Just remember to skip past the first 14 minutes to Julian Vasquez Heilig’s introduction.

I watched the raw footage twice, but have not seen the edited version. Nothing was cut out of Yong Zhao’s presentation, but several people said they wanted the version with all the images.

This is a terrific column by Valerie Strauss describing the work of the Network for Public Education. I wish she had been there to share the excitement of the 600+ education activists from across the nation–teachers, parents, students, retired teachers, principals, school board members. Wherever they came from, they feel isolated and powerless as the anti-public education forces rampage through the lives of children, teachers, and schools, claiming that their rush to turn the schools over to entrepreneurs is “all about the kids.” Yet in Chicago, they met many others and felt the positive energy of being part of a movement. It was incredibly energizing to meet others who are waging the same battles in Ohio, Michigan, Florida, California, New York, Indiana, Washington, Texas, and many other states. There was a genuine spirit of camaraderie, even joyfulness, as we interacted with the leaders of the Newark Student Union, BATs from everywhere, and parents who had crossed the country to join us.

The keynotes were wonderful. The panels were led by activists sharing what they had learned. Most of them had overflow crowds. One in particular was especially enlightening–Jesse Hagopian’s discussion of the racist history of standardized testing, accompanied by Rita Green, the Director of Education for the Seattle NAACP, which has endorsed the opt-out movement. Green told the audience that the NAACP locals do not share the enthusiasm of the national organization for standardized testing. The room for that session was packed, with audience members sitting on the floor and lining the walls.

The keynote speeches and most of the panels will be posted on the website of the Network for Public Education as soon as they are ready. (Here is a picture of the Grand Ballroom at the Drake Hotel with Karen Lewis in the forefront.) We will soon announce the location of our 2016 conference. We aim to top the previous conferences of 2014 in Austin and 2015 in Chicago. We are many, they are few. We will reclaim our schools and make them far better than they are today. We want transformation, not privatization. We want schools that are places of joy and learning for all children, schools that respect children and parents, schools that prepare children for today and for lives of purpose.

Peter Goodman writes a savvy political blog in New York City called “Ed in the Apple.”

Happily, he attended the Network for Public Education annual conference in Chicago.

Like almost everyone else who was in Chicago, he loved the mingling of education activists from across the nation. 

He described the scene like this:

An invigorating and thoughtful weekend!

For me, meeting in-service and retired teachers, parents and activists from every nook and cranny across America makes me optimistic. From rural Tennessee, along the Mexico-Texas borders, across Florida, from Minneapolis, Michigan, to the urban centers, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston, the amazing geographic diversity of public school activists. Special kudos to the parents, community activists, school board members and local legislators organizing around education issues and fighting the incredibly well-funded opponents of public education.

Too often we feel isolated; we fail to understand that we are an army spread across the nation.

Peter especially enjoyed Yong Zhao’s amazing and hilarious speech (which I will post soon), the dialogue between Randi Weingarten and Lily Eskelsen, and my closing talk with Karen Lewis. In time, all of these will be posted here and online on the NPE website (some of the raw footage is there now).

Like me, Peter believes that we must build coalitions and alliances. We should never make the mistake of demanding 100% purity of our allies. Last year, at our first conference, I talked about the importance of a big tent. We in our Network have a positive agenda. We believe in improving public education so that it meets the needs of all children; we want a strong and rich curriculum in all schools; we want reduced class size; we want wraparound services; we want schools to be supported, not closed; we want equitable resources for all our schools, with additional resources for the children most in need; we want a strong teaching profession. I prefer to talk about what we are for, rather than be divided among ourselves. In unity, there is strength. United we stand, divided we fall.

As an added bonus, Peter adds to his post a link to songs of the Wobblies (the IWW). At dinner on Sunday night, Anthony Cody and I joked about a new slogan, “Teachers of the world, unite; you have nothing to lose but your rubrics.”

I am writing at the conclusion of the second annual conference of the Network for Public Education. Last year, we met in Austin, this year in Chicago.

It was a smashing success! Attendance was 50% higher than in Austin. There were attendees from every corner of the country. All the sessions were held in the Drake Hotel.

Saturday opened with keynotes by Tanaisa Brown of the Newark Students Union, which launched the sit-in in Superintendent Cami Anderson’s office, and Jitu Brown of the Journey for Justice, which is generating civil rights complaints against several major cities.

There were many outstanding workshops during the morning session. At lunch, blogger Jennifer Berkshire interviewed bloggers Peter Greene and Jose Luis Vilson, which everyone enjoyed.

After lunch, Yong Zhao gave a scintillating multi-media presentation, which was both educational and hilarious. At one point, the entire audience stood to sing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” which Yong used to make a point about the value of being different. At times, he was almost drowned out by laughter. If you have a chance to hear him, don’t miss it. Or wait for the videos of the conference to go online.

Saturday afternoon, there were more workshops. We split for dinner but after dinner, Anthony Cody moderated a session of new documentaries about the schools. The film makers were there to describe their work.

Sunday morning, more workshops. I especially enjoyed Jesse Hagopian’s discussion of the racist roots of standardized testing. Jesse was accompanied by Seattle’s education director for the NAACP, which issued a protest against standardized testing.

Mid-morning, I moderated a discussion between Randi Wengarten of the AFT and Lily Eskelsen Garcia of the NEA. I asked them about the future of teachers’ unions, teacher tenure, Common Core, annual testing, whether they would pledge to reject any funding from Walton, Gates, and Broad (they did), and what advice they had for those fighting for public education and the teaching profession. Their answers were lively. See the tapes.

In the last event, I led a discussion with the great and much-loved Karen Lewis. Karen looks fabulous, but she is not fully recovered from her surgery. She shared her wisdom with us, and she was showered with love. Her message was to build alliances. Again, you must watch the tape.

Before the meeting, the wonderful Newark students presented me with a selfie stick (lots of selfies all weekend!). After showing me how to operate it, Tanaisha Brown asked me to show her that I could do it myself. I knew I was in the presence of a real teacher!

Everyone I spoke to told me how much they enjoyed the conference, how energized they felt, and that they would return home to pick up the struggle with renewed vigor.

It was a wonderful and inspiring event!!