From: Raging Horse
April 27, 2013
If there is anything positive that can be said to have come out of
the relentless billionaire backed corporate hijacking of public
education, it is the building of communities of resistance. In the
end, after the initial shock wears off and the public relations
campaigns are exposed as just that, almost nothing can stronger create
communities of resistance than attacks on one’s children in the guise of
“reforming” their education. This is that much the more when
“reforming” their education is little more than boiling it down to a
number on a standardized test: the same number, mind you, that can be
used to fire your child’s teacher and close your child’s school.
Such a community of resistance, hundreds strong, was in overwhelming
evidence at a rally last night on the steps of the Tweed Court House,
home of the NYC Department of Education. The crowd was united behind one
overall goal: the end of high stakes testing and all that goes with
it. As high stakes testing comprises nothing less than the central
nervous system of corporate education reform, an end of the high stakes
dictate would effectively paralyze their entire campaign. Corporations
would lose out on a multi-billion dollar taxpayer guaranteed revenue
stream which explains the insidious nature of the entire corporate
education reform campaign.
Organized by Change The Stakes (www.changethestakes.org) and Time Out From Testing (info@timeoutfromtesting.org),
the rally drew parents, teachers, and students a like from all corners
of the city and even a stray politician or two. ( Mayoral candidate John
Lui was there.) The rally was a joy to partake in and a joy to
behold. There will be more. Many more. As many as it takes.
People will do what they have to do to protect their children.
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