Of all the events I missed writing about during my 5 month hiatus, the Save Our Schools March that took place in Washington, D.C. was probably the thing I wish I could have covered the most. I wasn't in D.C., but I would have been there if I could have afforded it. I ended up watching most of the speeches on the internet. I thought I would share some of them here.
First, there is the speech from actor Matt Damon, whose Mom is an educator:
Secondly, there is Diane Ravitch, who has become one of my heroes this past year for sticking up for teachers against the so-called "education reform" movement.
Finally, here is a message from John Stewart (another one of my heroes).
The message of this march was an important one. There are so many problem in education, but the focus of how to fix the problems and the resources that are used all go to the wrong places. Instead of blaming poverty (and all of it's effects) for the achievement gap, we blame teachers and teacher unions. Instead of individuals with vast amounts of experience in education to run our schools, we hire individuals with ties to big businesses. Instead of trying to make society more equitable and secure, we fire teachers and close down schools. Instead of trying to improve the public schools we have, we open charter schools as a panacea that can refuse to take students who need the most help. Instead of teaching a holistic curriculum that emphasizes practical application of concepts and critical thinking skills, we narrow our curriculum to reading and math, and teach kids how to take multiple choice tests. And when that isn't good enough, people get desperate and cheat.
If you want a good summary of what is really wrong with public education today, watch this recent interview with Ravitch and New York City school teacher Brian Jones on Democracy Now.
Oh, and for fun, watch Matt Damon school a reporter from Reason TV on education policy. You are the man, Jason Bourne!
