While others may soak up the sun this summer vacation, Mr. D will be sweltering in the swamps of the Potomac–for an important cause.
This summer, the Neighborhood will be joining educators across this country in a nationwide call to save public education in America. The Save our Schools March and National Call to Action will take place in Washington, DC this July 28-31. It is a gathering of educators, concerned parents, activists and journalists demanding an end to the destructive policies of the education establishment–policies placed in the guise of education “reform.”
In specific, the goals of the March are (according to their website):
- Equitable funding for all public school communities
- An end to high stakes testing for student, teacher, and school evaluation
- Curriculum developed for and by local school communities
- Teacher and community leadership in forming public education policies
Now these are goals we can all get behind. Unfortunately, much of the policies of the education reformers like Michelle Rhee and Arne Duncan (both covered here at the Neighborhood) have hindered, rather than helped our goal of a quality education for ALL Americans.
The weekend features seminars, workshops, lectures and a get-together for education writers and bloggers on July 29–and yours truly will be there IN PERSON to greet all his colleagues and fans. Join me the next day as the Neighborhood will be marching to the Ellipse at noon, where education heavy-hitters like Diane Ravitch, Jonathan Kozol, Deborah Maier, Jose Vilson and many others will rile up the crowds.
At two, we then head to ol’ Arne’s office at the Department of Education, to give him a taste of that old time religion known as “public education.”
Now, Mr. D doesn’t mind tooting his own horn and beating his own drum…but if he did it alone, it would make him look like a lunatic. Here’s where you come in.
Linked here is an RSVP site to join the March on July 30. If you want, you can also register for events on the other days of the conference. The RSVP doesn’t obligate you to go, but it helps the organizers get a head count so they can print numbers that would make Arne soil his enormous jock strap.
At any rate, I want the Neighborhood to have a strong presence on the Mall July 30. Join me and thousands of others in fighting to save public education in America.
At the very least, you can meet me in person–and tell me what a bullshit artist I am right to my face 😉
Mr. D's Neighborhood 
This Day in History 5/31: Treaty of Vereeniging ends the Boer War
The end of the Britsh Empire began on May 31, 1902.
On that day, the Treaty of Vereeniging ended the three-year long disaster known as the Boer War. It began as a dispute over mining rights and sovereignty of the Boer Republics of South Africa, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. It ended as one of the darkest chapters in British history.
The war was technically “over” in 1900, when the British occupied the Transvaal capital of Pretoria. However, the remaining Boer commandos of the Orange Free State and the Northern Transvaal continued a war of attrition for another two years. It would see unspeakable atrocities on both sides. It would see “scorched-Earth” tactics and concentration camps that would result in the deaths of thousands. It would also see continued and violent repression, mutilation and torture of the majority African native population–a situation not really rectified until almost a century later.
Finally, the Boer War would see British people start to question the need for a colonial empire. Though a victory, the war cost thousands of lives and millions of British pounds. Britons would then start questioning the use of British troops, the entanglement in colonial affairs–even questioning the need for an empire in the first place.
Attached is a nice 5-part synopsis of the Boer War and other African conflicts of the time. It is very even handed, and its short length is perfect for the classroom.
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