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 
Gay History, SOS March DC, etc.: Post-Vacation update
Even away on the West Coast, the madness of education keeps chugging along.
It’s good to be back after a restful week in Los Angeles–and a brief weekend in Palm Springs (It looks pretty bad that a teacher would enjoy themselves so much, but who cares?!) Just wanted to update the Neighborhood on some tidbits I ran into along the way, as well as info for the Save Our Schools March this Saturday in Washington:
That’s about it for now. I’ll be writing more about SB 48 tomorrow.
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