Stories from Standing Rock

This blog was first posted at Bustedpencils.com on 11/5/2016.  My blogging will now encompass my additional activist work outside of education, so you can read my work here and at BustedPencils.

November 5th, 2016

Today we ate breakfast and headed back to the Front Line to deliver the shields. As we cross over the bridge into the Rosebud camp we are immediately told there is a direct action today. Not sure what it is, but hoping we will hear more. We head on to the Front Line. We've got the shields that Sam made, and the few hardback books that were waterlogged from the school. We know the layout of the camps quite well now. We trek past Rosebud, Sacred Stone, and simply make our way along Cannonball River with the teepees as our end point in the distance.

When we arrive there I'm immediately directed to a drop-off point for the shields - there are piles of them already. When we made the shields yesterday the idea for creating them came from someone at the camp - word of mouth travels fast. Everyone took their storage bin lids and quickly devised handles and sent them on to the Front Line. When we visited the Front Line yesterday I'm pretty sure there were only two teepees. Now there are four. There is also milk of magnesia (for tear gas) and various other piles of supplies that have appeared in the last 24 hours.

We see a friend there who we know and we ask about the direct action - he states that he has no idea. As he should. Who are we anyway? We could be infiltrators who are dropping off shields in the hopes of gaining information. We thank them for all that they are doing and leave.

Across Canonball River the police/military presence has increased.  Yesterday there were approximately 5 vehicles (Humvees). Today just along this area of the Front Line I spot easily twenty or more.  Today the law enforcement officers are standing outside of the vehicles staring at everyone with binoculars. They have two police boats riding up and down the river.

Last night we of course had helicopters circling all night. Hard sleeping conditions. Today, for the first time since I arrived, we have helicopters circling all day too. They circle low and loud as always.

We make our way back through the Sacred Stone camp, Rosebud, and across the bridge back to Oceti Sakowin Camp. As we make our way back we are told that the direct action today is at the bridge. We fill our water bottles and head there. It's crazy hot by now. The nights are freezing, the days are burning up typically.

Sam and I view this at the bridge.

The bridge is where the cars and tires were burned in an effort to stop the digging.  Many others are already heading to the bridge today. We make our way there  and across from it the road is lined with law enforcement.  Throughout our time there the law enforcement rotates  in and out, easily 40 to 50 vehicles at a time. The word of mouth "direct action" clearly made traction fast in the camp. The law enforcement had maneuvered into the fields on either side of the road.  When we left the bridge finally there were easily 200 or so people waiting and standing in the road.  Tribal leaders came out on horseback and directed everyone to stay back, and eventually asked us to head back to camp. I have no idea what the direct action was, or if it occurred, or if perhaps it is occurring tonight. But it was clear to me that many are ready for action; action I am told must remain peaceful. It is strange to be standing in a country where we proclaim to be a "democracy", and where various law enforcement officials bear down, ready to take brutal action on peaceful people.  Watching 200 people on one side of the bridge, watching over 50 law enforcement vehicles on the other side of the bridge, separated by burned vehicles - is something - well it's something I think I'm still trying to wrap my head around.  As I write this blog at the casino tonight I talk to a young man from Los Angeles. He says we are at a crossroads - we want to protect the water - we are protectors - but we are at a point where we protect or we head down the wrong path (more or less, not remaining peaceful) - it is hard to know what will happen.  He says he is tired and he is ready to go home.  He has been here two months.  I am told many at the camp plan never to leave - they will see this through to the end.

When we left the bridge today and headed back to camp we see the Oglala Sioux Tribe from Pine Ridge coming into the camp. It had to be hundreds of people and easily twenty to thirty vehicles plus horses.  Tribes show up continually. If you zoom in on the picture you can see them walking in.








Also, listen to the video as you hear the crowd welcoming them into the camp.

We followed behind them and headed back to camp, back to the school which was recently relocated near our own camp by the river. Sam, my son, was designated the new coordinator for organizing materials yesterday so he headed there to work and I eventually made my way there as well. As a teacher, I, of course enter the school tent with ideas for organizing, planning classroom activities, and more. But it's not my classroom. I will be here only until Wednesday. I help them organize crayons, paper, craft materials, books, games and more. It's a nice large tent. I, of course, wish they had more.

The classroom has two teachers. Students are all ages. They have a large field to play in and a river close by.  As I'm organizing children trail in and out asking where the teachers are - they are ready to get back to class - they clearly miss their teachers. Monday class will resume. I'm excited to stop by and offer my help. And Sam, well Sam, he has worked hard every day he has been here - I wish he would blog, so you could view this through his eyes, because he loves these people, he loves this place, and he wants to learn. He so desperately wants to learn - and give back however it might help.

Signing off on this Saturday evening. We're pretty tired today.  It's incredibly hard to get any word out about what is going on. There is almost no internet connection at the camp. Sometimes I stand on FB Hill holding my phone up high because I'm told it will get a better signal.  It rarely works. Tonight we drove up the road to the casino and ate here in hopes of finding a plug to charge our phones, computers, and hopefully write some posts for our various blogs. I've been booted out of the one room we found that had a plug behind a fridge. Now we're seated on the floor next to a soda machine and I yanked the duct tape off the extra plug to use it. All plugs have been covered with plastic covers - no plugs can be used. Yet campers are parked in various locations on the floor around the casino trying to type furiously and send out the word. And all the time wondering where this will all end and if ultimately, if our small contribution even makes a difference.

Solidarity.

The Front Line

This blog was first posted at Bustedpencils.com on 11/5/2016.  My blogging will now encompass my additional activist work outside of education, so you can read my work here and at BustedPencils.

November 4, 2016

Today we went to the front line - this is the camp that is closest to the digging of the pipeline -  but the front line has been pushed back - and they are trying to inch their way back to the digging. We visited with women and men that have been there a week and they are waiting for reinforcements who should be arriving soon. Now that I know where the front line is, I can easily see their teepees from Media Hill. We asked them how we could help. They need shin guards (made from hardback books - they promise to return them) and shields ( made from the tops of storage bins). My son is making the shields now. He was given gas mask hoses that he can use to create handles on the shields. We went to the school to pull any hard back books that might not  be in good shape (water logged). The front line has two canoes (or maybe a kayak I can't remember).  The shields are necessary to deflect the rubber bullets and the bean bags. As I write I'm talking to a young man who was on the front line and he shows us a large bruise on his chest from one of the bean bags. He says they were shooting rubber bullets and bean bags from a boat as  they tried to make a bridge in order to get across Cannonball River and pray. He says that one day, when 140 got arrested, the police shredded his tent, and everyone else's.

We worked in the school today as well.  We organized books, getting ready for the move to a more spacious spot for the kids - typically 25 or so a day. I'm hoping I can help teach on Monday (once it's moved) if they need me.

Tomorrow morning there is suppose to be a Sun Dance very early at the bridge. I'm going to get up and head there to see it.  This camp, Oceti Sakowin,  is a place full of kindness, constant music, and friendship. Sam is digging a fire pit for us right now. We haven't had a shovel and one suddenly appeared allowing Sam to dig the hole. It's freezing at night. I can't feel my toes. Today an extra blanket is suddenly inside my tent.

If I need food, there is food. If I need medical assistance, there are medics. Everywhere I turn there is someone to help. I think about the children I taught last year in the Aurora Public Schools and the lack of resources available to them.  Yet, here, we have a group of people who have come together, and you do not want for anything. Therefore, you can focus your attention on the task at hand - the task being, how to save the water - as water is life.  I wonder how my students could have focused, if they had all the resources, plus the beautiful land, river and sky that surrounds me now?

front line camp 

At the front line today we can see the "police cars" - but I am told they are not police - it's hard to discern who is in those cars - military - private security - mercenaries?  There are flood lights facing the front line. When I point to the lights I am asked not to point. The front line says they turn on the lights to watch them.

Our neighbors at the camp site have invited us to dinner, have given us insights into how to help, what to send back to the front line, and simply how to "be" at this camp.  Sam is busy trying to use rebar  to melt holes in the bin covers to create shields. Not sure we can get it done tonight and back to the front line this evening, but for sure tomorrow morning.  They need more people at the front line. And they need the media. I have not seen CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS - you name it, I've seen no one that will push it out to mainstream media.  It's disgusting - and it makes it clear that once again, in this country, there will be no taking back our humanity unless the people push to do so.

We talk a lot about humanity, the greed of capitalism and how our lives have been bombarded with pictures, phrases, stories, and symbols all meant to keep us passive and rabid consumers. Here, we don't consume - here we are focused on how to give back - how to support one another.  Access to social media is found briefly on Media Hill via solar panels. I trek up there twice a day to check in with my family and send out pictures and writing. Other than that, we're busy working and making face to face connections - we are talking and trying to find inspiration in the words and stories of others. There is empathy here, and a determined sense of hope. More tomorrow.

Sam has been asked to be the coordinator for the school move. He's immersed in the work here.

Much love to you from Standing Rock.

I'm a Colonizer but I feel the Sacred Part II

This blog was first posted at Bustedpencils.com on 11/5/2016.  My blogging will now encompass my additional activist work outside of education, so you can read my work here and at BustedPencils.
Day One continued at Oceti Sakowin Camp #NoDAPL

I continue to hear stories.

Another tribe is the Crow tribe.  They came walking four miles to the camp  - coming in "healing" and wearing  full tribal dress.  The Crows were previously hated because they gave up the Native Americans to the army years  ago, but now the goal is unity, unity to save the water.  I wish I could have been here to see them arrive. I am told that new tribes arrive every day. There is much hope in that.

There is much talk of the front line. The front line is where they stand to keep them from digging the pipeline. The most recent action includes the police taking away their tents which they had managed to get across the river in order to set up camp. There are stories of people swimming across in bullet proof vests, barely making it back because the vest became so weighted down from the water. Stories of exhaustion.  This is what I hear.

There are the barricades, the stop points with police/military in order to get into the camp. There are the kitchens, the piles of supplies (tents, sleeping bags, etc) that the military took when tearing down the encampments of the front lines. There is the Media Hill, previously dubbed FB Hill, where I go to briefly text my husband and upload this blog via phone screen shots (which dear friends retype) and any quick comments to Facebook.

There is much to do, or there is nothing to do. The question is how to be of use? Tomorrow I will work at the school, helping to move the boxes and boxes of materials to a new location so that the children have more space to run and play. Currently the school is in the middle of the camp. I spend time talking to my son, as we both have questions, similar life experiences and words, images, and simply much that we have to discuss, and think through.

Tonight we went inside a beautiful new dome that was recently erected. We listened to the drum circle, and we danced, and I felt my throat come up and out through my eyes, with no explanation or words to describe something that is not my experience, but one that I was welcomed into tonight.

As we leave the dome, we find that we have been dancing in circles for at least five rounds. We walk out completely disoriented and we are laughing as we fling our head lamp around trying to discern where is the river? Media Hill? Where is the highway? Where is the school? My son runs ahead with the headlamp and yells to me that he sees our camp, with a strong fire in tow, right by the river. As we walk towards our camp he says to me, Can you imagine belonging to a community like that? Where you knew all those songs, and those dances, and where you belonged with a group of so many people and they were your family? Can you imagine what that would feel like?  To be a part of a tribe? - says the white child to the white mother.

I will leave you with that. I cannot explain my emotions.

I'm shutting my computer, listening to the helicopters, and the drums still drumming, in the center of the camp.

I'm a Colonizer but I feel the Sacred Part I

This blog was first posted at Bustedpencils.com on 11/4/2016.  My blogging will now encompass my additional activist work outside of education, so you can read my work here and at BustedPencils.

I’ve been at Oceti Sakowin for 24 hours. We arrived in the middle of the night, almost early morning, and found our campsite by the Cannonball River. We face the river and across the river is the Rosebud tribe. After putting up our tent in the dark, and hunkering down for the night, I heard the helicopters, loud, low – never leaving, always loud and low. As I fell asleep around 5:30 a.m. I heard someone at Rosebud camp chopping wood, and then the singing began—that sound intermingled with wolves howling, and I tried to keep those sounds ever present in my mind, hoping to drown out the helicopters – who were still circling at 9 a.m.

We’ve talked to a lot of people in just 24 hours. We are making connections, and it reminds me very much of Occupy in that sense. Other than that, it is an experience that I am ultimately sure I cannot possibly really comprehend in terms of the depth of what is happening here. But I feel the spirituality, the absolute depths of collective and communal “being” and this utter, absolute sense of hope.

Water is life, and the tribes have joined together again, forgiven wrong-doings, and hope to regain – regain – everything – I have no words for how to describe this.

Writing these blogs is a struggle for me because I am at a lack of words. I feel in my soul powerful feelings – if you are hearing what I hear as I go to bed on my second night here – singing and drums, and the cold and calculated never-ending sound of helicopters, well, simply put, you will cry. And you may not be able to explain why. And as a white person who stands on sacred indigenous land, being decimated – once again – by colonizers, you will find yourself in a place you might desperately love but feel such horrendous guilt that you cry no matter what the feeling might be.

There are so many stories here that the words jumble out into the air and I cannot grasp them in my heart fast enough to relay them to you. The tribes are many. One tribe is the Red Warrior tribe. They are described as militant. They do not allow you into their campground. They have seen what has happened to the rest of the encampment as outsiders, such as myself, have come in and helped, but perhaps also hindered. The rules are clear on the site – and I respect and follow them.

The Rosebud tribe prefers to be alone. They live across the river from me. I wake up in the morning to their singing and am forever in awe of watching them ride their horses all over the camp. My son lingers by them as they walk alongside the river unaccompanied. We are in awe of the beauty, the freedom, and the absolute brutal genocide that makes all of this something we see – the hope – but then the devastation makes it hard to grasp that hope. Hope for humanity and people who are being destroyed by the colonizers.

Why So Emotional?

This blog was first posted at Bustedpencils.com on 9/20/2016.  My blogging will now encompass my additional activist work outside of education, so you can read my work here and at BustedPencils.

Emotions are running high these days due to ESSA opportunity. If the powers that be get their way, they will steer these emotions right where they want them, into the hands of the .01%.

Don't believe me?  Let's do our best to get up to speed. But I have to tell you, two pots of coffee later I'm not even close.  First, take a look at ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act). ESSA demands an additional indicator of student school or success - more or less, an indicator tied to emotion.

In ESSA Title I Section 1005 it states:

“(v) (I) For all public schools in the State, not less than one indicator of school quality or student success that—

“(aa) allows for meaningful differentiation in school performance;

“(bb) is valid, reliable, comparable, and statewide (with the same indicator or indicators used for each grade span, as such term is determined by the State); and

“(cc) may include one or more of the measures described in subclause (II).

“(II) For purposes of subclause (I), the State may include measures of—

“(III) student engagement;

“(IV) educator engagement;

“(V) student access to and completion of advanced coursework;

“(VI) postsecondary readiness;

“(VII) school climate and safety; and

“(VIII) any other indicator the State chooses that meets the requirements of this clause.

Over the weekend I watched the NOVA special on the Future of Our Schools. If you haven't seen it, you simply must. There's a lot embedded in this two hour show that I'm still trying to pull apart - but I'm only going to focus on one aspect today.

Emotion.

The little blurb for the show states, "How can the science of learning help us rethink the future of education for all children?"  Nothing alluding to emotion at this point.  Of course there's a big focus on ALL children - and science, my friends, will get us there.

It begins with the usual suspects, Linda Darling-Hammond busts out first with a statement about inequality being our Achilles heel. She's followed by Kahn who wants us to have an "equal shot regardless where we are born."

It all sounds great.  Really feel good stuff. And then it gets moving. The narrator wants us to discover how science can give all children this so-called equal shot - not food, not shelter, not equal access to books, democratic classrooms, libraries, fine arts - nope, science will get us there.

The next message goes like this - don't ask kids to beat the odds, use science to change the odds.

They follow up with a pretty strong statement. They state: Our brains aren't wired to learn to read.

Stephen Krashen states, "There is a lot of evidence that shows that reading is natural.  We learn to read the same way we acquire language, by understanding messages.  Also, in print-rich societies, everybody with access to print learns how to read, unless there are serious neurological or psychological problems."

So, based on what Dr. Krashen is saying, equal access to books, librarians and libraries might solve this problem, huh?

Yet, nope. No need for that. Because we have SCIENCE. And........there are ways to change the brains of children in order to level the playing field.

Really???!!!! Who knew that scientists could-should-and-would manipulate the brains of children - but okay - BRING it NOVA.  Oh they do. Just wait.

They soften us up by talking about the perils of poverty. They do seem very concerned and compassionate. So concerned that they want to figure out a way to help children not be distracted by the stresses and distractions which come with poverty, such as violence, hunger, lack of shelter, fatigue - all those distractions that make it difficult to learn.  They decide that science, and specifically looking at and altering the way the brain works, will solve this problem.

So - in a nut shell, they have no plans to protect children from poverty, they intend to keep making money off children in poverty, and they will alter their behaviors and emotions to make sure they can make even more money - all the while, keeping these kids in check, under control and compliant - AND they are going to make them LIKE IT...or at least appear as though they do. Got that?

Just in case you don't, they have examples of how they plan to do it.

For starters, they show a little boy wearing headphones listening to a story during which they interject a second story on another speaker, making it difficult to focus on the first story. Next, they emit random noises from an additional third source.  Meanwhile, the child's head is all wired up as they watch his brainwaves.  They want to see if the child can focus on the first story with all these distractions! You know, kind of like gun shots outside your window might be a distraction from doing your homework, while you stand in eye's view of the window, cooking dinner for your younger siblings? No worries - these kids are going to learn how to deal.

They have another young child in a Head Start preschool where she is asked to play "Dr. Distraction" - where she walks along a strand of yarn while not dropping a plastic frog held on a spoon, all the time children on either side banging sticks to distract her. Sounds like a relaxing day in preschool doesn't it? The goal is to strengthen the "architecture of the brain." Everyone applauds her when she is done.

They throw in a small segment about giving children stickers at home as a reward for doing tasks - the child gets a sticker for waking up - hey, gotta start the day out right.  No thinking needed, just do as told and you will be rewarded as those in charge see fit - let's make sure that behavior modification exists in all shapes and forms in all areas of life.  Good parents. Good child. Pat on head. Get use to complying.

NOVA shares that children's brains are malleable - and if we just focus on the neuro-plasticity of the brain, we can make this work! The goal being - better learning while ignoring poverty.

ESSA helps. Emotion is important in better learning - especially if you can control it and use it to create specific learning behaviors. With daily online curriculum, daily online testing, which targets a child's emotions and behaviors, well folks, it's the ESSA opportunity that just keeps giving. Data point after data point - now moving from academic skills to the child's feelings and consequential behaviors - all allowing the corporations to get more information on each child in order to shape, form, and direct the child's future.  When a child's emotional response and/or behavior does not match the needs of the market and/or the system, they can use science to alter a child's brain, consequentially shifting the emotional response and behavior - always being sure to reward the child for complying.

They are even discussing adding "blue" light to high school classrooms because it appears blue light reduces the fatigue that most high school students feel due to crazy early morning schedules. My own son has to leave at 6:45 for high school. Apparently if he had blue lighting in his classroom he would wake up more quickly and come home and sleep earlier - therefore, requiring the student's natural sleeping rhythm, hormonal changes, to shift and accommodate the needs of the school and corporate profit. I wonder what the long term impact for my son's health might be in a situation like this?

In regard to the push for online learning, they use an emotional appeal to target the audience. It appears that contact with humans is frightening - it's scary to have to learn in front of people! Children feel like failures!  The child in the show is trying to work on math with the father and freezes up. When the father leaves and the child gets on Kahn Academy the child relaxes and figures out the math problem. I'm sure every parent watching NOVA was tapping into a memory of that one teacher who humiliated them in class.  Learning online is easier than actual face to face contact with human beings because it reduces pressure.  And the child feels better working online because they get points for success!!! Always reward them - compliance is key.

Everywhere children go they will get points it seems. At home. At school. Oh yes - and when they enter the workforce they can transition to badges - welcome to serfdom, worker bees! You will be successful at following directions and complying to the demands of the .01% - even if you're tired, hungry, or sick.

I was sharing all this with a dear friend, Morna McDermott, who then sent me this link - Boosting Kids' Brain Power with electric currents. It is indeed a brave new world.

In addition to watching NOVA, I've also been researching GEF, the Global Education Future. Emily Talmage has an excellent summary of them here, in which she states who they are: a group of wealthy elites from around the world who, in addition to giving presentations to one another about ways to make money off of our schools, quite literally get together to map out the future for our children.

gef-caAfter looking at the map from GEF, I'd say that we are right on track, with ESSA's help of course, to hit their 2035 goal.  Opt out in its current form is as dead as a doornail - time to regroup and shift our approach to encompass a larger understanding of where we are headed - parents need to know and begin to plan to refuse all online curriculum and testing.

As GEF states in the "mapping future of learning" diagram, the input necessary to shift the paradigm, is indeed a focus on assessment models that cannot measure desirable skills of 21st century citizens (see pink boxes). Desirable skills of 21st century citizens, which clearly include compliance with a smile, demand much more data than PARCC or SBAC can ever bring forth. The formation of compliant worker bees demand access to a child's social and emotional data, which ESSA is happy to provide and NOVA is happy to promote.

OPT OUT IS DEAD

This blog was first posted at Bustedpencils.com on 9/15/2016.  My blogging will now encompass my additional activist work outside of education, so you can read my work here and at BustedPencils.

In its current form.

Did I get your attention? Good. Because right now I feel like I back peddled five years ago to the time when several of us started an FB page to create opt out guides/resources for each state. At that time, we/opt outers were mocked, ignored, and ostracized. Lots of big wig activists and educational groups treated us like the plague.  Opt out was not cool.

We have entered a new phase of activism - and it feels a bit like starting over. It's now September of 2016 where everyone and their mother loves opt out - even New York Regent Roger Tilles!!!  Opt out has gone mainstream!!!!

When opt out started going mainstream, it felt okay at first, but then, suddenly - it didn't. Why was everybody sharing the opt out love??? Did humanity suddenly return? Um, no. I don't trust easily and something felt amiss. And I always listen to my gut feelings and research to confirm these feelings.

Backtrack to March of 2015.

We at UOO discovered the ECS "opt out" guide and I pointed to  it on my blog.  ECS is partially funded by Pearson, among other folks.  Of course  we asked ourselves, why was ECS creating a state by state opt out guide? Since when did Pearson and the other corporate cronies want to help citizens figure out how to opt out?

Many of us started fishing. We discovered more. Opt out was a big fish in a little pond. We'd been had. Hook. Line. Sinker.

In October 2015 I wrote this - it was clear that opt out was on the way out as competency-based education (daily online curriculum and testing) entered.

Opting out of the end of year test now served the needs of the .01%. The opt out movement had been co-opted. The end goal - all along - was daily online testing - via online modules that break down learning into discrete skills that must be mastered - all under the guise of personalizing learning to better meet the needs of individual learners. Not only did they plan to personalize the academic skills per child, they also planned to tap into a child's emotions and behaviors to further tailor the learning to the child's needs (look up SEL/social-emotional learning) - all with the end goal to create more profit for the .01%.

Opt Out, in its current form, was dead.

But - let me make something very clear.  We needed the opt out movement to generate a pool of aware citizens - we needed it to build relationships. We, the people, helped fuel a movement of questioning, civil disobedience, and strategic problem solving - all absolutely necessary for this next phase of strategic actions . Opt out was necessary to save not only our public schools, but this planet. The opt out movement is and was important. But, we must also recognize that in its current shape and form it is not enough - and could actually harm us if we do not sound the alarm and regroup. Right now I worry about how opt out is being portrayed by many groups and organizations. For example, at NYSAPE, they  state that the opt out movement wants a variety of things, including the use of standards, lexile benchmarks, state-wide evidence-based digital learning platforms, and state-wide assessments with time limits.

What crazy planet did I land on? I don't want any of that. And I didn't know that the opt out movement wanted that either. Shoot, I've worked the last six years to stop all this - lost my job over it - and now the New York opt out leaders are saying opt out WANTS these things that ultimately destroy authentic learning and teaching? Sounds like a brief from Clinton or AFT.  Just my take. And it's important to question things, even when it pisses people off.

And yeah, I'm a little cranky, and sadly just getting started here.....

Revolution comes in steps. This singular focus on opting out of the end of year test has seen its day.

Back in April 2016 I wrote The Opt Out Irony - it received little fanfare.  Not a surprise because pointing out the irony - that opt out in its current form is helping the corporate regime privatize public schools - really bites and frustrates a lot of people who were riding the wave of "end of year test opt out" to advance their careers, ego, and cash flow. Supporting end of year opt out became comfortable - so comfortable that some state and federal legislative statutes were included to make note of it in some shape or form. It was comfortable because it was a GREAT distraction from the bigger plan to institute online daily learning via online gaming, online curriculum, digital badging, social-emotional data gathering, etc. that was really needed to Take. It. All.

Imagine a world where your child's future is planned and directed by the desires of the corporations - the demands of the market - that will be the new reality - if they get their way.

So of COURSE the corporate regime wants us to dump the clunky big end of year test!!!!  Meanwhile the reformers - via politicians, foundations, think tanks, nonprofits are moving forward with competency based education, online curriculum with daily online testing, and online gaming that drives and ultimately manipulates and controls student behavior and emotion. They are building data banks on every student as we speak. Imagine serfs working for the .01%.

desk-pedalsSeriously - just add a sewing machine on top of that desk with bike pedals. You can't make this shit up. And it has been in the works for a long time.

Funny how this information was and IS so quietly floating under the radar. Might really mess things up right before the election huh? If this cat indeed got out of the bag? Like, perhaps, certain folks might lose union job opportunities, secretary of ed. opportunities? Man would that suck for some people. There's a reason the unions keep spouting "ESSA opportunity."

As Orwell stated, "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those that speak it."

There are a lot of haters out there right now. Damn glad I have my chickens to keep me company.

Meanwhile, the reformers continue to "sympathize" with our plight over the end of year test. Don't believe me? Here it is straight from Jobs for the Future. They are drooling all over this ESSA opportunity.  Don't know what ESSA is? See here , here, and here.  ESSA is rolling out the red carpet for the corporations to privatize our public schools and destroy the teaching profession.

The corporate regime does have some concerns though.

At JFF they state, "In the short term, though, the 'opt-out' movement could pose a serious obstacle. The problem isn't that opt-out advocates are wrong, necessarily - in fact, many participants at Turning the Corner voiced sympathy for their criticisms of high-stakes standardized testing.  The problem, rather, is that so much energy and attention continues to be directed toward undoing the old system, rather than to what a new system could look like. Moreover, if the opt-out movement morphs into a crusade against testing in any form, it could seriously damage efforts to create the sorts of high-quality performance-based assessments needed to support deeper teaching and learning."

Gosh, how sweet of you JFF. You understand. Just like the unions and everyone else. Thanks bunches. I feel better.  I feel just about as good as I did when our state union let Relay gracefully glide right into Colorado.  And this is the deal - we must halt the harm first - children are being harmed under this abusive testing regime - they are required to work as slaves to corporations and a government that refuses to protect our neediest children from poverty.

But JFF says they are a little worried? Just a little? About that idea of morphing into a crusade against testing in any form? Yeah, that would be a harsh reality for you, huh?

I read all of ESSA - and after perusing the 1,061 pages I did ponder these thoughts.

ESSA supports destroying the teaching profession (think Relay Fake Graduate School, TFA , and more) by intentionally giving MONEY to implement one stop shop teacher academies (no "real" teachers, no pensions, no union, hell - no buildings needed).

ESSA supports and funds "innovative" assessment which is actually referred to in ESSA as "competency based" education.

ESSA supports and funds charters - and specifically discusses replicating "high quality charter school models" - think KIPP, Uncommon Schools - you know, those racist charters where they implement control and compliance techniques for teachers and children. Often these teachers are trained by Relay Fake Graduate School. And I know all about Relay because I got to be a part of a Relay Leadership School - good times - see here.

Anyways, so I got to thinking, if ESSA plans to destroy the teaching profession and get abusive behavior-mod teachers who are good at data punching. And...if ESSA supports innovative daily online assessments - meaning massive data gathering via set-in-stone data tags via common core standards. And...if ESSA is saying that one more factor of data needs to be included - an additional indicator of student or school success - such as student engagement, social-emotional learning (Do you want Google to know how your child feels about things? How fast your child works? How slow? What your child likes? Dislikes? Do you want companies to gather information on your child's good behavior? Bad behavior? So that they can use what they know to PUSH your child where they need your child to be? In order to meet the demands of the market?)

And.......yeah this is long winded I know......finally.......if ESSA supports and funds charters galore - specifically the charters who push forward online learning via gritty behavior compliance methods that reek of racism and fake Relay teachers - well then.....

If all of that is true. Then, where does that leave us?

It's a triple ESSA whammy - and I only covered a quick snapshot of three components of ESSA. There is much more to be concerned about.

But again, where does that leave us?

Well, it leaves us back where I started. Opt Out is DEAD, as it currently stands.

Yet - you might say - but everyone LOVES it? So what gives? Why the adoring love for end of year opt out?

Hmmm...again.....with elections looming, it might not be good to shake the ESSA applecart.  Might be better to be quiet and let the privileged keep their privilege so that they can hopefully gain more privilege after the elections. Might be better to quietly appease the masses with end of year opt out - it will keep them distracted - maybe even throw them a bone from time to time by chatting with them about their concerns (lots of opportunity for this - THINK ESSA regulations and ESSA committees). Heck, with everyone hush hush about CBE and ESSA it might just help a lot of people in high places advance to even higher places. I mean - the ESSA opportunities abound for those who are willing to sellout our children, our teaching profession and our public schools. Lily and Randi are happy to help.

Meanwhile,  these so-called nonprofits and .01% folks are ever so patient. Just as Michael Kirst, prez of CA State Board of Ed states at the end of this particular JFF brief that this will "take a long time" and "We need to have a lot of staying power to bring this about."

Yes, they will nod, they will sympathize, and they will continue to twist the knife in just a little bit further.  And they will do everything to keep revolution at bay. Compromise will be the name of the game, as it is now.

Let me tell you one thing I know. Teamcompromise (aka Hillary/AFT/NEA and others) will be running right alongside the corporate regime - all of them selling out our children every step of the way.

And you might think - we are so F%$&ed!!!!!!!! What do we do???

I have one idea, and more to come soon, but for now, this simple one that I shared last spring on my blog and at the UOO conference........

Parents and citizens must ask for curriculum reviews at their school districts. Find out what your board policy looks like regarding curriculum reviews - but don't feel the need to abide by the policy - do what you need to do to get the reviews. Try to get parents to do these reviews in mass. Educate parents. The key is refusing the online testing and curriculum IN MASS. One person trying to do this alone has a hard road and a slim chance of succeeding - ultimately this online curriculum will be tied to grades (and already is in many cities), therefore making it more challenging to refuse.  Parents and citizens, in mass, who speak to the school board, who publicize their desire to refuse this online curriculum, can win. Expose it. Gather support. And REFUSE IT. Demand authentic learning by authentic teachers in democratic classroom settings.

I also recommend reading Alison McDowell's latest blog on this subject - she has additional actions to take.

And of course continue to refuse the end of year test. That's a given.

Meanwhile I'll keep blogging. And I'll have more to share soon - but honestly, until this election is over and all the cards are played, it's difficult to determine exactly the best strategies needed to take down components of ESSA such as CBE, charters, and teacher one stop shops. Timing can be everything.

The good (and bad) news is that I no longer work for Aurora Public Schools. I no longer volunteer for United Opt Out National.  I can say pretty much whatever I want.   Not that that held me back before ;)

Solidarity.

TLAC - There are some "good" things??? Really????????

This blog was first posted at Bustedpencils.com on 9/4/2016.  My blogging will now encompass my additional activist work outside of education, so you can read my work here and at BustedPencils.

It never fails - when I share my TLAC blog I am always presented with the Teach Like a Champion argument that "some good things can be found in there."  For the love of god this argument makes me insane. Yeah, so maybe someone found one little good thing in there - but at what cost to the lives of children? And can't a teacher find some of these techniques in books by actual educators?  Doug Lemov is NOT an educator. And - guess what? There is also a helluva lot of bad shit in there too. It is racist as hell. Watch the CD that comes with the book. And actually read the book  before putting it in the hands of teachers and/or praising it - which is how it rolls in my former district - people passing out TLAC left and right and they didn't even bother to read it.

Here is my blog on it: http://www.pegwithpen.com/2015/09/understanding-teach-like-champion.html 

I need to do a follow up on it but seriously it makes my stomach churn to write about it so I haven't gone there yet.

Oh  - and one more thing - when you watch the CD - where are all the white children? Huh.

And why do the children look so damn unhappy? Huh.

Plate. Wall.