United Opt Out: Action for Week of September 11th - Sharing Parent Flyer

Our action at United Opt Out for the week of September 11th is to become familiar with the parent flyer listed here, at our website and on our Facebook group page – and then share it with ten or more people (Facebook, email and/or print out). We need to be able to articulate the reasons for opting out as people begin to ask us WHY? The current narrative MUST be changed. High stakes testing destroys childhood, destroys public schools, and violates our constitutional rights. In order to change the narrative, we must understand it and articulate it with conviction. Share the flyer. Spread the word. And do not forget our long term goal for September – we need petitions on opting out for EVERY STATE. We can not sit back and watch as America’s children suffer. See parent flyer attached here. Thanks everyone!

Parent Flyer

United Opt Out National: Action for week of Sept 4, 2011 - Petition Writing

Good morning everyone! Our action for this week is petition writing. We would like a petition for each state which allows the people in your state to declare that they will opt out of high stakes testing. Remember that there are multiple ways to opt out.

Of course, the slam dunk is opting out of the state test. However, we can also opt out by changing the narrative as we talk to neighbors, politicians, and civic organizations. We can opt out by making our opinion know in creative ways – bumper stickers, t-shirts, community art projects. We can opt out by breaking the cycle – questioning, challenging and meeting with groups. We can opt out by sharing alternatives – sharing research showing what works (fairtest.org, susanohanian.org), collaborating with public school classrooms that support our beliefs successfully, and more.

Please use the resources here at our website (www.unitedoptout.com) to assist you in writing your petition – a quick petition can be written by looking at the link for the parent flyer and the link called “what does it mean to opt out.” And of course you can include specific information for your state to support parents who are directly planning to opt out of the state test. We will post sample petitions here on our facebook page docs asap. Let us know if you need help!

There are multiple ways to opt out. Declare that we are doing it. Start your petition today and post the link here once it is written. It’s possible that we might get doubles or triples for states, so claim your petition now by letting us know you plan to write one at our facebook group site OPT OUT OF THE STATE TEST:  The National Movement.  Thanks everyone!!! Share your petition – spread the word – opt out!!!!

Here is the link for beginning your petition.

SignOn.org Beta

www.signon.org

Your title should be very brief, like a newspaper headline, but it should also communicate as specifically as possible what your petition is about.

Why Opt Out of the State Test? A Better Question Might Be...Why Opt In?

How are public school children benefiting from the state test? I don't believe they are.  The corporate reformers currently running our public education system would like us to think the test is benefiting our children.  They’d like us to think like capitalists and race our way to the top, yet, in a system of public education – which is designed to provide a whole and equitable education to ALL children – when you begin racing, the economically disadvantaged children and those with special needs get left behind, and our democracy ceases to exist.

This year Colorado is planning to spend 49.5 million dollars on state testing according to the Assessment Solutions Group.  Standardized testing does not improve student achievement.  

With high stakes testing in place across our state, it becomes necessary for teachers to teach to the test.  If we want Colorado’s kids to be good test takers, rather than creative and critical thinkers who have been exposed to art, music, PE, and more, well then, our children should take the test. Students living in areas of poverty and high need will receive a larger dose of teaching to the test than the kids in suburbia.  Why?  Simple.  Teachers and administrators dealing with high stakes attached to testing (teacher evaluation and potential school closure) are going to focus on the test in order to salvage a school or a profession. A child’s test score becomes tied to the monetary funds the school and teacher receive – so in essence, the child is working for the school and the teacher – which is a definite violation of child labor laws. 

Remember recess?  Even in suburbia it is on the decline.  Why?  There’s simply no time for it, because we are Racing to the Top – and that includes five year olds.  Recently my neighbor informed me that her kindergartener did not get recess because there was simply too much curriculum to cover. Why are kindergarteners (and other grades) missing recess?  In order to get a jump-start on that state test of course.  As a former kindergarten teacher, I can promise you that back in the day, five-year-olds spent their days in kindergarten learning to socialize and stretch their limbs and their imaginations - that was the main curriculum.  Reading, writing and math all occurred as was developmentally appropriate.  Ask Alliance for Childhood about the state test - check and see just how developmentally appropriate our common core standards (which are tied to the state test) actually are - the quick answer - not so much.  

Why are we Racing to the Top?  Did any of us ever stop to wonder?  Is it really true that our nation's test scores are in the gutter?  Sure, if you look at the scores and account for poverty.  The United States has the second highest percentage of children living in poverty in industrialized nations.  If we take the poverty card out (free and reduced lunch), and look at our international NAEP scores, suddenly, our scores are quite good.  Poverty needs to be addressed. 

So, what’s wrong with taking a test?  We all had tests growing up, right?  Yes, we did, but we did not have as many tests growing up as we do today and the stakes were not as high.  Under Race to the Top, the testing regime will include more tests. 

The CDE states, “The attributes of the new system include: statewide summative assessment for grades 3-11 to measure math and reading and writing; statewide summative assessments in science and social studies at least once in elementary, middle and high school; school readiness measurements for grades preschool through grade 2; formative instructional supports and interim assessments; the Individual Career and Academic Plan (ICAP); an 11th-grade nationally recognized college placement assessment; and that the assessments are capable of being administered online where applicable and fiscally practicable.”  Note the words “fiscally practicable.”  Based on the financial cuts our schools have taken, what is “fiscally practicable?” 

I would also question the declaration, “If it’s a good test then teaching to the test is okay.”  I can’t imagine any standardized test being “good enough” to allow all curriculum and all class time to go towards teaching to the test.  A test that is distributed state-wide, by nature, must be somewhat easy to score – therefore, multiple choice and short responses, and ultimately tests online seem to be a good fit – at the expense of real thinking, real problem solving and exploration of all concepts and ideas outside the realm of the test.  No test is good enough to use as the sole indicator of student or school success – other indicators must be included to get a true picture of a child’s needs and strengths.  Indicators should include the teacher’s evaluation of the child.  Today’s teachers can tell us more about the children in their classrooms than any state test.  

What do the CSAP scores tell us?  They tell us which children are living in poverty.  Standardized state testing is a great indicator for determining poverty areas.  However, we already know where the poverty lies and we also know just how bad it is. 

Kids Count Colorado states, “For Colorado’s kids, the effects of the Great Recession have been both immediate and far-reaching. From 2008 to 2009, the number of children living in poverty in Colorado rose by 31,000, a jump from 15 to 17 percent. Forty-seven thousand more children were living in families where no parent had regular, full-time employment.1 Median annual income for families with children dropped from $65,800 to $64,000.2 More children were likely to commit suicide or be victims of abuse or neglect. Fewer teenagers graduated high school or found jobs. Since 2008, the number of unemployed teens increased by 14,000, rising from 60 percent to 65 percent in Colorado.3 More children were likely to experience homelessness, hunger, food insecurity and obesity. These are the realities for many Colorado children of the Great Recession.”  

The state test also tells us if students are getting better at taking the test.  The test is not a one shot, here it is – poof - now it’s gone - sort of gypsy show traveling through town.  Oh no – make no mistake - it’s a David Copperfield show.  It is practiced and practiced and practiced so that it will succeed if at all possible.  CSAP rally calls fill the schools. Students are given treats to encourage and entice them to do well on the test. Unfortunately, we are not magicians.  Colorado’s children come with varying experience, ethnicities, economic levels and talents. We can practice for the test every single day of the year – but if our children have minimal access to books, food and healthcare, as well as language barriers, it is doubtful that they will perform well on the test.  

Poverty is the problem, yet no one is willing to tackle it, let alone acknowledge it.

However, we have an abundance of money to throw at tests.  Interesting isn’t it?  In a state where between 2000 and 2009, our child poverty rate was the fastest growing in the nation, we are able to feed them more tests, but unfortunately they still lack food, shelter and more.  And school budgets are cut everywhere – staff is let go, schools are closed, class sizes increase, yet…we have 49.5 million for the test???

I’m also asked, but…if our kids don’t take these tests – how will they ever perform well on the ACT or SAT?  First off, many colleges no longer require those tests.  Secondly, I believe I took the ACT and SAT, without having tests rammed down my throat my entire educational career and guess what?  I survived, and I am not a good test taker.  I think what prepared me for the test was a public education full of diverse thinking, creativity and the freedom to explore past the test.  Seriously – do we have such little faith in our children and our teachers who teach them?  

The clincher question is this one…Won’t my school lose funding if I opt my child out of the test?  

The answer is no.   Find me a school in Colorado that lost funding due to children not taking the test.  It’s important to know that not only can you opt out, but when you do, it does not count as a “zero” for the school. It counts as nonparticipatory and nothing more.  Therefore, it cannot effect the funding of your school.  It can effect the accreditation of your school, but again, find me a school in the nation that lost its accreditation due to students not participating in the test.  They don’t exist.

What you will find, nationwide, is schools that have been shut down due to low test scores.  These schools are notoriously in high need, high poverty areas.  These schools are then taken over by the private sector; charter schools move in and corporate reformers move in and fill these schools with new teachers (many without actual teaching degrees).  These schools have very loose regulations – charter folks actually move to Colorado due to our loose regulations.  For many of these schools anything goes, at the expense of children’s education – and they can exclude or include – their choice.  Charter schools are not required to allow all children entry.

I’m not okay with Colorado’s kids being reduced to a test score.  I consider the current deprivation occurring in our public schools to be abusive.  I am not okay with children being denied recess and fine arts.  I am not okay with test prep taking priority over creative and critical thinking.  

What has happened to us?  Have we become complacent?  Brainwashed?  Exhausted?  All of the above?  Are we going to just sit back and say, yes to the test?  TAKE our children.  FEED them the test and nothing more.  FEED them short answers, multiple choice and test rally calls.  Forget child development – forget that five year olds need to move, jump, run and play. Should we accept more cuts to education while hanging on to the test - at the cost of 49.5 million?

Finland, one of the top education systems in the world, would say, NO.  

 Just ask a teacher in Finland

·        where children aren’t expected to show up at school until the age of seven. 

·        where teachers are held in high esteem and respected and trusted. 

·        where teachers actually assess and evaluate students, teachers and schools. 

·        where teachers are required to have bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees. 

·        where there are no mandated standardized tests except for one at the end of a student’s senior year in high school

Ask President Obama about his daughters’ school, where there is no mandated state standardized testing, and where, quite honestly, school sounds a lot like Finland.  

And then, think hard about what’s important, and opt out.  Quit racing to the top with the corporate reformers.  Their pockets are filling up faster and faster. They are racing and they are WINNING – not our children.  We will never get to the top because our children are dragging a boulder tied to their feet - it’s called the standardized state test. Let it go, and let our children create and grow again.  Opt out. Join us at United Opt Out National to find out how. All children have a right to a whole and equitable education in our democracy.  Let’s bring it back to them.

United Opt Out National: Our First Action

Our first action has been posted at our Facebook group page OPT OUT OF THE STATE TEST:  The National Movement.  Join us there for support in completing the action - we have fellow writers available and support docs to boot!  While we will continue to gather information per state on opting out, make no mistake - we are not just a depository for information - we are a launch pad for action - weekly consistent action that will make it clear that we are DONE.  We are done with corporate ed. reform eating our schools alive.  We WILL spread the word. We WILL make OPTING OUT the name of the game.  Our new website is in the works UNITED OPT OUT NATIONAL. 

Here is our first action posted on our Facebook group page.  A new action will be posted every Saturday. 

Good morning everyone! Is your coffee in hand? Your fingers nimble and ready to type? I hope so – because today we launch our first action. Our first action will be to write op-ed pieces on WHY someone should opt out of the state test.

An op-ed is an opinion piece offering an alternate view. As we know, the current view on testing is push the test….love the test…hooray for the test…we need the test.

We represent a different view – we want to opt out of the test in order to return a whole and equitable public education to America’s children.

Check out our Op-Ed supports document. Morna has created a flyer which offers key points to discuss why someone would opt out. I have also listed Shaun's op-ed - if there are more good examples post them on the comments in this strand of conversation. Morna has also created a template for anyone who would like a jumpstart.

We would like to submit these op-eds to our local newspapers no later than September 1st at 9 p.m. eastern time. Be sure to mention our website www.unitedoptout.com in your piece.

If your piece is not accepted, then post it online or send it to us and we will post if for you! Alright everybody - take action!!!

Opting out of the State Test: You Can Do It.

Earlier this week I shared an opt-out letter from Ceresta Smith, a mother and National Board Certified Educator in the state of Florida, who chose to opt her child out of the state test.  I was particularly interested in learning more about Ceresta’s story because I had been told, and believed, that it was not possible to opt out of the state test in Florida.  Her story is a wake up call for all of us who have felt defeated by the current testing system or believed that our children had no choice, but, to take the test.

After reading my interview with Ceresta, please join our Facebook group:  OPT OUT OF THE STATE TEST:  The National Movement.  We plan to change the current narratives about the importance and necessity of high stakes testing. We are providing support, state by state, to help organize parents and students as they opt out of the state test and develop understandings of alternatives to high stakes testing. 

And now, please read my interview with Ceresta and share it…again and again.

What events and information led you to make the decision to opt your child out of the state test?

My initial wake-up call was when Jeb Bush's A+ Plan and NCLB introduced high stakes testing to Florida.  It was harmful in my opinion to label schools with letter grades.  They became institutions of chronic anxiety instead of institutions for genuine learning.  It worsened when I began working in an African-American low-performing school.   I realized that a great racial divide that resulted in separate and unequal schools had emerged over the years.  African-American students and educators suffered extreme forms of abuse inside their school buildings on a daily basis as they were held under "sanction." By the time RttT and Rick Scott's Students' Success Ac became a reality, my husband and my moral values could not allow for our daughter's participation in what we perceive as a manipulative tool that had very little to do with improving the quality of education. 

How did you opt your child out, and how did the school and/or community respond to this?

We submitted a letter stating that she would not participate in FCAT testing.  We listed the reasons why. We were told by an administrator that there was no such thing as opting out.  We were told that our daughter would have to sit in the testing area for more than four hours while the other children were taking the test.  She would not be able to do anything other than sit there.  I told the administrator that sounds like abuse.  Once I said that, our daughter was able to remain in a non-testing area. 

Some parents worry about the social ramifications for the child when opting out - what was you child's experience?

Our daughter was grilled by on-site administrators that encouraged her to take the test.  When she said she would not because in her opinion it was racist, they agreed to offering her the opportunity and accepting her response without further questioning or prompting.

Florida is considered a "no opt out" state by many people, yet you were able to do it.  Do you feel this could be easily accomplished in other states where parents are told they cannot opt out? If so, how?

Yes, because ultimately, they are protected, as parents, by the 1st and the 14th Amendments of the Federal Constitution.  School administrators will try to intimidate parents due to the federal and state requirements for school site participation in order to receive funding. To date, no school has had to close for lack of test participation.  In contrast, schools that don't meet the letter grade have closed due to their participation.

Many people feel that the consequences of opting out are too punitive to the schools and communities.  How would you respond to this?

Organize and take action - They have to organize and take action on policy makers and the laws that serve to do a community damage as opposed to community building.  We pay taxes, and we have to stake our claim on how that money is appropriated.  We have to file suits, file civil rights complaints, organize town halls, educate the community, push out anti-public education legislators, and most important, protect our children from participating in damaging testing.  I referenced African-Americans and the abuse factor, but I have come to realize that all of America's children are suffering under these abusive and damaging policies.  We literally have to save our children before we lose too many to chronic anxiety, depression, anorexia, dropping-out, massive cheating, and the dumbed-down syndrome.

Finally, if we do indeed drop the state standardized test, what form of testing should we use to best support teachers in assessing the needs of their students?

We need to use national testing in 4th, 8th, and once in high school to inform as to trends and to show a student's performance in relationship to his/her peers.  We have to get back to using the information to design creative and innovative ways to work with all the diversity that comes with students. Never should one assessment be expected to judge the quality of a school, the total capabilities of a student, or the effectiveness of a teacher.  Nor should they be used as a mechanism to destroy public education for the ultimate gain of monetary profit for a few. Instead, we have to accept that the classroom formal and informal assessments that come in a variety of forms are the best indicators for mastery of concepts, processes, and social growth. 

Organize with us today.  OPT OUT OF THE STATE TEST:  The National Movement

OPT OUT of State Testing (letter courtesy of Ceresta Smith)

Please use this letter..modify as needed!!!

To Whom It May Concern:
Please be advised that our child will not be participating in state standardized testing during the current school year. Furthermore, we ask that no record of this testing be part of our child's permanent file, as we do not wish our child to participate in standardized achievement testing for promotion, graduation, or school/state report cards.

We believe the following of forced, high stakes testing:
•Is not scientifically-based and fails to follow the U.S. Government’s own data on learning
•Fosters test driven education that is not meeting the individual/intellectual needs of students
•Presents a racial and economic bias that is beneficial to white middle/upper class students and detrimental to second language students, impoverished students, and students of color
•Violates the United States Constitution’s ESEA Fiscal Fairness Act
•Supports complicity of corporate interests rather than democracy based on public concerns
•Fosters coercion over cooperation with regards to federal funding for public education
•Promotes a culture of lying, cheating, and exploitation within the school community
•Has used the achievement gap to foster a “de facto” segregation that has resulted in separate and unequal education for minorities

We understand that federal law provides the parent or guardian the right of choice regarding standardized testing when such testing violates spiritual beliefs. In contrast to our spiritual beliefs, which are firmly rooted in a moral code that embraces equity and fairness, we believe such testing is not in the best interests of our child since it fosters competition instead of cooperation, contributes to separate and unequal education for minorities, and belies our child’s intellectual, creative, and problem-solving abilities, while presenting a fictitious picture as to the impact of the pedagogy provided by our child’s individual educators.
Ultimately, our state is required to provide our child with an education in a least restrictive environment that does not force us to go against our spiritual beliefs. My child should proceed to learn and develop at an individual pace following education standards that are imparted under the guidance of education professionals, not market-based reformers, who are able to provide quality pedagogy without fear of reprisal if students - who mature at vastly different levels and come from diverse backgrounds that may or may not be supportive of intellectual pursuit - do not hit the bulls’ eye of a constantly moving achievement target.

Therefore, we request that the school provide appropriate learning activities during the testing window and utilize an alternative assessment portfolio or concordant college testing score to fulfill promotion and or graduation requirements, as our child opts out of standardized testing.
Sincerely,

Child’s Name ____________________________________________ ID#_________________________

The Fairy Tale of Fascism

I have struggled with this piece for a week.  I have struggled because my ability to be academic (provide research), follow the rules of word count (preferably 500), and rely on my expert knowledge (I took Political Science 101) to prove that fascism exists in the United States - ha - simply isn't going to happen.  I hear stories of fascism daily, yet no one calls it by name.  I don't need to prove it exists; yet, it seems as though I do.  Perhaps it simply needs an introduction.

Meet Fascism : “a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.” 

What I do know, and rely on quite frequently, is the continued images of fairy tales I see within my life and the lives of others. If you have read my piece “Which is More Important, Wisconsin or Charlie Sheen?” you will see my fascination with fairy tales and real life – the two are inseparable.  Wisconsin is its own fairy tale, filled with conflict, heroes, villains, songs, rhymes and horrors, where we expect – and desperately hope - to see good conquer the evil of fascism.  I am still waiting for the ending and I am still cheering for the heroes in Wisconsin.

I believe that fairy tales allow us to cope, grapple and grasp the events that are occurring in the world. Bruno Bettelheim agrees. I have been observing our country mainly through written stories all year.  It is all I have access to because mainstream media offers me few visual images to further understand the reality of our country. 

Yet, the stories of  fascism abound.  I am going to share a few today and simply throw away my 500-word count, well-researched article.  I’ve defined fascism and the stories will speak for themselves.  The question that remains is the ending.  We have our setting and our characters, who are deeply immersed in the details of the conflict at hand.  We should be fearful of the villains and we should find our fortitude with grace, brilliance and passion, in order to fight what we see.  We should be strategic, smart, agile and eloquent as we move forward together.  We should ultimately regain our freedom as Americans.  I do not mean to downplay the seriousness of fascism in our country.  It is real.  It is alive.  And it is growing. 

If you are in the woods and the big bad wolf is tracking you, slowly, methodically, while you quietly gather herbs - now more quickly - as you hear the distant crack of dead tree limbs on the forest floor behind you, do not run, but slowly look back.  Regain your senses, determine your plan of action and wade across that creek ever so quietly and head home without leaving a scent.  Do not ignore, as this is why the big bad wolf currently grins.  Pay heed.  Return with the strength of your friends, family and community and send the big bad wolf packing.  I would like a happy ending and I would like to go home to America.

These fascist dictators exist in different forms: national standards, politicians, superintendents, chancellors, mayoral control, emergency financial managers, education corporate reformers, and laws used and abused, thanks to think tanks like ALEC.  Misuse of money has allowed fascism to grow by leaps and bounds in our country.

Here are a few stories I have heard in the last few months, which create images of fascism in our country. 

There is the fascist manager, also know as the Emergency Financial Manager. This character has ultimate power. Michigan Messenger states, “Those powers include the ability to nullify collective bargained agreements, imposition of new agreements for those bargaining units which will have effect for as much as five years after the EMF leaves office and the ability for the manager to dissolve local governing bodies of schools and cities. The EMF would also have the power to eliminate any local ordinance or law he or she decides to eliminate.”   

Robert Bobb is the Emergency Financial Manager of Detroit.  He says, ever so powerfully, “If you have the club, you don't have to use it, but you know the time when to use it."  Four cities in Michigan currently have Emergency Financial Managers.

There is Senator Summerville from Tennessee who has plans for education reform.  While standing on the Senate floor he spews venom into the air as he says, “We will bend public education to our awe, or break it all to pieces.”

There is the professor in Wisconsin, William Cronon, who was able to reveal, quite successfully, how the G.O.P. and dictators, such as Walker, are able to write bill after bill after bill, using think tanks such as ALEC to support them in figuring out ways to decrease the power of the middle class and take away services for the needy and the poor.  These bills also keep us busy and often distracted, as we build our house with wood, only to see it get blown down.  We can no longer be distracted.  After Cronon revealed the inner workings of the G.O.P., the republicans held up their mighty sword and requested all of Cronon’s emails under the open record law.

Cronon says in regard to the open records request by Stephan Thompson of the Wisconsin Republican Party, “his open records request seems designed to give him what he hopes will be ammunition he can use to embarrass, undermine, and ultimately silence me.”

We have the common core standards, which were passed practically in the dead of night, while many Americans slept, blissful and unaware of the immense, all encompassing power that these standards could inflict upon our children and our country.  States were softly stroked and offered money, under Race to the Top, in return for accepting the standards, which many did.  Some states accepted the standards in hopes of receiving money, and were instead rejected, left penniless and caged with Hansel.  

Joanne Weiss states, “…the adoption of common standards and shared assessments means that education entrepreneurs will enjoy national markets where the best products can be taken to scale.”  There is money to be made in the land of public education. Education corporate reformers are not here to save the day; they are here to gather gold. This is corporate fascism at its best, devouring the land of equal educational opportunity for all; widening the divide between the rich and the poor. This tale has no ending and the greed grows like The Fisherman and His Wife.

The parents of Seattle recently said something that caught my breath.  They have gathered together to oppose the hiring of 50 Teach for America recruits.  They want their children to be taught by experienced, certified teachers, not teachers with five weeks training who work for cheap.

The parents say, “These are our children. They can’t protect themselves from the whims of the extraordinarily wealthy. They depend on us for that.”  They end with,  “So, we are saying to Bill Gates, Eli Broad, and the rest of the Billionaire Boys. You can’t have our children, and you’ve had just about enough of our money.”

You cannot have our children.  Yet, Rumpelstiltskin is still dancing around the fire.

The gold overflows within the TFA program.  The parents of Seattle are questioning what TFA does “with the hundreds of millions of dollars it collects from donors and taxpayers.”  They say, “We do know that not one cent of TFA money reaches the classroom in the form of equipment, supplies, programs, or projects for kids.”

There is the evil witch, Rhee, who sweeps the broom with such glee and says, “I think if there is one thing I have learned over the last 15 months, it’s that cooperation, collaboration and consensus-building are way overrated.”

We also have heroes and we must pay close attention to their strategies and their noble actions. We must follow their positive lead in order to defeat the fascism that is devouring our Democracy.

I will end with my favorite image of the Democrats in Wisconsin, who moved their desks out windows and onto the Capitol lawn because Dictator Walker illegally blocked access to the Capitol.  Promise me you will click on the link to see the picture of the Democratic Representative from Wisconsin leaning forward, ever so earnestly,  across his desk, as he speaks to a fellow American. The heavy wooden desk sits on the front lawn of the Capitol with the American flag on one side and the Wisconsin flag on the other. If you look in the top right hand corner of the picture you will see the sun, shining down, ever so brightly, on these heroes.  But please don’t smile, close the book and go to sleep, as tempting as it might be.  Please turn to your neighbors, your schools and your communities and get organized to create positive change in our country. And ask yourself, why wasn't this fairy tale shared on every TV channel in our country?

This story is far from over and we will all create the ending, whether we sit and ignore or whether we stand up and take positive action.  Fortitude is a characteristic needed to be a hero.  Fortitude is “mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously.”  Our voices have a right to be heard; this is America.

Advocates of America’s children are organizing the Save our Schools March this summer in Washington D.C., July 28-30; everyone is welcome – students, teachers, parents, community members – please come and stand with us to Save our Schools in D.C. or in your local community. 

The future of America’s children is in jeopardy, and we demand a happy ending.  With fortitude, we demand a Democracy.