Saturday, October 17, 2015

Today: Jia Lee, Jamaal Bowman, Michael Flanagan and others Headline Oct. 17 Ed Justice Conference

Jamaal Bowman: Incredibly blessed to be a part of tomorrow. Almost 600 strong working on the most important issues in and related to education. Another major step toward the schools and society that we and our children deserve. It's on! 
Jia Lee, a non-stop energizer bunny who is all over the place, is helping headline this conference. I'm so sad to miss this today.

There has been no greater fighter against the deformers than Jia, who has the support of teachers and many parents who have deep outreach into the schools.


Call to Educational Justice!! Lean In for this NYC Conference

Daiyu Suzuki, Jia Lee, Jamaal Bowman, Michael Flanagan, Hugh Jordine

Saturday, October 17, 2015 from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM (EDT)

New York, NY




In New York State, the implementation of Common Core and high stakes testing have created unprecedented inequity. Test and punish policies disproportionately effect students of color, students with disabilities, English Language Learners and students living in poverty. School communities, from early childhood to higher education, survive on varying spectrums of the public school system, the most dire being school closures in the poorest communities. The root forces of compliance based policies and unyielding standardization have left very little room for common sense in collaborative problem solving. Parents, students, teachers, administrators, professors and concerned citizens have pulled together to uncover, expose and demand the source of inequities be put to an end.


In the last twenty years, we have faced unprecedented policies that clearly indicate strong market forces vying for public school dollars. These policies have not lead to results! Our communities continue to be downtrodden, our students continue to suffer, and parents continue to be silenced. The time is now to come together. Parents, teachers, students and community activist need to come together as one collective voice to impact how public education moves forward in the 21st century. We need all of you at the table for this historic event. 
JOIN US for this strategy focused day to discuss, connect the issues and strategize to push back against:

Profit driven privatization, top-down & oppressive decision making at all levels of education
Test Driven, rather than student driven, instruction and programming
Teacher evaluations based on high stakes standardized tests & Demonization of the teacher’s union
Increasing segregation in our public schools 
Activism is sparking in many different ways to empower public school stakeholders. The unforeseen consequences of privatization efforts have led to resistance in pockets throughout the city. The opt out movement, restorative justice practices and joined efforts to engage our elected officials are just a few. At the same time, there’s a sense of urgency to build a citywide community movement.

In an effort to enact true democratic decision making, the grassroots organizations from around the city and state will begin the 2015-2016 school year by joining together in a conference. Registrants will receive the full agenda. We need you there!
     

No comments: