Brief Reflections on the March

It's been nearly a week now since the Save Our Schools March in Washington, D.C. I've been thinking a lot about it since then, but for a variety of reasons, haven't managed to write anything. I don't think I've sorted out my thoughts clearly enough yet.

That said, fortunately, others have done a fabulous job writing about the march. So, as I continue to mull my thoughts, here are a few others:

Jose Vilson is a math teacher in New York City and one of the speakers and organizers of the march. In fact his poem at the march was one of the highlights for me.

A few other attendees have managed to get their thoughts organized, quite well thankfully. Tom Hoffman and his wife came down from Providence, Rhode Island and I had the lucky opportunity to meet them briefly early in the day. Tom does an astounding job of synthesizing the day and looking toward the future. Apparently he and Michael Doyle spent most of the march together. Michael writes, and writes exceptionally well, about the idea that it's time to turn things over to the younger folks. Reading his post made me realize that the most inspiring speeches to me were not from the folks I had been excited to see but from the youngsters: Jose, John Kuhn, a superintendent from Texas best known for his letter to state politicians, and Matt Damon. Another blogger and friend in attendance on Saturday was Gary Stager. He has managed to post quite a bit about the march. He wrote about his frustration that so few teachers were there (a frustration I share to some extent), he posted Pedro Noguera's speech, quite a good one, and Diane Ravitch's remarks.

Tim pinpoints some valid concerns about the march and what happens next.

Teacher Tom analyzes some of Matt Damon's remarks and takes a look at the big picture, with resulting fear for our future. He is, as always, thoughtful and passionate.

Ira Socol very clearly explores the concerns many have with our current president's attitudes and actions towards education.

Finally Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Matt Damon's mother, wrote a concise letter to the Boston Globe that clearly states the same frustrations I have felt about media coverage of the event.

More on the March

With less than a week until the Save Our Schools March I'm excited by how much I'm seeing about it on twitter and in my reader. The energy around it is wonderful and exhilarating. It will be absurdly hot next Saturday but I hope folks will turn out, at least for a bit, to show how important this issue is to so many of us.

Deborah Meier, one of my intellectual heroes, will be there. She has been fighting this fight for decades now both in schools and in the public sphere.

In a recent blog post (on her own blog, not Bridging Differences), she writes about the political and financial situation in our country now. She seems to have had hopes, at one point, that she and Tea Partiers might have been able to see eye to eye on some, few things.

But even when the overlap is there, it’s true ONLY about the immediate future of schooling in America. Have to remind myself that schooling is only one part of the jigsaw puzzle—and I got into it sort of by accident and the fight going on today involves all the other agendas that matter to me. Poverty, after all, is best alleviated with money, jobs, power.

She goes on to write quite a bit about the challenges we are facing because of an 'ideological divide' between the few at the top and the rest of us. At the end she voices concern about what our schools and our society are becoming, how much we are expecting students and fellow citizens to comply in many ways.

We need to counter this trend every place we can; we need to praise ornery, feisty resistance—which will sometimes be wrongheaded. We need to arouse anger when its alternative is passivity and withdrawal. We need to look for hope, for alternative paradigms, and for allies—even when it seems utopian to do so.

She gives me hope. If you haven't yet, go and read her words. And, if you can, join us in Washington, D.C. on Saturday!