I am so disappointed that I couldn't make the Save Our Schools conference, but
James Boutin's blog
An Urban Teacher's Education gives a great summary of the event. A parent activist, Karran Harper Royal, explained that, "teaching, in and of itself, is necessarily a political act." Dr. James Martinez criticized "deficit thinking." Martinez's and other SOS discussions about race were especially profound, as was Boutin's observation, "students' capacity for dealing with these issues appropriately, however, is not evaluated on high-stakes tests." Deborah Meier furthered the discourse on race and politics, observing, "we’re more touchy about teaching democracy than teaching sex." Jonathan Kozol was equally quotable, noting that Secretary Duncan's NCLB Waivers are “waivers from existential absurdity.” Nobody
