U.S. Dept. of Ed. Protesters Turn Fierce Rhetoric on 'Corporate' Reform
Washington
As they kicked off four days of protests at the U.S. Department of Education, organizers of Occupy DOE 2.0 today used inflammatory—and, in one case, racially insulting—rhetoric to rally opposition against high-stakes testing, "corporate" education reform, and the "dismantling of public education."
Standing in front of the Education Department's headquarters in downtown Washington, Miami-Dade County teacher Ceresta Smith referred to former District of Columbia Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee—founder and CEO of the advocacy group StudentsFirst—as an "Asian bitch."
Another organizer, former teacher Shaun Johnson, called teachers "meek" and urged them to start speaking up, "cracking skulls," and losing their jobs in protest of policies they say are destroying public schools.
United Opt Out National, which hosted the Occupy DOE event, held a similar event a year ago. Both are offshoots of the Save Our Schools march in 2011.
This year's event, set to include a march to the White House on Saturday, drew a couple dozen people on its opening morning. Attendees later in the day heard from speakers
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