Student Prepares for Hunger Strike for Democracy in Education
On Friday I asked the question "Who gets to decide what is taught in our schools?" and suggested that teachers and students ought to have the biggest role in these decisions. Today I am sharing the thoughts of a passionate young person who is determined that students be given a larger role, and that schools be run more democratically.
Guest post by Neil Muscat.
From a young age, my passion was reading. While other kids became interested in sports, my idea of a fun day was to browse the 125th street New York Public Library. Although since those days, I have become a digital addict and read books less frequently than I would like, my interests remain mostly intellectual. The one constant in my passions throughout my life has been an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, for LEARNING- whether it be through books, museums, or absent-minded surfing through Wikipedia.
You would think somebody as nerdy as I would enjoy school. But as time wore on, I found it increasingly unpleasant. This was in the early 2000s, when No Child Left Behind had just been implemented and standardized testing was the Next Big Thing. I attended a free-wheeling and diverse elementary school which tried to make learning fun. Its philosophy was completely at odds with the wave of standardized tests about to overtake New York City. I remember fear and panic sweeping through the classroom. It seemed wrong that some distant official whom none of us actually knew could so affect our lives. I inherited a particular dislike for Joel Klein, who I understood was a major proponent of the new testing regime. Ironically, I've always received high test scores; and I'm the not-so proud recipient of several testing awards. But there was one conviction I have