Diane Ravitch's speech at the May 17 Take Back our Schools Rally
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| Diane wearing her BAT tee-shirt in rehab |
There was a great rally at City Hall Park on May 17, organized by SOS Our Schools, with numerous wonderful speakers from the Tri-state area. But the biggest thrill for me was getting to read Diane Ravitch's speech, who could not attend because she is in rehab after knee surgery. Here is her speech. Thank you Diane, our Superwoman, our inspiration, and our patron saint, for allowing me to speak your words.
Thank you, Leonie, for agreeing to deliver this message on my behalf.
There is only one thing that could keep me from being with you today, and that one thing is surgery. And that one thing happened. I had major knee replacement on May 9, and I am rehab right now. Actually, I am not so far away---maybe a mile away—so if you make enough noise, I will hear you.
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| Me trying to do justice to Diane's words |
Try it: if you hate tests that make children cry, shout out loud, shout NO MORE!
If you think that children spend too many hours getting tested, shout NO MORE!
If you think that children should not be forced to spend taking six hours to take tests in reading and math, shout NO MORE!
If you think that teachers should write their own tests, instead of Pearson getting $32 million to write lousy tests, shout NO MORE!
If you hate the idea that the city has to pay rent for schools run by billionaires, shout NO MORE!
If you think that charters should pay their own rent, shout NO MORE!
If you think that co-locations are a terrible idea, shout NO MORE!
If you hate the idea that teachers are judged by the test scores of their students, shout NO MORE!
If you think that Pearson and Google and other corporations should stop data mining our children and invading their privacy, shout NO MORE!
If you think that your child is a child, not a data point, shout NO MORE!
If you care more about your child’s health and happiness than their test scores, shout NO MORE!
Thank you, I heard you, I was listening and I heard you.
We know what the billionaires, the hedge fund managers, Bill Gates, DFER and Governor Cuomo want for our children. They want them in boot camps where they are tested nonstop. They want our teachers harassed until they quit and are replaced by TFA. They want us to give up on public education and allow them to monetize our schools and our children.
Do you want this to happen? NO MORE! NO MORE!
Let’s talk about what we want for our children and our grandchildren.
We want them to have the same things that Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg and the hedge fund managers want NYC Public School Parents: Diane Ravitch's speech at the May 17 Take Back our Schools Rally: