An Interview With Dr. Yohuru Williams on Corporate Education Reform: 'We Aren't Buying It."
Teachers from across the nation stood in solidarity on July 27, 2014, using their voices to speak out about many of the issues plaguing the nation's public education system. The mood at the front entrance of the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., was one of hope at times, with teachers sharing inspiring stories of the progress they are making with their students, despite the onslaught of high-stakes testing and unrealistic demands placed upon them. At others times, the mood was solemn when parents, voices breaking when they became emotional, shared their stories of neighborhoods being completely dismantled due to public school closures when charter schools were erected, pushing all sense of community to the side. Perhaps the most heartbreaking accounts of that day were the students who spoke from the platform at the front entrance of the U.S. Department of Education, pleading with policy makers to please bring back the joy of learning.
Dr. Yohuru Williams, BAT activist, and Professor of History at Fairfield University, was one of the keynote speakers that day. As he delivered a speech directed to Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, who was sitting in his office several floors above the front entrance, the teachers, parents, students, and concerned citizens of the crowd rallied around his message. Dr. Williams delivered his speech, highlighting many of the ways corporations and billionaires continue to destroy public education through "reform" tactics, which are in fact, causing re-segregation in communities, pushing highly-qualified teachers out of the profession, and reducing our nation's youth to merely test scores.
This past week I reached out to Dr. Williams and asked for further commentary on several of the points he made during his speech at the U.S. Department of Education that day. As millions of teachers and students head back to school in the upcoming weeks, Dr. Williams wanted to inspire public educators, despite the many hardships they face, to find a way to become more involved, on the activist front, in this war on public education.
Below are four italicized pieces of Dr. William's public address to Arne Duncan, followed by his message to teachers as they begin a new academic year.
"Mr. Duncan, you should know that the educators who make up the BATS live by three principles: People over Profits, Parity over Charity, and Choice over Chance--because if you let the people decide the future of public education we would spare no expense to ensure that our children had access to the highest quality of instruction, in the safest spaces, with a full complement of courses and counseling, health and An Interview With Dr. Yohuru Williams on Corporate Education Reform: 'We Aren't Buying It." | M. Shannon Hernandez:
