Teachers: A Call to Conscience
“My conscience leaves me no other choice.”- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
On April 4th, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his “Beyond Vietnam”speech, declaring “My conscience leaves me no other choice.” Dr. King went on and “insisted that it was morally imperative for the U.S. to take radical steps to halt the war through nonviolent means (King, ‘‘Beyond Vietnam,’’ 139). In a Q & A following his speech, Dr. King said:
As I said earlier in the speech, I think the time has come for those of us feel that this war is immoral and unjust to advise young men of the alternative to the draft, which is to serve as conscientious objector. I think this will do a great deal to arouse the conscience of the nation on this whole situation, and certainly if the war is continually escalated I think this will be absolutely necessary. – Dr. King
In a letter to a Navy friend written in 1965, John F. Kennedy wrote on the topic of conscientious objection:
War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector
enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today. ~ John F. Kennedy, Letter to a Navy friend, quoted in Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965), p. 88.
Through No Child Left Behind, through Common Core and its subsequent tests; our own Congress, the US Department of Education, the National Governor’s Association, and the Council for State School Officers have joined corporate education reformers declaring war on America’s public schools. (This war is actually global.)
As a result of this declaration of war – aligned with the passions ofconscientious objectors of previous wars, a spark was lit in the hearts and minds of teachers. As teachers, we passionately object to the way testing dominates and distorts instruction and learning for children, preventing teachers from teaching in ways we know are good for children.
A new movement has risen in the Teachers’ Letters of Professional Conscience. We believe it is morally imperative to take radical steps to halt toxic high stakes testing around the globe. We write these letters to arouse the conscience of each nation and believe our actions are absolutely necessary.
A re-write of JFK’s quote is meant to inspire our movement:
Governmental and corporate-led war on public schools will exist until that distant day when the Teacher of Professional Conscience enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the corporate reformer does today.~ Susan DuFresne
On January 28th, 6th grade teacher, Becca Ritchie delivered her letter of professional conscience to our local school board, re-writing and speaking her words echoing Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech, as found here.
“Remember that fear is natural, but there is greater fear in knowing what will happen if we don’t take a stand.”- Jia Lee
Taking this step is a serious matter, and as you can see by the expression on our faces, we knew the seriousness of putting our objections into words, and Teachers: A Call to Conscience | Teachers' Letters of Professional Conscience: