This Is Not A Test, New York Edition [Thanks, NYCoRE]
First, let me thank the New York Coalition of Radical Educators for putting me on. When they originally asked me to come on, they wanted me to do “This Is Not A Test,” the poem, but the urgency of now called. Without further delay, here’s the video from this past weekend. (Special shout-out toNorm Scott for the video.)
Welcome, New York, to the latest installment of a people’s march
For the next four minutes, I will ask you to defy protocol
Disband the status quo
Bust open these deformed gates
Unlock the teachers’ lounge
Unlock the teachers’ lounge
Unlock the teachers’ lounge
I beg your pardon, but I am not your proctor
I march with the protestors, and our hands are raised,
A pledge for a new narrative
This is not a test!
For the next four minutes, I will ask you to defy protocol
Disband the status quo
Bust open these deformed gates
Unlock the teachers’ lounge
Unlock the teachers’ lounge
Unlock the teachers’ lounge
I beg your pardon, but I am not your proctor
I march with the protestors, and our hands are raised,
A pledge for a new narrative
This is not a test!
This is not a test, Mr. Duncan.
This is an assessment written against the idea that the dates and places of our history
Can be shrunk to the choice between B and C
And that is our purpose for this assembly
An extended response to a failing corporatist agenda
A reflection on the state of our most public of options
Measured through the rubric of human rights
But this is not a test!
This is an assessment written against the idea that the dates and places of our history
Can be shrunk to the choice between B and C
And that is our purpose for this assembly
An extended response to a failing corporatist agenda
A reflection on the state of our most public of options
Measured through the rubric of human rights
But this is not a test!
This is not a test, Ms. Tisch
Take note: this is not us asking
This is not us begging
This is not us pleading
This is us fighting for all things equal
This is us uniting as a more perfect union
This is us reminding New York of a promissory note unpaid
This is us writing our own documentation when politicians refuse our kids the
opportunity
We are all DREAMers, and this is not a test!
Take note: this is not us asking
This is not us begging
This is not us pleading
This is us fighting for all things equal
This is us uniting as a more perfect union
This is us reminding New York of a promissory note unpaid
This is us writing our own documentation when politicians refuse our kids the
opportunity
We are all DREAMers, and this is not a test!
This is the generation of children from the classrooms
where teachers boldly stood and thought kids could learn
Educators, stand firm, whether in cafeterias, mess halls, or prison halls,
School is in session
And we submit our entire lives for millions of students This Is Not A Test, New York Edition [Thanks, NYCoRE] | The Jose Vilson:
where teachers boldly stood and thought kids could learn
Educators, stand firm, whether in cafeterias, mess halls, or prison halls,
School is in session
And we submit our entire lives for millions of students This Is Not A Test, New York Edition [Thanks, NYCoRE] | The Jose Vilson: