Fwd: NCLB-SF 4/14 Action Report

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

I dont think I forwarded this at the time; apologies to Rog and everyone else who
was there. It sounds wonderful! Let it inspire you to similar action. Go see your
Congresspeople the next few weeks!

Susan

Begin forwarded message:

  From: Horace B Lucido <hbl04@csufresno.edu>

  Date: Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:43:41 AM US/Pacific

  Subject: NCLB-SF 4/14 Action Report

  Hello fellow EPATA’s,

  Twelve of us left for SF at 5am in a bus intended for 47. After three and a
  half hours of coffee and doughnuts, newspapers, napping and sharing we
  arrived at the Moscone center in SF. A few more from Fresno drove up on their
  own. It was raining. Donning rain gear we met up with Phil Brown and Marla
  Reyes of the Tulare/Kings Uniserve Unit of CTA/NEA. They had brought with
  them Eliminate NCLB protest signs as well as 10,000 glossy handouts for the
  National School Board Association attendees-about 14,000.

   Already with an organizational plan, they spread us out to pass out the
  fliers to those who were arriving on bus, walking from their hotels, and
  traveling to and from sessions. Soon we were joined with representatives from
  SF teachers union, Teachers4Social Justice, Oakland Teachers Union, Dr.Phil
  Kovacs from the Educators Roundtable (http://www.educatorroundtable.org/ ….he
  flew in from Alabama), Lagunita’s school district representatives ( many of
  whom are opting their children out of STAR/NCLB testing ) were there
  too…about 50 of us in all. The vast majority of those we handed fliers to and
  spoke with were very supportive, if not more passionate about eliminating
  NCLB than we were. Commissioner Eric Mar of the San Fracisco School district
  joined us with his support and , with a request from Marla, actually brought
  many fliers inside the convention center to distribute.

  All tolled we passed out about 7,500 fliers. Some of us were asked not to be
  in the area right in front of Moscone North and South. About a dozen or so of
  us were marching in a circle with protest signs. Even though Phil had secured
  permission from the Moscone folks and the police department to
  demonstrate…the police did come. It was about 11am-the time we had already
  planned on ceasing our action anyway.

  I conclude with reflections from some of us on the bus….those who wanted to
  and were awake enough to write:

  The Moscone Center is an impressive place. It reminds me of the United
  Nations building, with all the flags lining the street in front of it. It
  looked like important business was going on inside as the charter busses
  filed in all morning, with people from all over the country heading toward
  the doors. I estimate that each of us that distributed the “Eliminate NCLB”
  fliers, standing in front of the bus exits, contacted about 350 people.

      The charter busses were painted with ads from sponsors who made possible
  some part of the trip (Houghton-Mifflin, Aramark, etc…) and I noticed that as
  people exited the building, bags and badges reflected more or the same
  sponsors. People were weighted down with heavy loads of paper that described
  new programs that were being implemented and added to school days. There was
  apparently a lot of discussion about additional things needed in public
  school in order to comply and carry out the demands of NCLB; more programs,
  more preparation, more material, more material managers and management; they
  were so weighted down that they had no hands available to take our fliers,
  that were not allowed to be distributed inside the building. 

      My mind was on an article by David Mas Masumoto that I had been reading
  on our bus on the way over. It wasn’t about education. It was about pruning;
  about taking away things rather than adding more things. I wish I could have
  met with one of the people getting out of the taxis that would be making the
  big decisions inside and have asked them to read it too. Here is what
  Masumoto says:

     First, he says you must “step back and picture the whole tree, see an
  individual limb in context of the larger tree, envision it as sunlight” and
  if you can’t see the individual trees, he says, you must “prune for light”.
  He says you must do this because “no tree is alike” and we must “respect the
  individuality of each tree”.

   Next, he says you must understand that “pruning works best with shears, not
  chain saws. Sawing relies on having great judgment with a single swoop; but a
  pair of shears offers the potential of hundreds of smaller decisions”.

     Also, Masumoto adds that he must “accept with pruning, the fact that there
  are many, many other factors that affect the final product. Weather plays a
  role with chilling hours, spring rains and summer heat waves, etc…” He writes
  that you must consider, as well, “fertilizer application”; and I thought that
  equally appropriate in our business. Masumoto says that when we prune well;
  that is, remove things impeding growth, we “can see the possible”. I hope
  this was the message we sent Saturday. - Sandra
  Hammond                                                                  

  I am proud to be part of at he small but mighty Fresno contingent. handing
  out flyers together in the pouring rain was a bonding experience. It was
  great marching in front of the Moscone Center along sid teachers from SF,
  Oakland, and Lagunita, too. That was very affirming. We ( educators, parents,
  students and community members ) must all work together to eliminate NCLB for
  the sake of our children, public education and our profession.-Karen
  Westersund

  This was an amazing and gratifying experience not only because of the
  commitment of those of us picketing and handing out fliers but because of the
  people we approached. Although we were all exhausted we were also energized
  by the response. I am honored to have participated.-Elaine Garan 

  We were surprised and encouraged by the amount of people who agreed with us.
  School board members and suuperintendents alike told us that they were with
  us and that they could support any effort to do away with NCLB.-Shawna
  Haymond

  We were surprised by a Houthton-Mifflin rep. who informed us at Birney that
  we needed to write and/or e-mail our Congressman George Miller. We teachers
  need to express our disgust with NCLB and all the high-risk testing. This
  would really make a difference.- Janice Leppke, Rosie Wasser

  Regards,

  Rog

  Rog ( Horace ) Lucido, Physics Instructor, Ret.

  Program Evaluator

  Adjunct Faculty, Fresno Pacific University

  Educational Consultant

  Educators and Parents Against Testing Abuse ( EPATA )

  Assessment Reform Network Central Valley Coordinator

  Phone: 559-277-1312

  Cell: 559-355-4215

  email: lucid4@cvip.net

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