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ACTION EDUCATION • SOS March Builds Pushback to Corporate Reform
Purchase a PDF of this article Pushing back against sustained attacks on teachers and public education, thousands of educators, parents, and activists came to Washington, D.C., July 28–31 to “Save Our Schools.” They responded to the SOS National Call to Action by attending a two-day conference, a spirited rally and march to the White House, and a post-rally congress to build on what they started.
The call to action focused on four core demands:
- Equitable funding for all public school communities
- An end to high-stakes testing for student, teacher, and school evaluation
- Curriculum developed for and by local school communities
- Teacher and community leadership in forming public education policies
The SOS mobilization reflected growing opposition to the corporate reform agenda of testing, teacher bashing, and privatization. It drew strength over the past year from several sources:
Photo: Rick Reinhard
Save Our Schools rally and speakers (clockwise from left) Jonathan Kozol,
Deborah Meier, Angela Valenzuela and Pedro Noguera
- A corporate reform offensive, headlined by the pro-charter propaganda film Waiting for “Superman” and fueled by barrels of hedge fund money, spurred many to support the SOS call for a national mobilization to defend public education.
- The SOS effort made effective use of the web and social media. A core of knowledgeable education bloggers, led by veteran teachers Anthony Cody, Nancy Flanagan, and Ken (“teacherken”) Bernstein regularly refuted “reformy” propaganda. Multiple twitter accounts, Facebook pages, and SOS logos spread the word.
- When the corporate offensive turned into multi-state attacks on collective bargaining, public worker benefits, and teachers’ job rights, the stakes and pressure for political fightback rose. Rebellion in Wisconsin and resistance in Ohio, New Jersey, and elsewhere helped push the national teachers’ unions to endorse the SOS march, although the alliance was tenuous on both sides and the NEA and AFT did not turn out large numbers in July.
- A growing number of well-known, respected advocates for public education, led by Diane Ravitch, threw their support behind the effort, including Jonathan Kozol, Linda Darling-Hammond, Pedro Noguera, Angela Valenzuela, and Nancy Carlsson-Paige. Actor Matt Damon added media visibility and celebrity star power.
- The newly formed Parents Across America network signed on and broadened the project’s base and outreach.
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