Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/34960
ation member Anthony Cody, a blogger for Education Week, is one of 15 teachers, parents and labor representatives serving on the national organizing committee. Cody is known for his Letters to Obama project, in which he collected letters from teachers around the country expressing their con- cerns over the demise of public education. One of the teachers who submitted a letter was Jes- se Turner, a reading instructor from Connecticut, who walked 600 miles to Washington to personally deliver a message of protest. Cody says Turner’s commitment was the “catalyst” for the Washington event, which he hopes wi ll draw thousands of peo- ple from across the country. “We see a lot of harm being done to our students as a result of educa- tion policies in place, and we want a dramatic turn in direc- tion,” says Cody, who conducts professional development in the Oakland Unified School Dis- trict. “We are concerned that politicians judge schools, teach- ers and students primarily on test scores. We are concerned about the mistaken belief that the way to improve schools is la- beling them as failures and clos- ing them down. We are con- cerned about the unlimited ex- pansion of charter schools, often at the expense of public schools. We think an overreliance on test scores and test score data has greatly narrowed curriculum at many of our schools and alien- ated students from what learning is supposed to be all about.” The Washington rally co- incides with the Save Our Schools Conference planned for educators, parents and the general public July 28-31 at Americ an Universi ty in Washington, featuring nu- merous workshops, strategy sessions and an education film festival. Volunteers are needed to Matt Damon provide assistance during the four days of activities in the nation’s capital. The Fundrais- ing Committee needs individ- uals to appeal to organizations and individuals for donations. The Ad- vocacy Committee is seeking volun- teers who can help draft messages to the White House, Congress and the U.S. Department of Educat ion — as well as blog and write letters to the editor about issues and events. People are also needed to work on drafting lo- cal and state resolutions in support of alternatives to No Child Left Behind. For more informat ion, vi si t save ourschoolsmarch.org. Student CTA members and California Save Our Schools activists are co-sponsoring the rally in Sacramento on July 30 as an alternative for people who can’t make the trek to Washington. “I really wanted to be in D.C., but as a student, I don’t have the financial capacity to get there,” says Amy Mayfield, president of the Student CTA chapter at CSU Chico and or- ganizer of the Sacramento event. “We are trying to en- courage organizational and JUNE 2011 | www.cta.org 23 public involvement using Facebook. We are trying to send out a positive message that teachers have voices, and should be more in charge of what goes on in the class- room.” You can find more in- formation at www.facebook. com/SOSMarchCA. Mollie Servatius, a member of United Educators of San Francis- co, is also coordinating the Sacra- mento event and serves as the California liaison of the national Save Our Schools campaign. “There are complex issues we are experiencing in education these days,” says Serva tius, a teacher at Paul Revere Elementa- ry School. “It’s very easy to be a bystander. But we need the public to get involved so that changes ABOVE: Author Jonathan Kozol will speak at the Save Our Schools March in Washington. can be made. Together, we can create positive learning condi- tions for our students.” SHERRY POSNICK-GOODWIN