HomeBlogA Call to Action Kathleen Jasper July 1, 2014 7 Comments I recently had a conference call with a group of people I will have the pleasure of sharing the stage with for the upcoming Fathom event created by Glenn Beck and the BLAZE called We Will Not Conform. This is a solutions-based panel discussion that will be broadcasted all over the country in participating theaters on July 22. As we talked and prepared for the event, I agreed with the team that parents and community members should follow the money and research the major corporations and players involved in testing and Common Core. I also nodded to myself when petitioning the local school board and even writing letters to state reps was discussed. I mean that’s the correct away to do things; that’s following protocol. Then it occurred to me mid-conversation that all of these measures, although well-intended, have been completely ineffective. Something bigger, bolder and more impactful had to be done. When it was my turn, I was asked, “What can people do, Kathleen?” “It’s simple,” I said. “They must boycott the tests.” I suspected from the silence on the other end of the line my team members might be thinking I had lost my mind. Boycotting is something most people are unwilling to do. Raging against the machine running education for the last 20 years is an arduous feet. Just when I thought the line was dead, someone finally said, “don’t you think we should ease into that? I mean telling people to boycott their state tests may scare people.” He was right; that would scare people. Most would rather follow the rules. Case in point: we were all on the phone preparing for an event called We Will Not Conform and I had spent most of the conversation discussing ways to engage in safe, benign ways to make change. How many more board meetings am I going to attend before I see that these actionable steps are worthless and a complete waste of time. When I was employed with the district as an assistant principal I talked to my team about testing and how we can reduce the amount of high-stakes assessments. Nothing was done. Then I talked to district administration and I was told to do my job and keep my mouth shut. So I quit and started a forum called ConversationED. I worked on educating people on the issues while I petitioned the school board and the superintendent about testing. Still nothing was done. I’ve written letters, and blogs; I’ve even gone on national tv. NOTHING. The problem was I had disregarded my history and the foundations of earth shattering movements of the past. How could I have forgotten Henry Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, Gandhi’s Salt March, The Montgomery Bus Boycott, Tiananmen Square, Kent State? Testing companies, Jeb Bush and Bill Gates have a lot of money riding on accountability measures and testing mandates. They won’t give up easily on the hundreds of millions of dollars generated each year from high-stakes tests. They’re going to fight for their profits and they will push district, state, and federal officials to push back against us. Drastic times – stopping Pearson, Achieve, The Gates Foundation and other giant conglomerates – call for drastic measures. We have to exercise our civil disobedience. When we’re angry at Wal-Mart for outsourcing production to children in China, we boycott those products until Wal-Mart changes their practices. When we are angry about the amount of trans fats in our food, we boycott staples from our pantry until an entire food industry changes to meet our demands. Change is made actively. Every parent, teacher and student should know the word boycott and be prepared to take action. It’s uncomfortable, it’s inconvenient and it’s completely terrifying. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. As Cindy Hamilton from Opt Out Orlando – an organization dedicated to helping parents and students exercise their rights regarding high-stakes testing – says, “The machine is fueled by tests. To stop the machine you must stop the fuel. Boycotting the test is the only way.” We have to stop spinning our wheels and commit to a grassroots, community-based approach to this situation. We must connect with other parents who are outraged at what is happening and organize, plan and execute a boycott in our area this year. The good news is we will help you! On August 24th ConversationED, in conjunction with Opt Out Orlando, will be hosting a free webinar called BOYCOTT where we will educate parents and students how to organize locally, how to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and how to boycott unnecessary tests that only fuel the machine. If you’re ready to take a stand and take your children back from a system that exploits them, join us. 7 Responses Annmarie Ferry July 14, 2014 Being a rule-follower myself, this makes me completely uncomfortable. I hate stirring the pot, but I agree that playing nice isn’t cutting it. Reply Matt July 23, 2014 I agree with Annmarie! I am one of those “what if people”. Ever since I can remember I have always thought about the consequences first. However, I love my children, and I love my country. It is time to make some of those uncomfortable decisions! Reply Jim Oase July 23, 2014 After decades of being punished for pursuing an education of their choice the Separatists of England, with the threat of war looming large put their life’s on the line once more and crossed a stormy ocean to face life ending cold, starvation, and the unknown of the New World. History, the great maps of mankind, shows that individuals seeking to do the right thing for themselves and their family began to come together to lay the formation of the United States; ethics, morality, integrity and a rich knowledge of history even before John Calvin and his followers published their mind changing Geneva Bible in 1560. The 1620 arrival in the New World begin a new series of trials of their faith, more starvation, poor harvests from collective farming, courage to switch to individual property rights, an increasing dependence on education, the challenges of creating cities, creating infrastructure while guarding against the frailties man’s human nature to control another. The eternal battle with man’s human nature to control another resulted in our forefathers putting their life’s on the line with these words “to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them”. Our forefathers believed we had a strong enough common core of ethics, morality, integrity and knowledge of history to form our own country and govern ourselves. “And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” The pursuit of freedom of education based on a common core brought us to founding of a country. “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union………do ordain and establish…” a nation built on foundation with four corner stones, ethics, morality, integrity and a rich understanding of history. History because a nation that does not know what it stands for cannot know what its about or where it’s heading. Without knowing history to tell us about the pitfalls of the temptations to have Man’s laws replace Nature’s Laws how will our children know not to follow the yellow brick road to utopia? Without history how will our children learn the faith needed to continue on the road less traveled? Without proper preparation the next generation faces extinction. Man has passed compulsory education laws taking the natural right of parents to see to the education of their offsprings in preparation for parenthood and given that right to the state as if a return to the Dark Ages when the elite controlled the education of the masses. History puts down bread crumbs for those with wisdom to see and understand. The level of public education has continuously fallen for over nearly 100 years. Our cities shinning cities, built on the fruits of individual educations are crumbling into bankruptcy. People are moving away from the infestation of ignorance. We stopped training the specialists to create new products so industry, responding to the need to serve others, has moved away from the United States for their products. An elite group has built a $5 billion dollar annual industry on the backs of compulsory customers, our children the next generation of parents. The short term result is the goose that lays the golden egg for the greedy. The long term result has been repeated though out history, public loss of freedom. Pull the rug out from under this $5 billion dollar industry, repeal compulsory education in your state. Take charge of your education and the education of our children, take the road less traveled and it will make all the difference. Reply Kristen July 15, 2014 It is time to stop talking and take action. I am ever so weary of the constant calls to educate the parents plus the endless venting of rage and frustration to people (educators, administrators, and school board members) who do not possess the power to change the situation. If the vast majority of children fail to show up on testing day, the “powers that be” might start to get a clue. Reply Judy July 15, 2014 This is a great idea Getting parents on board is the problem. Too many, even concerned parents go along to get along. Reply Tree Trimmer Jim July 18, 2014 The premise for committing to standardized testing and common core is compulsory government controlled education. Freedom of education, motivating factor for settling Plymouth Rock, is not a legal choice for parents in 21st century United States. Man’s law replaces Nature’s law, by law the state assumes the responsible for preparing children to become parents, not their parents. Compulsory education’s evolving goal is perfecting the mass production of education via standardization of curriculums, therefore testing, at a time when individuals the world over increasingly need specialists educations. iPads have replaced pencils. To make an iPad requires many times more specialists compared to a pencil and the replacement for the iPad will continue that trend at exactly the same time compulsory education is preparing to graduate fewer specialists. If each state repeals compulsory education laws, local needs and free enterprise will determine the curriculum and proof of performance testing. Testing will turn into community feedback to insure that individuals are being best served in that community. Colleges and universities need students as much as students need them. Institution of higher learning extend the wide range of educations of students who will arrive at these institutions with wider and often changing needs. Perhaps you find it ironic that compulsory education has moved away from teaching the original common core; ethics, morality, integrity and a knowledge of history at all levels, local to world when mutual trust is increasingly important. Man’s increasing dependence on specialists also increases man’s dependence on our common core. Without mutual trust we can not produce our simplest needs. Reply Dean July 23, 2014 “Opt out of the tests.” – The best advice from the “We Will Not Comply” event. The CC Corps has a defense established at all the more moderate points of attack. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published. Name* Email* Website Comment Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Annmarie Ferry July 14, 2014 Being a rule-follower myself, this makes me completely uncomfortable. I hate stirring the pot, but I agree that playing nice isn’t cutting it. Reply
Matt July 23, 2014 I agree with Annmarie! I am one of those “what if people”. Ever since I can remember I have always thought about the consequences first. However, I love my children, and I love my country. It is time to make some of those uncomfortable decisions! Reply
Jim Oase July 23, 2014 After decades of being punished for pursuing an education of their choice the Separatists of England, with the threat of war looming large put their life’s on the line once more and crossed a stormy ocean to face life ending cold, starvation, and the unknown of the New World. History, the great maps of mankind, shows that individuals seeking to do the right thing for themselves and their family began to come together to lay the formation of the United States; ethics, morality, integrity and a rich knowledge of history even before John Calvin and his followers published their mind changing Geneva Bible in 1560. The 1620 arrival in the New World begin a new series of trials of their faith, more starvation, poor harvests from collective farming, courage to switch to individual property rights, an increasing dependence on education, the challenges of creating cities, creating infrastructure while guarding against the frailties man’s human nature to control another. The eternal battle with man’s human nature to control another resulted in our forefathers putting their life’s on the line with these words “to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them”. Our forefathers believed we had a strong enough common core of ethics, morality, integrity and knowledge of history to form our own country and govern ourselves. “And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” The pursuit of freedom of education based on a common core brought us to founding of a country. “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union………do ordain and establish…” a nation built on foundation with four corner stones, ethics, morality, integrity and a rich understanding of history. History because a nation that does not know what it stands for cannot know what its about or where it’s heading. Without knowing history to tell us about the pitfalls of the temptations to have Man’s laws replace Nature’s Laws how will our children know not to follow the yellow brick road to utopia? Without history how will our children learn the faith needed to continue on the road less traveled? Without proper preparation the next generation faces extinction. Man has passed compulsory education laws taking the natural right of parents to see to the education of their offsprings in preparation for parenthood and given that right to the state as if a return to the Dark Ages when the elite controlled the education of the masses. History puts down bread crumbs for those with wisdom to see and understand. The level of public education has continuously fallen for over nearly 100 years. Our cities shinning cities, built on the fruits of individual educations are crumbling into bankruptcy. People are moving away from the infestation of ignorance. We stopped training the specialists to create new products so industry, responding to the need to serve others, has moved away from the United States for their products. An elite group has built a $5 billion dollar annual industry on the backs of compulsory customers, our children the next generation of parents. The short term result is the goose that lays the golden egg for the greedy. The long term result has been repeated though out history, public loss of freedom. Pull the rug out from under this $5 billion dollar industry, repeal compulsory education in your state. Take charge of your education and the education of our children, take the road less traveled and it will make all the difference. Reply
Kristen July 15, 2014 It is time to stop talking and take action. I am ever so weary of the constant calls to educate the parents plus the endless venting of rage and frustration to people (educators, administrators, and school board members) who do not possess the power to change the situation. If the vast majority of children fail to show up on testing day, the “powers that be” might start to get a clue. Reply
Judy July 15, 2014 This is a great idea Getting parents on board is the problem. Too many, even concerned parents go along to get along. Reply
Tree Trimmer Jim July 18, 2014 The premise for committing to standardized testing and common core is compulsory government controlled education. Freedom of education, motivating factor for settling Plymouth Rock, is not a legal choice for parents in 21st century United States. Man’s law replaces Nature’s law, by law the state assumes the responsible for preparing children to become parents, not their parents. Compulsory education’s evolving goal is perfecting the mass production of education via standardization of curriculums, therefore testing, at a time when individuals the world over increasingly need specialists educations. iPads have replaced pencils. To make an iPad requires many times more specialists compared to a pencil and the replacement for the iPad will continue that trend at exactly the same time compulsory education is preparing to graduate fewer specialists. If each state repeals compulsory education laws, local needs and free enterprise will determine the curriculum and proof of performance testing. Testing will turn into community feedback to insure that individuals are being best served in that community. Colleges and universities need students as much as students need them. Institution of higher learning extend the wide range of educations of students who will arrive at these institutions with wider and often changing needs. Perhaps you find it ironic that compulsory education has moved away from teaching the original common core; ethics, morality, integrity and a knowledge of history at all levels, local to world when mutual trust is increasingly important. Man’s increasing dependence on specialists also increases man’s dependence on our common core. Without mutual trust we can not produce our simplest needs. Reply
Dean July 23, 2014 “Opt out of the tests.” – The best advice from the “We Will Not Comply” event. The CC Corps has a defense established at all the more moderate points of attack. Reply
