May 2015 PSSA's scores altered by Pennsylvania State Board of Education July's Immediate Implementation on Higher Standards

If they don't stop the madness and assault on public education there is going to be a major uproar. In May 2015 our students took the PSSA's, Pennsylvania System School Assessment and thanks to the State Board of Education most of those students who scored proficient are now ranked basic and those who scored basic are now failing because the standards to grade those test were altered in July by the Pennsylvania State Board of Education. You can learn more about the cut scores on the state board of education association website: https://www.psba.org/2015/07/state-board-of-education-approves-new-pssa-cut-scores/ By the way this test assess the school and not the students achievement.

There is a social justice movement that needs parents to join and use their power to demand public education that is not dictated by a test versus education dictated by the needs and desires of the demographics in which the school district serves. The challenge is the parents affected by this dismantling process are also affected by high stressful lifestyles and this doesn't mean that all these parents come from stressed communities. Some of these parents have youth with special needs and that can be stressful. Another challenge is the divide and conquer tactics implemented by our political leaders elected and in the church. wish we could get all the parents to examine the facts and together with trained educators, come up with education policies and methods that they would like for their families. Dr. Maria Montessori connected with the most vulnerable members of our society with caring developmentally appropriate practices. Various educational practices are documented i don't understand why the government of our country feel a need to reinvent the wheel and treat us like lab rats. Please join the movement for fair funding and an end to teaching to the test!! http://unitedoptout.com/

Whose teaching in our schools? What are their qualifications? Do we want that person or subject in our schools? Parents we have the power to ask and get answers to these questions. let's exercise our rights and get vested in our schools and family development. The public school house is a great resource let's not let the public school house vanish just for us to fight to get the resource back. http://www.blackagendareport.com/privatizing-teacher-hiring

Seattle Education prints Schools Matter findings about the KIPP charter chain's connection with torture adviser Marty Seligman.https://goo.gl/4aQtaC

Strawberry Mansion Education Forum Tuesday, July 7, 2015

on tuesday, july 7,  2015 Dr. Jesse Turner walked into Pennsylvania from New Jeresy as part of his walk from conn. to d.c. to raise awareness of teaching to the test. Alison and i organized a day of events for Jesse to hear stories that will help him connect the states on the issue of teaching to a nothing test and privatizing our public schools.

great day of advocating with parents, students, educators and concerned citizens. our goal is to get the message out about opt out options and to empower parents and build strong parent/teacher relationships that support the growth of our students. supporting Dr. Turner was a no brainer, we are on the same path with different starting points able to work in solidarity, grassroots citizens advocacy on display!! 

the day concluded with an education forum in strawberry mansion at mander playground on the baseball field. powerful informative forum thanks to Dr. Jesse Turner, Alison, Tonya, Ms. Ruth, Ms. Jackie, Antaiwn and educator Amy. our community partner North East Treatment Center under the direction of Ms. Carly assisted with feeding those in attendance and shared some great resources with us. Stan from Neighborhood Network, shared about political organizing and Anna from 15Now spoke on the need for living wages. Block captain Rodney Busch also assisted with food and water 

for the event. Ms. Sherri from Strawberry Mansion Community Network secured the baseball field for us!!

Charter schools are a scam as Ms. Ruth who shared her experience educating at Fedrick Douglas. Fredrick Douglas school was setup to fail and be turned over to an EMO such as Young Scholars. Young Scholars failed and was denied renewal from the SRC but didn't want to go through public embarassment so they illegally transferred the school to another EMO, Mastery Charter school. Ms. Jackie shared the failing scores of both schools and the need to have people from our demographics and culture as educators in our classrooms.

The weeks before the forum Anna and i along with other canvassers from 15 NOW door knocked and invited the community to the forum. none of the neighbors whose doors we knocked on attended the forum but we were able to connect with nine families and network amongst each other and that equals success!! 

to learn more about your right to opt out please visit http://www.workingeducators.org/announcing_our_opt_out_toolkit

here are several more articles talking about the poor scores on the 2014-2015 PSSA test in pennsylvania. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/04/29/the-scary-way-common-core-test-cut-scores-are-selected/

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/84114-pa-says-2015-standardized-test-scores-drop-precipitously-because-of-added-rigor?linktype=related_articlepage

Please contact your city, state and federal elected officials and ask them to support public education for all and stop common core!!

#stopcommoncore #optoutphilly #optout #hb172 #wermorethanatest #bandtogether 

Do You Want To Be Identified As The White Person?

i'm so happy to keep the conversation about being white going because i'm so tierd of people who live in a false mentality judging me because of my skin color and education level. no i don't have a degree but i'm very intelligent. my intelligence is often ignored by white people because in their minds my voice isn't human to them. i don't play the yes'm game nor do i belittle myself to make ignorant people feel comfortable.

so we are in the deconstruct zone for those who are feeling the conviction of their false sense of superior being. the deconstruct zone is not comfortable for several reasons. first no one wants to be the enemey. during Women's Way 12th Annual Women's Influence Conference, i attended a workshop on education/youth: girls leadership hosted by Ms. Angy Rivera from Ask Angy http://www.nysylc.org/category/askangy/and Ms. Melissa Garcia Velez from Immigrant Justice Corps http://justicecorps.org/. i mention this workshop because we did an exercise where each person was given a colored sticker as they entered the workshop. three different colors, we all started at the same point but was asked questions based on citizen status. when your color was mentioned you either take a step or two up or back. in the end the gap in citizen status was huge and those holding the privileged color felt bad that they were able to advance while others were set back because of color. the white people in the room had a rude wake up call that day.

the deconstruct zone is not pretty. looking in the mirror to examine what you have become and who you would like to be can be challenging.

Frank Sintra took a stand against white people mentality, took a stand for people of color and was backlashed for his efforts as were some Quakers and others who stood against white mentality. there was a caucasin police officer who spoke against the racism in the Philadelphia police department, the white police turned on him and the worst part is the black officers also turned on him, he lost everything and wished he had never spoke up. backlash can sting.

i've seen white people treat other white people bad because they were competition or not up to the false standards. i don't feel less than anyone on this earth nor do i allow someone else's ignorance to get me down. when i talk to white people and they act as if my voice is not valid, i don't get upset. i realize that this person has limitation and is not able to recieve what i am saying because they are not real. they live in a false sense of purity. while residing in Tampa, Florida i had a friend who was a redneck. Had a calendar that read you know you are a redneck if ... and for each day had a different saying that made us all laugh. One of the most pleasant people i have ever met, mainly because there was no false superior mentality coming from my redneck friend. We all treated each other with respect on the job and went home to our personal lives.

“Many Americans still have racist tendencies or feelings of superiority to people of color,” President Jimmy Carter  http://patdollard.com/2015/06/jimmy-carter-white-people-have-feelings-of-superiority-to-people-of-color/

the deconstruct zone is all about healing so that you feel good about yourself and how you treat others different than you.

If you would like to be part of the conversation please join Global Citzens 365 7th Annual MLK365 Beer Summit: Continuing Conversation on Race Relations, Thursday, July 30th 6pm!! RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/7th-annual-mlk365-beer-summit-a-continuing-conversation-on-race-relations-tickets-17693124612

Afro-Media Literacy For Better Human Relations

 i have explored the Issue and Concerns of Unconscious Racial Biases several times during and before the recording of my documentary on various issues and concerns in our society with a focus on the most vulnerable  members of in society. I like that these conversations are being had. The fact that South Carolina just removed the Confederate flag gives me hope that we as a country are becoming more culturally sensitive and acceptance of diverse culture is on the horizon!!

attending a cultural sensitive training i'm always expecting everyone to be open to change, in fact i want to believe that everyone in attendance is there because they want to understand how to get along with various cultures and end the stereotypes placed on different cultures. Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 6pm i attended my first culture sensitive training at The Academy of Natural Science called "Awaken The Dreamer, Changing The Dream" (http://www.pachamama.org/engage). The Symposium is dedicated to awakening hopeful new perspectives for building a new future...one that is built on sustainable practices, spiritual fulfillment, and social justice.(http://ma.cal.basecampbusiness.com/node/10810). My first reality check came when we were asked to put a pachamma bracelets on the wrist of the person sitting next to you. i was sitting next to a white man who refused to place a bracelet on my wrist or me put one on him, so i put mines on myself. not everyone is ready to level the playing field.

in March 2013 The Philadelphia Magazine published an article "Being White In Philly" expressing the views of a white man whose son was attending Temple University, which is located in a predominately African American community. The backlash from the African American community and city of Philadelphia lasted about two weeks and then the conversation disappeared. i was hoping to have conversations around the city about the article but got backlash because white people don't want to deal with their unconscious biases. so i hosted a blogtalkradio show with Ms. Linda Wallace "The Cultural Coach"
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/redhen/2013/07/25/red-hen-exploring-our-conditions-with-ms-linda-wallace .

today i attended "Dismantling Unconscious Racial Biases, Strengthening Cultural Responsiveness" facilitated by Dr. Shani Byard from Leimert Park Los Angeles. We were asked to start the workshop by standing in circle holding hands, of course the white women to my left refused to hold my hand, in fact the hand chain was broken starting at my left and ending in front of me, so not only did she refuse to hold my hand but the hand of the white person standing next to her. i wasn't offended, just realized again that not everyone was at the workshop with the same purpose and maybe these particular people don't like to hold hands of people they do not know. What did get to me is the white women who has taught me to garden and for some reason has been acting a bit funky towards me lately. We held hands for a moment that felt strained, so i took the moment to take a photo. She began to cough and we had another valid reason not to hold hands in the circle and i decided to get what i can get from the workshop.

Dr. Shani shared with us that she became sensitive to the negative messages being put out via hip hop music and their effects on our society. Dr. Shani started going into the public schools with a goal of assisting our youth to find themselves and not get caught up on the media images. What Dr. Shani found was that the teachers were unconscious of how media stereotypes influenced them as well and were suspending students constantly because they were not able to relate to the students. This culture clash along with standardize testing fuels the school to prison pipeline. Dr. Shani Byard formed Afro-Media Literacy training company to assist in tapping into and changing the unconscious racial biases. www.messagemediaed.org

i really enjoyed how Dr. Shani outlined how the media producers sale morals, influence how we act and socially desirable actions. media is a powerful tool.

what does your staff look like? how well do you know the people you are working with or for? how diverse is your board? When entering a different community think about what your privileges looks like to the community you are entering. Dr. Shani Byard shared some great handouts and resources. "Guidelines for Being Strong White Allies" adapted from Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Social Justice by Paul Kivel. www.paulkivel.com "Vital Voices Lessons Learned from Board Members of Color" www.boardsource.org . "Media Literacy Core Concepts and Key Questions" The Center for Media Literacy www.medialit.org . "Is Your Teaching Style Racism Free?" a 2014 Message Media Education Report

We have to keep this conversation going!!

Thanks Soil Generation for this anti racism training!!

Dr. Jesse Walking Man Turner Walking Into Philly Tuesday, July 7 2015

   

Teaching to a test is not viable education, teaching to the test is killing public education, because what is being tested is not being taught in the classroom. Dr. Jesse One Man Walking Turner understands that our students and teachers are more than a test. He see's that public education is being dismantled, little by little by Pearson and other test content making corporations. Dr. Jesse Walking Man Turner decided to raise awareness of the dismantling by walking from his home town in Connecticut to Washington D.C. June 11 - July 24, 2015 connecting stories from public school students and parents.

Dr. Turner will be walking into Philadelphia from Camden Tuesday, July 7, 2015!!  Crossing Ben Franklin Bridge 8:30am and walking to the People's Plaza Independence Mall by 10am. Then we will make our way to a BYO-Picnic at Sister Cities Park at about 12:45pm  and end our day with a Parent and Educator Opt Out Organizing Meeting at Mander Playground 6-9pm. Empowering families and teachers is the goal!!

To learn more about how to Opt Out of testing please visit The Caucus of Working Educators website: www.workingeducators.org/announcing_our_opt_out_toolkit

To join our July 7th day of events please visit our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1598486303753996/1600341076901852/

To join the Philly opt out movement please email Alison McDowell at optoutphilly@gmail.com

@readdoctor @sosmarch @badassteachersa @redhenexploring @optoutphilly

Grassroots Organizing At It's Best Neighborhood Networks

Watching a community organization grow into a grassroots community powerhouse is what i have been able to do with Neighborhood Networks. I first met NN in 2009 or 2010 when i was working for ACORN and conducted a voter registration training for the members of Neighborhood Networks at Drexel university. We stayed in contact throughout the years and i’m recognized as member of NN because i contribute to events hosted by NN. 

I’m very impressed with how involved Neighborhood Network is in the Northwest community of Philadelphia and issues that concern our city. Neighborhood Networks is a perfect example of concerned community members building relationships in our communities and with elected officials to get the folks in office who share the views and values of NN. Grassroots organizing not nonprofit organizing, grassroots citizens advocacy in living color, for no one but the utility and supply companies get paid. NN shared their numbers for the 2015 Primary canvassing that they did in various wards. The volunteer work of the members of NN raised the number of votes for NN candidates and that makes them a force to recognize when elections happen.

The Impacts of Powdered Alcohol for Pennsylvanians SB588 and SB773

Senator Shirley Kitchen and her Senate colleagues held a roundtable discussion on a new drug call Palcohol aka powder alcohol. Sen. Kitchen introduced two bills that would prevent powdered alcohol from becoming legal for sale in the state of Pennsylvania.

Senator’s Kitchen stand is that her bills gives families and our communities added protection from a potentially hazardous product. I agree with Senator Kitchen and hope that her bill is put into law. Temple head police officer spoke on how alcohol is a problem on and off the campus and that problem would worsen with palcohol. Senator John Wozniak stated that he graduate two from penn state recently. While attending football games at the school he seen college students drinking heavily and believes that if palcohol is legal the substance will be abused.

All of our concerns is safety for the vulnerable in our society. Dateline has been producing "The Perils of Parenting" On Drinking and Driving

Imagine you and your teen are part of this scene that took place two weeks ago. How do you think your teen would respond?

You drop your teen off to what you both think is a casting call for a reality show and are escorted to a room with the other parents. A woman comes in to introduce herself as a producer from NBC’s Dateline explaining that they’re doing a special about the dangers of teen drinking and driving. Hidden cameras will film your unsuspecting kid with an actor who is to play the role of a drunken drinker. He tells your kid that he’s been drinking. Your kid can smell the alcohol on his breath (though he really hasn’t had a drop), sees that the clearly unfit to drive, and admits later that he believed that the actor consumed alcohol.

You watch the scene live on a monitor reminding yourself that you’ve told your teen repeatedly to never get into a car with a drunk driver and the dangers. So now the question: Will your teen get into that car knowing the driver has been drinking?

Dateline filmed the scene again and again while their parents watched. And each time every single teen got into the car with a driver who they thought was drunk. Every teen also got into the car when the actor took his “drunken role” up a notch--almost unable to walk. And each and every time the parent voiced complete and total disbelief.

Don’t be too sure your teen won’t do the same. If there’s a lesson here it’s this: Please don’t use a “not my kid” kind of attitude.

Underage drinking is a growing problem. And the mix of drinking and driving are a lethal combination. Here are tips that could save your teen’s life that I offered Dateline. This is one parenting peril we cannot ignore. 

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39157029/ns/dateline_nbc-parenting/t/helpful-tips-perils-parenting/#.VXNXb2RViko

 Palcohol is orderless, colorless, tasteless and comes in a packet. That means you could be drinking alcohol and not know until you are drunk. That means alcohol can be bought into schools, workplace and anywhere alcohol is prohibited. That means a potential crack epidemic all over again, for the fastest fix would be to pour palcohol directly on the tongue and chased with some liquid. The thought of this drug being legal for sale anywhere is scary. Sen. Kitchens bills offers protection to families and communities who are working hard to be safe and productive. Please contact your senator and ask them to support Senate bill 588 and 773!!