Save the Date - and Save Our Schools: July 30 March on Washington to Save Public Education

Dear Friends,

On Friday, March 18, Rethinking Schools editors Bob Peterson and Stan Karp will be featured in a 90-minute web "teach-in" designed to build this summer's Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action. The webinar begins at 8pm Eastern/7pm Central/5pm Pacific time and is open to the first 100 people who sign up here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RethinkingSchoolsWebinar

This event is part of a series of web discussions with supporters of the National Call to Action leading to coordinated events around the country and a march in Washington, D.C. on July 30. The July events are built around four demands:

• Equitable funding for all public school communities
• 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

For more info, visit the SOS March web site, www.saveourschoolsmarch.org

The first webinar on 3/11 featured Diane Ravitch. Future sessions are planned with scholar-researchers Yong Zhao and Stephen Krashen. The March 18 session will be hosted by members of the SOS organizing committee, including teacher/blogger Nancy Flanagan and will feature two longtime Rethinking Schools editors and activists: 

 

Bob Peterson is a founding editor of Rethinking Schools and a veteran 5^th grade teacher at La Escuela Fratney, a two-way bilingual public school in Milwaukee. He has been active in the historic Wisconsin protests this past month and is also running for the presidency of the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association.

Stan Karp taught English and Journalism to high school students for 30 years in Paterson, NJ. He currently works for NJ's Education Law Center and has written widely on federal and state education policy and the politics of school reform. He coordinates the "NOT Waiting for Superman" project for Rethinking Schools. 

 

At Friday's web teach-in, Bob and Stan will share reports from their respective "battleground states" on efforts to defend public education from the current wave of corporate reform and bipartisan political attacks. They will also discuss alternative visions of the education our communities and our children need, and how we can build a national movement to fight for it. They will be joined by members of the SOS March organizing committee and participants from around the country. Space is limited, so sign up now: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RethinkingSchoolsWebinar

And thanks for supporting Rethinking Schools.

Sincerely,

Mike Trokan
for Rethinking Schools