#occupyedu

[otpglobal]

BREAKING: Watch President Obama announce his #FreeCommunityCollege proposal → http://t.co/8YTKdPKa7U https://t.co/vtM3wGwEUd

— The White House (@WhiteHouse)

January 8, 2015

[otpglobal]

HELP Hearing - Student Loan Program (Full Video)

Senator Elizabeth Warren's Q&A at a March 27, 2014 HELP Committee Hearing on "Strengthening the Federal Student Loan Program for Borrowers."

[unitedforschools]

What's on your mind as this school year begins? Read the rest of what English teacher Kelly Dillon has to say, then share your own new school year reflections with us at [email protected] or via the hashtags #LoveSchools and #PSdialog.

[unitedforschools]

Labor Day isn't just about justice at work, or workers' past battles. It's about the continued struggles of everyday people to make society a fairer, better place for all. This Labor Day, we salute everyone working for educational and economic justice!

[unitedforschools]

"I grew up where my mother would come home and fix dinner, and talk about what kind of day she had in the classroom. And I remember my mother staying up until 3 o'clock in the morning, grading papers and doing lesson plans...And I remember my mother coming home on Friday afternoons exhausted, and thinking she was going to spend her whole weekend grading papers and doing lesson plans. And that was the life, because my mother wanted to do a good job, and because she loved her students."

Click the video to watch MSNBC's Ed Schultz stand up for teachers and public schools!

[sabrinajoystevens]

On love, democracy and public schools -- Me at TEDxNYED, April 2013.

A few quick thoughts:

1. Though I was already sensitive to this, my first TED experience made me all the more sympathetic to students who have a tough time right before a high-stakes test or event. A couple of days before I gave this talk, my apartment was burglarized and I moved to a new place in a hurry. Though I'm mostly pleased with how it all came together, there are a few moments a less-tired me would have really nailed. I was really looking forward to this event, and it was optional. I can't imagine having to take a high-stakes, involuntary test under these (or even more traumatic) circumstances.

2. I'm really looking forward to digging into some of these themes more deeply over the coming weeks. 15 minutes flies when you're talking about things you love!

Highlights:

~Minute 3:00: "Somebody" isn't coming to save us and fix everything that worries us about schools or society. (But there are plenty of people waiting to prey on us when we cede responsibility for our common fate...)

~Minute 5:50/6:00: Calls to reform schools often have more to do with adult anxieties than kids' true needs.

~Minute 14:50: Play provides important practice as children develop democratic habits of mind.

Main takeaways, applicable well beyond the ed policy debate:

Disempowerment is a cooperative act.

Empowerment is an act of love.

There is more to love than to hate or fear.

In troubled times, acts of love and joy are the most powerful form of protest.

[unitedforschools]

I am a parent of two girls at Lafayette, one of my daughters has autism, and the other has ADHD. I’m here today because I’m against school closings anywhere in the city. I consider my school, Lafayette, to be my family, and CPS is ripping families apart. With these school closings, CPS is discriminating against special education students like my daughters. This is the largest proposed school closing in United States history. This happening so quickly, and in such a chaotic way, it will have a discriminatory impact on children with special needs. At Lafayette, we have over 150 students with special needs. Our community leader, Alderman Maldonado, has refused to do anything to stop these closings. This is wrong. Someone once told me that “autism is a rich man’s diagnosis.” With CPS pulling our special needs children, it proves them right. CPS says they’ve heard us, two minutes at a time. This is our city, our voice, and our schools. No school closings!

-- Valerie Nelson, Lafayette parent

[unitedforschools]

I’ve been a parent here for nine years. I chose to bring my kids here. I do not live in this neighborhood. I am from Bronzeville, but I do not live in this neighborhood. I chose to put my kids here because of the teachers, the staff, the community. Everyone has looked out for my children for these nine years. My kids have become productive members of society. And my eighth grader is here fighting today. What is being done here is a travesty, to the teachers, to the kids, to the parents. Nothing is consistent from CPS. All of their statistics have been wrong. All of their information has been changed. All I’m asking, is when are they going to put the kids first? When are the kids going to become their priority? They’re our priority. And we’re the people, they’re supposed to listen to us, right? So we need to let them know that our kids are our priority, and that they need to make our kids a priority as well.

--Lillian Allen, Williams parent