We Spoke Out for Public Education!

Teacher Whitney Elliot spoke at the rally. Photo by Mark Thomson.

A Massachusetts public school activists coalition–including Citizens for Public Schools, Fairtest, Mass. SaveOurSchools, and Boston-area education faculty–rallied in Harvard Square Thursday, May 26, to tell Arne Duncan what we think about Race to the Top and his other education policies. (Arne Duncan was inside Harvard Yard performing as Chief Marshal of his 25thHarvard Class Reunion.) It was a broad-based coalition–teachers, parents, school committee/board members, city councillor, professors of education, fairtest–it was such a wonderfully broad spectrum.

Speakers included Deb Meier, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Alfie Kohn, Eleanor Duckworth, Larry Ward. Also Ruth Rodriquez-Fay of Citizens for Public Schools; Lisa Guisbond of FairTest and CPS, National Center for Fair and Open Testing; Marc McGovern, Cambridge School Committee member; Whitney Elliot, Boston public school teacher and author of blog, The “Greedy” Teacher; Diane Levin, Professor of Education, Wheelock College; Larry Aronson, retired Cambridge public school teacher; and founder of Social Justice Works!; Merrie Najimy, President of the Concord Teachers’ Association, Concord, MA; Larry Ward, former Cambridge City Councilor and FairTest organizer; Betty Burkes, peace educator, former President of (U.S.) WILPF, and now working in New Orleans public schools’ restorative justice program; and Liza Womack, Harvard Alum (1984),15-year veteran elementary schoolteacher and an organizer of the Speak Out.

WBUR recorded the speeches and aired several pieces on the rally. WMBR’s “What’s Left” program aired the whole thing. I believe you can download the piece from wmbr.org. Go to the Friday, May 27 show of What’s Left.

Bob Lamothe’s video of the speeches is available here.

See Larry Aaronson’s excellent photos of the event here.