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Thursday, September 26, 2013

"Education Spring" is Here to Stay | Alternet

"Education Spring" is Here to Stay | Alternet:

"Education Spring" is Here to Stay

Tired of endless accountability mandates, parents and teachers are stepping up the fight to preserve public education -- and using the ballot box to do it.

Photo Credit: Yoki5270 via Shutterstock.com
 
Earlier this year, spontaneous rebellions against top-down mandates and budget cuts inflicted on public schools erupted around the nation.
In a months-long Education Spring, students, parents, teachers and community activists staged boisterous rallies, street demonstrations, school walkouts, test boycotts, and other actions to protest government austerity and top-down “accountability” mandates that damage community schools and diminish students’ opportunities to learn.
The protests spanned the nation and generated national media attention, resulting in a policy impasse in Washington D.C. and many state capitals, as government leaders and politicians scrambled to pause the rollouts of new heavy-handed school punishments.
Prominent pundits began to openly question the intention of a self-defined “reform” movement that has reigned for years but failed to produce any direct benefits to