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Another Education is Possible at the US Social Forum!

June 18, 2010 Leave a Comment

Join TSJ at the US Social Forum in Detroit-- June 22nd to June 26th (http://ussf2010.org for info). We've partnered with progressive education groups around the country to put on a workshop and People's Movement Assembly and we'd love to see you all there!

Another Education is Possible:
WEDNESDAY JUNE 23rd 3:30-5:30 Cobo Hall: W2-58

Across the country, we are facing a critical moment of national 'reform' that will ultimately define the future of education in the US. Many of the initiatives garnering national attention, while supposedly created and implemented with intentions to “close the achievement gap,” often carry negative side effects that both harm low-income students of color and reinforce a profit-driven and capitalist system.

As teachers and community-based educators for liberation, we tend to spend a significant amount of time analyzing and tearing these programs to pieces, fighting both locally and nationally against privatization. While we have become increasingly adept to identifying the enemy and knowing what we are against, it can sometimes be difficult to articulate what alternative visions can be presented and advocated for.

We invite USSF participants to join teacher activists from across the country in this workshop where we will explore the current moment in education by connecting the dots between seemingly disparate educational reforms such as school closings and takeovers, exponential growth of charter schools, budget cuts, teacher lay-offs, merit pay, attacks on teacher unions, and high-stakes standardized testing to paint a complete picture of the impact of such ‘solutions’ on low-income students and students of color.



We will also identify viable, creative, and sustainable solutions to the public education crisis by investigating the key components of the problem, connecting local education struggles, and focusing on what’s working: our successes, lessons learned, and visions for the future. Youth, parents, educators, and those passionate about educational change welcome! Participants will be engaged in small group activities and discussions, as well as large group debriefs and report-backs.

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