If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound?
Answer:
Most basic answer:
No, because the definition of sound is "something that you hear." No one's there to hear the tree fall, so the tree doesn't make a sound. This answer is valid as long as no details are observed technically.
No, because the definition of sound is "something that you hear." No one's there to hear the tree fall, so the tree doesn't make a sound. This answer is valid as long as no details are observed technically.
Published on Monday, December 9, 2013 by Common Dreams
Movement Rises to Kick 'Corporate Reform' Out of Public Schools
#ReclaimPublicEd: With actions in over 60 cities, parents, students, and teachers demand an end to "corporate reform" policies
"There is now widespread common understanding that top-down reforms are products of a market-based philosophy – emphasizing competition rather then collaboration, and winners and losers – in which those who are most vulnerable will become collateral damage.And the prevailing narrative is that Americans of all persuasions increasingly have diminishing control over their education destinies.
- Jeffrey Bryant - Education Opportunity Network
Students, teachers, and community groups are launching coordinated marches, town hall meetings, and teach-ins Monday in over 60 cities across the United States, demanding an end to the austerity, standardized testing, privatization, and union-busting they say is gutting public schools nationwide.
Billed as the largest yet national day of action to reclaim the promise of public education, and organized by community and union partners in cities across the country, the series of events aim to introduce a counter-narrative and political pushback to the corporate-backed "education reform" platform has dominated policy throughout the presidential terms of both George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
The coalition says Monday's show of unity is only the first in what it promises is a growing movement that opposes the nationally coordinated and top-down policies epitomized in high stakes, standardized testing programs like Common Core, as well as mass public school closures, privatization, and education worker lay-offs in Chicago, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. Such policies negatively impact all students, according to critics, but are particluarly devastating to poor students and communities of color.
In October, over 100 community organizations and unions joined forces around five key principles (pdf) demanding the preservation and resourcing of public education. The document opens with the pronouncement:
We are parents and caregivers, students and community members. We are educators and school staff. We have come together around a common commitment to public education. We believe that the only way to give every child the opportunity to pursue a rich and productive life, both individually and as a member of society, is through a system of publicly funded, equitable and democratically controlled public schools.
And the five guiding principles which make up the movement's core public call for improved public schools:
- Equitable funding across all public schools and school systems
- An end to high stakes testing used for the purpose of student, teacher, and school evaluation
- Teacher, family, and community leadership in forming public education policies
- Curriculum responsive to and inclusive of local school communities
- Professional, qualified, and committed teachers in all public schools
"I think we have to change the narrative and mindset that parents and community members are consumers of public education, when in fact we are the owners," said Daniel del Pielago, an education organizer for Empower DC in Washington, D.C. "Our voices need to be heard at all levels, and I think the Day of Action is the springboard for us to begin working together in a more deliberate way and to say to those who would divide us that this is a new day and that we're going to take back and improve our schools."
In Broward County, Florida teachers handed out books to youth in a creative direct action calling for community investment in public education.
In Austin Texas, community organizations and teachers' unions held a march and rally from the capitol demanding public schools invest in Texas students.
New Orleans will see a series of teach-ins aimed at mobilizing community members to reflect and take action on the loss of local control of schooling.
Chicago organizers will sing Christmas carols at City Hall about the gutting of the city's public schools that severely penalizes poor people and communities of color.
Employing Twitter, participants in the day of action are using the #ReclaimPublicEd hashtag to provide reports and photographs of protests, most of which were scheduled for after-school hours:
The American Federation of Teachers placed a print, radio and online ad in 30 cities in a lead-up to Monday's day of action, which read: "Public education is under attack and underfunded throughout our country. Now, communities are coming together for our schools and our children to champion great public schools as the heart of our neighborhoods. ... Together, we can make sure our schools are places where all kids can thrive and the voices of those closest to the classroom are heard."
“The Day of Action is important because young people are under attack when it comes to public education,” said Baltimore-based Tre Murphy, an 18 year old high school senior, in an interview with The Root. “We have found that the educational decision-makers do not value the thoughts and opinions of young people. That creates a critical gap when it comes to making decisions about our future.”
According to education expert Jeffrey Bryant, an associate fellow at Campaign for America's Future and editor of the recently launched Education Opportunity Network, the resistance movement represented by this emerging coalition of teachers, parents, students, and community members
is driven not only by the realization that there is a nationwide effort to disinvest from public schools, but also by the fact that there is a systemic policy to ensure schools that need funding the most are targeted for deeper cuts or lower funding.There is now widespread common understanding that top-down reforms are products of a market-based philosophy – emphasizing competition rather then collaboration, and winners and losers – in which those who are most vulnerable will become collateral damage.And the prevailing narrative is that Americans of all persuasions increasingly have diminishing control over their education destinies.
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