Yesterday, Austin was the scene of at least two protests, immigration advocates gathered to demand comprehensive reform, but that movement was over-shadowed by the ‘Save Texas Schools’ movement.
When ‘has been’ advocates put together physical movements, it’s usually poorly done, completely unorganized and will quickly stray away from the original intent. The purpose of ‘Saving Texas Schools’ was to demand restoring $5.4 billion of cuts from 2011, minimizing standardized tests and improving the quality of public schools around the state.
There were speeches of freedoms, rights and justice, but the mere thought of ‘free choice’ in the form of education was a no, no. There were speeches that claimed, over-testing of children began in Texas, which is simply not true. The example used was the ‘No Child Left Behind’ national education standard, which may have been created by George Bush, but it originated out of Washington D.C., passed by members of both parties and widely accepted, even in Texas, until those 2011 cuts.
“We aren't providing justice for all when our state Legislature cuts $5.4 billion out of public schools (in 2011) but somehow manages to find $500 million for Pearson Testing Corp.,” said Diane Ravitch, a former U.S. assistant secretary of education, who graduated from Houston ISD. “Texas is the place where the testing madness started and Texas is the place where the vampire will get garlic in its face and a stake in its heart.”
Protests and demonstrations are a form of free speech, but when that free speech distorts the truth, the protests and demonstrations is no longer a form of free speech, but rather, indoctrination, based on movements that will only benefit certain segments of society and is not reflective of society, as a whole.
“This rally is about saying (to the Legislature): 'You made a mistake, let's fix it and move on,'” state Rep. Mike Villarreal said in an interview Friday. “Fixing it means restoring the cuts and lowering the emphasis on standardized testing because it is zapping the spirit of the classroom and taking educators' time away from our teaching our kids.”
If this movement really wanted to fix the system, they would remove the sexual predators from the classrooms, accept the things they can’t change, and accept ‘free choice’ as an alternative, which is constitutionally guaranteed.
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