‘Day of Action’ rally demands more funding, new reform agenda priorities

Thousands of teachers and students are rallying in cities across the nation Monday for the National Day of Action, a movement organized by the American Federation of Teachers union that seeks to reclaim their vision of the nation’s public education system. Participants have signed onto The Principles That Unite Us, a set of beliefs that acknowledges the need for equitable and progressive public education and is viewed as a requirement for a healthy democracy.

Leading this coalition of education, labor, civic and civil rights organizations is AFT’s goal to build a national movement that will fight corporate influenced school reform, where the main means for accountability is ruled by standardized test scores.

AFT President Randi Weingarten told the Washington Post:

“Text-fixation, austerity, privatization, division, competition are not working for our students, as we saw in the PISA results this week … Our schools need evidence-based, community-based solutions like early childhood education, wraparound services, professional autonomy and development, parent voices and project-based learning.”

Participating cities and states include Washington, D.C., Austin,Texas, Binghamton, N.Y., Boise, Idaho, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, Detroit, Fairbanks, Ark., Jackson, Miss., Kansas City, Mo., Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

PBS NewsHour’s Student Reporting Labs asked students around the country about their most pressing issues in education.

H/T Elizabeth Jones