Today, along with a network of education activists across the United States, I (Kirsten) was contacted by Christel Swasey, an education super-activist in the state of Utah. Christel's message was simple: The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently in force as the No Child Left Behind Act, is still being rushed through--and the Thanksgiving weekend is being used to the advantage of those who want federal and corporate control of education to continue.

For those who have not read our previous posts on this matter--here, here, and here--it's important to know that neither the public nor most of their representatives will have had even a shred of insight into what's actually in the conferenced reauthorization bill until this coming Monday, November 30th. Yet, at least in the House of Representatives, a vote on the bill--reported to be well in excess of 1,000 pages--is currently scheduled for December 2nd. That's a mere three days for our legislators to make a decision on a monumental bill that will have far-reaching and long-lasting implications and impact. 

Christel felt so strongly about what is happening that she opted to create the first personal video she's ever made. In the video, she speaks directly to the public about the the process that is being used to shove this bill through, what the reauthorization language aims to do, the deceptive means by which it will accomplish those ends, and what the consequences are for us if we are not successful in stopping it.

As we've noted before, and as Christel underscores so plainly, this is a make-or-break bill for educational freedom in the United States.

For your convenience, we have embedded Christel's video, "#StopESEA," below. You can also access a transcript of the video in a post on the website she helped to found WhatIsCommonCore. The video is about 20 minutes in length, but it's well worth every second of your time, even--ESPECIALLY--on a holiday weekend. It will enlighten even the ESEA novice to the key issues involved. I personally urge you to set aside the thawing turkey, the raw cranberries, and the pie tins for just a little while to watch and listen.

We stand by what Christel communicates about the deceptive and manipulative manner in which ESEA reauthorization is being marketed to a variety of target audiences--including, I would clarify, STATE legislators, governors, local and state school board officials, and others, In particular, Christel is dead on that making states responsible for ENFORCEMENT of federal policy is very, very different from actually restoring CONTROL of education to the states.

For futher insight into ESEA and why it must be stopped, please see the letter posted here, which was sent by approximately 200 groups to the authors of the House and Senate reauthorization bills several weeks ago.

We have very little time to set the record straight. Literally just days.

Please don't stop with just watching the video. 

We also need you to find ways to bring this matter into your Thanksgiving conversations in order to alert family, friends, and neighbors.

If at all possible...

Make Your Own Video

Another super-activist, Alice Linahan of Texas, responded to Christel's video this morning by issuing a call for lots more videos to be made and leveraged to inform others and up the noise level on this issue in a big hurry. They don't have to be super professional. They just need to send a clear message. 

A whole boatload of videos circulating on social media and being sent by various means to federal and state legislators in relationship to this topic would make a huge impact in letting our federal legislators know that we're watching and alerting our state officials that they shoudl not be fooled--that they, too, should be standing against this reauthorization.

I have personally committed to creating a video. 

I would love to see other Resounding Books network members joining me.

If you do, please send the link to Resounding Books by messaging us through our Facebook page, tweeting it to @ResoundingBks, or sending it via our website contact page. 

One More Easy Thing to Do

Super-activist Teri Sasseville of Georgia has worked with PJNet to put together a Twitter action page on this issue. It focuses primarily on reaching the members of the House Freedom Caucus in an effort to unite them in opposing ESEA.  The hope is to show them that there is fierce opposition to this bill from the grassroots and that we will have their back against the Chamber and other corporatists. The tweets are randomized each time the page loads. That helps ensure that each legislator will get different tweets during each day leading up to a Twitter rally on Monday, November 30th, from 8-10 PM. 

If you are on Twitter, regardless of how many followers you have, please take just 5-10 minutes each day to send the tweets. Nearly all of the messages are easily on common political and ideological territory, but if there are any that don't quite align with your politics, you'll have the ability either to skip or modify those.

Retreat Is Defeat

Don't let the bad guys in Washington win while you're celebrating the holdiays. They're counting on the fact that all of us will be checked out. Help us prove them wrong.

Make it clear that you're awake and working to protect your child's education.

Tell them it's not o.k. to use times of celebration to push bad legislation through in the dark.

Hold federal legislative leaders accountable to a fair and open process.

Demand that we finally #StopESEA and #EndFedEd along with all of the centralized, standardized cronyism that goes with it.

We look forward to seeing what you do and to working with you to send an important message to Washington.