WEEKEND QUOTABLES



M. Klonsky pic

 SOS rally speaker Diane Ravitch

“We are here to stand up for basic American values,” she said. “The shame of our nation is that we lead the developed world in childhood poverty,” she said, then noting that our best schools, those with the fewest children who live in poverty, rank on international tests at least as high as any other nation. -- WaPO Answer Sheet

Education Takes a Beating

"These are extraordinarily inequitable cuts for low-income communities of color," said Arun Ramanathan, executive director of the Education Trust-West, an Oakland-based advocacy group. -- L.A. Times

Matt Damon at the SOS March

Damon, whose mother is an educator, said he achieved his successes in large part because teachers at the public schools he attended were not forced to focus on "silly test prep" and instead could work to educate.

"As I look at my life today, the things that I value about myself, my imagination, my love of acting, my passion for writing, my love of learning, my curiosity, came from the way that I was parented and taught," Damon told the teachers. "And none of these qualities that I just mentioned, none of these qualities that I prize so deeply, none of these qualities that have brought me so much joy, that have made me so successful professionally, none of these qualities that make me who I am can be tested," he said. -- CNN

The SOS Congress

"There needs to be more input by the local school community, including teachers, parents, and concerned citizens, and an end to top-down dictates by politicians and their campaign donors who have little understanding about the realities of classroom education." -- SOS organizer Bob Schaeffer, Edweek