Occupy Education Today! (Guest Post by Hannah Faye)

The Occupy Movement which began on Wall Street has now spread to many parts of the country with individual occupy movements popping up all over the place. When I saw the diversity of the movement and how it was growing back in September 2011, I knew it wouldn’t be long before educators started occupying as well. Because wherever there are individual thinkers there is always potential energy to bring about a change. And wherever that kind of potential energy exists, there is room for an occupy movement.

But what makes Occupy Education most important? The fact that this occupy movement is about education, of course…a profession from which all the other ones stem. That is why it is most important.

Education is the key to a prosperous nation and world, so doesn’t it make sense for change to begin there? But what must be changed about our educational system? One thing we know for sure and that is, it cannot continue in the same way it has evolved. Especially, when less than 20% of seniors in some states will graduate this year. When students can spend 8-10 hours in school and still come home not knowing how to read or write, it clearly isn’t working.

In Chicago, Mayor Emanuel and the Superintendent of Chicago Public Schools most recently joined forces to push for longer school hours, but this isn’t the solution at all. Real educators know that it is not so much the length of time that goes into a child’s learning, but what is done within that amount of time that makes the most difference. If kids are bouncing around from subject to subject all day how will they ever be able to retain any knowledge at all? They’re not given enough time to fully grasp a concept before it’s time to move on to the next thing. Middle and high school students take several classes a day and for each transition to the next class they still have to shuffle around books that weigh a ton and are nearly that much old. Yes, that much old!

Here’s another thing. Why are parents given so many opportunities to share their thoughts yet none of them are hardly implemented by the schools? When did parents lose control over their child’s education? When did teachers lose control over how they teach? Instead, they are underpaid, overworked and so disgruntled that sooner or later it becomes evident in their performance. I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface.

It is my opinion, that because Occupy Education effects the whole world everyone should be involved in some way. It should overflow with teachers, parents and students, not only with their complaints, but with logical solutions to the problems.

Just think about this for a moment: in one day, if all teachers took a stand and stayed home, if all parents did the same thing and kept their children home…what message would that send to the government about the needs? How quickly would they get the message? This is the power we have when we toss aside our personal agendas for the moment and unify as a collective body for the future. This is the power we have when we choose to stop being controlled and start taking back the control and right to our own education!

-Hannah Faye

Educator, Author of Occupy the World: From the Heart of the Protesters

Find more Occupy Education posts here and join us in Occupying Education!

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————–I I was born in Chicago, Illinois. My love and passion will always be there even though my feet may take me some where else. I became a teacher, hoping it would assist me in my goal to make the world a better place. But after spending nearly seven years in the public school setting I realized pushing papers wasn’t going to do it. Read my story in “Thirteen Years Old in the Fourth Grade,” a ventilation on my experience. Now I am spreading my love through writing as an author and fictional biographer to young audiences. I want to encourage, bring truth, realization, and awe to all my readers. Visit arapperscollege.weebly.com today!