Harry Droz Photo
Ready to March: Jesse Turner & Robert Goodrich at WNHH FM.
Jesse Turner is ready to don his bright green fluorescent sneakers and his beat-up “walking man hat” to march for educational justice in Connecticut — and he’s inviting everyone else who cares about fairness in our schools to join him.
Turner, a lifelong educator, has worn that hat on countless activist marches over the decades. The sneakers were a recent gift from a supporter to help him navigate the 12 miles from New Britain to Hartford.
Turner is organizing a “March 4 Equity” along that 12-mile path on April 3. It starts at Connecticut State University at 11 a.m. It ends at the state Capitol, where advocates will hold a press conference calling for a “transformation” in how Connecticut funds, measures progress, and otherwise supports public schools, away from a focus on test-score and teacher-blaming, toward a focus on “equity” and racial justice.
The march grows out of organizing that has taken place in the wake of the 2018 State Supreme Court decision in Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding v. Rell. That ruling overturned a state judge’s demand that the legislature fix what most people consider a broken system for funding public schools in Connecticut.
“We intend to put the richest state in the nation on notice,” Turner said in an interview on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program. “We have waited long enough.”
“We’re looking for racial justice in our schools,” added Robert Goodrich of Racial Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education (RACCE), another organizer of the event. “We’re looking for transformation, not reform.”
Organizers plan to issue an annual Good Shepherd Report Card measuring the state’s progress on equity — from supplying social workers and art classes and tutors in urban settings, to funding highest-need districts and individual schools.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to contact Turner to get involved, or here to learn more about RACCE. Click on the video below to watch the interview with Jesse Turner and Robert Goodrich on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.”