The first post of the New Year and the first post since a hunger strike had been announced. Lots to tell, lots to explain.

The hunger strike was in support of PS 154 to keep it from closing and The Crack Team here at SBSB won. PS 154 is not closing thanks to the hunger strike, even an abbreviated one at that.

I have learned that when one announces a hunger strike, one should notify one's spouse, or at least talk it over with said spouse. Last Wednesday, the 2nd, when I got home I got quite an earful from my wife and just as importantly, from my doctor. My doctor informed me that in my condition the lack of food will kill me much sooner than a normal hunger strike would.

So in essence I had to abort the hunger strike after 12 hours, but not the perception of the hunger strike. As one person told me long ago, "perception is reality," and the perception was that there was to be a hunger strike to the end to save 154 and it worked. They blinked first.

Also, what saved the school was the exposure of those in charge got here on this blog concerning the what led to 154 being put on the closure list. Check it out here, here, here, and here.

So is PS 154 out of the woods? Not likely. From what we have been told, a school does not get closed the first time it is on the list. We can still be on it next year, and with the new non-zoned schools now the the norm in District 7, not only will we see the enrollment drop but with that the money as well.

So is the Titanic sinking? Not quite, but it is listing to the side a bit. Resumes should be gotten ready and thank God the Open Market will soon be online.

I've thought long and hard about it. On the night of January 1, 2013 I will eat my last meal for a while. As soon as the clock strikes midnight I will officially be on a hunger strike to keep PS 154x from closing and to keep it out of the hands of the Empire. Also, to keep the bogus evaluation system to take place. I'll add other causes. But that is all for now. I'll be drinking plenty of water.

A movement needs to happen.

How long are we just going to be pacifist and not take ownership of ourselves as educators, professionals, parents, friends in the war being waged against education? Critical mass is right around the corner and when the implosion happens we need to be the ones that survive, not the deformers.

Rallies, blogs, Twitter, picketing, etc... are nice. It works. But a little too slow. 
A new radical approach to destroying the deform movement must be the next step. And just what is this step?

Simple, we need a Martyr. Only a Martyr will succeed at where the movements, the groups, the organizations are not succeeding, or barely making a dent.

Now mind you, I  do not mean there should be any violence or that no one sacrifice their lives in the fight to save education. But, symbolically, figuratively, a Martyr shall lead us, a Martyr will save education, a Martyr will lead us to the promised land.

Where is our Rosa Parks? A Rosa Parks of education who refuses to be sent to the Rubber Room for carrying a Coke. A Rosa Parks who refuses to administer yet another senseless, pointless exam on their students. A parent, a community that refuses to to what the educrats demand.

Gandhi went on a hunger strikes to get the British out of India. He also was an inspiration to Martin Luther King in his enacting of civil disobedience. Both these men stood up for what they believed. Both this men martyred themselves, before they were killed, to do what is right. Where are our Gandhi's or King's? Look at the movements of the 60's and see what they accomplished through civil disobedience.

Look at what Bobby Sands did to bring attention to the IRA. He and several others not only went on a hunger strike, but died for what they believed. A hunger strike can succeed in stopping Bloomberg, Christie, Duncan, Obama, et. al. Do you think for a minute these cowards would allow someone, especially if it were a parent, to die? No! It would all ruin them politically.

We can even go the last radical route of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Their bed-in of 1969 in which they were advocating peace brought out everyone to support them. They got their message out there!

I am sure many would be reading this and saying, "Hey, put your money where your mouth is," and they would be correct. I should put my money where my mouth is.

I'm getting there. I can't believe the bullshit I see and hear everyday. The idiocy that is the NYC DOE is like Bizaro Superman. The bullshit lies from those in power claiming "students first." Everything I see, we all see around us is a crock of shit.

But I have a bigger horse in the race. My son. I want him to have a real education, a real learning experience through school. I want him to learning, not because of some teacher worship bullshit thing, but because he wants to. I want him to be a better student than I ever was. I want him to be a free thinker that always questions and asks "why?" I don't want him to become some animatron learning by rote and just memorizing facts.

We, parents, teachers,students, communities need to retake ownership of education. Only we, only you, can keep them from ruining our children's education and lives.