| New Keynote Speaker + 1st Workshops Announced |
The AERO conference Super Early Bird rate of $225 for adults, $200 for students, and $100 for under 11 (childcare included for over 3) will end next Friday, February 14, and it will gradually rise to $350. If you are or become an AERO member you can get an addition 10% off registration.
New Keynote Speaker Announced
 In celebration of AERO's 25th anniversary conference, our executive director Jerry Mintz will deliver a keynote address. More details are the talk are forthcoming, but you can learn more about Jerry in the meantime here. Watch his two TEDx talks to get inspired here. Workshops Announced & Proposal Deadline
We have now posted our first 15 accepted workshops and others are pouring in. as we said, we will close the workshop proposal site when we have filled the slots. This year's proposed workshops and presentations are really amazing, with some posted and not yet posted building on last year's presentations. Some of these workshops include:
- Presentations by at least two homeschool resource centers, Northstar and Princeton Learning Cooperative, and several other homeschool presentations
- Four Arrows will return to the AERO conference to talk about his new book, Teaching Truly: A Curriculum to Indigenize Mainstream Education
- Kirk Cunningham will return, following up on his research presentation of last year
- Chris Mercogliano and I will do a School Starters Workshop
- Chris will also do School as Community, Community as School
- David Marshak will do presentations on his Self Design Graduate Institution and following up on an AERO higher education caucus
- Amir Notea will come back from Israel to do Freedom To Educate and Education Equality
- Tomis Parker and Nancy Tilton will talk about their Agile Learning Centers
- John Rodrigues will present on High School Dropout to Harvard: My Life with Dyslexia.
- Meredith Bartolo will present on democratic early education in refugee populations.
Click here to see all the current listings with detailed descriptions and presenter bios.
Send in your proposals soon if you want them to be listed on the website and scheduled. Accepted presenters can register at the presenter rate. To submit a proposal to host a workshop or presentation click here.
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| Jerry Mintz on the AERO Conference, Democratic Assemblies and School Shootings |
The following interview is shared thanks to Marc-Alexandre Prud'homme of REDAQ: Le Reseau des ecoles democratiques au Quebec.
From their description of the interview:
We were very happy to have the chance to interview Jerry Mintz, the director of AERO (Alternative Education Ressource Organization). We asked him about what is in the works for the upcoming AERO conference and about AERO's 25th anniversary. Jerry shared some stories that illustrate how democratic assemblies can be beneficial in a learning setting and we talked about the unfortunate and too-frequent school shootings that took place in 2014.
Listen to the complete interview or download the MP3 on our website here.
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| Humiliation at School Should be a Thing of the Past - by Linda Stout |
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 "Dozens of children at a Utah elementary school had their lunch trays snatched away from them before they could take a bite this week. Salt Lake City School District officials say the trays were taken away at Uintah Elementary School Tuesday because some students had negative balances in the accounts used to pay for lunches". (CNN Jan 30, 2014)
The students watched as their food was thrown away, many crying with shame, humiliation, embarrassment, and just pure hunger. The school officials justified this action by saying they would never let a child go "hungry," so each child whose parents were behind in paying for lunches were given a carton of milk and a piece of fruit.
As a poor kid growing up in public schools, I have experienced being singled out and humiliated among other classmates in this way. In hearing this story, the pain I experienced fifty-four years ago is still there. This experience for these children will be a negative life changing event for many of them. The school can apologize, the parents can try to make it up to the child by telling them how unjust it is, but the damage has been done. The feelings of being different, made fun of, or feeling "less than" their classmates can change a life. (To see many other people's similar stories, go to Class Action's Blog page on education.)
While not all of the children who had their food taken away from them were poor - some parents just forgot to pay and were not notified - this is a common type of experience for many poor children. I remember my horror and shock when I found out my niece had to sit with one other student in study hall all day, while all the other classmates went on a field trip for the day. I remember the pain of being the only one sitting in the school auditorium while the rest of my class went to the state capital for the day. I could not believe it was possible that my niece actually suffered the same humiliating event some 40 years later! Now, after having worked with many low income school students and activists, I realize that things are even worse for some than when I started school in 1960.
Read more here.
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This shocking story will help AERO readers understand that the "school to prison pipeline" is really not a coincidence but big business:
Today a special on "kids for cash," the shocking story of how thousands of children in Pennsylvania were jailed by two corrupt judges who received $2.6 million in kickbacks from the builders and owners of private prison facilities. We hear from two of the youth: Charlie Balasavage was sent to juvenile detention after his parents unknowingly bought him a stolen scooter; Hillary Transue was detained for creating a MySpace page mocking her assistant high school principal. They were both 14 years old and were sentenced by the same judge, Judge Mark Ciavarella, who is now in jail himself - serving a 28-year sentence. Balasavage and Transue are featured in the new documentary, "Kids for Cash," by filmmaker Robert May, who also joins us. In addition, we speak to two mothers: Sandy Fonzo, whose son Ed Kenzakoski committed suicide after being imprisoned for years by Judge Ciavarella, and Hillary's mother, Laurene Transue. Putting their stories into context of the larger scandal is attorney Robert Schwartz, executive director of the Juvenile Law Center. The story is still developing: In October, the private juvenile-detention companies in the scandal settled a civil lawsuit for $2.5 million.
Read and watch more here.
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Herb Kohl: "Some Suggestions for Education Reform" (Video)
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Do you have a news or resource item you think Education Revolution newsletter readers would find useful? Send it to [email protected].
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Thank you for your ongoing support. With your help, we will make learner-centered alternatives available to everyone!
Sincerely,
Jerry Mintz
Executive Director
Alternative Education Resource Organization
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