New Mexico teachers, students, and parents! Learn from Mary, Queen of Scots

I just discovered the series, Reign, recently and have been watching an episode each day on Netflix. As I watch it, Mary, Queen of Scots, has become another hero to me. She was a leader, her first concern her friends and family. Yet she also was keenly aware of how important she was politically, and her concerns included her subjects and even France's subjects. She understood the big picture.

Wow! How did she become such a strong, good person raised in exile? It was those nuns she was exiled with, obviously.

Anyway, I'm at the part in the story where Mary tells the bastard son of the king of France, Sebastian, that they can't just wait for the Vatican to approve their marriage so they can rule France, Scotland, and England (that's the political reason; it's nice that they love each other, too).

She tells him that they should just get married and force the Pope to recognize them instead of waiting for approval. I clapped, all alone in my room. Yeah, Mary! You tell 'em.

Let's get to my point.  It is time to practice what Mary preaches. I googled "parent, student, teacher opposition to standardized tests" or something like that. I saw that all across the nation, people are refusing to take the standardized tests being shoved down their throats. There is even a Facebook page for parents and students.

I also found an article, a blog post by Diane Ravitch, saying what I've been saying -- if everyone walks out on the test, we will see true democracy in action.

New Mexico is the perfect place to start a grassroots revolution. We have pieces in place already to move toward a Slow Learning model for educating our kids. We have the American Indian tribes and pueblos -- and Spanish and Mexican communities -- whose cultures almost define slow learning, where our kids learn not just facts but ideas, thoughts, and dreams of the communities they live in.

We have international communities, like Los Alamos, where people from all over the world come to live, and they bring their cultural conceptions of family and community.

We still have villages in New Mexico. Village is a word that means community, a closeness between its residents, shared goals. I live in the Village of Bosque Farms, just down the road from the Village of Los Lunas. Those are only two of many.

We are a state of free thinkers, artists, poets, organic farmers, scientists, and entrepreneurs. We hold onto our indigenous languages rather than require our residents to speak English only. We honor diversity in every sense of the word, at least I hope most of us do. We aren't perfect but we have a fighting spirit, a spirit that could go a long way to create change in education.

How can a test publishing company possibly think that they can create one test that can accurately gauge the learning of all these children and all the diversity they bring to the classroom?

• Let's quit worrying about the consequences of refusing to take the test because there really are no consequences except positive ones. 
• Let's quit caring how we do compared to other states. New Mexico is unique and beautiful. We have so much promise!
• Let's concentrate on making New Mexico a good place for kids to grow and learn. 
• This is a movement that must start from the community level. Start with New Mexico, the rest will follow.