A viral video with more than 97 million views is taking the traditional school system from the classroom to a courtroom for what the makers believe to be stale, out-of-date concepts.
“I call school to the stand and accuse him of killing creativity, individuality and being intellectually abusive.”
In the video, spoken word artist Prince EA is suing the school system for cookie-cutter classroom settings, strict schedules and standardized testing.
Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, says Ohio’s schools have already made advancements, such as new classroom settings, however she says the video does shine a light on the need to be more creative and flexible.
“Look at that video and think what do I need to say to policymakers to open up the doors even more to our teachers to do the things that they want to do in the classroom,” Cropper said.
Cropper adds that some of the arguments made in the video need to be discussed now as education leaders make plans to align with the new federal program known as the Every Student Succeeds Act.