Steve Orel: Don't Stand by my grave and weep. . . .
Publication Date: 2007-07-13
By The family and friends of Steve Orel

LINK

Keep the legacy alive. Send a memorial gift to the WOO.

Steve Orel, December 20, 1953 - July 7, 2007

The world has lost a brave warrior in the battle for justice. Rectal cancer had spread to his liver and he lost his last battle for life in the rainy early morning hours on July 7, 2007. He was 53 years old. While in his teens, Steve left his comfortable world in Los Angeles, California and made his way, ultimately, to Birmingham, Alabama. He started as an organizer for the National Lawyers Guild, helping to establish the Peoples College of Law, a progressive, non-profit, community-run law school in Los Angeles. Along the way, he worked in slaghter houses and ship yards, organizing the unorganized for better wages and working conditions. While in LA he also worked as an organizer for the SEIU and then, arriving in Birmingham, as an organizer for ACTWU, going beyond his specified duties to assist textile workers whose plants had been shut down due to NAFTA.

Eventually, laid off himself, he turned to his love of teaching, in honor of his mother, to become an adult educator. He finally found his calling in the Woodlawn section of Birmingham, founding the World of Opportunity (WOO), a non-profit, free adult education school with the motto, “Teaching to and learning from the whole person.” The WOO has assisted hundreds of “pushed-out” students in getting their GED certificates, with many going on to local colleges. There is also a nursing program, for students wishing to obtain their nursing assistant certificates. Steve’s belief in the students’ abilities and the respect and admiration he showed them was the basis for WOO’s success.

Upon first meeting a potential student at the WOO, he would use humor to overcome initial stiffness and lack of trust, stubbornly refusing to continue with the interview until he raised a smile from a broken face. Steve was told he had “a way of looking past what’s on the surface and seeing what a person is really like.”

Statements from friends and family from across the world included:

“Those who led a life like Steve leave so many positive memories and victories that the immediate loss will be overcome by a legacy of courage, creativity and vision…”

“Your actions have changed [personal] histories, and opened minds, bridging barriers among people of all walks of life.”

All of these things resulted in Steve and the WOO receiving many awards and accolades. Though he refused to take personal credit for any of this, it was his vision and unique gifts that earned them. The honors included: The “John Dewey Award,” Presented by the Vermont Society for the Study of Education in recognition of the extraordinary professional, civic and political courage in exposing and resisting the harms of high stakes testing and exemplary commitment to social justice; the “Southern Hero” award presented at the Birmingham City Council meeting by SouthernLINC Wireless in appreciation for outstanding community service and leadership; 2006 Libarary Champion award presented by the Jefferson County Public Library Association; One of the 25 top Good Small Schools, based on a study of over 3000 small schools in the United States by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. More information on this last honor can be found at: http://cms.willdoo.com/CONCORDIA/uploads/dollars_sense2.pdf

Steve’s story and the story of the “522 Pushed-Out Kids” has been presented in several publications, including, “Silent No More - Voices of Courage in America” Heinemann (2003); Susan Ohanian, “What happened to recess and why are our children struggling in kindergarten?” McGraw Hill, (2002); and, -“Divided We Fail - Issues of Equity in American Schools” Danny Miller, Editor, Heinemann (2005).

He was preceded in death by many beloved friends and family members: his beloved father, Ben Orel; his beloved father-in-law, Glen P. Creel; his beloved Aunt Rochelle and Aunt Estelle; Uncle Ben; Cousin David; Dr. Dan; and beloved friend, Alan.

His Birmingham family and friends: He is survived by his beloved wife, Glenda Jo and his beloved son, Justin; his mother-in-law, Annie Jo Creel, sister-in-law, Lisa Stevens and his beloved niece, Kayla Jo Stevens, his Uncles L.M. & Cob; his beloved Father Charles; the beloved WOO folks, Mary, Jerome, Denita and Tara; friends, David & Kathy;

His Los Angeles family: His beloved Mom, Jeannette Orel, Sister, Judy Ravitz, Brother-in-law, Kenny Ravitz, His beloved cousins, Mark, Dorothea, Andrew & Landon; Les & Dianne, Noah & Jonah; Debbie, Bianca & Alexa;

His West Coast and in between Friends: Barbara & Gary; Larry & Janet; Janet & Debbie; Ross & Linda; Forey, Danny & Luke.

Steve also enjoyed the love of his canine family: Percy Jo, Max, Boomer, Shmangie & Shmatta.

Understanding that individuals alone cannot accomplish what needs to be done, he always kept the words to this song in his head and heart:

“Step by Step the longest march, Can be won, Can be won.

Many stones can form an arch, Singly none, singly none.

And by union what we will, Can be accomplished still.

Drops of water turn a mill, Singly none, singly none.”

(The United Mineworkers song)

The following poem, sent by a friend and written by an unknown Native American, truly expresses how Steve would want people to think of him:

Don’t stand by my grave and weep,

For I am not there.

I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow

I am the diamond’s glint on snow,

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn’s rain,

In the soft hush of the morning light

I am the swift bird in flight,

Don’t stand by my grave and cry,

I am not there,

I did not die.

Steve urges all of you to get a colonoscopy!

In lieu of flowers: Please contribute to:

The World of Opportunity (WOO)
7429 Georgia Road
Birmingham, Alabama 35212

One more time:

Warmest peacebuilding greetings,

Steve Orel

A Memorial will be held at Temple E-Manuel, Hess Chapel , 2100 Highland Avenue South, Birmingham, Alabama 35205. Ph: 933.8037

On: August 7, 2007 at 11:00 a.m.

A hand-in-hand remembrance will be held at the World of Opportunity
7429 Georgia Road
Birmingham, Alabama 35212

On: August 8, 2007 at 12:00 p.m.

From Betsy Combier: While I never met Steve, I spoke with him several times, and gave him the Parentadvocates' "A For Accountability Award" (see below). He thanked me, but I told him that it was I who needed to thank him, for his life and work. One person can make a difference to the world, and we will carry on, empowered by Steve.

STEVE OREL, Interversity, and The World of Opportunity
522 students pushed out of school in Birmingham, Alabama:
In what perilous direction is education heading when we view our students as "interfering" with standardized student achievement test scores?
Steve Orel
ShopMathEdu@aol.com

Steve Orel is the Assistant Director and Lead Instructor at the World of Opportunity adult education program in Birmingham, Alabama, where he is also an activist member of the Birmingham Human Rights Project.
Background to the pushout situation in Birmingham:
From out of the rubble which resulted from a skirmish with Birmingham City Schools over the misuse of standardized testing, arose a wonderful new program called World of Opportunity which offers exploration and discovery of careers, skills, adult education, and literacy to poor and working class adults and young adults in our community. Allow me to explain how this came about.

In March of this year, I noticed an unusual influx of high school students enrolling in the Birmingham City Schools Adult Education Program where I instructed. The students presented similar documentation from their high schools which stated, "Withdrawn. Reason: Lack of Interest." The mere fact that these students were standing in our classroom, eager to continue their studies, contradicted the notion of a "lack of interest," to me. These students told us they were not referred to our adult education program. They found us on their own initiative.

What was the meaning of these withdrawals?
When I asked my supervisors and other instructors what was the meaning of these withdrawals, I learned that the students who came to our program were administratively withdrawn prior to the administration of the SAT9 test. I found some other common characteristics. All of the pushed out students I came in contact with were African American teenagers. Many were not functioning at their grade level. Many had poor attendance habits. None had voluntarily withdrawn. Some had gone back to the school with their parents and guardians trying to get re-enrolled but they were refused. Several of the students were actually pushed out of school precisely on their 16th birthdays.

Even some of my superiors told me that the reason the students were withdrawn was to remove low achieving (i.e., low scoring) students out of the test pool with the aim of raising SAT9 scores. Six local high schools were placed on an academic alert status by the State Department of Education. Low SAT9 scores this year would mean school takeovers by the state, and the local Board of Education was apparently willing to do anything to prevent that.

Ms. Virginia Volker is one of two student advocate members (along with Ms. Mary Moore) of our local Board of Education. She inquired about the withdrawal situation at Board meetings, but could not get straightforward answers. When she raised her inquiry publicly, the local media began to cover the issue of the withdrawn students.

As my knowledge of the withdrawals increased I wrote a term paper for a course at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham), entitled, "In what direction is education heading when we view our students as 'interfering' with student achievement test scores?" The paper challenged the significance and misuse of standardized tests. The term paper documented the withdrawals and included statements from some of our students. Somehow, without my permission, my term paper was turned over to the Board of Education.

"Figures lie and liars figure," Mark Twain
At first the Board administration denied that there were any mass withdrawals at all. They said that they looked into the situation and there was no merit to the allegations.

Within a few days, they conceded that 115 students had been withdrawn at one high school alone, and by the end of July they admitted that in fact 522 students, or 5.6% of the entire high school student body in this city, were withdrawn for "lack of interest" in 1999-2000."

The Board began demonizing the withdrawn students. They publicly characterized these students as thugs, hoodlums, arsonists, even rapists. They blamed the withdrawn students for all of the chaos in the local high schools. One Board representative challenged the public to "walk in our shoes and spend a week in school with these students." That challenge was my opportunity to speak out and defend the students who had enrolled in our adult education program.

In defense of our students
I responded to all of the slanders made against the students by explaining that those who enrolled in our program buckled down, and tried their best to complete their assignments. They applied for library cards, began taking books home to read, and those over 18 registered to vote. They engaged in dialogue journal writing assignments and began to reflect on their schooling, lives, careers, ambitions and insecurities. I explained that there had not been one single fight, nor fire, nor disruption by the withdrawn students who enrolled in our program. In fact, several attended class during Spring Break and into the Summer even though their classmates were not in school. Most had made measurable progress in our program. One student had designed a website.

In late June, I was called on the carpet by the Board administration and asked about my term paper. They wanted to know whether I had received permission to conduct research on this matter (My paper was a term paper, not a research paper). I was also asked whether I had received permission before making my public statements to the press in which I defended the students. At no time was I ever asked whether my allegations that students had been pushed out of school wer accurate, or more importantly, what we could do to retrieve the pushed out students and get them back into the educational fold.

First students were pushed out and now they were locked out

In early July my supervisor abruptly shut down our summer program altogether. In March and April, the students were pushed out of school, and now in July, they were locked out once more.

The students and parents shared with me what had happened to them and I felt it was critical to get their stories out. Consider the statement of Brad (not his real name), a recently "withdrawn" student who described the situation at his high school:

"I used to be a student at [name of school deleted] in Birmingham. About 2-3 months ago, there was a school assembly. Everyone in the school attended the assembly. The principal...spoke to us."

"The principal said that he didn't want any students to interfere with the SAT scores. He said that the SAT scores were already low, and that the State was going to take over. He said that he would try to get out the students out of the school who he thought would bring the test score down. He also gave us this same message over the intercom a couple of times after that.

"On the last day that I went to school, I was told to report to the principal's office because my name was not on the roster. I was given a withdrawal slip which said,"'lack of interest.'

"I did miss a lot of school days. I had family problems. I had allergies.

"I wanted to get back in school so I enrolled in a continuing education program in early April and have been attending regularly."

Within two weeks of being withdrawn for "lack of interest," Brad enrolled in a pre-apprenticeship construction training program and an Adult Basic Education GED preparation class just a couple of miles from the school he was expelled from. Now, does Brad sound like a student who "lacked interest"? And he is typical of the character of a pushed out student with whom I had the joy of working.

The students have a story to tell
The expelled students I have worked with provide common reports of their experiences at their former schools where they felt "branded, labeled,"" and stigmatized. The most typical stigma is "lack of interest""which is as they were labeled on their withdrawal forms. As educators we must realize that our youth will eventually sink to our low level of expectations of them. According to the students I talked with, they listened to a cacophony of less than encouraging statements such as, "You'll end up on drugs and end up in jail. You'll never amount to anything."" The withdrawals were just a finale to the lack of support they felt throughout the year. Many of these students have given up faith in a school system and society that appears to have given up faith in them. We are approaching a stalemate: The attitudes of the State Department of Education and the students appear to be reciprocal. We've got to reverse this trend and act as student advocates to expose these injustices.

Speaking out publicly as student advocates
I asked and received permission to speak at a Board meeting, at which time I presented a proposal to retrieve the withdrawn students and get them back into an intense reading remediation program at their respective schools. The Board gave me 3 minutes to present my views. What was their response? I was terminated by Birmingham City Schools the next day.

From the very outset, I was cautioned by administrators within the academic and teaching community that my job would not survive bringing these revelations to the light of day. But I knew that I was speaking the truth and I was duty-bound to defend our students. There seemed no choice to me but to speak the truth, stand beside the students I worked with, and try to put an end to this standardized test-driven madness.

I stumbled across this pushed out situation, and I was compelled to speak the truth. Birmingham, Alabama is one of the cradles of the civil rights movement in this country. As a civil rights and human rights community, we tend to cherish our children with a special passion unique to our city. We know where hatred, bigotry, and anti-humanitarian views can lead. The death of four little girls and two young men on September 15, 1963, is forever etched into the psyche and humanity of our community. This is why this enormous pushout of 522 high school students is especially difficult to comprehend and so very tragic. Since the pushouts began, at least one of these students, 16 year old Timothy Harrison, has been shot and killed on the streets.

The World of Opportunity arose from the rubble
A very interesting chain of events has taken place since I was fired. Our program had been a very successful and thriving program last year. In fact, our participants received quite a few awards for our literacy and GED work. When word got out that I was fired, I was offered a position by Catholic community activists, as Assistant Director / Lead Instructor of an expanded adult education program which was reopening at the exact same location. This would afford me an opportunity to work with many of the same students. Opportunities like this do not come often in a lifetime. So, despite the fact that I had to take severe cuts in income and benefits, I wholeheartedly accepted the job.

When Birmingham City Schools learned that I had been hired by another agency, they pulled out of the partnership completely, taking boxes and boxes of text books and testing materials with them.

Despite this setback, the World of Opportunity opened its doors on September 5, 2000. As I submit this update to the Roots of Resistance Conference, 67 students have enrolled in the World of Opportunity program and this is only our 12th day of operation.

Many of the students have been pushed out of their former high schools. They see the World of Opportunity as a second chance, or as one student, Josie (not her real name), put it, "making ways out of no way." As much as possible, we are matching instructors and tutors to work one-on-one with our students in literacy, GED preparation, and exploring and discovering job and career skills for employment or promotions.

Solidarity from other education activists
One of the biggest boosts to our program and spirits came from support which we received from activists on the Assessment Reform Network (ARN) e-mail list. When our program was shut down and I was fired, education reformers from around the country wrote letters urging the local and state boards of education to reinstate the 522 pushed out students and rehire me. Another important source of support is the National Coalition of Advocates for Students who filed a freedom of information request with Birmingham City Schools to determine the scope of the pushout problem.

Our lifeline has been the concrete assistance which Susan Ohanian (Vermont), and Gloria Pipkin (Florida) have organized through the Committee to Recognize Courage in Education (CRCIE). The Ohanian/Pipkin team solicited donations for books to replace those removed from our premises and donations from their contacts around the country. We have received hundreds of dictionaries, text books, reference books, history books, novels, children's books (the majority of our students are parents and they are now reading more with their children). We have accumulated a substantial library in our building, and we also are in a position to give away books to our students and encourage them to build their own libraries at their homes (and we are holding on to books for some of our homeless students who have no place other than our school to store their books).

Locally, through the efforts of the Catholic community, and also by secular activists like myself who work with the Birmingham Human Rights Project, we are making this school a success story. Several Alabama civil rights attorneys have also been a great assistance to right the wrongs against the pushed out students and my termination. I never intended to work outside of the public school system, but after I was fired and sent into exile, this was the only way to continue working with and teaching these students.

Ultimately, where we all gain our most strength is from our students. Their resiliency, tenacity, perseverance and burning desire to continue their education is what motivates all of us to work in this field. At the World of Opportunity, we have faith and confidence in our students and they in turn are developing trust and confidence in our program and themselves. What more could we ask for?

There are so many lessons which we are still learning in this journey. As educators, our first priority and commitment must be to the students, not to a dehumanizing standardized test bureaucracy. We must be prepared to speak the truth, regardless of the consequences. When you stand up against injustice, others will stand with you. As unimaginable as it may sound now, there is life after firing. There is a place and a role for fired educators to continue their calling.

Step by step...
As I have had the honor of working on the community effort to remodel and reopen the World of Opportunity, I have been inspired by the lyrics and tune of the anthem of the original mine workers federation:

Step by step, the longest march can be won.....can be won.
Many stones will form an arch. Singly none.....Singly none.
And by union what we will, can be accomplished still.
Drops of water turn a mill. Singly none.....Singly none.

If you would like to learn more about our World of Opportunity program or contribute books or donations to our program to continue educating the pushed out students, please contact us as follows: Steve Orel, World of Opportunity, c/o MWW, 7429 Georgia Road, Birmingham, AL 35212, pager: 1-800-239-2337, enter PIN# 2818 (leave a voice mail message), tel: 205-271-9532, e-mail: ShopMathEdu@aol.com.