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Thousands of parents, teachers and others listened to a speech by actor Matt Damon. He spoke in front of the protestors in a location close to the White House. This march was organized in protest of the education policies of the Obama administration particularly against the standardized tests.

Many speakers had a chance to voice their views including Damon. The others include Deb Meier, Diane Ravitch and Jonathan Kozol. Damon’s speech was one of the most effective with its straight to the point, common sense approach.

Damon said that he came here specifically to speak up and tell everyone in person that they are great. He went on to say how it was a teacher who raised him. An early childhood education professor, his mother was a major influence in his life. He attended public schools right from his kindergarten to his senior high school. He said that he would not exchange that experience for anything else.

Damon said he was lucky enough to have great teachers. He said that the way he was parented and the way he was taught by his teachers played a significant role in shaping what he values most in life today such as his love of acting, imagination, love of learning, passion for writing and most of all, his curiosity. He also said that all these qualities that has brought him success and fame cannot be tested in any manner.

According to Damon, his incredible teachers were empowered to teach him and there was no wasting time on test prep and any other silly drills claiming to promote real learning. Teachers he said were given all the power to unlock and unleash the potential of their students. They had the freedom to approach each and every student and work with them based on their individual capabilities. In other words, Damon said, teachers were just allowed to be teachers.

He once had an encounter with standardized tests, he said. It was his mother who walked up to the principal and said her son will not take this kind of silly tests that will only lower his self confidence. It was way back in the seventies when parents had the liberty to talk freely to the principal. Damon says he shudders to think those tests are being made mandatory today just to control the flow of funds.

If his teacher’s jobs depended on how well they performed in the standardized tests, Damon said he would be nobody today. He also said that if his teachers had not concentrated on unleashing the innate potential and creativity of students rather than drilling into them lessons based on which they would survive or not, he and many others would be doing something they hated.

Damon sympathized with teachers of today saying that this is a horrible decade for them. This is a decade he said that makes them feel demoralized. He also said that he voiced the opinion of millions who had high regards for their teachers and who strongly believed that they are what they are only because of them.