From Wesley Strong, organizer for March 4th National Day of Action to Defend Education
As people throughout the country struggle under the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, public education from pre-K to higher and adult education is threatened by budget cuts, layoffs, privatization, tuition and fee increases, and other attacks. Budget cuts degrade the quality of public education by decreasing student services and increasing class size, while tuition hikes and layoffs force the cost of the recession onto students and teachers and off of the financial institutions that caused the recession in the first place. Non-unionized charter schools threaten to divide, weaken and privatize the public school system and damage teachers’ unions, which are needed now more than ever. More and more students are going deep into debt to finance their education, while high unemployment forces many students and youth to join the military to receive a higher education. And all of the attacks described above have hit working people and people of color the hardest.In California, students, teachers, workers, parents, and faculty have taken action against these attacks. They took to the streets in a one-day strike on September 24th, organized strikes and actions across the state during the University of California Board of Regents meeting from November 18th to 20th, and have called for a state-wide day of action on March 4th. These actions have created a broad mass movement in California, drawing in students from all over the state to create a powerful struggle. As the effects of the economic crisis continue to spread into the education system nationally, it’s time to join our voices with students and workers in California and draw inspiration from their example.
We support each group or coalition organizing in the manner and for the duration of their choosing. In solidarity with those in California, we the below-signed individuals and organizations call on students, teachers, workers, parents, faculty, and staff across the country to join together on March 4th to Take A Stand For Education!
Visit the Web site for more details athttp://www.defendeducation.org. You can now endorse online!
To endorse this call or to receive more information, visit the above web page or contact [email protected].
Find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=213637229312.
To join the national discussion, please visit the March 4th Google Group at http://groups.google.com/group/march4thaction.
INITIAL ENDORSERS:
Organizations
All Nations Alliance
Animas Students for a Democratic Society (Durango, Coloardo)
Bail Out the People Movement
Chicago Students for a Democratic Society
College Park Students for Democratic Society
Community Organizing Center for Mother Earth – Columbus Ohio
Connecticut Students Against the War
CUNY Campaign to Defend Education
Fight Imperialism, Stand Together
Graduate Student Employees Union (SUNY Stony Brook)
GSU Progressive Student Alliance (Atlanta)
Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society
National Assembly to End the Iraq & Afghanistan Wars & Occupations
New School in Exile
NYC Anti-War Coalition
Peoples Video Network
Recreate ‘68 Alliance
Socialist Organizer
Solidarity
SPEAK (Students Promoting Engagement Through Activism and Knowledge) at Georgia State University
Student/Farmworker Alliance
Students for Educational Rights (City College of New York)
Students Taking Action to Reclaim our Education (University of Maryland)
UNC-Chapel Hill Students for a Democratic Society
UW-Milwaukee Education Rights Campaign
Individuals (*all organizations listed for identification purposes only)
Frantz Mendes, President United Steelworkers L. 8751 – Boston School Bus Drivers Union*
Steve Gillis, Vice President United Steelworkers L. 8751 – Boston School Bus Drivers Union*
Susan Massad, Associate Professor Framingham State College*
Ed Childs, Chief Steward UNITE/HERE L. 26 (Harvard Univ.)*
Phebe Eckfeldt, Harvard Union Rep., Harvard Union of Clerical & Technical Workers (HUCTW)/AFSCME L. 3650*
Eleanor J. Bader, writer and adjunct faculty member, Brooklyn, NY*
Peter Cook, Boston Teachers Union, Local 66 MFT AFT, AFL-CIO*
Heather Cottin Adjunct Lecturer, History, LaGuardia Community College, PSC member*
Susan E. Davis, National Writers Union, United Auto Workers Local 1981*
Mike Gimbel, Local 375, AFSCME delegate to the NYC-CLC & Chairperson of Local 375, AFSCME, Labor/Community Unity Committee*
Martha Grevatt, Chair, Civil Rights Committee, UAW Local 122*
Andy Griggs, United Teachers Los Angeles; Co-chair, California Teachers Association Peace and Justice Caucus; Steering Committee, US Labor Against the War*
Dr. Sue Harris, Co-Director, Peoples Video Network*
Imani Henry, Playwright/Performer*
Dan La Botz, Spanish teacher, Cincinnati Waldorf School, Cincinnati, Ohio*
Julia La Riva, member of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)*
Robin McCubbin, professor, Southwestern College, Chula Vista, CA*
Minnie Bruce Pratt, Professor, Women’s & Gender Studies, Syracuse University*
David Sole, Prof. of Chemistry, Wayne Co. Community College, Detroit.*
Billy Wharton, National Co-Chair, Socialist Party USA*
The Most Rev. Filipe C, Teixeira, OFSJC, Diocese of Saint Francis of Assisi*
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