[Educationforall] Article from SocialistWorker.org

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http://socialistworker.org/2009/10/23/fight-for-public-education

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======== ORGANIZING THE FIGHT FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION ===========================

October 23, 2009

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Seven participants in this weekend's conference on defending public education  
in California--*Ian Steinman*, a student at UC Santa Cruz; *Alex Schmaus*, a  
student at San Francisco State University; *Adrienne Johnson*, a teacher at  
San Francisco Community School; *Nick Kardahji*, a student at UC Berkeley;  
*Brian Cruz*, a worker at City College of San Francisco; *Jessie Muldoon*, a  
teacher at Oakland High School; and *Kathryn Lybarger*, a worker at UC  
Berkeley--examine some of the issues and questions that activists are coming  
together to address.

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SEVERAL HUNDRED college students, faculty, campus workers, and pre-K to grade  
12 teachers and students from across California will gather at the University  
of California at Berkeley on October 24 to chart a course of action to defend  
public education.

The UC Berkeley General Assembly issued the call at a mass meeting of  
hundreds the night of the September 24 statewide student and faculty walkout  
and strike by campus workers in the Union of Professional and Technical  
Employees. Thousands of people participated at the 10 UC campuses across the  
state.

That was the first large response to catastrophic budget cuts totaling more  
than $13 billion passed by the Democratic-controlled state legislature and  
Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The cuts have led to hundreds of  
workers losing their jobs, faculty forced to take unpaid furlough days, the  
rejection of tens of thousands of students from college, and severely reduced  
classes and services for the remaining students.

Tuition has been raised by more than 25 percent on average in the past couple  
years, and steep increases are projected next fall--for instance, the UC  
administration is proposing a 34 percent increase for the fall 2010.

Meanwhile, in pre-K to grade 12 education, teachers and students have already  
suffered large-scale layoffs, overcrowded class rooms and a rapid-fire  
effort, centered in Los Angeles and Richmond, to turn hundreds of schools  
over to private charter school companies.

To top it off, everyone expects that next year's budget cuts will be even  
worse, with perhaps the largest-scale layoffs of public school teachers in  
California history.

Against this background, the October 24 conference in Berkeley is a welcome  
sign of opposition and will play a crucial role in organizing resistance.

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*State of the movement*

Like all movements in their first phases, there are many different ideas  
about how to go forward.

The multiplicity of ideas is complicated by the fact that the movement spans  
three separate public college systems (the University of California and  
California State University systems, and a complex web of community college  
systems), as well as pre-K to grade 12 public education.

All four of these sectors are facing different forms of attacks (although  
there is a lot of overlap), serve different types of students, and suffer  
from different levels of corporate penetration.

Within each of these systems, there is a wide variety of political players:  
high school, undergraduate and graduate students, tenured faculty and junior  
instructors, custodial staff and technical employees, humanities and science  
departments, teachers and classified staff. These groups are represented by a  
long list of unions, professional and departmental groups, and political and  
ethnic student organizations.

There are different political ideas among of these groups of people, running  
from moderate liberals to socialists and anarchists, and all points along the  
spectrum.

And there is no agreement on tactics. Some students and teachers believe that  
lobbying elected officials is essential, while others have taken direct  
action to occupy buildings or liberate libraries closed due to budget cuts.

Finally, the level of organization varies widely between schools and  
campuses.

All of this is a perfectly natural situation, given the huge influx of tens  
of thousands of people into a struggle to defend their education and  
livelihoods, and it should be welcomed as a positive sign of the birth of a  
genuine movement that has staying power.

However, it does mean that, despite the promise of October 24, there are also  
dangers that the divisions could overwhelm the conference and prevent the  
adoption of a relatively unified, concrete plan for the next stage in the  
fight.

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*Building a united front*

Given this reality, how can October 24 chart a course forward? The key is  
understanding what can be agreed upon and what cannot.

First is the question of demands. On the one hand, there is a wide variety of  
demands within the movement overall. But at the same time, there are some  
radicals--including some who have led occupations--who don't believe in any  
demands at all.

While that is an extreme position, held only by a small minority, it is  
probably only possible (and necessary) at this stage to agree on very broad  
slogans: No cuts, no layoffs, no tuition hikes, or something similar to this.  
Of course, individual campuses, unions, students groups and others should be  
free to modify or supplement these demands as they see fit.

Second, the necessity of multi-sector and statewide action in order to  
maximize our impact means that the conference should concentrate on trying to  
develop unity around concrete actions.

At this point in the semester, there is probably time for one more unified  
set of actions, most likely to be timed around days of protest at the UC  
Regents meeting in LA on November 17 and 18.

For the spring, there is general agreement around the need for a united  
walkout, strike and day of action in the early part of the semester within  
some key groups--for example, the Student Worker Action Team at Berkeley, the  
General Assemblies at City College of San Francisco and San Francisco State  
University, and the Educators for a Democratic Union caucus of teachers in  
San Francisco.

There is a debate over the date. Student Unity and Power originally suggested  
the day be timed to coincide with the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq on  
March 18. However, on that date, nine of 11 UC schools will be on spring  
break, meaning that statewide unity would be severely weakened.

Also, thousands of public school teacher layoff notices will go out on March  
15, so it makes sense to take action before these are issued, in order to  
pressure authorities to reduce the number of layoffs as much as possible.

For these two reasons, the ISO will argue for moving the date up to March 11,  
and we hope unity can be achieved around this date, or another one close to  
it.

Among other proposals that may arise, the group Speak Out! is suggesting that  
instead of a statewide day of action, a march on Sacramento should be  
organized. But this would be better set for later in the spring, perhaps  
timed to coincide with May Day of the Teacher on May 4.

Delaying it will allow the earlier spring action to build up forces at  
campuses and schools across the state, and it will be better timed to come in  
the middle of the legislature's budget negotiations.

In addition to these basic actions, the conference should pick a date for a  
spring organizing conference (perhaps in early April) in order to assess the  
early spring action and make plans for the summer and fall.

No doubt, there will be many other great ideas put forward, from symbolic  
actions like wearing armbands, to direct actions like occupying or liberating  
buildings. However, it should be possible to incorporate most of these ideas  
into the basic framework of action described above.

For instance, if teachers at a particular school want to do a sick-out on  
March 11 while teachers at another school want to do informational picketing,  
there's no conflict. If students at one campus want to liberate a library,  
while other want to hold a teach-in, or organize a mass rally and march to  
block traffic, there's no conflict. If workers in one union want to take  
action, while workers in another union want to hold a lunch-hour rally, all  
these tactics--which express both their political ideas and level of  
organization--can work together to make sure that March 11 has a truly  
powerful, statewide impact.

Finally, there will no doubt be many differences of opinion and clashes in  
organizational style on October 24. Keeping in mind that the agenda is only  
really six hours long, there is a tremendous danger that conference can get  
derailed. This will put a premium on good sense, patience and collaboration  
among hundreds of people who have not previously worked together.

There will certainly be some rough edges, but if activists keep their eyes on  
the prize, October 24 will prove to be an important step in pushing back  
against the attacks and providing inspiration to teachers, students, workers  
and faculty across the country.

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What you can do
The statewide mobilizing conference to defend public education will take  
place on October 24, at the University of California at Berkeley, in Pauley  
Ballroom, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you are a teacher, student, staff or  
faculty in public education, you are welcome to attend the conference.

Look for more information at the CA Campaign to Save Public Education [1] Web  
site.

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[1] http://www.savecapubliceducation.org/
[2] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0