March 4 National Day of Action to Defend Education

March 4 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 at

Endorse the call at the bottom of the page or by sending an email to .

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To join the national discussion, please visit the March 4th Google Group at

ENDORSED BY:

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 (University of Maryland)

Community Organizing Center for Mother Earth (Columbus, Ohio)

Connecticut Students Against the War

CUNY Campaign to Defend Education

Education For All, San Diego

Fight Imperialism, Stand Together

Georgia State University Progressive Student Alliance

Graduate Student Employees Union (SUNY Stony Brook)

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

Progressive Democrats of America-Ohio

Radical Student Union (Bard College)

Recreate ‘68 Alliance

Socialist Alternative

Socialist Organizer

Socialist Party of Connecticut

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)

University of Massachusetts – Lowell Coalition for Social Reform

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.*

The Most Rev. Filipe C, Teixeira, OFSJC, Diocese of Saint Francis of Assisi*

Billy Wharton, National Co-Chair, Socialist Party USA*

Todd Vachon, Low Society Music*

Christopher Hutchinson, General Strike Comics*

Robin Anderson, Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) at UMass-Amherst, Part of UAW local 2322*

Barry Eidlin,UAW Local 2865 (University of California Academic Student Employees Union)*

Others who are supporting March 4th Actions:

California Coordinating Committee

US Labor Against the War