Project Description
Our Schools, Our Solutions
On December 9th, 2013, grassroots community, youth and union partners will come together to reclaim the promise of public education as our nation’s gateway to democracy and racial and economic justice. In an extraordinary display of solidarity and strength, coordinated public actions will take place across the country, announcing our support of the Principles that Unite Us and marking the beginning of a national movement to unite and galvanize communities around a shared vision for our schools!
The following is just a partial list of events planned for our Day of Action
Boston
A coalition of union, youth, parent, and community organizations in Boston will come together for a town hall with elected officials to discuss a new agenda for public education that increases community voice in schools and the selection of the new Superintendent, increases charter school accountability, and proposes an end to the privatization of the public school system.
New York City
As part of their fight to win universal full-day pre-kindergarten and extended learning time, union and community and youth partners will host a rally marking the start of a joint labor/community campaign to pass a “millionaire’s tax” to support new educational initiatives.
New York State
The NYS teachers union and its local affiliates and community partners will hold joint press conferences in cities and towns across the state on December 9th. During the week partners will meet with their respective Regent(s) and urge them to support a legislative agenda that demands an increased focus on teaching and learning, equitable funding, an end to the over-reliance on tests and a moratorium on high stakes consequences.
Newark
Students, parents, educators and community members will march to the offices of Commissioner of Education Cerf & Governor Christie to deliver a Report Card on the key issues impacting Newark public schools, including a fair funding formula, local control over decision-making, and racial and class equity.
Maine
Union and community partners are organizing a food drive across the state that will culminate on December 9th with groups dropping food off at multiple locations. Groups are demanding that the state legislature address poverty and its impacts on student achievement by enacting legislation to increase school funding and ending the A-F school grading system.
Philadelphia
A powerful contingent of community, youth, parents, and labor unions will rally outside Governor Corbett’s Philadelphia office in coordination with partners in Pittsburgh, followed by a march to the corporate office of Loop Capital (an Illinois bank that has contributed to the privatizing of schools in Chicago and handed out bad interest loans that have crippled Philadelphia’s school system). The union/community alliance is fighting to restore statewide education funding, establish a new equitable education funding formula in 2014, and demand that Loop Capital pay back the bad loans!
Pittsburgh
In coordination with partners in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh parents and teachers will rally outside Governor Corbett’s Pittsburgh office with the same demands.
Washington, D.C.
D.C. teachers and parents will hold a town hall to discuss the Principles that Unite Us and develop a community driven vision for public schools. The community is demanding full funding for schools, and an end to privatization in the nation’s capital.
Brevard County (Florida)
Town hall meetings will be held in Cocoa, Titusville, and Malabar with a shared theme of “Keep Public Education Open.” The groups are demanding increased funding for schools, transparency and inclusiveness of all stakeholders in decision-making process, and an end to school closures.
Miami
The Dade Coalition for Education and Economic Justice, featuring parent, teacher, alumni, and youth organizations, will hold a press conference to lay out a platform for “End the Cycle: Secure Our Future.” The coalition will ask the state to end race-based achievement standards and high stakes testing while demanding fully-funded schools and programs to serve our students.
Chicago
Chicago’s organized parents, teachers and youth will hold a press conference at City Hall and a march to the headquarters of corporate agents including Loop Capitol to demand equitable funding and public voice in education. The groups will deliver holiday cards to City Hall at the press conference and sing custom Christmas Carols that will target the racist destabilization of schools in communities of color, address school closures, corporate profiteers, charter expansion, and other key issues in the district.
Cleveland
As part of the community’s efforts to Reclaim the Promise of Public Education, there will be a press conference and community forum to gain support for a PILOT program (Payments in Lieu of Taxes) to press Cleveland’s largest non-profits to pay its fair share of taxes to help fund our
school and wrap-around services. The forum will also call on the state of Ohio to restore the funding cuts it has made to public education. Elected officials have been invited.
Columbus (OH)
Columbus organizations are holding a rally at the Riffe Tower to demonstrate the negative
impacts of Governor Kasich’s education reform. The groups will display signs that reveal the facts about devastating budget cuts, the expansion of for-profit charter operators, and tax breaks for the wealthy.
Des Moines
Partners will hold a winter clothing drive and distribute the clothes to families in need, culminating in a press conference demanding that the state address childhood poverty and its impact on academic achievements.
Kansas City
Partners will gather downtown to sing modified Christmas Carols targeting CEE Trust, a pro- privatization entity that is currently writing a restructuring proposal for the city’s beleaguered school system. In addition partners are creating Christmas cards urging folks to contact the state board of education and demand an end to the corporate take over of public schools.
Houston
In Houston, union and community partners will hold a press conference and rally outside the school board offices, where they will call for an end to an over-reliance on tests and fair teacher evaluations.
St. Paul/Minneapolis
High school students in the Twin Cities will conduct petition drives calling for enactment of a “Safe Schools”, anti-bullying law. This will culminate in a press conference involving testimony from victims of school bullying and their families, backed by parent and community organizations and the teachers unions. A key target of these actions will be corporate education “reformers” who claim to put “students first” but oppose an initiative aimed at improving school conditions for vulnerable students.
Boise
Idaho groups are planning to hold a rally at the state capital demanding that the state return funding to education after dramatic cuts to the education budget in recent years.
New Mexico
December 9th will kick off a statewide ‘Reclaiming the Promise’ bus tour that will begin with a press conference in Albuquerque. The bus will make stops outside of public schools where partners will ask parents to sign a resolution to create a community-driven vision for public schools. In addition partners will videotape parents and students to capture their experiences. The collected signatures will be presented to legislators during the 2014 session.
San Francisco
Community and union activists will hold a candle light march and rally down Market Street to shine a light on tax giveaways and financial practices that are starving our public schools and displacing families. Marchers and speakers will issue a call to RECLAIM THE PROMISE of education, housing, fairness and democracy.
Los Angeles
Students, activists and educators will hold a teach-in at a corporate target with themes of “public schools are public institutions,” “fully funded schools,” and “strong public schools create strong communities.” Activists will condemn corporate tax breaks and two-tiered tuition systems and call for full and equitable funding for early childhood through college education.
