Reports on Dec. 5 Meetings in Nor-Cal, the Central Valley, and So-Cal
Northern California Coordinating Committee Report: Dec. 5, 2009
(UC, CSU, CC, Adult Education, pre- k-12, Labor, teachers, parents and students)
On December 5th, 2009 at 1pm, the Nor-Cal Coordinating Committee met at 1125 Valencia Street in San Francisco. The purpose of the meeting was to coordinate on a regional level the struggle to defend public education and begin preparing and outreaching for the March 4 Strike and Day of Action. In conjunction with Southern California and the Central Valley, Northern California is committed to the building of the March 4 Strike and Day of Action and to defending public education.
Our group of 60 persons was diverse in ethnicity, gender, age, students, labor, professors, pre k-12 teachers, librarians, community organizations, and parents. Representatives came from San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, Napa, San Jose, Monterrey Bay and Fremont areas. Like the meeting in Southern California and the Central Valley, a powerful democratic voice is solidifying students, parents, faculty, community organizations and labor.
Below is a summary of the discussion and decisions of the Dec. 5, 2009 Nor-Cal Coordinating Committee meeting.
ACTIONS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA-November 18-20
· A variety of actions took place throughout the Bay Area, from students taking over the building on the UC campus, to camping out on CC campuses over night.
· There were several problems with the actions in Nov. Among them was the loss of emphasis on cuts and layoffs because of the prominence of the UC tuition increase.
· A majority of students throughout our college systems were not informed of the actions (understandable-it happened quickly and spontaneously with groups that were already organized-especially on the UC campuses)
· It was a powerful show of unity.
THEREFORE THE FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS WERE MADE.
· All organizations need a March 4th committee.
· We need a physical space where ideas can be coordinated and exchanged.
· Students who organized the November 18-20 events could speak in our communities about the cuts to public education, and the purpose of their actions.
· Students, staff, communities and unions need a distinct message to mobilize a state action.
· Each community needs a clear message shared by all, and a forum in which to share the message.
· Committees/fronts were proposed to carry out the above tasks and general outreach.
· The following committees/front were created:
1. City Committees/fronts in the San Francisco, East Bay, North Bay, South Bay and Monterey Bay.
2. Media Committee.
3. Labor Committee.
4. National and International Solidarity Committee.
FINALLY, THE NEXT MEETING DATE AND TIME WAS DECIDED.
· Next Nor-Cal Coordinating Committee meeting: Sunday, Dec. 10.
· The meeting will be divided in two sessions: 1) organizing and 2) demand development for a Nor-Cal regional demand recommendation at the spring Statewide Conference in Southern California.
· Possible demand recommendations at this time: Tax the Port of Oakland, Chevron, repeal NCLB, stop the spread of charter schools, revisit Prop 13, no more tax cuts for the rich, free public education, stop the war, stop expanding of prisons in California, bring a message to George Miller, and other elected officials in our state and nation.
Dec. 5 CenCal report back
On Saturday December 5th the Central Valley held its first Regional Meeting to Save Public Education. The meeting was possible because of the organizing efforts of CSU Stanislaus Socialist Organizer, CSU Fresno MEChA, Fresno City College students, and Merced College Students for Social Justice who put in the month-long hard work to make it happen. Just over 70 people attended; students, faculty, parents, community organizations, and a few unions. Nine campuses were represented: UC Merced, Merced College, Modesto Junior College, CSU Fresno, CSU Stanislaus, CSU Sacramento, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and Fresno City College.
The main purpose for organizing this meeting was to bring together Central Valley campuses to begin discussing and coordinating for the March 4th Strike/Day of Action. The CenCal was one of three regionals taking place in the state. Up to now, most media coverage has focused on the actions at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, and UCLA as they have been at the forefront in the fight to save public education in California. However, over the last few weeks more campuses including some in the Central Valley have begun to mobilize.
California’s Central Valley runs up to the Oregon border and down to Bakersfield covering a vast stretch of fertile land. The agriculture production in this part of California is capable of feeding our entire state population a few times over, yet we have some of the highest rates of malnutrition and families that go hungry in the nation. The poverty rates in the majority of Central Valley counties are much higher then the state average. Not coincidentally, the highest rates are concentrated in the south where you find whole towns comprised of farm labor camps. In the Central Valley you also find the highest numbers of high school drop-outs, depressed wages often sub-minimum, and gang violence and drug use on the rise. Exacerbating this situation is the rabid conservatism that envelopes the area.
So, why would a gathering of a few campuses be that important in this region? Well, taking into account the limited opportunities in the area, a college degree is a tool youth can use to get out of poverty. Compared to the UC’s, community colleges and the CSU’s have a more diverse student population across the board: gender, age, income, race, etc. So, when we are told, “there is no money to fund public education” where is our youth supposed to go? Join a gang or join the military?
“Your actions give the youth hope … you’re showing them they can fight back”, high school teacher Ralphy Evitia said while the crowd cheered. The situation requires urgent action and those present on Saturday knew it. The cuts to public education have been slowly eating away at our right to get an education, it has been a process toward the privatization of our public schools. Mirna Juárez, one of the parents present at the CenCal, expressed her frustration and concerned. “My kids are so smart and talented, are they supposed just let that go to waste?” she asked. It’s not only higher education but all public education in California that is being affected by the cuts. Some school districts like the one Mirna’s children attend are being devastated. School buses in the Stockton School District are no longer running which forces students to ride public transport to and from school. This in a city that has some of the highest rates of gang violence in all the Central Valley.
Those attending the CenCal were split into groups to begin discussion on what comes next in the student movement. Some of the issues stressed were: the need to outreach to the community and parents, the importance of research and information gathering so that we can be educated on the issues, and the urgent need to build networks with faculty/teachers, staff, and other school employees. Those present also agreed to hold another CenCal in the near future at another location.
Although activity in the Central Valley has been minimal compared to the actions taken at UC Berkeley and UCLA, there are still those here who wish to continue the fight. The CenCal Regional Meeting proved that there are more of us in the Valley who care about our education. We have begun to build a solid network of organizers who will continue the fight to keep education a right and not a privilege.
Southern California United Coalitions for a Statewide Action
(UC, CSU, CC, K-12, Civil Society)
Inner-Coalition Report on December 5, 2009 Meeting in Los Angeles
On December 5th, 2009 at 1pm, the first meeting of the Southern CA Coalition met to discuss a strategy for the statewide day of action demonstration planned for March 4th, 2009. Central and Northern CA also hosted meetings in an effort to develop the movement and unite existing elements progressing in their own locals and districts. The mission on the statewide level is to unite students, teachers, communities, and civil society as a whole to develop an effective strategy for resolving the imprudent and insensible reduction by the state in the allocation of funds for education. It is absolutely essential that the general public be provided the information necessary to recognize that the political response to the state’s economic situation is having an overwhelmingly deleterious effect on California’s working class.
The Southern CA coalition meeting reflected on experiences of the demonstrations held on November 18th thru November 20th. Representatives of student, teacher, and community organizations from San Diego, Riverside, Orange, and Los Angeles presented their observations in order to refine and organize future action plans. The tone of the meeting indicated that the foundation of the movement is solidifying into a powerful democratic voice that can represent the interests of students, teachers, and the general working class in California. This is a responsibility held virtuously where the strategic response is to consider and include civil society beyond the education system, as they are also experiencing the consequences of the state’s decisions. Within each region, district, and campus there exists independent struggles, ideas, and objectives. Our foundation, however, weaves each interest into a common cause: That everyone desires to live in a just society free of unsustainable exploitation and stress. Our actions, though controversial in today’s discourse, are the most effective legal expressions of democracy for the current economic environment. Within America’s historical movements and declarations for liberty, the most dynamic and influential occurred via workers unions’ struggles, civil rights marches, and student strikes. It is no coincidence that our assertive voice rooted in the fight for educational justice is inspiring the formulation of a collective consciousness by civil society that is also promoting our call to action.
In order to maintain the unification of our establishment it is essential to promote the fundamental needs of which we all share. That is, it is necessary to implement progressive tax policies, eliminate reckless tax exemptions and tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy, and reform the undemocratic two-third vote requirement that only CA maintains, in the aim of promoting new tax laws and budgets. Such recommendations serve to encourage solidarity and inhibit alienation, as our assembly includes a broad spectrum of people and circumstances. The energy that our actions are bringing to society will organically promote the appropriate policies needed to reform the system, which in fact are already being developed. In such a struggle, selflessness in the spirit of nobility is a requirement above all other interests.
The opposition’s tactics to defeat our cause is through division and dissolution. By igniting egos and sowing divisions, the experiences that bind us are diffused and a co-optation of our movement by administration officials is secured. It is important to recognize the difference between an administration that truly pledges support and one that pretends to support in order to manipulate the direction and attitude of the respective event or organization. This is a grass roots movement of epic magnitude with the ability to enrich society and community, our understanding and compassion offers the ingredients necessary to materialize a successful transformation of the current status quo. Our greatest strength is our numbers. They may see hundreds or thousands at our rallies, but we represent millions upon millions. The element of education that has direct access to this community is the K-12 system. The impact of education cuts on children will have the greatest impact on their lives and the future direction of society. The force of this impact is also absorbed by the parents, representing receptive families and communities willing to pledge their support and contribution for their child’s sake. It is essential that the institutions of higher education support and unite with the movements taking place in the K-12 system.
The devastating cuts to the educational budget is consequently debilitating the public education system, setting grounds for the politicians to institute its privatization. Their presented excuse, that the money does not exist to fund education, is a blatant lie. The issue is a matter of priorities. California is the richest state in the richest country in the world. The United States has a larger military budget than the rest of the worlds military budgets combined. California politicians have been systematically increasing the allocation of funds for prisons while diverging it away from education and social programs. Our intent must be to cultivate this awareness and ferment the momentum required to realign the state’s priorities and the political officials who have illogically allocated California’s financial resources into vain and detrimental investments. The meeting in Southern California was successful in establishing a declaration of solidarity amongst the coalitions in the struggle for educational justice. The daunting task of organizing a statewide response to the budget crisis in an effective manner is developing professionally and wisely. As participants of this movement we must take the growth that materialized at the Southern CA regional meeting and implement a detailed strategy for our own region.
