In mid-December, two calls for a national day of action to defend education were issued, building on a state-wide call for action to defend public education issued in California. On December 14th, the California Coordinating Committee released a National Call for a March 4 Strike and Day of Action To Defend Public Education. Two days later, on December 16th, an ad-hoc body comprised of students, workers, and other activists from many states, including California, released a call of their own for a March 4 National Day of Action to Defend Education. This body consisted of students who participated in the New School occupations, students and workers from across the country, student activists from ongoing campaigns in North Carolina, Chicago, Milwaukee, and various other locations.

The website you are reading is hosted by the ad hoc committee that produced the December 16th call. We do not see the two calls as being in competition or opposition with one another in any way. The dual calls were produced not out of any political, strategic or tactical disagreement, but because the two groups were not in contact with one another when they were drafting the calls. We encourage all students, teachers, workers and parents to forward the text of both calls to their friends, peers and allies, and to organize actions in their schools and communities to defend education for all. The text of both calls is reprinted below, along with a list of endorsers for the December 16th call. A form that can be used to submit endorsements for the December 16th call is located at the bottom of the page.

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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 http://www.defendeducation.org.

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.

ENDORSED BY:

Organizations

The 1212 Community, Bronx, New York
5c Cultural Center, Lower East Side, New York City
The Adjunct Project, CUNY Graduate Center, New York City
AFSCME 3800, University of Minnesota Clerical Workers
AFT Local 1839, New Jersey City University
All Nations Alliance
Anakbayan Los Angeles
Anakbayan New York/New Jersey, Jersey City, NJ
Anthropology Graduate Student Association, UT Austin
Associated Students of Portland State University Executive Staff
ASU Resist, Arizona State University, Tempe
Augusta State University Political Science Club, Georgia
Autonomedia
AZ Education Association
Bail Out the People Movement
Baltimore Algebra Project
Baltimore Solidarity Center
BAYAN-USA
Cal Poly Unite to Save Public Education, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
California Prison Moratorium Project
California State University Employees Union
Californians for Justice, Oakland
Campus Antiwar Network (CAN)
Chicago World Can’t Wait
Chop from the Top Coalition, University of Minnesota
Coalition for Community Justice, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL
Coalition for Equal Quality Education, Boston
Coalition for Public Education / Coalición por la Educación Pública, New York City
Coalition for Social Reform, UMass-Lowell
Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN)
Committee for Revolutionizing the AcaDemy (ComRAD), University of Minnesota
Community Organizing Center for Mother Earth, Columbus, Ohio
Connecticut Students Against the War
Cornell Organization for Labor Action, Ithaca, New York
CUNY Campaign to Defend Education, New York City
Democracy Insurgent, Seattle
The Democratic Left @ GWU, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Department of English, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania
DestroyIndustrY, Raleigh,  NC
East Village Community School Parents Association, New York City
Education For All, San Diego
Feminist Students UNITED UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Fight Imperialism, Stand Together
Free UCR Alliance, UC Riverside
Freedom Road Socialist Organization
Freedom Socialist Party
George Mason University Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA), Fairfax, Virginia
Georgia State University Progressive Student Alliance
Giant Record Corporation, Amherst, MA
Graduate Employee and Student Organization, Yale University
Graduate Employees’ Organization, AFT/IFT 6300, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Graduate Student Employees Union, SUNY Stony Brook
Graduate Student Workers United, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul
Graduate Students United, University of Chicago
Grassroots Education Movement, New York City
Hawai’i Solidarity Committee
Human Rights Action Committee, Framingham State College, Massachusetts
Indiana University of Pennsylvania Council of Chairs, Indiana, Pennsylvania
Institute for Critical Animal Studies
International Socialist Organization
International Workers and Students for Justice, University of Washington in Seattle
The Kennebunks Peace Department
L.A. County Peace & Freedom Party
La Voz de los Trabajadores- LIT, California
Latin American Students Association at UCR, Riverside, CA
League for the Revolutionary Party, New York City
Liberty Tree Foundation
Low-Income Student Alliance, New School University, New York City
Lucha, New York City
March 4 Organizing Committee, CSU Monterey Bay
Massachusetts Student Action Coalition
Massachusetts Students Uniting
May 1st Coalition for Worker & Immigrant Rights, New York City
Million Worker March Movement
Movement for a Democratic Society
National MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán)
Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA), Milwaukee
Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA), UC San Diego
Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA), USC
National Assembly to End the Iraq & Afghanistan Wars & Occupations
Network to Fight for Economic Justice
New School in Exile, New York City
New York State Youth Leadership Council
NYC Anti-War Coalition
New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW)
Northbay Uprising, Vallejo, California
Oakland Education Association
Olympia Coalition for a Fair Budget, Olympia, WA
Pan American Solidarity Organization (PASO), Portland State University
People’s Organization for Progress, Newark, NJ
Peoples Video Network
p.o.n.d. records
Pride and Equity Faculty and Staff Association, UT Austin
Progressive Democrats of America, Ohio
Progressive Faculty Network of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Progressive Student Alliance, University of Florida
Progressive Student Alliance, University of Memphis
Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM)
Purchase Polis, SUNY Purchase
PUSH: Ideas into Action, SUNY Purchase
Queens College Antiwar Coalition
Queer People Of Color Action
Radical Student Union, Bard College
Radical Women
Rebel Diaz Arts Collective, Bronx, NY
Recreate ‘68 Alliance
Rhode Island Unemployed Council
Riverside Latino Voter Project, Riverside, CA
Santa Monica College Students for Social Justice
Save LSU, Baton Rouge
Seventh Generation Nation, Putatoi
The Silent Radio DJs
Small Schools Workshop, Chicago
Social Anarchists for Liberty & Justice, South California
Social Justice Alliance, SUNY Stony Brook
Social Justice Alliance, UC Riverside, California
Socialism Now!, Chicago
Socialist Alternative
Socialist Organizer
Socialist Party of Connecticut
Socialist Party USA
Solidarity
S.O.S. Save Our Schools Coalition, Providence, RI
SOUL School of Unity & Liberation, Oakland
Space, Time, Research Collective, CUNY Graduate Center
SpeakOut – the Institute for Democratic Education & Culture, Oakland, CA
Straight and Gay Alliance (SAGA), City College of New York
Students Promoting Engagement Through Activism and Knowledge (SPEAK), Georgia State University
Student / Farmworker Alliance
The Student Insurgent, Eugene, Oregon
Student Labor Action Project (SLAP)
Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society, Animas, Durango, Coloardo
Students for a Democratic Society, Chicago
Students for a Democratic Society, College Park, University of Maryland
Students for a Democratic Society, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, California
Students for a Democratic Society, Gainesville Area
Students for a Democratic Society, Milwaukee
Students for a Democratic Society / Movement for a Democratic Society, Michigan State University
Students for a Democratic Society, Oklahoma
Students for a Democratic Society, Rochester
Students for a Democratic Society, Syracuse
Students for a Democratic Society, Temple University, Philadelphia
Students for a Democratic Society, TFHS
Students for a Democratic Society, UNC-Asheville
Students for a Democratic Society, UNC-Chapel Hill
Students for a Democratic Society, UNC-Charlotte
Students for a Democratic Society, University of Houston
Students for a Democratic Society, University of Minnesota
Students for a Democratic Society, University of North Dakota
Students for a Democratic Society, University of Tuscaloosa
Students for a Democratic Society, Waukesha, Wisconsin
Students for a Democratic Society, West Chester, Pennsylvania
Students for Educational Rights, City College of New York
Students for Quality Education, Cal Poly Pomona Chapter
Students for Social Action, Virginia Commonwealth University, VCU
Students for Unity, Portland State University
Students Taking Action to Reclaim our Education, University of Maryland
Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights, Portland State University
SUNY Downstate College of Health Related Professions Council
Take Back NYU!, New York City
Take Back WBAI Coalition, New York City
Teachers 4 Justice Now, New York City
Teachers as Leaders in Newark, New Jersey
Teachers for a Just Contract, New York City
Teachers Unite, New York City
Texas State Employees Union
Third Coast Activist Resource Center, Austin, Texas
Tidewater Labor Support Committee, The College of William and Mary, Virginia
TWU 100, New York City
UCSD Coalition for Educational Justice
Undergraduate Graduate Alliance (UGA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
United Council of UW Students, Wisconsin
United In Campaign Against Budget Cuts, University of Illinois-Chicago
United Socialists of Pittsburgh State
United States Student Association (USSA)
United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS)
University Democrats, UT Austin
University of Massachusetts-Lowell Coalition for Social Reform
University of Washington Student Worker Coalition, Seattle
USC Students for Justice in Palestine
UT Austin Stop the Cuts Coalition
UTLA / Project Great Futures / CAMS
UW-Milwaukee Education Rights Campaign
UW-Whitewater P.E.A.C.E., Whitewater, Wisconsin
Workers Action
Workers World Party
Young Democratic Socialists

International Endorsers

Anakbayan Philippines
International League of Peoples Struggle Youth, Philippines
League of Filipino Students
National Union of Students of the Philippines
Socialist Student Front, Bangladesh
Solidary Lithuanian Students (SOLISTs), Vilnius, Lithuania
Student Christian Movement of the Philippines
Student Representative Body of the University of Marburg, Germany
Teachers Unity Forum, Kerala, India

International Solidarity Greetings

Dear Friends,

Revolutionary Greetings. It is our great pleasure to get the chance expressing our solidarity to March 4 National Day of Action to Defend Education are being held in US Countrywide. Thanks to all who have arranged such a painstaking movement struggle against violation of Education rights in US. We express our heartiest solidarity to your movement, specially this March 4 program. Now a days, the Capitalist and Imperialists are intensifying their attack on basic human rights including widely in Education sector. They are trying to resolve their crisis and maximizing profits through privatization & commercialization of education and curtailing budget in education sector. In Bangladesh our organization in fighting against the attempt of national capitalist & imperialist to privatize and commercialize education including fee increase, cuts of different student facilities.

We feel deeply that, In this era of globalization and imperialism, the Movement for education rights should be go through solidarity among the Students Organizations Worldwide.

We are very much interested to build up and strengthen solidarity with all of the organizations fighting in US for this cause.

We would be pleased if you informed us the contact details of all organizations. Please inform how can we communicate each other regularly.

Keep in touch.

Wish March 4 National Day of Action to Defend Education a success.

With revolutionary greeting,

Central Committee
Socialist Students’ Front (SSF)-Bangladesh

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STRUGGLE FOR EDUCATION RIGHTS

RESIST STATE ABANDONMENT AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF EDUCATION

Solidarity Statement from Philippines

March 4, 2010

Various students and youth belonging to the ANAKBAYAN Philippines (Sons and Daughters of the People), League of Filipino Students and Student Christian Movement of the Philippines, together with the National Union of Students of the Philippines and College Editors Guild of the Philippines, join in solidarity with the students, youth and education sector across the United States of America in the March 4 Nationwide Day of Action to Defend Education.

The picture is clear everywhere. It is the people who bear the brunt of rescuing big capitalists in this great recession, with the increasing slash on social welfare funding including education.

In the US, the anti-students and anti-people policies like the policy of 32% tuition hike passed by the University of California Board of Regents last November 2009 deserve the strongest condemnation of the youth. Most affected also are the peoples of color and the students from working families who are still struggling with their outstanding mortgages.

Similar cases of tuition hikes have also been experienced in other states, all blaming cutbacks in government funding.

Last year students, workers and faculty in the State University of New York (SUNY) and City University of New York (CUNY) also militantly defied Governor Paterson’s ill-willed proposal of $698 million education budget slash which were to directly effect a raise in tuition fee for SUNY up to $620/school year, $600 for CUNY and $400 for community colleges.

In Europe too last November, there had been massive workers-supported students strikes like the mobilization of about 250,000 all across Germany in the clamor against the introduction of tuition increases and curriculum revisions.

Students in Austria and even in Scandanavian countries decried the bail-out for the banks and held walk-outs and “university occupations” in resistance to the European Union’s Bologna process which is to drive education more to serve imperialism.

Student movements in Asia Pacific especially in Indonesia, India and Korea had also agitated against the worsening condition of the youth with the state abandonment of education.

We therefore commend our fellow youth and students in New York City and throughout US for their courage to stand up inside the “belly of the beast”.

Cut-backs on state funding is abandonment of government’s responsibility and an outright attack to the people’s most basic right to education. It paves way to tuition and exorbitant fee increases, academic staff lay-off, cramped up rooms, and a host of other infringement as commercialized regime on education is imposed in various levels.

To delude the public, the government use as an excuse the “nominal increase” in education funding which is always lopsided and unproportional to number of new entrants. The more obsene is the use of the argument that higher education is no longer a right and therefore with the use of the “globalization mantra” everyone is urged to pay for their education. Education is a commodity with a price-tag.

In the Philippines, the myth of the “liberal education” instituted from the American direct colonialism in our country up to current regime, is unmasked as an ensuing and worsening education in crisis that is colonial, commercialized and fascist in character.

The global recession further worsened the Philippine education sector for in truth, the current Arroyo regime has been ruthlessly attacking our basic right and with all servility imposes the policies of imperialist globalization that has led to worsened commercialization of education. In the tertiary level from 2001-2008 alone, the Arroyo regime presided over the 70% increase of the national average tuition and an allotment of measly 1.8% of GDP given to the entire education budget, pathetically way below the international standard and among the lowest in the world.

What happens to the youth who cannot continue their education? They are added to the battalions of reserve labor force or unemployed or join the cheap semi-skilled work-force who are most exploited in times of capitalist crisis.

Faced with such attacks on our fundamental rights, we have no other option but to fight back. This is a lesson we have learned through decades of fearless struggle, and a lesson we will continue to uphold until we are victorious.

Once again, we Filipino youth raise our fists in solidarity with you in the continuing struggle to end the foreboding annual budget cuts and tuition increases. We must join our hands in resisting the onslaught of imperialism against our education and the youth’s future.

Education is a right, not a privilege!

Long live international solidarity!

************

The ANAKBAYAN Philippines, League of Filipino Students and Student Christian Movement of the Philippines are members of the International League of People Struggle (ILPS) and BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance); The NUSP and CEGP are two biggest national alliance of student unions and campus publications in the Philippines respectively.

Individuals (*all organizations listed for identification purposes only, listed in order recieved)

Ed Childs, Chief Steward UNITE/HERE L. 26 (Harvard Univ.)*
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*
Andre Powell, Delegate, Baltimore, Maryland AFL-CIO Metro Central Labor Council*
Phebe Eckfeldt, Harvard Union Rep., Harvard Union of Clerical & Technical Workers (HUCTW)/AFSCME L. 3650*
Mike Gimbel, Local 375, AFSCME delegate to the NYC-CLC & Chairperson of Local 375, AFSCME, Labor/Community Unity Committee*
Heather Cottin, Adjunct Lecturer, History Department, LaGuardia Community College, PSC member*
Peter Cook, Boston Teachers Union, Local 66 MFT AFT, AFL-CIO*
Julia La Riva, member of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)*
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*
Susan E. Davis, National Writers Union, United Auto Workers Local 1981*
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*
Geoff Carens, Union Representative, HUCTW/AFSCME Local 3650*
Dan La Botz, Spanish teacher, Cincinnati Waldorf School, Cincinnati, Ohio*
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.*
Nicholas Camerota, Professor of Philosophy & Political Theory, Springfield (Mass.) Techical Community College*
Cindy Bui, Social Justice Alliance at UC Riverside*
Ana del Rocío, CCNY Students for Educational Rights, New York City*
Sarah Meunier, student, UMASS
Jessica Hollinger, student, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Katherine Johnson, doctoral student, University of San Francisco, middle school teacher
Susan Massad, Associate Professor, Framingham State College*
Eleanor J. Bader, writer and adjunct faculty member, Brooklyn*
Chuck Turner, Boston City Council*, District 7
Colia Clark, Guadeloupe-Haiti Tour USA, Grandmamas For the Release of Mumia Abu Jamal, Richard Wright Centennial 2008-2010*
Dr. Sue Harris, Co-Director, Peoples Video Network*
Imani Henry, Playwright/Performer*
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*
Gloria Rubac, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement*
David Harding, New Brunswick, NJ
Eric Acedo
Abayomi Azikiwe
Jane Chischilly
Jesse Lokahi Heiwa,Hawai’i Solidarity Committee, UN in New York City*
Hon. Charles Barron, New York City Councilmember *
Teresa Gutierrez, International Migrant Alliance, Deputy Secretary General, New York City*
William J. Neville IV, Billings, MT, currently serving in Iraq
Michael Shane,Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice,Detroit, MI*
Marisa, LAUSD, LA*
Cindy Sheehan
Maria C. Federico Brummer, Tucson, AZ
Dan McDowell, Massachusetts Students Uniting, UMass Boston Student Senate*
Tatiana Guerrero, Young Democratic Socialists, New Jersey*
James Tarr, Coalition for Social Reform, Lowell,  MA*
Mary Lou Finley, Peace and Freedom Party, San Diego*
Tony Van Der Meer, Adjunct Prof., Africana Studies, UMass Boston*
Gina M. Sartori, Boston Teachers Union*
Chai Montgomery, unit steward, Teamsters Local 214, Ann Arbor, Michigan*
Michel DeMatteis, adjunct lecturer, philosophy, CUNY, New York, NY*
Vanessa Vaile, New Faculty Majority, Mountainair, NM*
Marvin Gentz, Ukiah, CA
Bryan G. Pfeifer, M.S., Union of Part-Time Faculty-AFT, Detroit, Michigan*
Patricia McAfee, California
Mike Alewitz, Labor Art & Mural Project, Central CT State University*
Michael Klonsky, Small Schools Workshop, Chicago*
Cindy Varela Henderson, Peace & Freedom Candidate, 26th S.D., Los Angeles
John Catalinotto, Professional Staff Congress–Bronx Community College, New York, N.Y.*
Anthony J. Nocella, II, Central New York Peace Studies Consortium, SUNY Cortland*
Yves Nibungco, Anakbayan New York/ New Jersey, Jersey City, New Jersey*
John Neal, Charlotte, NC
Tiffany Huang, NewCLA, UCLA*
Nick  Theodosis, San Francisco State University, San Francisco*
Martin Rzeszotko, Hunter College*
Luis Roman, McNair Research Scholar, MEChA de UCLA, La Joteria, UCLA*
Vickie Hay, CalWORKs at Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA*
Steve Fox, Hoosier Writing Project, Indianapolis, Indiana*
Tim Hawks-Malczynski, Duarte, California
Nicolle Dunnaway, Hammond, LA
Rosa A. Eberly, Penn State U*
Denise Beck, Indianapolis, IN
Austin Jacobson, Philadelphia
William Calathes, Criminal Justice Department, New Jersey City University*
Carolina Garcia, Student Government Organization, New Jersey City University*
Kinte Allah, New Black Panther Party, Atlanta*
Edwina Smith, San Francisco
Bobbi Jo Chavarria, Chavarria for Fontana Mayor 2010, Fontana, California*
Micah Littlefield, Lafayette, IN
Carolyn Jacobson, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)*
Kyra Pearson, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA*
Leticia Garcia, Education Advocate, Fontana, California*
Lina Montes, Rialto
Dan Esposito, Manhattan Beach, CA
Laura Howard, Educational Paraprofessionals, South Carolina*
Ben Manski, AFT 6100, Sociology Instructor, Madison College, Wisconsin*
William Reid, London, Ontario
Robert Zech, South Amboy, New Jersey
Jason Belch, Raleigh, NC
Roger Marheine, President Pasadena City College Faculty Association*
Mike Hill, Associate Professor & Department Chair, English University at Albany, SUNY*
Joel Scott, Detroit Public Schools, Cass Tech High School*
Viridiana Mora, UC Riverside*
Mark Clinton, Dept. of Critical Cultural Studies, Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, Massachusetts*
Joshua Yoerger, Tyler, TX*
Kaye Peters, St. Paul, MN
Nancy Welch, United Academics AFT/AAUP, University of Vermont*
Marva Berry, Washington, D.C.
Michael Friedman, Professional Staff Congress/AFT, New York*
Marco Abe, Lincoln, NE
Tyler DeRubio, Babylon, New York
Marc Engel, New York City
Sarah Holmes, Los Angeles, CA
Madonna Lee, New York
Marc Bousquet, Higher Ed Columnist, Los Gatos, CA*
Ghazal Khan, New York
Zach Martin, Tifton, GA
Noah Rubeling-Kain, Stevenson Univeristy, Baltimore, MD
Thomas A . Robinson, TWU Local 100, Jamaica, NY*
Meera  Sitharam, University  of  Florida*
Riad Azar, William Paterson University Young Democratic Socialists, Wayne, NJ*
Christopher Searles, New York City
Matthew Porter, Torrance, California
Patrick T. Lafferty, Overland Park, KS
Joy London, Atlanta, GA
Rebecca McCarty, Dallas, Texas
Mariela Nunez-Janes, TX
Marie Stolzenburg, Madison, WI
Charlie Thunell, Brooklyn, NY
Christopher D’Antonio, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey*
Stephanie, San Francisco
Amos Young Jr, I.E & Orange County Young Democrat Regional Director, Fontana, CA*
Jennie Rose Halperin, Barnard College, New York*
Anita Chikkatur, Northfield, MN
Robert Peterson, Lamar Dodd School of Art, UGA, Athens, Georgia*
Elizabeth Horevitz, Berkeley
Heeseon Lim, Cupertino, CA
Casey, Arcata, CA
Ron Bishop, Professor of Communication, Philadelphia, PA*
Doug Tarnopol, Cranston, RI
David Jim Nemeth, Arts & Sciences College Forum, University of Toledo*
Corley Lamb, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT*
Angie Beeman, CUNY-BMCC, New York*

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National Call for March 4 Strike and Day of Action To Defend Public Education

California has recently seen a massive movement erupt in defense of public education — but layoffs, fee hikes, cuts, and the re-segregation of public education are attacks taking place throughout the country. A nationwide resistance movement is needed.

We call on all students, workers, teachers, parents, and their organizations and communities across the country to massively mobilize for a Strike and Day of Action in Defense of Public Education on March 4, 2010. Education cuts are attacks against all of us, particularly in working-class communities and communities of color.

The politicians and administrators say there is no money for education and social services. They say that “there is no alternative” to the cuts. But if there’s money for wars, bank bailouts, and prisons, why is there no money for public education?

We can beat back the cuts if we unite students, workers, and teachers across all sectors of public education — Pre K-12, adult education, community colleges, and state-funded universities. We appeal to the leaders of the trade union movement to support and organize strikes and/or mass actions on March 4. The weight of workers and students united in strikes and mobilizations would shift the balance of forces entirely against the current agenda of cuts and make victory possible.

Building a powerful movement to defend public education will, in turn, advance the struggle in defense of all public-sector workers and services and will be an inspiration to all those fighting against the wars, for immigrants rights, in defense of jobs, for single-payer health care, and other progressive causes.

Why March 4? On October 24, 2009 more than 800 students, workers, and teachers converged at UC Berkeley at the Mobilizing Conference to Save Public Education. This massive meeting brought together representatives from over 100 different schools, unions, and organizations from all across California and from all sectors of public education. After hours of open collective discussion, the participants voted democratically, as their main decision, to call for a Strike and Day of Action on March 4, 2010. All schools, unions and organizations are free to choose their specific demands and tactics — such as strikes, rallies, walkouts, occupations, sit-ins, teach-ins, etc. — as well as the duration of such actions.

Let’s make March 4 an historic turning point in the struggle against the cuts, layoffs, fee hikes, and the re-segregation of public education.

- The California Coordinating Committee
California Contacts (also refer to the contacts list in development):

http://defendcapubliceducation.wordpress.com/
march4strikeanddayofaction@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=184333923808&ref=ts

Endorsed by: