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Education in the US

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Superintendent plans to close nearly half of Kansas City schools

March 9, 2010

On Wednesday, the Kansas City, Missouri, School District’s (KCMSD) board will vote on superintendent Dr. John Covington’s plan to close 26 of the district’s 61 schools, eliminating 700 jobs, including 285 teaching positions.

With the full backing of the local corporate and political establishment, and in line with the policies set forth by Obama and his education secretary, Arne Duncan, Covington is also proposing a sweeping attack on teachers’ working conditions, including longer school days, merit pay and other punitive “performance-based” schemes.

Despite efforts to muzzle popular opposition, thousands of parents, students and school employees have attended meetings over the last two months to protest the school closings and other attacks on public education. When the board announced the closing of Knotts and Pinkerton elementary schools, the crowd shouted out “No!” in unison and drowned out what the speaker had to say.

Los Angeles sends layoff notices to 5,200 teachers

March 8, 2010

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) voted March 2 to send layoff notices to more than 5,200 workers. These included 2,000 elementary school teachers, 2,370 certified management employees, 321 secondary teachers and teachers in the arts, and 574 support personnel, including counselors, psychologists, nurses and librarians. The district is facing a $640 million budget gap.

The LAUSD is required by law to notify teachers at least six months in advance of the next school year of any possibility they will lose their jobs, even if not all employees are ultimately fired. Just under a year ago the school board approved 5,400 layoff notices for teachers, janitors, counselors and administrators. While federal stimulus monies were able to minimize losses to a certain extent, in the end 2,000 educators and staff lost their jobs.

After the March 4 protests against education cuts

March 7, 2010

On March 4, tens of thousands of students and workers demonstrated in opposition to education cuts throughout the United States.

The largest marches were held in California, where state and local governments have pushed through a 32 percent increase in fees for many college students, along with deep cuts in K-12, community college and university education funding. This month, tens of thousands of teachers in the state will receive notices that they could be laid off by the fall.

The demonstrations are an initial manifestation of growing anger and resistance to the policies of the corporate and financial elite. Their significance extends far beyond California. The same agenda of cost cutting is being imposed throughout the country, spearheaded by the Obama administration. Obama has publicly supported the mass firing of teachers and is blackmailing states into expanding charter schools and into carrying out other attacks on public education.

More teachers and “failing” schools targeted by Obama education policy

March 7, 2010

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced on Thursday a list of 35 so-called underperforming schools, where the jobs and contracts of teachers are directly threatened.

That same day in Boston, the state capital, Mayor Thomas Mennino and Superintendent Carol R. Johnson announced that teachers at six “underperforming” city schools would be forced to reapply for their jobs, and that five school principals would be reassigned to different positions.

The moves follow the February 23 firing of all 74 teachers and 19 other staff members at a public high school just over the Massachusetts border in Central Falls, Rhode Island. School Superintendent Frances Gallo carried out the wholesale firings at Central Falls High School after teachers rejected demands to work extra hours without pay.

ISSE members speak at San Diego rallies

March 5, 2010

Members of the International Students for Social Equality spoke March 4 at rallies in San Diego, which drew thousands of people to protest cuts to public education. The demonstrations were part of events throughout the state and country to oppose school closures, tuition increases, and teacher layoffs.

Related: 
San Diego State University ISSE

Thousands rally in San Diego, California against education cuts

March 4, 2010
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The rally in downtown San Diego

About 1,000 students and faculty gathered at a March 4 rally against education cuts at San Diego State University in California. A similar number of people demonstrated at the University of California, San Diego. A subsequent demonstration in downtown San Diego drew several thousand.

The events in San Diego were among the largest demonstrations in the state. Tens of thousands of students, parents and workers demonstrated throughout the country against school closings, tuition hikes, and teacher layoffs. (See, “Students and staff protest against education cuts in US”)

Among the main speakers at the San Diego rallies were members of the International Students for Social Equality, the student organization of the Socialist Equality Party. The ISSE, which helped organize the demonstration at SDSU, called for a break with the Democratic Party and for a socialist movement to defend education.

Related: 
San Diego State University ISSE

Students and staff protest against education cuts in US

March 4, 2010

Tens of thousands of students, teachers and workers participated in protests Thursday against cuts in education across the US. Many of the largest protests were in California, where the state government has pushed through massive cuts in K-12 education funding, as well as sharp increases in university fees.

Students at many colleges and schools walked out for at least part of the day, with the main state universities in California and several other states staging rallies. Students in the University of California system were recently hit by a 32 percent increase in fees. Large evening demonstrations were called in the major cities as well.

For a working class movement to defend education!

March 3, 2010

This statement is being distributed at rallies on March 4th throughout the US in opposition to attacks on public education. Click here for a pdf version to download and distribute in your area

The International Students for Social Equality supports the demonstrations today in California and throughout the US against education cuts. These events must be made the starting point for a nationwide campaign against tuition increases, school shutdowns, the attack on teacher pay and benefits, and the destruction of public education as a whole.

Education is a vital necessity for all workers and young people. It is not a luxury that should be slashed to the bone to meet the budget-cutting demands of Sacramento or Washington. The ISSE insists: it is not a matter of what must be cut. Instead, it is a question of the necessary political strategy to oppose all cuts.

For a working class movement to defend education!

March 3, 2010

This statement is being distributed at rallies on March 4th throughout the US in opposition to attacks on public education. Click here for a pdf version to download and distribute in your area

The International Students for Social Equality supports the demonstrations today in California and throughout the US against education cuts. These events must be made the starting point for a nationwide campaign against tuition increases, school shutdowns, the attack on teacher pay and benefits, and the destruction of public education as a whole.

Education is a vital necessity for all workers and young people. It is not a luxury that should be slashed to the bone to meet the budget-cutting demands of Sacramento or Washington. The ISSE insists: it is not a matter of what must be cut. Instead, it is a question of the necessary political strategy to oppose all cuts.

Obama’s assault on public education

March 3, 2010

President Obama’s public support for the mass firing of teachers at a Rhode Island high school is a declaration of war on all teachers and on the working class as a whole.

No US president has so openly supported the mass victimization of workers since Ronald Reagan fired the PATCO air traffic controllers in 1981. Obama’s intervention against the teachers at Central Falls High School is motivated by similarly reactionary aims.

Speaking before an audience of business executives at the US Chamber of Commerce on Monday, Obama hailed the decision to fire the entire teaching and support staff at Central Falls High after they rejected demands to work extra hours without pay.