ISSE

About the ISSE

ISSE — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:39:55 +0000

The International Students for Social Equality is the student organization of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). The ICFI publishes the World Socialist Web Site, the most widely read daily socialist publication in the world.

To find out more about the ISSE, and to help build a chapter at your school, contact us.

Britain: Six University of Sussex students suspended following occupation

ISSE — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Six University of Sussex students have been suspended by Vice-Chancellor Michael Farthing for allegedly taking part in a peaceful occupation in Sussex House on March 3. Farthing informed the students of their suspension via e-mail.

The occupation was part of a national day of student action against education cuts.

When students gathered to demonstrate in support of the occupation, university management called fully armoured riot police, armed with CS spray, Tasers and attack dogs. Officers from the Forward Intelligence unit filmed the demonstrators. Two students were arrested, and some were physically attacked and detained without charge, despite acting entirely peacefully throughout.

Zach Reed

Britain: Dartington College of Arts to close

ISSE — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Dartington College of Arts, a small academic institution in Devon, England, will close this autumn. Its 610 students and 30 staff are to be absorbed into the larger University College Falmouth (UCF), 86 miles away in Cornwall. The closure was prepared in anticipation of large cuts to universities, £900 million of which were announced by the Labour government this month.

Situated by fourteenth century Dartington Hall and Gardens, the college is a valuable resource with a specialised library, postgraduate research and practice-led teaching. It was set up in 1961 during a wave of university expansion, in a town that has been a cultural centre since the 1920s. The college is fiercely popular with students for its close-knit community and picturesque surroundings.

Joe Mount

Superintendent plans to close nearly half of Kansas City schools

ISSE — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

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

ISSE — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

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

ISSE — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

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

ISSE — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

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.

Australia: Labor’s war on public education

ISSE — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Less than one month after the Rudd government’s My School web site was launched, ushering in school league tables and a punitive regime of high-stakes testing, Education Minister Julia Gillard unveiled a further raft of pro-market education reforms. Gillard’s address to the National Press Club on February 24 pledged a new wave of attacks by Labor on public education.

The measures outlined in Gillard’s speech, including a uniform national curriculum, teacher performance guidelines, student ID numbers, the return of school inspectors, and the “reform” of teacher training, constitute a declaration of war on the teaching profession.

ISSE members speak at San Diego rallies

ISSE — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

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.

Thousands rally in San Diego, California against education cuts

ISSE — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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.

a WSWS reporting team