Teachers and activists: Keeping the ‘public’ in education

Latest

Milwaukee teachers getting out the vote.
PHOTO/JOE BRUSKY, MILWAUKEE TEACHERS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

“Everything “public” has been blurred with “private” for some time. Just as public television and radio is largely funded by corporate sponsors and corporate matching funds at pledge time, a community college such as mine has various wings of its educational funding that serve as labs for specific corporations and industries. Public and private money gets blurred.”
Danny Alexander, (Teacher in the Kansas City Metropolitan area.)
“Well you know about the charter school network . . . it was formed to give our children something new and innovative that public schools could not give them, but in Camden, NJ, what’s happening is that they are sucking up the resources, drying up the public school district. Now we know that those schools do not serve children with special needs . . . so now if you don’t service the whole community then you’re no good to us. [Charters are] failing all over the country and every city they are in are urban Black cities. They’re taking advantage of our people.”
—Vida Neil, public school advocate, Camden, NJ, transcribed from a video posted on Facebook
“Teachers are killing themselves. I shouldn’t be having to drive Uber at eight o’clock at night on a weekday. I just shut down from the mental toll: grading papers between rides, thinking of what I could be doing instead of driving—like creating a curriculum.”
—California history teacher Matt Barry, to writer Alissa Quart
“Conservatives and centrist Democrats all fear monger about the growing militancy of union teachers. Watch out, cause here we come! Read about the resolution the Chicago Teachers Union and allies passed [at the American Federation of Teachers convention] to champion a political agenda that will lift all boats with single payer, universal childcare, public college for all, paid for by taxing the wealthiest Americans!”
—Jackson Potter, Chicago Teachers Union, posted on Facebook

Protest against gun violence in schools.
PHOTO/CHARLES E. MILLER

“We have seen enough to know that simply voting for Democrats won’t fix our problems. . . throughout their 82 years of legislative control, the Democratic Party never granted collective bargaining rights to public employees. Under Joe Manchin’s Democratic leadership, our state government lowered the corporate net income tax from 9 percent to 6.5 percent . . . rather than investing in our schools . . . Democrats chose to give millions of dollars in handouts to corporations.”
— Emily Comer, West Virginia teacher, quoted from “55 Strong, Inside the West Virginia School Strike.”
“It is a time of systematic attack on public education by corporate interests designing to privatize public dollars, deploy high stakes testing to shut down socially disadvantaged schools, and to expand the use of technology to cheapen education. These facts are well detailed in the recently published book The One Percent Solution by Gordon Lafer. Education is also under attack because it is dangerous to the ruling class. Science and knowledge have developed to a stage such that they now have the power to solve humanity’s most pressing problems, namely economic poverty and climate change.”
— Tom Hirschl, (Author, professor, Cornell University)

PT Logo collage
+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

‘I Am a Political Prisoner’ Says Jailed Immigrant Rights Activist

In this interview with Democracy Now, Journalist Maria Hinojosa describes her recent interview in an ICE detention center in Colorado with jailed immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra.

War No More – Veterans Reflect on the Meaning of Memorial Day

Veterans for Peace say wars will not end, – and nuclear war will not be averted – unless there is a sea-change in the thinking of the U.S. people and our political leaders.

Harvard University Stands Up to Illegal Federal Government Actions

Read letter by Harvard President Alan M. Garner, about the University's stance on the Federal government's illegal actions to force Harvard to give up the school's academic independence and academic freedom.

Trump’s Big Cruel, Deadly Policy Bill is a Healthcare Heist

Outrage is rising against Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that would give massive tax breaks to the rich while slashing Medicaid, nutrition, and clean energy. Some say 14 million people could lose health coverage.

Is FREE Electricity in our Future?

Electricity should be a right, free to all.  Yet, for-profit energy companies set prices to maximize profits to shareholders, even when users can’t afford the prices and suffer shutoffs.

More from the People's Tribune