 1977 UCSC graduate Josh Pechthalt--Vice-President of United Teachers of Los Angeles--is one of three notable alums who will speak at the 4 p.m. "UCSC Alumni Movers and Shakers" panel of the conference. |
Teachers' Unions, Education, and Social Justice: From the Local to the Global--a one-day conference presented by the UCSC Center for Labor Studies--will address critical issues in public education on Saturday, January 23, from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Oakes College, Room 105.
Admission is free and open to the public.
The conference includes a panel featuring three generations of UCSC alumni: George Martinez, former president of the Santa Cruz Federation of Teachers; Josh Pechthalt, vice president of United Teachers of Los Angeles; and Seth Bramble, executive director of the Sacramento City Teachers’ Association.
Keynote speaker Lois Weiner, author of The Global Assault on Teaching, Teachers, and Their Unions, will kick off the event at 9 a.m., following introductory remarks by humanities dean Georges Van Den Abbeele and history professor Dana Frank, director of UCSC’s Center for Labor Studies.
Frank noted that as massive cuts in government spending on education ripple through the country’s schools and universities—particularly devastating the poor and communities of color—teachers are increasingly being scapegoated for the decline in public education.
“While the media with increasing frequency casts teachers and their unions as selfish and narrow, teachers’ unions are in fact at the forefront of the fight to defend public education for all,” said Frank.