Education Protests Pass & Fail
by John Greet | Our Liberty | 03.08.10 |
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7:00am | As mentioned here, and here and here, thousands of teachers, students, parents and community members gathered at Cal State Long Beach, Long Beach City College and Wilson High School on March 4th ostensibly to protest cuts in public education funding. The Wilson event attracted some 2,000 protesters. The rallies in Long Beach were but a part of a larger “Day of Action” that took place on the same day throughout California and was organized by the California Teachers Association (CTA). A group called “Unite for Education”, which was described in a press release and on its Facebook page as “…a coalition of parents, teachers, nurses, librarians, students, and community members” organized the rallies in Long Beach.
I give these rallies a passing grade in the subjects of “Community Activism”, “Political Activism”, “Labor Activism”, “Media and Public Relations”, Music Appreciation” and “Art”. If the one goal was to instruct LBUSD students in community, political and labor activism, these protests were a fine example of each. Organizing a successful statewide protest of this type is a daunting task and the CTA is to be commended for pulling this off so well although it appears that they forgot to mention to some of those protesting in Oakland that they were supposed to comply with the law while doing so. 150 arrests later, I think those folks have gotten that message loud and clear, courtesy of Oakland (and former Long Beach) Police Chief Batts and the OPD.
Is it just me or does the fellow in the foreground in the L.A. Times picture, the gentleman with one hand holding a banner and the other raised in a fist, look like he’s smoking a joint? Perhaps he was doing double duty and protesting medical marijuana laws at the same time. But I digress…
Let’s try to think more critically, for a moment, about what the CTA and TALB are.
The CTA boasts 325,000 members across California. It was founded in 1863 and claims on its website to
I give these rallies a passing grade in the subjects of “Community Activism”, “Political Activism”, “Labor Activism”, “Media and Public Relations”, Music Appreciation” and “Art”. If the one goal was to instruct LBUSD students in community, political and labor activism, these protests were a fine example of each. Organizing a successful statewide protest of this type is a daunting task and the CTA is to be commended for pulling this off so well although it appears that they forgot to mention to some of those protesting in Oakland that they were supposed to comply with the law while doing so. 150 arrests later, I think those folks have gotten that message loud and clear, courtesy of Oakland (and former Long Beach) Police Chief Batts and the OPD.
Is it just me or does the fellow in the foreground in the L.A. Times picture, the gentleman with one hand holding a banner and the other raised in a fist, look like he’s smoking a joint? Perhaps he was doing double duty and protesting medical marijuana laws at the same time. But I digress…
Let’s try to think more critically, for a moment, about what the CTA and TALB are.
The CTA boasts 325,000 members across California. It was founded in 1863 and claims on its website to