National Day of Action to Defend Public Education a Major Success

National Day of Action to Defend Public Education a Major Success

National Day of Action to Defend Public Education a Major Success		Printer-Friendly E-Mail This
Mar 14, 2010 By Jesse Lessinger
The nation-wide protests of students and education workers against budget cuts to schools on March 4 was the most significant day of resistance to the economic downturn since the crisis erupted in 2008. It is an important harbinger of bigger struggles to come. The recession may be officially over but the crisis facing working people and youth is only getting worse. The layoffs and home foreclosures continue, while crucial social services are put on the chopping block. States all across the country face unprecedented declines in revenue. Public education has become one of the biggest targets for vicious budget cuts. The most severe deficit is in California, which faces a$20 billion shortfall for the coming fiscal year. This is on top of the massive cuts enacted this fiscal year after the state had to issue IUO's last summer when it ran out of money scrambling to pass an austerity budget. The cuts to higher education led to a faculty and student walkout in the University of California (UC) system on September 24 of last year. A state-wide conference in October, which brought together over 700 students, teachers, faculty and other activists, called for a state-wide “strike and day of action” on March 4 to defend public education. This conference also endorsed actions in mid-November to demonstrate against the plan for a massive 32% tuition hike. Across the UC system there were rallies and on some campuses students occupied buildings to protest the Board of Regents' vote to raise tuition. The occupations where met by repression of the police and administration against both the occupiers and their supporters who rallied outside. But these actions also brought national attention to the issues of cuts and other attacks on education, as well as the anger and growing resistance to these policies. March 4 Inspired by the events in California, students across the country put out a call to make March 4 a national day of action to defend public education. On March 4, in over 30 states from California to New