Protesters Affiliated With Occupy Wall Street Disrupt Department Of Education Meeting
NEW YORK -- When New York City schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott stood up to face a full Seward Park High School auditorium on the Lower East Side Tuesday evening, he found himself confronted by the shrill sound of the "people's mic," a consensus-building tactic that has become a hallmark of the Occupy Wall Street protests.
"Mic check!" a group screamed the second Walcott started talking. "We invite anyone here to use the human mic to express their concerns ... to save public education in our city," an organizer yelled. The crowd repeated back each phrase. "If you want your voice heard, all you have to do is say 'mic check.'"
The approximately 200 protesters, loosely affiliated with a new public education committee offshoot ofOccupy Wall Street, called for increased participation and democracy in education at a meeting originally organized to facilitate conversation with stakeholders about the New York City Department of Education's new curriculum.
"The true irony tonight is that this is about interacting with the panel," Walcott said, trying to speak over the clamor in the auditorium at Seward, a building
First Posted: 10/25/11 10:25 PM ET Updated: 10/26/11 08:06 AM ET