AOC documentary director blasts GO Public Schools for Oakland event
On Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019, GO Public Schools, an astroturf organization driving charter school expansion in Oakland, hosted a watch party for the documentary “Knock Down the House” for its members at the New Parkway Theater. The film follows the grassroots campaigns of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin as each runs for Congress on progressive, anti-corporate platforms.
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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a scene from the film “Knock Down the House” |
The film’s director, Rachel Lears, was disturbed to find out that GO Public Schools, which is funded by billionaire education privatizers like the Walton Family Foundation, the Gates Foundation, the Rogers Family Foundation, and Michael Bloomberg, was hosting a screening of her film. These are the people and foundations seeking to turn public education into a commodity rather than a free, universal right — a direct affront to the progressive politics of the women and movements featured in the film.
The film’s four stars have all endorsed Bernie Sanders for president. Unsurprisingly, Sanders’ vision for public education is directly at odds with the mission of GO Public Schools. His Thurgood Marshall Plan for Education calls for a massive reinvestment in public schools, including tripling of Title I funding for high-needs schools and making the federal government responsible for at least 50% of special education funding. The plan also echoes the call of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to ban for-profit charter schools and to put a moratorium on federal funding for new charter schools. Sanders’ proposal channels the spirit of the teachers’ strike wave that has swept the nation over the past two years. Like the striking teachers of Oakland and elsewhere, Sanders is demanding high-quality education for all and fighting back against efforts by billionaires to privatize our schools.
Lears shared the following statement with Oakland Not for Sale (ONFS), a group of CONTINUE READING: AOC documentary director blasts GO Public Schools for Oakland event | East Bay Majority
