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Thursday, July 30, 2020

Educators- Day Day of Resistance - Covid-19

Choosing Democracy: Educators- Day Day of Resistance - Covid-19

Educators- Day Day of Resistance - Covid-19

What is the National Day of Resistance, #EquityorElse?
Thousands of parents, students, educators  and school staff that have been on the frontlines fighting for racial justice in the US public school system are joining forces on August 3rd to demand equity and safe conditions before schools are reopened. As the fight against systemic racism and state sanctioned violence has reached historic heights, on the heels of the disparate impact of COVID-19 on Black, Brown and Indigenous families, organizers and union leaders are coalescing around a comprehensive set of demands to ensure that the safety of students and school staff is guaranteed before school doors are opened.  
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Talking Points & Messaging

Who We Are
In this movement moment, our organizations have come together to unite students, educators, parents and community to advance a racial justice agenda in public education, in particular by organizing for police-free schools. We’re working to galvanize a strong and growing student/educator/parent/community voice; a voice that says the government must go much further to provide the resources to ensure a safe and equitable school reopening and must provide for our communities and working families through transformational Common Good demands. Leading organizations include:  

This Moment
We are in a unique moment in our history characterized by:
  
Our Message

Participating Cities:
Chicago, Oakland, Little Rock, Denver, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Baton Rouge, Camden, Newark, NYC, Boston, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, North Carolina, Dallas, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Orlando, West Virginia, St. Paul and Minneapolis
Demands, Target & Tactics

Demands:
  1. No reopening until the scientific data supports it 
  2. Police-free schools
  3. All schools must be supported to function as community schools with adequate numbers of counselors and nurses and community/parent outreach workers 
  4. Safe conditions including lower class sizes, PPE, cleaning, testing, and other key protocols 
  5. Equitable access to online learning 
  6. Support for our communities and families, including moratorium on evictions/foreclosures, cancel rent and mortgages, providing direct cash assistance to those not able to work or who are unemployed, and other critical social needs 
  7. Moratorium on new charter or voucher programs and standardized testing 
  8. Massive infusion of federal money to support the reopening funded by taxing the billionaires and Wall Street 

Tactics and Targets
  1. Sign-on national letter to Trump, Biden and Congressional leaders outlining our demands as outlined above for re-opening 
  2. Local actions on August 3rd in as many cities/areas as possible, all focused on re-opening conditions/ demands, with local discretion on political and corporate/revenue targets, 
  3. Work with Journey for Justice and other groups to organize escalating actions in cities ready to escalate their tactics, i.e. occupy city hall, take over city property for homeless students, bank occupations
Activities & Action Ideas for August 3rd

Social Media

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Choosing Democracy: Educators- Day Day of Resistance - Covid-19