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Thursday, August 1, 2013

Are Street Protests Next in the Fight Over Education Reform? | The Nation

Are Street Protests Next in the Fight Over Education Reform? | The Nation:

Are Street Protests Next in the Fight Over Education Reform?

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Shay Hillsman calls out to fellow demonstrators before being arrested during a Chicago Teachers Union protest. (REUTERS/John Gress)

“As it stands now, if nothing changes, the schools are going to have to open without any adults in the large spaces where kids gather,” predicted Philadelphia public schools parent Michael Mullins in late June. Mullins has two kids in the public schools and is secretary-treasurer of the city’s hotel and stadium workers union, UNITE/HERE. In late May, the Philadelphia School District approved a “doomsday budget” cutting almost $300 million from the schools and resulting in the layoffs of 3,783 people—19 percent of the school system’s workforce. The budget also threatened to get rid of arts, music and athletic programs, as well as librarians, secretaries, counselors and playground aides, unless the state or city council could come up with emergency funding.

About the Author

Amy B. Dean
Amy B. Dean is co-author of A New New Deal: How Regional Activism Will Reshape the American Labor Movement. She worked...

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In response, Mullins joined a group of parents and laid-off school workers in a fast starting June 17 in front of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s Philadelphia office. “We wanted to represent the sense of crisis we feel inside and make it public,” said Mullins. “I think there is a hunger for more direct action,” he added, in order for “the seriousness of this as we live it to reach the decision-makers.”
More people stepped forward during the fifteen-day fast to reinforce this conviction: Philly’s Fast for Safe Schools featured a rotating cast of twelve parent activists and school employees who fasted from three to eight days each. The activists chose to end the fast on July 1, after securing a partial win: Corbett put forward a new funding package that added $140 million back to the school district. The package combines loans with state and city funds, which the activists


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