Monday, March 29, 2010

Same Struggle, Same Fight: President of Puerto Rico Teachers’ Union (FMPR) Speaks with GEM!

Click on title for video of Lisa North's presentation on GEM.

by John Yanno (GEM)

On March 24, 2010, a group of forty New York City educators and activists attended a meeting of the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM) to hear Rafael Feliciano , president of the Federacion de Maestros de Puerto Rico (FMPR), speak about how to build a movement to defend public education. Lisa North and Angel Gonzales from GEM also spoke about how teachers in New York City are trying to build a movement here to fight against school closings and charter schools. Feliciano pointed out how the struggle in Puerto Rico and NYC are similar and how we can learn from each other.

In 2008, after the government of Puerto Rico refused to agree to a collective bargaining agreement with teachers, the FMPR decided to strike for better wages, better conditions at schools for both teachers and students, and to stop the privatization of public schools in the form of charter schools. The militant ten-day strike forced the government to agree to a compromise that kept charter schools of the island.

The fight against charter schools, Feliciano said, is important in both Puerto Rico and the United States because these struggles have the potential to unite many people and create a place to develop solidarity. In fact, the 2008 strike in Puerto Rico was called a “people’s strike” because the FMPR sought widespread support among parents, students, workers, and university students.

But to build for a successful strike, or citywide protests and rallies, activists have to build a base of support. Feliciano pointed out that before you have mass actions, you need to form one-to-one relationships at the school level. “We in Puerto Rico make big struggles, but these big struggles came from smaller struggles in schools”

Schools, Feliciano said, are places where teachers can make important links with not just teachers, but support staff like cafeteria workers as well. “I am president of a union. I am also a socialist,” Feliciano told the audience. “What I have learned after all these years is that a school is a strategic place to develop the struggle of the working class.”

Feliciano told the assembled teachers that a real grassroots struggle starts with these one-to-one conversations and that radical teachers should use the openings created by charter schools and school closings to unite with other radicals and to talk about politics with other workers.

After Feliciano was finished, people in the audience asked questions and spoke about the struggles they are a part of. Many GEM members thanked Feliciano not only for taking the time to speak to us, but because the experiences of Puerto Rican teachers can point a way forward for our struggles here in the city. Teachers spoke about the difficulty of building in our schools, especially when teachers are under attack, and asked questions about how to reach out to parents and the community. Feliciano replied with what was the obvious theme of the evening – that big struggles start with smaller ones. That we have to be activists every day in our schools where we need to build a base of support in order to launch the larger struggles necessary to fight back the attacks on our schools. "You don't have any power," Felicano said, "if you don't build it from the bottom." Grassroots Education Movement members invited the audience to be a part of GEM to help us build a successful movement here in New York City.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Forum:The Puerto Rico Teachers Union (FMPR*) & NYC School Struggles


SPEAKERS:
President Rafael Feliciano,
*Federacion de Maestros de Puerto Rico- FMPR
&
Grassroots Education Movement - GEM


March 23, Tuesday
4 – 7 PM

CUNY Grad Center - Rm 5414

34th St. & 5th Ave
#6 train to 33rd - Bring I.D.


In 2008, after a militant 10 day strike, the FMPR stopped the charter school privatization threat on the island-nation. Despite the Puerto Rico laws against public worker strikes, the FMPR (80% women) continues to represent and fight back as a democratic bottom-up rank and file union. Today the FMPR again resists privatization, charters invasions, violations of teacher & public worker rights, cutbacks and massive layoffs. As more draconian cutbacks loom, the FMPR leads protests along with debates on how to successfully build a united struggle nationwide.

In NYC, GEM has campaigned against the very same destructive federal government "No Child L
eft Behind/Race to the Top" policies that Puerto Rico also faces, despite different conditions. GEM addresses issues such as test-driven curricula, the displacement of seasoned veteran teachers (ATRs), school closing, private charters, dictatorial mayoral control, privatization and union-busting.

Over decades, the FMPR has worked to empower their members and school communities. The FMPR supports school teacher-parent-student committees with significant input. FMPR union chapters have autonomy and are supported when militant job actions are necessary. The FMPR consistently seeks to educate and organize through general meetings, educationals, media campaigns, litigation, legislative initiatives, guerrilla theater, militant job actions and more.

The FMPR model of social justice unionism provides many lessons for us here. We too have much to share. Join us in this important dialogue.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The Impact of Charter Schools & School Closings on Public Education and What We Can Do About It

"The Impact of Charter Schools & School Closings on Public Education and What We Can Do About It" was the headline on this important forum held in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn in the heart of charter school territory. Michael Fiorillo from ICE and GEM opened up with a powerful historical perspective that had people on the edge of their seats. Here is part 1. Make sure to see part 2 for the complete picture. See the ad and flyer sent out to schools below.



PART 2





Do you care about the future of public education?


Do you have questions or concerns about the role charter schools are playing in our educational system?


Did you know that 50 charter schools are currently housed in public school buildings?


Did you know that many of the public schools the DoE and Bloomberg plan to close, could be replaced by charter schools?


Come to a Forum to find out first hand how charter schools are taking over public space and how some public schools are fighting back. Learn the truth about what charter schools represent and why school closings open the door to privatization.

Walk away with a helpful toolkit full of resources and information that will help you join the fight to defend public education.


Wednesday, March 10, 2010

4:00 to 7:00 PM

Bedford Library
496 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238
C Train to Franklin Ave.


Sponsored by:

GEM—Grassroots Education Movement and CAPE—Concerned Advocates for Public Education.

Grassrootseducationmovement.blogspot.com, capeducation.blogspot.com

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Quality & Equal Public Education - No to Privatized Charter Schools!

National Day of Action to Defend Public Education

March 4 - GEM's Message


GEM organizes in defense of quality and equal public education and we join in solidarity with activists in this struggle across the US. Public education, from kindergarten to college levels, must be fully funded and serviced with:

· Quality physical plants, furnishings and resources (no cutbacks)

· Small class sizes with full staffing (no-layoffs)

· Creative curricula, not scripted & test-driven

· Fully funded student services, such as health, daycare and transportation (e.g. metro cards)

· Democratic governance by parents, community and educators

· Improved wages, benefits and labor rights for all school workers

· Fair and comprehensive staff & school evaluation processes, not by discredited test-driven-data


Our Department of Education (DOE), through the dictatorial mayoral control of Bloomberg, has been hijacked by wealthy corporates who aim to take control of our public schools for the interests of their private sector via charters. This drive to privatize, not only our schools but all working class services, is being pushed throughout the US and globally by the likes of profiteers such as Bill Gates, the Walton Foundation, Robertsons & Eli Broad. This privatization campaign is in high gear now with Obama’s “Race to the Top” demand that more schools be closed and that state “private-charter school caps” be lifted.


The DOE drive to shut down public schools & replace them with charters has targeted primarily Black and Latino communities, which the government has historically failed to properly provide for. Instead of focusing on school improvement, corporate-government has today only offered charter schools as the alternative and they have proliferated in a blatantly racist pattern in our communities of color. These elite, separate and unequal charter schools (ala Eva Moskowitz HSA charters) use shameful “divide & conquer” tactics to invade, deteriorate and take over our public schools. Charters are wreaking divisions that only weaken all our struggles to improve all community services. Today West and East Harlem (El Barrio) are the epicenter in NYC for these insidious charter invasions.


Privatized charter schools serve to:

· Subject our children to discriminatory and highly selective lottery school-acceptance process

· Privatize school control by corporate boards that violate the right to democratic governance of parents, community & teachers

· Do not service higher needs students such as Special Education, English Language Learners and the poorest

· Seek to drive down school worker wages, benefits, pensions, and union rights

· Increase disparity as charters select the highest performing students and can force “undesirables” out


GEM continues to protest against all school closings and their subsequent takeover or invasion by private charter schools. At Chancellor Klein’s sham “school closing & charter co-location hearings” or at his rubber-stamp Panel for Educational Policy – PEP (Bloomberg controlled), GEM is there to speak about the futility of just presenting favorable data, pleading, petitioning and litigating to save one’s school. GEM urges our schools to use these “hearings” as places to network and organize our fight-back.


Unfortunately, the powerful United Federation of Teachers (UFT) has supported the charter-privatization agenda. The UFT thus will not truly mobilize and organize its members with our communities to effectively mount a necessary militant and massive campaign against privatization and charter union-busting. The UFT itself already manages two charters that have invaded public schools in Brooklyn. Through grassroots organizing, GEM aims to keep mobilizing and to fill that leadership void.


GEM urges students, parents, school workers, and community to organize school committees at their schools which will strategize collectively on how to fight back. School fight-back committees need to build vocal and militant union chapters, Parent Associations and student unions that will coordinate efforts. GEM works to support those united school committees and to network them on a citywide level. United we can democratically and creatively decide on how to protect, defend and promote the interests of all our students against Bloomberg, Klein and their corporate interests.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

MARCH WITH THE GRASSROOTS EDUCATION MOVEMENT (GEM) on MARCH 4

Please forward widely


National Day of Action to Defend


Public Education


Meet up with GEM!
4pm

Thursday, March 4, 2010
GEM Meet up: 43rd street and 3rd Ave.


Teachers STAND UP and DEFEND Public Education!

March with GEM - Teacher's Contingent
The Grassroots Education Movement (GEM) is calling for all NYC Teachers to meet up and MARCH together.

Part of the

National Day of Action to Defend

Public Education

Thursday, March 4th, 2010


Rally at 4 pm at Gov. Paterson's office (633 Third Ave. @ 41st St.),

Then March to MTA Hearings at FIT (Seventh Ave. @ 27th St.)


  • It’s not our crisis, we won’t pay!
  • No school closures!
  • No budget cuts, no tuition hikes!
  • No layoffs, no salary or benefit reductions, no union-busting!
  • Restore free student Metrocards!
  • No privatization of public schools!
  • Cancel all student debt!
  • Eliminate racism in the public school system!
  • Free public education for all from kindergarten to college!

NYC website: http://march4ny. wordpress. com/
Facebook page: http://www.facebook .com/groups. php#/group. php?gid=24400005 1960

Google group: http://groups. google.com/ group/march- 4-education- ny

Email: March4NY@gmail. com
National website: www.defendeducation .org

http://grassrootseducationmovement.blogspot.com/

PS 30 VS Harlem Success Academy Charter School Invasion

February 22, 2010 was a volatile night at PS 30. The PS 30 community clashed with Harlem Success Academy II in what did not make for a pleasant evening. Harlem Success Academy II is looking for a home after the PS 123 community fought hard to get them out. The PS 30 community was brilliant in their defense of their school.

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E9fnQCozB8

Monday, March 1, 2010

National Day of Action to Defend Public Education

  • Part of the

    National Day of Action to Defend Public Education
    Thursday, March 4th, 2010

    Rally at 4 pm at Gov. Paterson's office (633 Third Ave. @ 41st St.),
    Then March to MTA Hearings at FIT (Seventh Ave. @ 27th St.)


    It’s not our crisis, we won’t pay!
    No school closures!
    No budget cuts, no tuition hikes!
    No layoffs, no salary or benefit reductions, no union-busting!
    Restore free student Metrocards!
    No privatization of public schools!
    Cancel all student debt!
    Eliminate racism in the public school system!
    Free public education for all from kindergarten to college!

NYC website: http://march4ny.wordpress.com/
Facebook page: http://www.facebook .com/groups. php#/group. php?gid=24400005 1960 .com/groups.php#/group.php?gid=244000051960
Google group: http://groups.google.com/group/march-4-education-ny

Email: March4NY@gmail. com
National website: www.defendeducation.org