Background and Continuing Efforts

RALLY AND SPEAK OUT TO DEFEND PUBLIC EDUCATION!

WEDNESDAY APRIL 7TH

NOON

STUDENT UNION STEPS

 

 

On March 4th, tens of thousands of people around the country participated in actions to demand an immediate end to the budget cuts in higher education, and to show their support for the cause of Free Public Education for All.

Here at UMass Amherst, the March 4th Coalition organized a mass rally - attended by hundreds of students, university employees and community members - to protest the administration's skewed priorities, cuts in basic services, and planned fee hikes for the next academic year. We made our voices heard against an administration that has shown utter disregard for the interests of both students and faculty. They are building a 12.5 million dollar new police station, yet at the same time they cut the hours of University Health Services - leaving students without a place to go on campus at night in case of a health emergency or sexual assault. They are planning to increase student fees and freeze wages, yet Chancellor Holub just gave himself a big raise.

So, on March 4th, we marched to Whitmore and presented a list of demands to the administration (reproduced below). We gave them until March 31st to send us an answer. The deadline came and went, yet the administration did not even see fit to make a few vague, empty promises. They said nothing at all. That is their answer: as far as they're concerned, the students are a nuisance best ignored, in the hope that it will go away.

That is why we need to make it clear that we will not go away. The new UMass budget drops on April 6th. We should expect fee increases, deep cuts and layoffs this coming year. We are holding a speak-out the next day, April 7th, to show our disapproval and insist that the only place to cut from is the top - starting with the inflated salaries of the UMass top administrators.
Join us and let your voice be heard! This will be an open mic event, so please bring your stories, ideas and thoughts - and your friends!

MARCH FORTH recap

Good work everyone who protested their right to education!
U-Mass
University of California (one of my favorite videos)
SDSU Walk Out
Monroe Elementary in California !!!!
For more videos and stories like these about schools all over the U.S. (nearly thirty states participated today!) click here

If anyone else has any videos or pictures they would like to share, please e-mail them to educationisforeveryone@gmail.com

Future Meeting Information:

Hampshire College at 5 o'clock on Monday, March 8 in the Franklin Patterson Building

U-Mass at 5 o'clock Tuesday, March 9 in the Campus Center - Room 168c

FINAL MEETING INFO BEFORE MARCH 4, 2010

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

5 o'clock, Campus Center Room 165-169

U-Mass

There will be a sign-making party after!

Overview and history of the movement.

All over California right now there are walk-outs, occupations of buildings, and huge protests being staged at the UCs (University of California), California State Universities, and community colleges. To Californians, public education is supposed to mean access to all, including low-income students, immigrants, and people who are considered to be part of a minority group. It is also supposed to mean access to resources such as libraries, good professors, and specialized programs. UC Berkeley, for example, is considered one of the top academic institutions in the world, and is a public university. However, California has recently found itself in a financial crisis, with a statewide deficit of $42 billion. To cope with this severe lack of funds and inspired by neoliberal reforms that have been sweeping the nation for the last couple decades, the California government is cutting the amount of money they spend on their universities, thereby forcing the universities to “privatize.” In the University of California schools, the Regents (the board that runs the school) have recently approved a 32% increase in student fees over the next two years.

Privatization is a neoliberal tactic and can mean many things. In the case of privatizing California schools, it means replacing public funding with student fees, increased corporate sponsorship of academic research, and increased reliance on endowments, to name a few. Privatization means that universities will rely heavily on private donors and corporate funding, which means the corporate sponsors will potentially have the ability to dictate the material taught and to sway publicized results of research. Increased fees mean that many students will no longer be able to afford higher education. 

DEMANDS for the March 4th Day of Action

The day of action is THIS WEEK! Here is a list representing what the students at U-Mass are demanding through this day of action:

1. Make Public Higher Education Less Expensive By Not Instituting New Fees!
· An end to the flagship and Com. Col. fee proposals
· Stop the use of our fee money to build the $12.5 million new police station and other new buildings in general.
· A participatory budget process that allows students to have a say in where their money is being spent.

2. No Budget Cuts That Affect Student Health and Safety
· Immediately Provide Free transit to Cooley Dickinson and a rape crisis center.
· Restore full funding to UHS and keep it open 24 hours a day.
· Eliminate the $250 deductible increase
· Create a student-run campus transportation system at night to prevent rape and assault

3. Treat Our Faculty Fairly!
· Provide a living wage for all UMASS employees.
· Stop the firing of faculty members immediately, and rehire workers laid off due to budget cuts
· Lower salaries in administrative positions.
· It is unacceptable for Jack Wilson to get a $73,000 raise while the cost of UMASS goes up and budget cuts lessen the stability of departments and faculty/staff job security.

4. Improve the Campus Climate at UMASS.
· Eliminate police presence in dorms.
· Support a better educated student body by implementing fewer restrictions on how we apply for classes.
· The requirement for students to be majors in a department to take many classes tells students learning for the sake of learning is not a priority at UMASS, while graduating as a number with a degree is.
· Stop the reorganization of colleges, departments, and resource centers on campus which are currently located appropriately and important to students and UMASS employees.
· End contract with Follett to lower the cost of textbooks, and end contract with Coca Cola.
· Create more options for affordable, healthy food.
· Stop the rent increase in UMass Family Housing.

Principles: What We Stand For!

1. Free public higher education (paid for by cuts in homeland security, etc).

2. The end to all US wars and occupations.

3. Sustained organization after March 4th.

4. Get UMASS in line with national average for state funding.

5. Tax the rich, too! Raise the income tax on those who can afford it.

6. Make college affordable to undocumented immigrants--allow high school graduates to attend public colleges at in-state rates and to obtain federal loans.

Flyer!

This blog can only do so much in the public sphere; it can only do its job if people check it.

Here is an official flyer. It also includes information about the next meeting.
Print it. Post it. Make people pay attention to it.

First Movements at U-Mass for March 4th

SGA members brainstorm ideas for March 4 “Day of Action to Defend Education” by Alyssa Creamer

meetings at U-Mass

from Natalia Tylim:

UMass, Budget Cuts and How We Can Fight Them!
Wednesday February 17th
5pm
Room TBA

While Obama announced last week that there will be a complete spending freeze on all discretionary spending (of course this does not apply to the military!) education is on the chopping block. These cuts have not been met without a fight, students, labor and community member are organizing across the country to start putting our agenda on the table, an agenda that puts education before occupations and bailouts. California has been at the forefront of this movement, and has called for a NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO DEFEND PUBLIC EDUCATION K-UNIVERSITY on March 4th. Come participate in a discussion about the state of the budget cuts in MA, what they mean for UMass students, and how we can follow in the footsteps of the California school system that has already been able to interrupt business as usual.

Join us for our next planning meeting!
Tuesday, February 9th
5pm
Campus Center Room 174-76

Email Natalia at ntylim@gmail.com for more information

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