Steve Poizner for California! - UPDATE! Poizner Slammed for Abortion Flip-Flop!

Just found this at the Los Angeles Times, "Shifts in California GOP Candidate Poizner's Position on Abortion Scrutinized."

**********

Steve Poizner's trailing desperately in the polls, but he hits the right notes for me. The second ad, "California's in Crisis," has been running all morning at KABC-7 Los Angeles. I fear it's too little too late. Meg Whitman's buying the election, and Representative Tom McClintock says she'll basically provide "Arnold Schwarzenegger's next term." See KOGO's Chris Reed, at the link, at about 9:20 minutes. He's got an interview with McClintock, who just endorsed Poizner. See, "Poizner Picks Up a Key Conservative Endorsement":

California's Unfair Tax System

At the Council on State Taxation (COST), "The Best and Worst of State Tax Administration":

The Council On State Taxation (COST) has long monitored and commented on state tax appeals processes and administrative practices. Part of that effort has resulted in the regular publication of a Scorecard ranking the states on their adoption of procedural practices which impact the perceived fairness of the rules and equirements for state tax administration and appeal of state tax matters. Why are these issues so important? Although compliance with state tax statutes and regulations is subject to audit scrutiny, the percentage of taxpayers actually audited is small. As a esult, our federal and state tax systems are premised, to a great degree, on Voluntary compliance. It is a common truth that taxpayers will more fully and willingly comply with a tax system they perceive to be balanced, fair, and effective. Taxpayers operating in a system they perceive as oppressive, unfair, or otherwise biased are less likely to voluntarily comply. The clear message to state legislatures is that they must be sensitive to the compliance implications and competitiveness concerns created by poor tax administrative rules and ineffective tax appeal systems.

California gets a D-.

RELATED: On California's gubernatorial election, and budget crisis, "Steve Poizner for California!"

Are Democrats About to Lose Congress?

The video's c/o MAinfo, "Perfect Storm Brewing to Sweep Republicans Into Office-Kristol":

But see Patricia Murphy, "Washington in 60 Seconds: Are Democrats About to Lose Congress?"

She links to the New York Times, "Rash of Scandals Tests Democrats at Sensitive Time."

Mom Gets Contempt of Court for Taking Kids to Jury Duty

Now this is not right ... "Juror Penalized for Taking Kids to Court: Judge Held Mom Without Child Care in Contempt for Bringing Young Kids to Court":

But see the Detroit Free Press, "Judge's Move to Jail Juror is Criticized by State Court: Mom Had to Weigh Day Care, Civic Duty."

Sounds like a mean judge. That said, courts give potential jurors months to plan ahead. Maybe the mother, Carmela Khury, is an activist.

ADDED: Dana from Common Sense Political Thought, at the comments:

According to the story, she had day care planned, but it fell through at the last minute.

Sounds to me like the judge lacks judgement.

Not an activist, I guess ... ?

Why Are Student Militants Cool?

UPDATE: Linked at The Daley Gator, "My Message to Student Militant Thugs? Only Damned Cowards Hide Behind Masks."

**********

Student protesters, one with balaclava, a universal image of armed resistance and terror, at San Francisco State:

SFSU Faculty and Students participated in the Nation wide March 4th strike. The strike protested the dramatic budget cuts from California Schools. Rally's were held at San Francisco State University, March 4, 2010. (Marina Forte/Xpress)

**********

The girl looks like a Black September terrorist in Munich in 1972:

Or a murderous henchman for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi:

Or one of the Beslan terrorists:

Or Subcomandante Marcos:

Founding Bloggers writes on the leftist media's infatuation with the violent student militias:

Just so we have this straight. Tea Partiers peacefully rallying in support of smaller government…those are Nazi racist bigots.

Progressive liberals rioting in the streets of California ... that’s acceptable, and shouldn’t be used to paint the whole movement in a negative light.

Change. Hope.

Long Beach 'Day of Action' Education Mobilization!

UPDATE: Linked at Blazing Cat Fur, Instapundit, and Theo Spark's!

**********

The Long Beach protests on March 4th were a far-cry from the anarcho-communist agitation that swept the Bay Area yesterday.

The Long Beach Press-Telegram has a nice report, "Teachers, Students Protest Education Cuts":

Thousands of teachers, students and community members rallied at Cal State Long Beach, Long Beach City College and at Wilson High School on Thursday in opposition to state funding cuts to education.

Similar rallies, organized by a coalition of labor unions, were held at educational institutions statewide to urge supporters to lobby California legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to oppose any further funding reductions.

And discussing my college:

Faculty members, staff and students met at Long Beach City College's Liberal Arts Campus around noon urging people to contact lawmakers to express opposition to cuts.

"Public education is under attack, and we need to do something about it," said LBCC faculty member DeWayne Sheaffer, president of the LBCC Community College Association, the faculty union.

LBCC student LaTonya Neal told the crowd that funding reductions hurt LBCC students by making it more difficult to get classes. Students services also are being cut.

"When that happens, it means that every student will be impacted," said Neal, a 45-year-old culinary arts student who hopes to transfer to Cal State Long Beach and eventually start her own restaurant.

Check the link for a photo-slideshow as well.

Okay, from some of my own coverage of events, at both LBCC and Wilson High School ...

Here's the scene in front of the new South Quad building a little after Noon. That's Professor Lynn Shaw at left and Professor Adrian Novotny, smiling, at right:

This is CCA President DeWayne Sheaffer:

Demonstrators were asked to wear red. Some obliged with team spirit beyond shades of the color spectrum:

This is Professor Elizabeth Hoffman, Vice President at CSULB Faculty Association. She came to LBCC to show solidarity:

This is Madison, an LBCC undergraduate, who is speaking with Professor Hoffman:

Hurtie Chukwudire, AFT Classified President LBCC. She's also pictured at the Press-Telegram article cited above.

Hurtie was getting fired up. She wanted to "take it to the streets" like folks did during the 1960s. She's waving a flyer for the "Marching for California's Future," which is a Bakersfield to Sacramento march for justice that was supposed to kick off today:

I had to get to a 1:00pm class. One more quick shot after grabbing my lecture materials back at my office:

After class, some students walked back with me for office hours. They got a kick out of the protest signs. The gentleman on the right in the first picture here (with the black polo shirt) is Ernesto. He's an Iraq war veteran who can't stand hardline radical groups like La Raza:

I held office hours until 4:00pm. After a quick run to the bank, I headed over to Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach for the big afternoon rally. Here's some of the signs at one of the information tables:

Long Beach's finest at the scene just in case the anarcho-communists got out of hand:

LBCC union boss DeWayne Sheaffer spoke again at the teachers' rally:

More union folks, from Cal State Dominguez Hills:

An estimated 2000 people came out, and it looks like it:

Californians for Justice, a hard-left activist group:

More shots of the crowd:

These are wonderful people, demonstrating against the cuts:

You can't see him, but that's Tom Morello, formerly of Rage Against the Machine, being swarmed by young activists during the rally's musical conclusion (look carefully for the end of the guitar fret board -- and that's him). Morello got folks fired up with "This Land is Your Land":

I posted Rage Against the Machine's "Wake Up" the other day, which features Morello at the clip:

One more big crowd shot before taking off:

Organizers back outside:

Walking back out to the car, I wanted to get a couple of shots of Woodrow Wilson High. Recall that famed English teacher Erin Gruwell taught at Wilson. Her book, Freedom Writers Diary, was the basis for the 2007 movie starring Hillary Swank. We get loads of Wilson students at LBCC. They have a lot of "inner city" stories to tell, but things have gotten better at Wilson since the early 1990s:

I'll have more later ...

Mocking Black History

At The Blog Prof, "L.A. Elementary Teachers in Trouble After Honoring O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul for Black History Month."

And also, from KABC News Los Angeles, "Teachers Accused of Mocking Black History":

To climax Black History Month, students made posters of prominent African Americans selected by their teachers for a parade at Wadsworth Avenue Elementary.

There was a whole list of people, said student Jocelyn Diaz.

"The one that we did was Scott Joplin and Sam Cooke," said Diaz. "There were a lot of them."

There were many options, yet three teachers chose figures that have the community in an uproar: A felon, O.J. Simpson; flamboyant cross-dressing performer RuPaul; and Dennis Rodman, former professional basketball star.

African American leaders want the three teachers, who are Caucasian, fired. The teachers teach first, second and fourth grades.

Rev. Eric Lee, president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, said the teachers' choices make a mockery of black history, and at a school where the majority of the students are Latino, activists said that only reinforces racial stereotypes.

"Their selection goes beyond ignorance. It speaks to arrogance and racism," Lee said. He added that the teachers' choices were approved by school administration, and said it's clear they conspired.

Mocking Black History Month in the classroom? Not somethin' I'd do. But, hey, outside of the classroom? That's another story. Actually, no one comes off looking so great here, least of all the three teachers. But notice that they're "Caucasian," a convenient fact that adds somethin' extra for the all-purpose civil rights outrage. It makes sense, though, that when a third of the black community is in poverty, and when less than half of black students graduate from high school, civil rights leaders are quick to hail the great movement icons of the past. Naturally, to buck that line'll bring down the wrath for blasphemy. And fire these people? God, that's ridiculously vindictive. But look how fired up folks are at the viddy. Man, it's like NEVER ever step out of line on race, yo!

Oakland Protest Shuts Down I-880 Freeway!

The photo of mass arrest is from Indy Bay, "March 4th Protest in Oakland, Dance party, March and Traffic Disruption." And at KTVU San Francisco, "Protesters Force Freeway Closure In Oakland."

But see also, CNN, "Protests Over Education Cutbacks Snarl Traffic, Lead to Arrests."

Berkeley Day of Action Protests!

Update on yesterday's direct action in Berkeley. The image is from Indy Bay, "More Pictures From UCB March 4th Protest."

But see the Daily Californian, "State of Dissent: Protesters Converge on San Francisco's Civic Center Plaza as Over 10,000 Join Rallies."

Millions Protest Education Cuts Nationwide*

It's been a long day. I taught four classes and attended two rallies. I have some pictures to upload and I'll write up a report sometime tomorrow. Meanwhile, Glenn Reynolds has some links to folks commenting on the protests nationwide, and here's a picture from CSUN today, "Awesome protester dudes at #CSUN for the #March4!":

Don't you just love the Che paraphernalia? Brilliant. Mass murderers against the cuts! Yeah, that'll work.

Anyway, I've dealt more with the education crisis in the last couple of days than I have in a long time. I caught the second half of yesterday's LBCC panel with Tom Hayden, "Master Plan for Higher Education." I made it over there after classes, so I mostly heard LBCC President Eloy Oakley speak. Nevertheless, Tom Hayden did answer a few questions before he left, and my colleague Craig Hendricks spoke as well. The Master Plan's worn out, basically. Under current structural constraints, the state can't meet the expected need for educated workers, and the funding model across the three tiers of the Master Plan is loaded with outrageous inequities. In good times, state leaders and residents don't mind (as much) the skewed funding to the UC and CSU systems, but when things fall apart economically the crush to the community colleges -- more students with less state funding -- is essentially obscene. But the unions and outside radical agitators refuse to acknowledge the bare naked truth that the system's collapsed. Everyone wants more money. For the left, it's tax corporations and end the "loopholes." The fact is, of course, that state revenues are sustained by a tiny sliver of wealthy taxpayers and big business. The state needs major structural reforms, even a constitutional convention with the mandate to repeal the locked-in spending initiatives going back to Proposition 98. Leftists offer stupid class warfare slogans while excoriating conservative as racist illegal-immigrant bashers. But someone's got to pay. And I don't see anyone really even discussing the possibility of downsizing commitments. Now's the time to say we can only do so much, during a deep recession. When the economy comes back -- which it will -- then folks will have resources to ease the state into a more viable structural revenue model. And that depends on a political leadership that's friendly to the free market and sensitive to creating job growth with low taxes.

More on this tomorrow ...

* I'm not sure about the "millions" protesting nationwide, but I'll give ABC News the benefit of the doubt until I have more information.

Protests Across California!

The Student Activism blog has a report, "What’s March 4 Looking Like So Far?"

Also, at the Los Angeles Times, "Rallies Against Education Cuts Begin; Officials Warn Against Violence."

And communist Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! has a segment, "Thousands of Students Taking Part in National Day of Action to Defend Public Education."

I'm heading out to cover a Long Beach rally at Wilson High, which is expected to be super-well attended. Check back later tonight for updates ...

'Feministing' Announces Solidarity with Radical Campus Protesters

Feministing, the hardline leftist blog founded by Jessica Valenti, has announced solidarity with the anarcho-communist protesters in California, "March 4 Day of Action: Healing the University of California":

March 4 will be a statewide success, with marches, protests, picket lines and strikes, rallies, sit-ins, occupations, legislative lobbying, and impressive action on the magnitude of K-12, community college, state university, and University of California involvement. We might wake up and see fire on the news. But just as the budget cuts, fee hikes, police brutality, and violent response to student occupations deteriorate the UC system, so do the racist, transphobic, and homophobic actions across the state. Chancellors will send out emails praising police actions, and these hateful incidents will be ignored for a day as administrative buildings are locked or shut down statewide.

But it's no coincidence that the students targeted by these hateful incidents, black students, LGBTQ students, and all underrepresented or minority students, are among those driven away from higher education by tuition increases. Tomorrow, the students on the front lines will be fighting not only for the right to step foot on a college campus, but to feel safe when we arrive. California students, staff, parents, and faculty will unite today for higher education, but we all have some healing to do first.

The sentiments at Feministing are virtually indistinguisable for those at International ANSWER or the anarcho-communist "Reoccupied."

Tear Gas at UC Davis!

At the California Aggie, and Twitpic (here and here):

RELATED: At the New York Times, "California Students Protest Education Cuts."

March 4th National Education Mobilization Underway!

It's happening. Here's the action at UC Berkeley's Sather Gate, from Twitpic:

The Washington Post is mainstreaming the protests, and linking to anarcho-communist blogs. See, "A Guide to Today's Protests." And checking the links, WaPo's endorsing this:

Plus, faculty at UC Irvine have cancelled classes in solidarity. See, "UC Faculty Statements for March 4th"

We are writing to encourage you to participate and to allow your students
to miss classes without penalty on March 4 so that they can participate.

I'm teaching today. Students can attend the lunchtime rally on my campus, or late afternoon events. My sense is that students need every minute they can with their teachers. Protest is important, but shutting down a whole university is a bit much, IMHO.

I'll be heading out to the Noon rally. Check back here early afternoon for updates.

'WE Make the Crisis' - A New Student Insurgency!

At CounterPunch, "A New Student Insurgency":

In response to the Regents' November fee increase, a swelling student movement at University of California and California State University campuses occupied campus buildings named for former regents, presidents, and chancellors – a collection of dead white men who have loomed over these universities in years past. Occupiers of UCLA's Campbell Hall, named after the UC's 10th President, rechristened it “Carter-Huggins Hall,” after the pair of Black Panthers slain in an FBI COINTELPRO operation there on January 17, 1969. In the last few months, the occupation movement has spread up and down the state, stirring students at even the most traditionally subdued campuses. UC Irvine, CSU Fullerton, and CSU Fresno students have joined the historically rowdier UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz campuses in taking over buildings, dropping banners, distributing incendiary pamphlets and handbills, and standing firm against police intimidation.

“WE make the crisis,” goes one popular slogan of the occupiers.

The newly insurgent mood on campuses is spreading quickly. Through its refusal to be co-opted and managed by the same university leaders and politicians who have colluded in structurally adjusting California's educational system, the rebellion of California's students -- joined by many university workers and faculty members -- is in the process of forcing a shift in state politics.

A New Student Insurgency

The militant phase of the new student movement kicked off in September. Over the summer, the UC's 26-member Board of Regents had bestowed unprecedented “emergency powers” on UC President Yudof, who responded by proposing the 32 per cent fee increase, laying off hundreds of employees, and imposing mandatory “furloughs” on university faculty and staff. Administrators responded by cutting numerous popular campus-level programs. It was the single most violent episode of structural adjustment imposed by the Regents thus far.

On the opening days of fall instruction, students and workers at multiple UC campuses responded by holding rallies and protests. A group of roughly 20 UC Santa Cruz students occupied the campus' Graduate Student Commons, unfurling multiple banners including one bearing the slogan “Raise Hell, Not Costs,” and another calling for an end to capitalism. The UCSC contingent voluntarily withdrew the occupation a week later, but the movement was fermenting rapidly, not only in Santa Cruz but elsewhere ....

This movement reflects a growing understanding among students, workers, and faculty members that the fee increases, lay-offs, and programmatic cuts are only the beginning stages of a permanent and more far-reaching plan pursued by the university's power structure, whose members serve as proxies for American capitalism at large, and specifically as representatives of the financial elites who have gained unprecedented power over the state and economy. According to one incisive pamphlet, the November fee increase represented a “moment where the truth of the UC [became] undeniable, where its ostensible difference from the violence of the larger society vanishe[d].”

This political violence was matched by the physical terror wrought by the various police departments who have responded to the occupations, particularly on November 20th in Berkeley. “It was the most horrifying things I've ever seen in my life,” one young woman told a KTVU news reporter in between sobs of shock, when describing the beatings she witnessed. Yet, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau commended the police for "peacefully" handling the situation.

Against such blatant contradictions between official pronouncement and the experiences of most students, deep-seated liberal assumptions about the essentially benign nature of authority and the university itself have begun to vanish. The reality of the brutal political economy of global capitalism is being laid bare for a new generation of mostly middle class students to see. In this particular case, that global system has turned hundreds of thousands out of their homes, embroiled millions in mortgage, credit card, and student loan debts, and eliminated state support for everything from education to health care for children of poverty-stricken families, yet criminalized and often brutalized those who meaningfully resist what those in power have in store for them: much more of the same.

Of course, these protests did not spring fully formed from the void. Students at Berkeley and Santa Cruz have engaged in numerous direct action protests against the university power structure since 2005, ranging from tree sits that significantly slowed campus development projects, to protests against the university's nuclear weapons development contracts. The UC's major workforce union, AFSCME, has mobilized for several years now alongside student supporters to defend worker pay and benefits, which sag below the levels paid by peer institutions and even state and community colleges.

Black, Latino, and American Indian students have been struggling since before Proposition 209 in 1996 to overcome the state's institutionalized racism and class bias that have shut out working class students from the UC. Part of this effort to increase access to higher education has involved educational outreach programs into Los Angeles and Bay Area urban school districts where, because of the hyper-resegregation of the educational system since the 1970s, some high schools are upwards of 95 per cent non-white. These same schools tend to be the most impoverished, lacking even the most rudimentary pedagogical resources and extracurricular opportunities that facilitate a transition to college and beyond. These programs to open up the university to traditionally excluded students have been some of the first cut by the Regents' austerity measures.

The most damaging effects of these taxes and cuts have been visited upon departments like Ethnic Studies and Feminist Studies, and against educational outreach missions to students of color. This fundamentally racist assault on working class students has gotten so bad that roughly only four per cent of the UC study body is African American, as compared with roughly nine per cent of the overall state population, and a disproportionately high number of those black students who do attend the UC attend the system's least prestigious campuses such as Merced and Riverside. Last year, only 124 black students enrolled as freshmen at UC Berkeley. Only 19 American Indian students were part of this same entering class ...

And previously:

* "California March 4th: Communists, Students, Teachers, Professors Launch Direct Action to Seize Education!"

* "March 4th Day of Action, Internal Divisions: 'The White Student Movement'."

* "March 4th Strike and Day of Action: 'Why We're Protesting - A Letter to Parents'."

* "National March 4th Calls for Action and (Communist) Endorsements."

* "Education Protests Add to School Problems."

* "No Cuts to Education! Collectivize!"

* "Unions, Radicals to Protest Education Cuts Across U.S."

* "Shut it Down! March 4th Mobilization - Protest, Strike, Solidarity!."

* "California March 4th Protests: 'Berkeley Pre-Game Communiqué'."

* "Teachers Unions, Anarcho-Communists Launch 'Day of Action' to 'Occupy California!"

California March 4th: Communists, Students, Teachers, Professors Launch Direct Action to Seize Education!

At the Daily Californian, "Statewide Protests March Forward: Calls for Calfornians' Investment In Public Education Echo Across State on Day of Action."

Across the state of California, students, teachers, professors and unions will demonstrate today in order to convince lawmakers and the public to invest in public education.

In the past six months, UC Berkeley has been an important hub of activism against state divestment in the UC system, as well as public education in general. Today's statewide day of action marks the first time a statewide day of protest will incorporate people from across California in support of the broader cause of public education, from Kindergarten through doctoral program.

In addition to rallies at other university campuses, community colleges and cities throughout the state, the day's events include a rally on the steps of the state Capitol in Sacramento and a protest in front of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office in San Diego.

"(March 4) is the moment where everybody understands the importance of the idea of a public education," said Kevin Wehr, an assistant professor of sociology at Sacramento State University who has been helping to organize the rally in Sacramento. "We have gotten to the crisis point and people are finally paying attention."

The lack of a singular authority coordinating events has meant that various groups will be taking different approaches toward reaching their respective goals. But one area of agreement is the need to "defend" public education.

Involving the largest possible number of people in the day's events is key to changing the priorities of the state, said Nick Palmquist, a UC Berkeley senior involved in organizing a march from the UC Berkeley campus to Downtown Oakland.

"No matter what the end goal is, we are going to need to have a lot of mass support," he said. "We are not going to be able to succeed without an approach that takes all different groups into consideration and gets them to act together."

And previously:

* "March 4th Day of Action, Internal Divisions: 'The White Student Movement'."

"March 4th Strike and Day of Action: 'Why We're Protesting - A Letter to Parents'."

* "National March 4th Calls for Action and (Communist) Endorsements."

* "Education Protests Add to School Problems."

* "No Cuts to Education! Collectivize!"

* "Unions, Radicals to Protest Education Cuts Across U.S."

* "Shut it Down! March 4th Mobilization - Protest, Strike, Solidarity!."

* "California March 4th Protests: 'Berkeley Pre-Game Communiqué'."

* "Teachers Unions, Anarcho-Communists Launch 'Day of Action' to 'Occupy California!"

March 4th Day of Action, Internal Divisions: 'The White Student Movement'

From Queer. Black. Revolutionary, "Open Letter to the White Student Movement":

For those of us from oppressed communities the cuts to education mean more than prolonged graduation, these cuts are yet another strike from a brutal system that seeks to murder and imprison us. We understand that the brutality of this system is unyielding and cannot be fought through brass action and individualistic politics but true communal struggle with the working people who raised us. We have the understanding that these cuts strike the entire community of working class and underprivelged people and thus must be fought with them. Perhaps this is a form of understanding that comes from knowing that the Capitalist system seeks to use us for maximum profit and that for Black youth that means either imprisonment or militarism. Those who do not adheed and seek to create a better system are met with the violence of the state, that is the true threat of death that lumes, but perhaps you privelege has prevented you from seeing this.

The student movement thus far has been led by white students with no real world understanding of their caste in society and the reprocussions of their actions ....

And be sure to read the comments. The critique is hitting a nerve. And we saw the same, devasting criticism of the Weber's Bread gay rights leadership following the passage of Proposition 8 in 2008. See, Jasmyne Cannick, "The Gay/Black Divide."

Plus, here's the angry response from Occupy California:

Honestly, we are tired of being erased from the student movement. We are tired of being told that militancy is a product of testosterone-driven machismo or race-based immunity to police repression. We’re tired of debates about tactics that are masked as debates about identity. We want a discussion that acknowledges that not just a few but many women and people of color have participated in the occupations and confrontational demonstrations of the last few months. Most of all, we want the people who attempt to represent women and people of color when they condemn these actions to know that they don’t speak for us.

And previously:

* "March 4th Strike and Day of Action: 'Why We're Protesting - A Letter to Parents'."

* "National March 4th Calls for Action and (Communist) Endorsements."

* "Education Protests Add to School Problems."

* "No Cuts to Education! Collectivize!"

* "Unions, Radicals to Protest Education Cuts Across U.S."

* "Shut it Down! March 4th Mobilization - Protest, Strike, Solidarity!."

* "California March 4th Protests: 'Berkeley Pre-Game Communiqué'."

* "Teachers Unions, Anarcho-Communists Launch 'Day of Action' to 'Occupy California!"

March 4th Strike and Day of Action: 'Why We're Protesting - A Letter to Parents'

At the Marxist organizing page, Defend Education, "Why We’re Protesting ~ A Letter to Parents":

As you know, students, faculty, staff, and community supporters are protesting at colleges and universities across the state. We are writing this letter to explain why.

Our protests were triggered by the enormous cuts in education spending and the huge tuition increases that politicians claim were forced by last year’s economic crisis. But that’s not true. For years, officials have been shifting money from education to prisons. Governor Schwarzenegger acknowleges that, “30 years ago 10 percent of the general fund went to higher education and three percent went to prisons. Today, almost 11 percent goes to prisons and only 7.5 percent goes to higher education.”

Back in 1960, the politicians in Sacramento enacted a promise to the citizens of California. It was called the “Master Plan for Education,” and it required, by law, that all qualified students be able to attend a public college—tuition free. For years that promise was kept, but then they started getting around the law by calling it “fees” for rather than “tuition.” Between 2000 and 2008 (way before the economic crisis) tuition at UC and CSU more than doubled. In 1960, student fees at UC and CSU were roughly $150.

This year at UC they’re $11,000 (a 7000% increase), and at CSU they’re $4,900 (a 3200% increase). For many students and their families, especially those hard hit by layoffs and foreclosures, the dream of a college education has been priced out of reach. And for Blacks, Latinos, and others who have historically faced discrimination, the hope of higher education is being denied as economic barriers are re-segregating opportunity in California.

But the issues are deeper than the just the cost of education. So many professors have been let go that this Spring no new students will be admitted to the CSU system, and total enrollment will be slashed by at least 40,000. At the Community Colleges 250,000 students will be “turned away.” Those who do manage to get into a school are discovering that required classes are no longer available so they have to attend an extra year to graduate (and pay yet more tuition). And class sizes are doubling which means less individual attention, less chance to ask questions, and less contact with the remaining teachers.

A fundamental issue that has nothing to do with economic crises is how education funds are spent and how the decisions are made. At the same meeting where they jacked up tuition, the UC Regents also gave hefty pay raises to the executives and senior bureaucrats. Apparently $500,000 a year isn’t enough, so the wages of janitors have to be cut and librarians laid off so that the top managers are not inconvenienced. And why are there so many of them? Fifteen years ago UC professors outnumbered senior managers by two and a half to one, but today there are actually more high-paid administrators than professors.

The real issue is not the current economic crises. The real issue is that politicians in Sacramento have quietly abandoned the principle of publicly-funded higher education for all. Over many years they have steadily moved our system of public colleges away from education-for-all towards the model of expensive private schools—with tightly restricted and highly competitive admissions. The word for this is “privatization.” It is a word that means converting public colleges to the model of private universities. It is a word that means higher education will only be available to the affluent. We are writing you this letter to ask you to stand up for your sons and daughters, and the public education that they must have to survive and thrive in the 21st Century. It’s time for parents and taxpayers to demand that public education be restored and expanded for all. It’s time for parents become involved.

For more information:
March 4th Strike and Day of Action ~ defendcapubliceducation.wordpress.com
California Faculty Assoc. ~ www.calfac.org
Council of UC Faculty Associations ~ www.cucfa.org

And previously:

* "National March 4th Calls for Action and (Communist) Endorsements."

* "Education Protests Add to School Problems."

* "No Cuts to Education! Collectivize!"

* "Unions, Radicals to Protest Education Cuts Across U.S."

* "Shut it Down! March 4th Mobilization - Protest, Strike, Solidarity!."

* "California March 4th Protests: 'Berkeley Pre-Game Communiqué'."

* "Teachers Unions, Anarcho-Communists Launch 'Day of Action' to 'Occupy California!"

National March 4th Calls for Action and (Communist) Endorsements

From Defend Education - Take a Stand March 4th, "National March 4th Calls for Action and Endorsements":

As people throughout the country struggle under the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, public education from pre-K to higher and adult education is threatened by budget cuts, layoffs, privatization, tuition and fee increases, and other attacks. Budget cuts degrade the quality of public education by decreasing student services and increasing class size, while tuition hikes and layoffs force the cost of the recession onto students and teachers and off of the financial institutions that caused the recession in the first place. Non-unionized charter schools threaten to divide, weaken and privatize the public school system and damage teachers’ unions, which are needed now more than ever. More and more students are going deep into debt to finance their education, while high unemployment forces many students and youth to join the military to receive a higher education. And all of the attacks described above have hit working people and people of color the hardest.

In California, students, teachers, workers, parents, and faculty have taken action against these attacks. They took to the streets in a one-day strike on September 24th, organized strikes and actions across the state during the University of California Board of Regents meeting from November 18th to 20th, and have called for a state-wide day of action on March 4th. These actions have created a broad mass movement in California, drawing in students from all over the state to create a powerful struggle. As the effects of the economic crisis continue to spread into the education system nationally, it’s time to join our voices with students and workers in California and draw inspiration from their example.

We support each group or coalition organizing in the manner and for the duration of their choosing. In solidarity with those in California, we the below-signed individuals and organizations call on students, teachers, workers, parents, faculty, and staff across the country to join together on March 4th to Take A Stand For Education!

**********

ENDORSED BY (list in formation):

Organizations

The 1212 Community, Bronx, New York
5c Cultural Center, Lower East Side, New York City
The Adjunct Project, CUNY Graduate Center, New York City
AFSCME 3800, University of Minnesota Clerical Workers
AFT Local 1839, New Jersey City University
All Nations Alliance
Anakbayan Los Angeles
Anakbayan New York/New Jersey, Jersey City, NJ
Anthropology Graduate Student Association, UT Austin
Associated Students of Portland State University Executive Staff
ASU Resist, Arizona State University, Tempe
Augusta State University Political Science Club, Georgia
Autonomedia
AZ Education Association
Bail Out the People Movement
Baltimore Algebra Project
Baltimore Solidarity Center
BAYAN-USA
Cal Poly Unite to Save Public Education, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
California Prison Moratorium Project
California State University Employees Union
Californians for Justice, Oakland
Campus Antiwar Network (CAN)
Chicago World Can’t Wait
Chop from the Top Coalition, University of Minnesota
Coalition for Community Justice, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL
Coalition for Equal Quality Education, Boston
Coalition for Public Education / Coalición por la Educación Pública, New York City
Coalition for Social Reform, UMass-Lowell
Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN)
Committee for Revolutionizing the AcaDemy (ComRAD), University of Minnesota
Community Organizing Center for Mother Earth, Columbus, Ohio
Connecticut Students Against the War
Cornell Organization for Labor Action, Ithaca, New York
CUNY Campaign to Defend Education, New York City
Democracy Insurgent, Seattle
The Democratic Left @ GWU, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Department of English, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania
DestroyIndustrY, Raleigh, NC
East Village Community School Parents Association, New York City
Education For All, San Diego
Feminist Students UNITED UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Fight Imperialism, Stand Together
Free UCR Alliance, UC Riverside
Freedom Road Socialist Organization
Freedom Socialist Party
Georgia State University Progressive Student Alliance
Giant Record Corporation, Amherst, MA
Graduate Employee and Student Organization, Yale University
Graduate Employees’ Organization, AFT/IFT 6300, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Graduate Student Employees Union, SUNY Stony Brook
Graduate Student Workers United, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St.Paul
Grassroots Education Movement, New York City
Hawai’i Solidarity Committee
Human Rights Action Committee, Framingham State College, Massachusetts
Indiana University of Pennsylvania Council of Chairs, Indiana, Pennsylvania
Institute for Critical Animal Studies
International Socialist Organization
International Workers and Students for Justice, University of Washington in Seattle
The Kennebunks Peace Department
L.A. County Peace & Freedom Party
La Voz de los Trabajadores- LIT, California
Latin American Students Association at UCR, Riverside, CA
League for the Revolutionary Party, New York City
Liberty Tree Foundation
Low-Income Student Alliance, New School University, New York City
Lucha, New York City
March 4 Organizing Committee, CSU Monterey Bay
Massachusetts Student Action Coalition
Massachusetts Students Uniting
May 1st Coalition for Worker & Immigrant Rights, New York City
Million Worker March Movement
Movement for a Democratic Society
National MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán)
Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA), Milwaukee
Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA), UC San Diego
Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA), USC
National Assembly to End the Iraq & Afghanistan Wars & Occupations
Network to Fight for Economic Justice
New School in Exile, New York City
New York State Youth Leadership Council
NYC Anti-War Coalition
New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW)
Northbay Uprising, Vallejo, California
Oakland Education Association
Olympia Coalition for a Fair Budget, Olympia, WA
Pan American Solidarity Organization (PASO), Portland State University
People’s Organization for Progress, Newark, NJ
Peoples Video Network
p.o.n.d. records
Pride and Equity Faculty and Staff Association, UT Austin
Progressive Democrats of America, Ohio
Progressive Faculty Network of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Progressive Student Alliance, University of Florida
Progressive Student Alliance, University of Memphis
Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM)
Purchase Polis, SUNY Purchase
PUSH: Ideas into Action, SUNY Purchase
Queens College Antiwar Coalition
Queer People Of Color Action
Radical Student Union, Bard College
Radical Women
Rebel Diaz Arts Collective, Bronx, NY
Recreate ‘68 Alliance
Rhode Island Unemployed Council
Riverside Latino Voter Project, Riverside, CA
Santa Monica College Students for Social Justice
Save LSU, Baton Rouge
Seventh Generation Nation, Putatoi
The Silent Radio DJs
Small Schools Workshop, Chicago
Social Justice Alliance, SUNY Stony Brook
Social Justice Alliance, UC Riverside, California
Socialism Now!, Chicago
Socialist Alternative
Socialist Organizer
Socialist Party of Connecticut
Socialist Party USA
Solidarity
S.O.S. Save Our Schools Coalition, Providence, RI
SOUL School of Unity & Liberation, Oakland
Space, Time, Research Collective, CUNY Graduate Center
SpeakOut – the Institute for Democratic Education & Culture, Oakland, CA
Straight and Gay Alliance (SAGA), City College of New York
Students Promoting Engagement Through Activism and Knowledge (SPEAK), Georgia State University
Student / Farmworker Alliance
The Student Insurgent, Eugene, Oregon
Student Labor Action Project (SLAP)
Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society, Animas, Durango, Coloardo
Students for a Democratic Society, Chicago
Students for a Democratic Society, College Park, University of Maryland
Students for a Democratic Society, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, California
Students for a Democratic Society, Gainesville Area
Students for a Democratic Society, Milwaukee
Students for a Democratic Society / Movement for a Democratic Society, Michigan State University
Students for a Democratic Society, Oklahoma
Students for a Democratic Society, Rochester
Students for a Democratic Society, Syracuse
Students for a Democratic Society, Temple University, Philadelphia
Students for a Democratic Society, TFHS
Students for a Democratic Society, UNC-Asheville
Students for a Democratic Society, UNC-Chapel Hill
Students for a Democratic Society, UNC-Charlotte
Students for a Democratic Society, University of Houston
Students for a Democratic Society, University of Minnesota
Students for a Democratic Society, University of North Dakota
Students for a Democratic Society, University of Tuscaloosa
Students for a Democratic Society, Waukesha, Wisconsin
Students for a Democratic Society, West Chester, Pennsylvania
Students for Educational Rights, City College of New York
Students for Quality Education, Cal Poly Pomona Chapter
Students for Social Action, Virginia Commonwealth University, VCU
Students for Unity, Portland State University
Students Taking Action to Reclaim our Education, University of Maryland
Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights, Portland State University
SUNY Downstate College of Health Related Professions Council
Take Back NYU!, New York City
Take Back WBAI Coalition, New York City
Teachers 4 Justice Now, New York City
Teachers as Leaders in Newark, New Jersey
Teachers for a Just Contract, New York City
Teachers Unite, New York City
Texas State Employees Union
Third Coast Activist Resource Center, Austin, Texas
TWU 100, New York City
UCSD Coalition for Educational Justice
Undergraduate Graduate Alliance (UGA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
United Council of UW Students, Wisconsin
United In Campaign Against Budget Cuts, University of Illinois-Chicago
United Socialists of Pittsburgh State
United States Student Association (USSA)
United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS)
University Democrats, UT Austin
University of Massachusetts-Lowell Coalition for Social Reform
University of Washington Student Worker Coalition, Seattle
USC Students for Justice in Palestine
UT Austin Stop the Cuts Coalition
UTLA / Project Great Futures / CAMS
UW-Milwaukee Education Rights Campaign
UW-Whitewater P.E.A.C.E., Whitewater, Wisconsin
Workers Action
Workers World Party
Young Democratic Socialists

International Endorsers

Anakbayan Philippines
International League of Peoples Struggle Youth, Philippines
League of Filipino Students
National Union of Students of the Philippines
Student Christian Movement of the Philippines
Student Representative Body of the University of Marburg, Germany
Teachers Unity Forum, Kerala, India


Individuals (*all organizations listed for identification purposes only, listed in order recieved)

Ed Childs, Chief Steward UNITE/HERE L. 26 (Harvard Univ.)*
Frantz Mendes, President, United Steelworkers L. 8751 – Boston School Bus Drivers Union*
Steve Gillis, Vice President, United Steelworkers L. 8751 – Boston School Bus Drivers Union*
Andre Powell, Delegate, Baltimore, Maryland AFL-CIO Metro Central Labor Council*
Phebe Eckfeldt, Harvard Union Rep., Harvard Union of Clerical & Technical Workers (HUCTW)/AFSCME L. 3650*
Mike Gimbel, Local 375, AFSCME delegate to the NYC-CLC & Chairperson of Local 375, AFSCME, Labor/Community Unity Committee*
Heather Cottin, Adjunct Lecturer, History Department, LaGuardia Community College, PSC member*
Peter Cook, Boston Teachers Union, Local 66 MFT AFT, AFL-CIO*
Julia La Riva, member of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)*
Martha Grevatt, Chair, Civil Rights Committee, UAW Local 122*
Andy Griggs, United Teachers Los Angeles; Co-chair, California Teachers Association Peace and Justice Caucus; Steering Committee, US Labor Against the War*
Susan E. Davis, National Writers Union, United Auto Workers Local 1981*
Robin Anderson, Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) at UMass-Amherst, Part of UAW Local 2322*
Barry Eidlin,UAW Local 2865, University of California Academic Student Employees Union*
Geoff Carens, Union Representative, HUCTW/AFSCME Local 3650*
Dan La Botz, Spanish teacher, Cincinnati Waldorf School, Cincinnati, Ohio*
Robin McCubbin, professor, Southwestern College, Chula Vista, CA*
Minnie Bruce Pratt, Professor, Women’s & Gender Studies, Syracuse University*
David Sole, Prof. of Chemistry, Wayne Co. Community College, Detroit.*
Nicholas Camerota, Professor of Philosophy & Political Theory, Springfield (Mass.) Techical Community College*
Cindy Bui, Social Justice Alliance at UC Riverside*
Ana del Rocío, CCNY Students for Educational Rights, New York City*
Sarah Meunier, student, UMASS
Jessica Hollinger, student, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Katherine Johnson, doctoral student, University of San Francisco, middle school teacher
Susan Massad, Associate Professor, Framingham State College*
Eleanor J. Bader, writer and adjunct faculty member, Brooklyn*
Chuck Turner, Boston City Council*, District 7
Colia Clark, Guadeloupe-Haiti Tour USA, Grandmamas For the Release of Mumia Abu Jamal, Richard Wright Centennial 2008-2010*
Dr. Sue Harris, Co-Director, Peoples Video Network*
Imani Henry, Playwright/Performer*
The Most Rev. Filipe C, Teixeira, OFSJC, Diocese of Saint Francis of Assisi*
Billy Wharton, National Co-Chair, Socialist Party USA*
Todd Vachon, Low Society Music*
Christopher Hutchinson, General Strike Comics*
Gloria Rubac, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement*
David Harding, New Brunswick, NJ
Eric Acedo
Abayomi Azikiwe
Jane Chischilly
Jesse Lokahi Heiwa,Hawai’i Solidarity Committee, UN in New York City*
Hon. Charles Barron, New York City Councilmember *
Teresa Gutierrez, International Migrant Alliance, Deputy Secretary General, New York City*
William J. Neville IV, Billings, MT, currently serving in Iraq
Michael Shane,Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice,Detroit, MI*
Marisa, LAUSD, LA*
Cindy Sheehan
Maria C. Federico Brummer, Tucson, AZ
Dan McDowell, Massachusetts Students Uniting, UMass Boston Student Senate*
Tatiana Guerrero, Young Democratic Socialists, New Jersey*
James Tarr, Coalition for Social Reform, Lowell, MA*
Mary Lou Finley, Peace and Freedom Party, San Diego*
Tony Van Der Meer, Adjunct Prof., Africana Studies, UMass Boston*
Gina M. Sartori, Boston Teachers Union*
Chai Montgomery, unit steward, Teamsters Local 214, Ann Arbor, Michigan*
Michel DeMatteis, adjunct lecturer, philosophy, CUNY, New York, NY*
Vanessa Vaile, New Faculty Majority, Mountainair, NM*
Marvin Gentz, Ukiah, CA
Bryan G. Pfeifer, M.S., Union of Part-Time Faculty-AFT, Detroit, Michigan*
Patricia McAfee, California
Mike Alewitz, Labor Art & Mural Project, Central CT State University*
Michael Klonsky, Small Schools Workshop, Chicago*
Cindy Varela Henderson, Peace & Freedom Candidate, 26th S.D., Los Angeles
John Catalinotto, Professional Staff Congress–Bronx Community College, New York, N.Y.*
Anthony J. Nocella, II, Central New York Peace Studies Consortium, SUNY Cortland*
Yves Nibungco, Anakbayan New York/ New Jersey, Jersey City, New Jersey*
John Neal, Charlotte, NC
Tiffany Huang, NewCLA, UCLA*
Nick Theodosis, San Francisco State University, San Francisco*
Martin Rzeszotko, Hunter College*
Luis Roman, McNair Research Scholar, MEChA de UCLA, La Joteria, UCLA*
Vickie Hay, CalWORKs at Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA*
Steve Fox, Hoosier Writing Project, Indianapolis, Indiana*
Tim Hawks-Malczynski, Duarte, California
Nicolle Dunnaway, Hammond, LA
Rosa A. Eberly, Penn State U*
Denise Beck, Indianapolis, IN
Austin Jacobson, Philadelphia
William Calathes, Criminal Justice Department, New Jersey City University*
Carolina Garcia, Student Government Organization, New Jersey City University*
Kinte Allah, New Black Panther Party, Atlanta*
Edwina Smith, San Francisco
Bobbi Jo Chavarria, Chavarria for Fontana Mayor 2010, Fontana, California*
Micah Littlefield, Lafayette, IN
Carolyn Jacobson, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)*
Kyra Pearson, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA*
Leticia Garcia, Education Advocate, Fontana, California*
Lina Montes, Rialto
Dan Esposito, Manhattan Beach, CA
Laura Howard, Educational Paraprofessionals, South Carolina*
Ben Manski, AFT 6100, Sociology Instructor, Madison College, Wisconsin*
William Reid, London, Ontario
Robert Zech, South Amboy, New Jersey
Jason Belch, Raleigh, NC
Roger Marheine, President Pasadena City College Faculty Association*
Mike Hill, Associate Professor & Department Chair, English University at Albany, SUNY*
Joel Scott, Detroit Public Schools, Cass Tech High School*
Viridiana Mora, UC Riverside*
Mark Clinton, Dept. of Critical Cultural Studies, Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, Massachusetts*
Joshua Yoerger, Tyler, TX*
Kaye Peters, St. Paul, MN
Nancy Welch, United Academics AFT/AAUP, University of Vermont*
Marva Berry, Washington, D.C.
Michael Friedman, Professional Staff Congress/AFT, New York*
Marco Abe, Lincoln, NE
Tyler DeRubio, Babylon, New York
Marc Engel, New York City
Sarah Holmes, Los Angeles, CA
Madonna Lee, New York
Marc Bousquet, Higher Ed Columnist, Los Gatos, CA*
Ghazal Khan, New York
Zach Martin, Tifton, GA
Noah Rubeling-Kain, Stevenson Univeristy, Baltimore, MD
Thomas A . Robinson, TWU Local 100, Jamaica, NY*
Meera Sitharam, University of Florida*
Riad Azar, William Paterson University Young Democratic Socialists, Wayne, NJ*
Christopher Searles, New York City
Matthew Porter, Torrance, California

And previously:

* "Education Protests Add to School Problems."

* "No Cuts to Education! Collectivize!"

* "Unions, Radicals to Protest Education Cuts Across U.S."

* "Shut it Down! March 4th Mobilization - Protest, Strike, Solidarity!."

* "California March 4th Protests: 'Berkeley Pre-Game Communiqué'."

* "Teachers Unions, Anarcho-Communists Launch 'Day of Action' to 'Occupy California!"