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NEWS & LETTERS, April - May 2009
Black Women: 'Save Public Education!'
New York--Black women spoke out on every aspect of public education from kindergarten through graduate school, addressing battles for community control, the history of public education, the need for better quality, and what education in a socialist society might look like. Over 60 people packed the hall, drawn to "The Fight to Save Public Education: Black Women Speak Out," sponsored by Radical Women.
Dr. Norma Abdulah, who was a founder of New York City's United Federation of Teachers in 1967, told us, "At first teachers opposed the union; they saw themselves as 'professionals.' But they realized that the National Education Association (NEA) was doing nothing, and they were being treated as blue collar workers. We had 40 children in a class and no prep periods."
Panelists and participants alike called for deep rethinking--one young woman student said we need something like the French revolution today. A man from Africa and Haiti commented that social services in this country are so fragmented that people are worn down before they get what they need. "We need to restructure the container," he concluded. Dr. Abdulah affirmed, "Public schools are so important: women, free slaves and socialists fought for public education; today we fight to keep it alive . . . Socialism means the world is run to meet working-class needs and those of all excluded people, and arrives at its decisions democratically. We demand free pre-K-post-graduate education for all!"
Dr. Andrea Nicola McLaughlin, whose talk had described education as the primary battleground in African-American freedom struggles, related the founding of Medgar Evers College and Hostos College in New York's City University system to the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
Sherrie M, a college student and mother of three more, said that now that the president of CUNY received a raise, he is cutting back and raising tuition. "The cuts will ricochet to our children and grandchildren. How do we organize students? There are no politicians on our side." Dr. Abdulah called for us to "Organize--labor can and must play an important role. Today's economic crisis presents greater challenges... We need to stop the cutbacks and we need full education programs, not just enough to pass tests. We need a united front: what would it take to bring together teachers and paraprofessionals, school staff and parents, and students and teachers? We need to demand no layoffs and no tuition hikes and demand that our union be more radical. Don't let students and teachers pay for the crisis created by bankers and bosses; bring all of humanity one step closer to socialism."
I agree that we need to bring together parents, teachers, paraprofessionals and students, but I think we also need to clarify the principles underlying this kind of unity, or we will not be able to achieve it. Ultimately, what would education itself, in a truly human society, look like? How can we identify quality teaching and learning? What working and learning conditions make that possible?
--Susan Van Gelder
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