STUDENT REBELLION AT FRESNO HIGH!
By Mike Rhodes
December 3, 2003

The students say that there are “Cockroaches in the cafeteria, rats are all over the campus, and the bathrooms don’t work!” The final insult to the 500 students, who walked out of school on November 14, was when the Fresno Unified School Board authorized a $25,000 salary increase for Superintendent Santiago Wood. The students were angered and outraged that the school districts top administrator would be given and accept a salary increase when their school was falling apart. Over 500 students walked out of Fresno High school and marched downtown and to the school administration building to protest this injustice.

The size of the protest, organized in just a few days, surprised even the organizers. With such a large number of students on the march, all the police and school officials could do is watch events unfold. The student leadership of the march spoke eloquently to the press that ran to keep up with the march. Through the media, the students told the community that they did not have enough books or desks in their classrooms and they demanded Dr. Wood not accept the salary increase. Many classrooms at Fresno High are using books that are over 10 years old - written during the Reagan or first Bush presidency.

Fresno High is a multi ethnic school in the center of town, with many students from poor and working class families. Over 50% of the students that enter this school as freshman will drop out before they graduate. When students do not have books, have to sit on the floors, and fight with rats for their food, the high dropout rate is not surprising. Why do we not hear about these problems in the schools in the more affluent districts? Will the lack of available resources high and drop out rate exacerbate the wide gap between the rich and poor?

Immediately after the march the school administration started a campaign to retaliate against anyone, particularly teachers, who might have encouraged the student walk out. Teachers were threatened with disciplinary action or termination if they encouraged students to participate in the walk out. An organizer for Californians for Justice was threatened with criminal prosecution for encouraging juvenile delinquency by one of the investigators for the school district. Many students and their supporters have demanded an end to the threats, intimidation, and retaliation by the school district. They are asking why the school administration has money to investigate the teachers and their allies but not enough resources to kill the cockroaches?

The next thing that happened, after the threats and intimidation, was that the school district started finding money to buy new books and desks. Within a week these supplies started to arrive and the school administration claims that every student now has a desk. The witch hunt continued, but no witches were burned. At the school board meeting held on December 3, chairperson Richard Johanson announced that there was no evidence that school employees were involved with the workout.

The students at Fresno High were consistently ignored until they walked out and said that there would be “no business as usual” until these problems are fixed.. This action put a spotlight on the problems at the school, which has led to some improvements. The students who marched to downtown Fresno last month were standing up for their rights. They have won an enormous victory for all of the students at Fresno High and learned an invaluable lesson that would not have been found in their civic’s book (if they had one). They participated in the democratic process and exercised their First Amendment right to Free Speech as guaranteed in the Constitution. Chris Schneider, director of Central California Legal Services, said that “the students seem to understand the First Amendment of the Constitution better than some of the school board members.”

For more information about this issue contact Californians for Justice at 1922 N Echo, Fresno Ca 93704 (right across the street from Fresno High) call (559) 443-1393 or email fresno [at] caljustice.org or visit their web site at http://www.caljustice.org