RELEASE: Education not Incarceration Day of Action

Education Not Incarceration
A coalition of teachers, students, parents and concerned community members
ednotinc [at] aol.com - http://www.may8.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2003
For more information:
Alice do Valle (Spanish/English), Justice Now, 510-839-7654 ext. 4#, cell 510-499-4361
Dara Tom (English), cell 510-504-5455

Californians Will Visit Legislators, Hold Rallies to Send Clear Message to Policy-Makers:
We Want Money For Education Not Incarceration

As Prison System Overspends and Class Size Rises, California Students, Teachers, Parents and Community Members will Highlight Contradictions of State Budget Spending

WHAT: Education Not Incarceration Day of Action: Rallies & Visits to Legislators across the state
WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003 - All day
WHERE: Throughout California (list of actions follow)
WHO: Students, parents, teachers and concerned community members

CALIFORNIA - On the last day of a week of Education Not Incarceration TEACH-INS in California's classrooms, students, parents, teachers and concerned community members will be fanning out across the state on Wednesday, Nov. 19 to visit state legislators and attend rallies to demand a reduction in the number of people behind bars, saving the state millions of dollars that should be restored to education.

"It's important to send a clear, strong message to policy-makers: Our schools, students and teachers cannot endure any more cuts to education funding while our prisons continue to get more and more of our tax dollars," said Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Sheila Jordan. "We need more teachers and school nurses, not more prisoners."

Events during Education Not Incarceration's DAY OF ACTION include visits by students, parents, teachers and community members to lawmakers' district offices and the State Capitol with letters, poems, spoken-word, drawings and stories of how budget cuts have impacted their schools.

Rallies are being held at UCLA outside the UC Regents meeting; at San Francisco State University, Malcolm X Plaza; and at Frank Ogawa Plaza at Oakland City Hall at Noon presenting several speakers including Maudelle Shirek, Vice-Mayor of Berkeley and representatives from the offices of Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson.

Education Not Incarceration, the coalition of students, teachers, parents and community members that mobilized thousands to descend upon the State Capitol on May 8th, organized TEACH-INS over the week of Nov. 12 through Nov. 19 in classrooms all over the state culminating in Wednesday's statewide DAY OF ACTION.

"We are not going to be able to create a just society if we continue to prioritize prison spending over that of public education," said SF mayoral candidate Matt Gonzalez, who participated in a Teach-In at SF State University on Friday, Nov. 14, and who will speak at tomorrow's rally at SF State. "Even in San Francisco, the overtime budget for the police department is between $11 million and $13 million. The entire amount of money the city gives to public education is $8 million."

During the TEACH-INS, students received an important civics lesson: While California makes huge cuts to education, it continues to spend more money on prisons, dramatically impacting classrooms and communities across the state.

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates endorsed the week of TEACH-INS and DAY OF ACTION by declaring Nov. 12 - Nov. 19, 2003 Education Not Incarceration Week, issuing a proclamation that reads in part, "the state's budget should act as a reflection of our communities' values and priorities, but instead reinforces the state's lack of commitment to public school students with massive education-spending reductions, while increasing the rate of investments in the criminal justice system, specifically prisons."

Following recent reports that the Department of Corrections is proposing reductions of up to 15,000 prisoners over the next two years, which will save the state hundreds of millions of dollars, the prison guards union has already bitterly criticized the plan.

"Spending on Corrections has increased during our budget crisis. Shrinking the system by 15,000 prisoners is a good first step, but it is past time for the Legislature to make deeper reductions in the prisoner population," said Craig Gilmore of the Prison Moratorium Project and a member of the Education Not Incarceration coalition.

Support for the weeklong TEACH-INS and the Nov. 19th DAY OF ACTION has poured in from educators and elected officials across California, including Sen. Don Perata; San Francisco's Board of Education; San Francisco Youth Commission; the Oakland Educators Association; and the Oakland City Council.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Event: Books Not Bars/Education Not Incarceration Rally
Time: Noon
Location: San Francisco State University, Malcolm X Plaza in front of Cesar Chavez Student Center
Speakers include SF mayoral candidate Matt Gonzalez; Zumani from SF State Project Rebound; and Students from June Jordan Small School for Equity

Event: Education Not Incarceration Rally
Time: Noon
Location: Frank Ogawa Plaza, City Center, downtown Oakland
Speakers include Maudelle Shirek, Vice-Mayor of Berkeley; Judy Devrie, representative from Congresswoman Barbara Lee's office; Rodney Brooks, representative from Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson's office; Claudia Gomez, National Network for Immigrants and Refugee Rights; Dorsey Nunn, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children; and Nneka Simon, Education Not Incarceration and Critical Resistance

Event: Petition Signature Gathering
Time: 9:45 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Location: Hastings School of Law, lobby area, 198 McAllister St., San Francisco
Petitions will be delivered to the offices of Sen. John Burton and Assemblyman Mark Leno on Thursday, Nov. 20, 455 Golden Gate Ave. Burton is in suite 14800 and Leno is in suite 14300.

Event: Visit legislators at the State Capitol. For details, contact Jim Lindburg Friends Committee on Legislation at 916-443-3734 or JimL [at] fclca.org.
Time: All day
Location: State Capitol Building, Sacramento
Education Not Incarceration - page 3

Event: Film screening, "Books Not Bars," presented by Bridges multicultural resource center, and the UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: UC Berkeley, 22 Warren Hall (near Oxford Street and Berkeley Way)

Event: San Francisco Youth Commission Presentation
Time: TBA
Location: San Francisco Youth Guidance Center (Juvenile Hall)


SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Event: Rally
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: UCLA Covel Commons -- outside the UC Regents meeting (the meeting starts at 8:30 a.m.)

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