Schools, Classes, and Teachers Are on the Chopping Block. Fight Back Against FCMAT

Schools, Classes, and Teachers Are on the Chopping Block. Fight Back Against State-Imposed Austerity and Privatization! Join us Friday, April 29 in Oakland and Sunday, May 1 in SF.

The corporations and politicians that run this country don’t give a damn about educating working- class kids except to train them for low-paying jobs or as soldiers. --- City College SF is laying off 50+ full-time and even more part-time faculty. This destructive action will cut numerous classes that students need and demand, such as fully-enrolled biology and chemistry classes. Hundreds of classes were cut in recent years. --- Oakland is closing, merging, or downsizing 11 K-12 schools in Black and Latinx neighborhoods. --- All over California, FCMAT (Fiscal Crisis Management Team) and the ACCJC accrediting commission are advising the State Board of Education to take over districts that don’t make deep cuts, despite the State’s massive surplus. --- Schools, education programs, and facilities are being privatized or given away, and funds for public education are used for charter schools and to enrich private businesses. At the same time, the top-level school administrators are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to cannibalize education.

It’s time to fight back! It’s starting already. Students, parents, and teachers in Oakland have demonstrated, occupied schools, co-operated in strikes, and even shut down School Board meetings where the Board intended to pass school closings.. Now they are teaming up with community members and ILWU longshore workers who are fighting against turning the Howard Marine Terminal into an Oakland A’s stadium and luxury housing. The new group is SLAP, Students and Labor Against Privatization.

Friday, April 29 will be a day of a Port shut-down and a teacher’s strike or sickout. Come to the SLAP (Students and Labor Against Privatization) rally, 2-4 PM that day at Grant Plaza in Oakland (12th St. BART station).

Sunday, May 1st, the international workers day of mobilization, will have a teachers’ and students’ rally at 9:30 AM, at Harry Bridges Plaza. The rally will be against education cuts, closings, privatization, and State-imposed austerity. Then join us on the Bay Area Labor Councils’ May Day march from Embarcadero starting at 10:30 AM.

City College of SF HEAT Demands
1. No class cuts—offer more classes
2. No layoffs
3. Printed class schedule mailed out to SF residents and widely distributed in popular venues
4. Fix the online registration system
5. A COVID-safe campus—free masks, regular testing, proper ventilation, vaccine requirement, tracing, support for those who catch the virus
6. Use the huge state surplus to provide a much higher level of funding for public education

HEAT (Higher Education Action Team)
SFCityCollegeHEAT(at)gmail.com
https://www.ccsfheat.org/
We meet most Fridays at 3 PM, call 415-215-7575 for Zoom info.