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Blueprints for our Future: Transforming Education Conference

Event date and time: 
Saturday, April 15, 2017 - 9:30am to 6:00pm
Location: 
Dwinelle Hall 155
Event description: 

Our local has joined the UAW 2865, OEA, and Classroom Struggle in endorsing this education conference.  See below for a description from the conference website.  

"A strong public education system is the foundation of every just and
democratic society. Yet for most working families—especially those from
black and brown communities— the right to free, high-quality education
seems further than ever: early childhood education is inaccessible to
children whose parents can’t afford it; k-12 schools are starved of
resources while the imposition of high-stakes tests penalizes low-
income districts and the explosion of charters exacerbates segregation
and inequality; college and graduate students are drowning in debt as
tuition at the UC and CSU systems continues to rise; black and brown
students are terrorized by police violence, constant raids, and ongoing
deportations; LGBTQI students are brutally bullied for their sexual and
gender identity; and most students today are delivered an education
that does not embrace their histories and experiences and does not
educate them for liberation.

9:30AM – 6:00PM
UC Berkeley, 155 Dwinelle

Moreover, education workers are under attack, as universities insist on
replacing tenure and tenure-track positions with precarious, contingent
jobs and the prospect of right-to- work legislation threatens to weaken
teachers’ unions, thereby undermining their working conditions and
ability to advocate for themselves and the needs of their students. Now
billionaire and privatization lobbyist Betsy DeVos begins her tenure as
Secretary of Education, and she is planning to escalate the oppression
and corporatization of the current education system.

For us, it’s time to propose another path: if we tax corporations and
billionaires in our state, and if we get students and teachers to
democratically run our schools, we can build the kind of education
system we need. In order to get these things, we need to build a
movement that takes mass action for our education, and we need to
organize democratically and independently from the Republican and the
Democratic Party, so we rely in our power and we have the final say of
what needs to be done.

To this end, we call on all California students, parents, and education
workers to join us in building a collective vision and strategy for
transforming public education. We need a system that guarantees free,
high-quality education from pre- school to doctoral degrees as a
universal right; provides just working conditions for all teachers and
education employees; and centers the needs of our most vulnerable and
marginalized students while openly combating racism, islamophobia,
sexism, homophobia and all forms of oppression.

It’s time to go on the offensive! Our education labor unions and
students have a key role to play and we need to unite across sectors
and build power through independent and grassroots action! We want to
propose to all education workers and students to join in the May 1st
General Strike, to support immigrant rights and workers, to defeat
“right-to- work” legislation and to demand the education we need!

At the Conference we will:

• Discuss the multiple factors that have led to the current 
crisis at all levels of public education.

• Hold teach-ins and workshops on how to build collective power 
in our education workers’ unions and schools.

• Discuss strategies for taking action (including May 1st), in 
particular labor action, to fight privatization and create an education 
system that gives all people a future worth fighting for!

WORKSHOP PROPOSALS

WE ARE ACCEPTING WORKSHOP PROPOSALS UNTIL APRIL 1: we encourage
facilitators to submit workshop proposals on specific aspects of the
education crisis, educational activism, and/or visions for the future
of public education.

To submit a workshop proposal, please indicate your interest in the
form below, and follow up by emailing your proposal to
ever.upward.march@gmail.com with the subject header [Your Last Name]
Conference Proposal!

Your proposal should be for a workshop of about one hour, and include:

• Facilitator(s) name(s)

• Title of Workshop

• A short blurb about the workshop main idea (2-3 sentences)

• A quick outline of your workshop (4-5 sentences)

Please use the survey to RSVP and submit your workshop proposals! While
the workshops are open to all

who’d like to facilitate, we especially encourage high school students,
university students, teachers and education workers, university
instructors, and parents to apply. People of color, women and queers,
differently abled folks, immigrants, and the working class to the
front!

SURVEY:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdW2Ybo3L7U5dFCsqACesX7Qtwm5sVgDU2rdhpkqkQlvfgwsg/viewform