Around the U.S today, public sector workers find themselves under constant scrutiny from the rest of the country. While CEOs get away with bail outs funded by the government; while millionaires are receiving tax breaks; and corporations are getting away with paying no taxes at all, it’s ironic that the public chooses to attack the rights of the working class—those whose only real demands have ever been fair wages and sustainable benefits for themselves and their families.
With education reform becoming a key issue of debate in the past few months, public school teachers, especially, have felt the blow of an increasingly unsupportive audience. In key states, legislators continually cut funding and put education on the back burner of what they believe to be more immediate policy priorities. We see it repeatedly – the attack on workers is committed in the same mean spirit that inspires the attack on minority and immigrant communities too. Migrant teachers from other countries that answer the call to serve in some of the most disenfranchised communities are stuck in legal limbo as they seek a path to legalization, only to end up with thousands of dollars in visa processing fees and no feasible way to stay in the country. The question now becomes, how do we support these educators in their struggle for a better school system and in essence, a better life of opportunity for themselves and the communities they serve?
The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) stands with our community’s educators this July 30 at the Save Our Schools March and Rally. It is time to stand behind them as they fight to have their voices heard in the education reform debate and it is time to put the power of reform back in the hands of the stakeholders that matter the most– teachers, students, and parents. Please join APALA-DC as we lend our voices in appreciation and solidarity to these individuals. For more information go to: http://www.saveourschoolsmarch.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment