Education for All May 9, Sacramento

May 6, 2008 MEDIA ADVISORY
TEACHER CARAVAN FROM SAN DIEGO, LOS ANGELES, SAN FRANCISCO TO SACRAMENTO: STOP THE BUDGET CUTS!

Teachers, Students, and Parents will be available for interviews
Spanish speakers available
On Thursday, May 8, 2008, members of the Association of Raza Educators (A.R.E.) will lead a protest caravan to Sacramento, California. Teachers will meet in Chicano Park (San Diego, CA) at 3:30pm and the caravan will leave at 4:00pm. Teachers in Los Angeles will also meet at the Governor's office in Downtown LA at 5:00pm. Other caravans will leave Oxnard, the three caravans will then converge in downtown San Francisco where they will unite with Bay Area teachers for a press conference that begins at 10:30am, on Friday May 9th. The caravans, part of a statewide effort, will continue to Sacramento, where there will be a massive teacher rally on the grounds of the State Capitol Building at 3:00 pm.

The purpose of the A.R.E. Caravan will be to express to all government and public school officials our indignation and opposition to the current massive cut backs facing the public schools. Through the caravan, A.R.E. hopes to inform our communities that Mexican-Latino educators are united in their opposition to the cutbacks in both school funding and the elimination of courses that truly work towards educating children. We also intend to expose the hypocrisy of government officials who publicly 'desire' to improve test scores yet vote to deny the funding necessary to provide a quality education for all students.

Above all, the proposed cutbacks will more dramatically impact and deny children of poor and working class communities their right to a quality education. It is no secret that the cut backs will specifically hurt Mexican-Latino and African American children who historically have been neglected by racist policies and government officials. It's a shame that the government can cut funding for education, yet increase spending on the state prison system.

A.R.E. will not stand idly by, while our children's future is being destroyed. The caravan will be just one of many acts of resistance on our part to the on-going attacks on public education and the teaching profession.


Please Contact Eduardo Enrique Ochoa via
e-mail kikiochoa@sbcglobal.net or by phone
(619) 252-7891 for more information regarding the
San Diego Press Conference

Please Contact Miguel Zavala via
e-mail mzavala@ucla.edu or by phone
(626) 617-0401

also: on May 9. Focus group on the California History Social Science Framework. 3 PM. State Dept. of Education.
See prior post.