
Voices Against Privatizing Public Education
Our main goal is to ensure equitable access to a quality public education for all. Access to a quality public education is a right and not a privilege.
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Candy Being Used To Get Kids to Religious Classes Sparks Fight With Schools
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Religious liberty advocates have threatened legal action against public school districts in Ohio over a “release time” law.- Likes: 0
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Webinar on May 1st National Day of Action – Join the Movement!
www.youtube.com/live/U3QiA_kJN8c
Streamed live on Apr 17, 2025
Trump and his billionaire profiteers are trying to create a race to the bottom—on wages, on benefits, on dignity itself. This May Day we are fighting back. We are demanding a country that puts our families over their fortunes—public schools over private profits, healthcare over hedge funds, prosperity over free market politics.
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Enough Is Enough! SFSU Students, Staff & Faculty Protest Newsom's Cuts & Rally At SF City Hall
youtu.be/lcefQeZMzb0
The continuing attacks on public education are escalating at the CSU system. Governor Gavin Newsom who is being called Blue Maga by CSU faculty, staff and students is pushing for an 8% cutback on top of other cutbacks and fee increases to students at all CSU campuses. As part of a national day of action
to defend higher education.
After rallying at San Francisco State college education workers and students rallied at San Francisco City Hall and spoke out about the frontal attack on public education, the raids and deportations and threats of the fascist government.
Additional Media:
It's Game Time! The Fight Against Destruction of SFSU & Public Education
youtu.be/sJbPOQTMPnI
SFSU Rally At Malcom X Plaza On The Fight To Defend Public Education & Fight Against Fascism
youtu.be/8TjRqSzp5y8
SF State Speak Out On National Day Of Action To Defend Higher Education
youtu.be/ypmfO4KQDns
Production of Labor Video Project
www.labormedia.net
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4/26/25 UFCLP Panel: Do We Have A Fascist Government? What Is Fascism & How To Fight It
The growth of fascism internationally and support for fascists in the United States is a critical question for the working class in the United States.
This panel will look at the question of whether we have a fascist government in the United States, what fascism is and how the working class and unions can fight fascism.
Speakers:
Carol Lang, CUNY Professor and AFT PSC Delegate
Steve Zeltzer, WorkWeek, Member NewsGuild PMWG
Sponsored by United Front Committee For A Labor Party
www.ufclp.org
April 26, 2025 6PM EST/5PM CST/3PM PST
Join Zoom Meeting
us02web.zoom.us/j/87058437395
Meeting ID: 870 5843 7395
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It's Game Time! The Fight Against Destruction of SFSU & Public Education
youtu.be/sJbPOQTMPnI
Hundreds of students, staff and faculty rallied on a national day of action for higher education on April 17, 2025. The actions started at SFSU on the campus and then the education activists went to San Francisco Civic Center.They talked about the massive proposed budget cuts by California Governor Newsom, the growing repression and the use of AI to destroy jobs to allow the destruction of faculty and staff.
Additional Media:
SFSU Rally At Malcom X Plaza On The Fight To Defend Public Education & Fight Against Fascism
youtu.be/8TjRqSzp5y8
SF State Speak Out On National Day Of Action To Defend Higher Education
youtu.be/ypmfO4KQDns
Production of Labor Video Project
www.labormedia.net
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SFSU Rally At Malcom X Plaza On The Fight To Defend Public Education & Fight Against Fascism
youtu.be/8TjRqSzp5y8
Hundreds of SFSU students and SEIU, UAW and CFA faculty and staff rallied on April 17 as part of a national day of action to defend public education. The Democratic Party governor Gavin Newsom is demanding another cutback of 8% which would mean further layoffs of faculty and staff at the same time that they are raising the fees for students. The rally took place at the Malcom X plaza and from all the unions on campus as well as students spoke out. They also reported on the need to fight to defend democratic rights and to stop the raids and terror arrests by ICE and the Trump government.
Additional Media:
SF State Speak Out On National Day Of Action To Defend Higher Education
youtu.be/ypmfO4KQDns
Production of Labor Video Project
www.labormedia.net
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Two killed, 6 injured in Florida State University shooting
www.msn.com
Police said those killed in the shooting, which occurred in the waning days of the semester, were not students.
SF State Speak Out On National Day Of Action To Defend Higher Education
youtu.be/ypmfO4KQDns
As part of a national day of action on 4/17/25 to defend higher education an educational and rallies were held in San Francisco. An educational took place at the San Francisco State Quad with speakers from the college and supporters.
Speakers also talked about the massive repression by the fascist government and the Democrats in California who are pushing cutbacks in public education.
Also speakers addressed the attack on students, staff and workers opposing the US supported genocide in Gaza and the Zionist campaign to criminalize people as anti-semitic if they criticize the Israeli genocide in Gaza and the terror and displacement of Palestinians on the West Bank.
Additional Info:
4/17/25 National Day of Action to Defend Higher Education
sites.google.com/view/forpublichighered/home?authuser=0
Production of Labor Video Project
www.labormedia.net
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Union Busting Through Privatization
Texas Is Poised to Create a $1 Billion Private School Voucher Program
The Texas House approved the plan, part of a push by President Trump’s allies to offer up to about $10,000 for private school, home-school or virtual learning.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/us/texas-trump-private-school-vouchers.html
A view of the Texas State Capitol building, flanked by trees.
The Texas voucher program is expected to reach up to 90,000 students in its first year, and to grow quickly.Credit…Desiree Rios for The New York Times
Dana Goldstein.pngJ. David Goodman.png
By Dana Goldstein and J. David Goodman
Dana Goldstein reported from New York, and J. David Goodman reported from Austin, Texas.
April 17, 2025
Updated 3:55 a.m. ET
The Texas House of Representatives voted early Thursday morning to create one of the largest taxpayer-funded school voucher programs, a hard-fought victory for private school choice activists as they turn their attention to a nationwide voucher push.
The measure still has some legislative hurdles to clear before Gov. Greg Abbott signs it into law, but the House vote — 85 to 63 — secured a win that was decades in the making, propelled by the governor’s hardball politics last year. It was also a significant defeat for Democrats, teachers’ unions and some rural conservatives who had long worried that taxpayer-funded private-school vouchers would strain public school budgets.
The program would be capped at $1 billion in its first year, but could grow quickly, potentially reaching an estimated $4.5 billion a year by 2030. The funds can be used for private school tuition and for costs associated with home-schooling, including curriculum materials and virtual learning programs.
The bill was championed by an ascendant wing of the Republican Party, closely allied with President Trump and important conservative donors, including Betsy DeVos, Mr. Trump’s wealthy former education secretary, and Jeff Yass, a billionaire financier from Pennsylvania and a Republican megadonor.
Hours before the vote, the president spoke by phone to Mr. Abbott and Republican representatives, urging them to support the measure. “It’s a really forward-thinking vote,” Mr. Trump said, his voice heard on speakerphone. “Whatever I can do, let me know.”
Those in the room cheered.
“It’s time to provide a full array of options to parents,” Representative Brad Buckley, a sponsor of the bill, said from the House floor before the vote.
Conservatives and some liberal allies, especially in urban centers, have long argued that vouchers would free parents from underperforming public schools, while competition from private schools would force public education to improve. Opponents, especially teachers’ unions, have argued just as vociferously that taxpayer-funded vouchers would drain resources from public education and leave children with the fewest resources stuck in underfunded public schools of last resort.
Representative Chris Turner, a Democrat from the Dallas area, accused supporters of seeking to resegregate education.
The measure, he said, “will harm students with disabilities. It will harm rural students.”
At the very least, some Democrats argued that what they called a “voucher scam” was a giveaway to parents who have already opted out of public education. The savings accounts would not be large enough to cover the full tuition of some private schools, but would instead offset the expenses of children already enrolled in such schools, opponents argued.
“With this bill,” said Representative James Talarico, a Democrat from the Austin area, “we’re giving money to parents who are already sending their kids to private school.”
For years, charter schools and public school choice seemed to be a compromise between Democrats and Republicans. But as the Covid-19 pandemic raised dissatisfaction with public education, conservative donors and their advocacy groups broke the stalemate in some states, advancing their vision of unrestrained parental choice, in which as many tax dollars as possible are redirected to families to spend on private education.
Before Texas, states such as Arizona, West Virginia and Iowa passed a new form of private-school voucher known as an education savings account, or ESA.
It gives money directly to parents — not to private schools — and is notable for the flexibility it grants in how the funds can be spent.
Supporters of private school choice said that because Texas was the last major Republican-led state to embrace the policy, attention would now shift to Washington. Mr. Trump and some congressional Republicans are attempting to pass a federal tax credit for private school scholarships, which could spread private school vouchers nationwide, including into Democratic-led states.
“It has been a 40-year hand-to-hand fight,” said Genevieve Collins, the Texas director for Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group that has pushed for the education savings account program. “This is genuinely transformative, not just for Texas, but for the rest of the country.”
Clay Robison, a spokesman for the Texas State Teachers Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association, said public school students could experience larger class sizes, canceled enrichment programs and more substitute teachers as public funds flow to private schools.
“All of those hurt students,” he said, pointing out that the vast majority of private schools in Texas are Christian or Catholic. “This has to do with, basically, helping perpetuate a religious viewpoint.”
Image
Greg Abbott, who is wearing a blue suit, gestures as he speaks into microphones. .webp
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has indicated he would sign the measure into law if it were passed.Credit…Eric Lee/The New York Times
The Texas Senate had already passed a similar school choice plan. Now members of the two chambers must align their proposals, after a final procedural vote in the House, expected this week.
But with support in the Texas House now confirmed by Thursday’s vote, the last real hurdle has been cleared. An amendment to put the measure to a popular referendum was voted down.
Mr. Abbott, a Republican, raised and spent millions last year in a successful effort to oust nearly a dozen Republican representatives who had opposed the measure. He exerted pressure on Republicans up until the end.
“This is an extraordinary victory,” Mr. Abbott said in a statement after the vote. “When it reaches my desk, I will swiftly sign this bill into law.”
The Texas program would provide about $10,000 to students for private school tuition, or up to $30,000 for disabled students. It would also offer up to $2,000 for home-schooling costs. If demand exceeds funding, priority for the money will go to children with disabilities and those from low-income and middle-class households who were previously enrolled in public schools. But the money could eventually become available to any child, including those already enrolled in private education.
The funding will come out of the state’s general fund.
Nationwide, more than one million American students now use public dollars for private education, double the number from 2019. The Texas program is expected to reach up to 90,000 students in its first year.
Vouchers have been a priority for Mr. Abbott for several years. But strong resistance from Democrats and some rural Republicans in the Texas House — who feared the program would undercut their local schools — prevented it from becoming law.
Last year, Mr. Abbott personally targeted many of those Republican opponents, backing primary challengers in more than a dozen races. He received help from billionaire donors from outside the state who infused those local races with millions of dollars. Mr. Yass alone gave Mr. Abbott $10 million in campaign cash last year.
Representatives for Mr. Yass declined an interview request.
No Republican member rose to speak against the measure during the floor debate, which began Wednesday afternoon and stretched nearly 11 hours, into Thursday. No Democrat voted in favor of its passage.
There has often been resistance to private school vouchers in conservative rural regions, where few private schools exist and public school districts are sometimes a county’s largest employer.
But the growth of alternative models for education has convinced some policymakers that rural students will have more options than they would have in the past. Those models include for-profit virtual schools and microschools, which are often run by a single educator working out of a home or a rented space.
The campaign for the bill focused heavily on mobilizing church communities and appealing to parents angry about liberal ideas in the curriculum, particularly around gender, sexuality and race. Mr. Abbott held numerous events at Christian schools to rally support for the measure.
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Children sitting in a classroom..webp
Democrats and rural Republicans in the Texas House worried the voucher program would undercut their local schools.Credit…Christopher Lee for The New York Times
A casualty in the fight over education savings accounts in recent years has been new funding for Texas public schools, which have not seen their budgets increase along with inflation. As part of the negotiations to win over the Texas House, lawmakers also approved nearly $8 billion in additional funding for public schools. Advocates said something closer to $20 billion was needed to get back to 2019 school funding levels in Texas.
Many Democrats and opponents of private school vouchers point out that in states where the idea has been submitted directly to voters, through ballot initiatives, it has generally failed.
But supporters say that the proof that parents want these programs is reflected in the deluge of applications for them once they are created.
Nationally, parents of children with disabilities have been especially enthusiastic about vouchers and ESAs. Private schools do not have the same legal obligations as public schools to provide disability services. But those parents often say they are seeking smaller class sizes and more personal attention.
Danielle Chavez, of Beaumont, Texas, hoped to be among them. She said she was excited about the bill because her youngest child, a 3-year-old boy, has autism spectrum disorder, and she believes he would benefit from being home-schooled.
Ms. Chavez, who works in human resources, said she could envision partnering with other busy parents through something like a church-based home-schooling cooperative.
The money for expenses would be crucial, she said, even if it did not fully cover her costs.
“That number is going to be helpful no matter what,” she said, “because it’s going to be more than zero.”
Dana Goldstein covers education and families for The Times.
J. David Goodman is the Houston bureau chief for The Times, reporting on Texas and Oklahoma.
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Texas Is Poised to Create a $1 Billion Private School Voucher Program
www.nytimes.com
The Texas House approved the plan, part of a push by President Trump’s allies to offer up to about $10,000 for private school, home-school or virtual learning.
UE Statement-Graduate Worker Unions Urge Universities to Form Mutual Defense Pact in Face of Trump Threats
x.com/ueunion/status/1912503241507586351/photo/1
ULE PRESS RELEASE
UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA (UE) Graduate Worker Unions Urge Universities to Form Mutual
Defense Pact in Face of Trump Threats
For more information, or to arrange an interview with a UE graduate worker leader, contact:
Jonathan Kissam, UE Communications Director at (802) 343 1745 or jkissam@ueunion.org Twelve UE locals, representing over 30,000 graduate workers at both private and public universities, released a statement today urging colleges and universities to form a "Mutual Academic Defense
Compact" to respond to the Trump administration's ongoing attacks on higher education. "As the Trump administration weaponizes public funds to force capitulation to his extreme, authoritarian agenda, we demand that universities and colleges band together to protect against the incessant attacks on higher education, immigrant rights, and the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals," said Greyson Arnold, a graduate worker at the University of Minnesota and leader of UE Local 1105, the University of
Minnesota Graduate Labor Union. The locals also urge colleges and universities to establish a common fund to support international
workers, who are particularly vulnerable to attacks by the Trump administration. "At a moment when the rights of non-citizen students and workers are under attack nationwide, we need our universities to band together to provide meaningful protection and support for international students and workers," said Ewa Nizalowska, a graduate worker at Cornell University and leader of UE
Local 300, Cornell Graduate Students United. The statement notes that the Trump administration's attacks are an "attempt to dismantle this country's higher education infrastructure. These attacks undermine our institutions' teaching and research
missions and threaten the safety and well-being of our members." The Universities need to remember that we and the work we do are the reasons they are getting the recognition and funding to grow as they do now," said Hwa Huang, a graduate worker at North Carolina
State University and a leader of The Workers Union at North Carolina State University/UE Local 150. "Our international colleagues are central to our communities, and we should come together to protect
one another, not subjecting one of our own to the racist violence of detainment, deportation, or worse."
The full statement can be found at ueunion.org/mutual-academic-defense-compact.
The UE locals who issued the statement represent graduate workers at the following institutions: Cornell University, Dartmouth College, John Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New Mexico State University, North Carolina State University, Northwestern University, Stanford University, University of Chicago, University of lowa, University of Minnesota, University of New Mexico,
and the University of North Carolina,
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