[A poster for a planned “National Day of Action,” courtesy of the NEA.]
Dozens of desks bunched together in a public square to symbolize overcrowded classrooms. Protestors wearing suits covered with fake money to represent for-profit education companies. A “zombie march” to illustrate the effect of replacing teachers with computers.
Those are a few of the ideas that the country’s education unions are suggesting for a “National Day of Action” on Dec. 9.
The proposed rallies and marches are meant to push back against “corporate interests” who have tried “to dismantle public education and create a new, market-based system of schooling,” according to the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers and other national unions and advocate groups that are coordinating the actions.
Instead, the groups hope to highlight community-oriented (and labor-backed) reforms such as schools that also provide social services, expanded early-childhood programs and fewer decisions based on test results.
So far, no events appear scheduled in the city. But, the organizers say, the Dec. 9 actions are envisioned as just the start of a longer campaign around these issues.