Special Supplement September 2003  Table of Contents Selected articles linked

 

For a Class-Struggle Fight Against the Racist Union-Busters! Defeat the Capitalist Onslaught Against Public Education! Teachers, Minorities, Immigrants Targeted The public school system is the focal point of an assault by key sectors of the U.S. ruling class. “Education reform” was a top issue for both Democrats and Republicans in last year’s presidential election, as it is in the New York City mayoral election this coming fall. Masked by phony pro-children rhetoric and squabbling over vouchers, there is a “bipartisan” consensus to “reinvent” public education to reflect the demands of the capitalist market. As usual, teachers are portrayed as the obstacle to high standards and improving schools. The effect of this and similar reforms around the country will be to dramatically increase the tendency to a two-tier education system, with more rigorous schools for those considered “college bound” and barracks-like “academies” for those tracked to be low-wage unskilled labor. The purpose of all the rulers’ talk of “standards” is not to improve the chances for poor inner-city children – they don’t give a damn about that – but to make the labor force more “competitive” globally with its imperialist rivals, to “Americanize” the new wave of immigrants, and ultimately to prepare the population for war.  Defeat the Capitalist Onslaught Against Public Education!  (June 2001)

Equal Language Rights for All!  Full Citizenship Rights for All Immigrants! Bilingual Education Under Racist Attack The nationwide campaign against bilingual education is escalating. Last November, two states had a reactionary referendum on the ballot outlawing programs with classroom instruction in non-English languages. They even threaten to jail teachers for using any language other than English. The attack on bilingual ed goes together with the detentions of thousands of immigrants following the 11 September 2001 WTC attack and preparations for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It is part of the hysteria against “foreigners” which accompanies imperialist war. It underscores the urgent need for the workers movement to mobilize in defense of immigrants’ rights, including demanding full citizenship rights for all immigrants, no discrimination against any language, and defnese of bilingual education against racist assault.  Bilingual Education Under Racist Attack  (January 2003)

Students: Ally with the Working Class! Smash Racist Purge of CUNY– Fight for Open Admissions, Free Tuition! In his annual “state of the city” speech last year, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani launched a campaign to exclude more than half of all incoming students from the City University of New York (CUNY). This year in his report the mayor ranted against CUNY, saying “that’s a system we would blow up.” A blatantly racist purge is being carried out in the name of “standards.” The door is to be slammed in the face of all those who fail even one of three entrance exams. Remedial courses for incoming students are to be eliminated, first from the four-year colleges and then from the two-year community colleges. Particularly targeted for exclusion are racial minorities, immigrants and women. As one student protester’s sign proclaimed at a January 4 hearing on CUNY, the aim of this purge is to introduce “educational apartheid.” Smash Racist Purge of CUNY  (February 1999)