Reality of high school
Recently the national TV news presented a story on conditions in the schools in Broward County, Florida. As a student at Northeast H.S. in Ft. Lauderdale (Broward County) I wanted to let readers know about some of the conditions at my school, which has approximately 1,600 students.

Because there are not enough teachers, several of the classrooms are closed. There are not enough chairs or books. Some of the books are so old that we have to update them by hand. For example, in a history book from 1979 we have to redraw the maps and write in the changes that happened from 1979 to 1996.

In biology class we can end up with low grades because three of us share a microscope so we don't have time to look at the slides.

Also, the lines in the cafeteria are so long we don't have time to eat. Only four of the restrooms in the school are open.

We also have a lot of cops at the school who can search our lockers without permission. There are cameras everywhere and the school wants to use the money it got for computers for more cameras and metal detectors. They now want to put cameras in the classrooms.

This week the school board announced it wanted to tie the wages of the teachers in Broward County, for the first time in Florida, to the scores on standardized tests taken by the students. The teachers union made protest signs, held a press conference, and threatened a picket. The situation is on hold for now.

Nathalia Póses

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Protest Defense of Marriage Act
The "Defense of Marriage Act" signed by President Clinton was the subject of a discussion at the Los Angeles Militant Labor Forum Oct. 25.

Craig Honts, a rail unionist, spoke for the Socialist Workers Party. Andrew Rakos spoke for the Freedom to Marry Coalition. In September, the coalition held a demonstration against the then pending law.

Rakos pointed to the denial of medical plan benefits to same- sex partners as a key issue. He said, if someone dies without leaving a will, their estate goes to a surviving spouse. Refusal to recognize same-sex partnerships denies this.

He described passage of the Defense of Marriage Act as part of the ongoing gay-bashing drive. With it, he said, a majority of both houses of Congress have declared that gays and lesbians "are not equal human beings."

Honts likened the reactionary character of the antigay law to the state statutes that barred marriages between Blacks and whites, which were not declared unconstitutional until 1967.

Honts added that these attacks are part of the drive against the social wage - the benefits and entitlements which are an essential part of the living standards of working people. Such attacks, he added, affect all working people and should be resisted by the unions.

Following the forum, I talked by phone with Heather Carrington, an activist in the Freedom to Marry Coalition.

She estimated that 250 people gathered at a busy intersection in West Hollywood September 16. They set up a speakers platform right at the street crossing and protesters began to congregate in the street. There was a heavy presence of cops but they didn't interfere. The meeting was held and traffic in the area was shut down for an hour. The coalition will work to generate opposition to these measures.

Harry Ring

Los Angeles, California

Don't deport Morrison
Matt Morrison, a former Irish POW and resident of St. Louis for the past 11 years, is one step closer to being deported. Although Morrison is married to a U.S. citizen and is the father of two American children, the Department of Justice declared him an "excludable alien" due to his involvement as a teenager with the Irish Republican movement.

On Oct. 22, 1996, the Department of Justice dismissed Morrison's appeal.

New immigration law appears to significantly narrow the possibilities. Prisoners have 30 days to show cause why they should not be deported.

What I would to ask you to consider, is faxing Clinton and Janet Reno and ask them to block Matt's deportation. The fax doesn't need to be long or eloquent. A message like "Don't Deport Matt Morrison" and your name and address would be sufficient. We are trying to get 1,000 faxes from all over the country to send on November 2 and 3.

The fax number for the White House is: 1-202-456-2461. The fax number for Reno is: 1-202-307-6777.

Matt Morrison grew up in the Brandywell area of Derry City in the 1950s. He was a student at Coleraine University in 1975 when he was arrested and charged with an attack on a member of the RUC. While being interrogated, Matt was so badly beaten that he lost the hearing in one ear. Matt served 10 years as a Republican political prisoner.

Anyone wishing to communicate with Matt can write him at: P.0. Box 3008, St. Louis, Missouri 63130.

Terry Griffith

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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