Vol. 75/No. 17      May 2, 2011

Tamarac, Florida
Hundreds of teachers and other union members rallied here April 14 outside the Broward Teachers Union hall. They lined the street during rush-hour traffic to protest attacks on wages, benefits, and working conditions by the Broward County School Board and the state government.

Teachers said they have not received raises for at least two years. At the same time their health insurance rates are skyrocketing. Hector Varas, a middle school teacher and member of the union executive board, pointed to a “merit pay” law signed last month by Gov. Richard Scott. “It will tie our pay to student performance. How will that be judged?” he asked. At the same time the school board is discussing cutting programs such as music and art.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Miami-Dade County, the school board voted to cut 200 facilities department jobs, and impose a 20 percent pay cut on hundreds of maintenance workers.

—Naomi Craine

Long Beach, California
More than 1,000 students rallied here April 13, a day of statewide protests throughout the 23-campus California State University system. These schools lost $500 million in funding this spring. Last fall, tuition rose by 15 percent.

“I’m speaking for a significant number of us who are denied financial aid because we are immigrants,” Sabrina Jeon told the Militant. “At $3,000 a semester, it’s ridiculous.”

“The cuts turn a state school for the working class, for Blacks, and for the poor, into a business,” said Carina Galustian, a sociology and women’s studies professor who participated in the rally.

At San Francisco State University, several hundred participated in a teach-in, picketed on campus, and marched to the administration building. A few hundred also participated in a noon rally at California State University Dominquez Hills

Still deeper cuts are scheduled for the fall semester.

—Arlene Rubinstein

Des Moines, Iowa
Three hundred people rallied at the state capitol here April 13 to protest Gov. Terry Branstad’s budget proposal for a zero percent increase in education funding. The rally was called by the Iowa State Education Association (ISEA), which represents teachers in the state. The crowd was mainly teachers, with a few students and parents attending.

The ISEA demands were “Say no to larger class sizes!” “Say no to more pink slips!” and “Say no to cuts in music, art, language, and PE programs!” Some held signs saying, “End the war on local schools.”

Sean Brenhurst, a junior at Hoover High in Des Moines and a member of the group Students Beyond War, told the Militant, “I am here to protest the war and help get a better school budget. This really is not about money, it’s about priorities.”

—Helen Meyers

Hamilton, New Zealand
Some 200 people marched here April 9 to demand the government reverse funding cuts to early childhood education. Since February, the government has cut NZ$285 million (US$226 million) by paying for only 80 percent of staff to be fully qualified. Early childhood education took one of the biggest hits in the 2010 budget, with cuts affecting more than 2,000 services and 93,000 children.

The march was organized by the World Organization for Early Childhood Education, with support from the New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa, the union organizing early childhood teachers.

Many participants were early childhood teachers. Diane Roach, who teaches at the Park Early Childhood Education Centre of the Waikato Kindergarten Association, explained, “The center has a huge deficit now and it has had to increase fees and look at ways of getting fees from parents. Now even if a child is there for only one hour they have to pay for the full day.”

—Annalucia Vermunt