LOS ANGELES—Eleanor García, Socialist Workers Party candidate in District 2 for Los Angeles Unified School District, joined six of her opponents in a candidates debate Nov 15, organized by the District 2 Neighborhood Coalition in the working-class and largely immigrant neighborhood of Westlake.

“Under capitalism, education is class-divided and the only future we can count on is one in which education will worsen, there will be more cuts and more taxes,” García said.

“For the big majority of the working class, our lives are a cycle divided into being a child, the time we ‘learn’ to be obedient to a boss; then a worker, when we produce profits for bosses; and then when we get old, we’re looked at as used-up,” García said. “Working people are taught that we are not capable of organizing anything, taught to depend on others.

“The biggest battle we face is to cast off the self-image the rulers impose on us. A lifetime of education can prepare us so we recognize our capacities and put an end to capitalism’s dog-eat-dog relations.”

—ARLENE RUBINSTEIN