Minnesotans Mobilizing to Defend Public Education on October 7th

This Thursday, advocates of public education in Minnesota are putting on events including a free concert in Loring Park, rallies, marches, teach-ins at the U of M and MCTC, and a student strike and dance party at MSU Mankato.  These are part of the October 7^th National Day of Actions in Defense of Public Education.  This day was called as a continuation of the struggles in California -- including rallies, strikes, and occupations on campuses -- that spread nationwide on March 4^th of this year.

A group coordinating the October 7th activities in Minnesota, Education Action Coalition MN, gives some explanation for their motivations on their website: “public education is facing a dire crisis.  Budget cuts and privatization schemes together represent an unprecedented assault on public education.  Here in Minnesota, the achievement gap between white K-12 students and minority students is among the worst in the nation. At the University of Minnesota, over-paid administrators are forcing the burden of budget cuts -- $47 million proposed by Governor Pawlenty this year -- onto the backs of students and workers.  The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system leadership received bonuses when they laid off faculty and increased class sizes.”

Related: Twin Cities Ethnic Studies Week Events | Ethnic Studies Week featured on KFAI's Catalyst: Politics and Culture

Actions on October 7^th in or near the Twin Cities include:

- noon to 1:30pm  - a Rally and March at the University of Minnesota, (East Bank campus, at the Northrop Plaza) – speakers on many issues facing U of M students, workers, and faculty, with the demands: “no tuition and fee hikes, no layoffs to instructional and support staff, shared power in governance.”  Organized by the Chop from the Top Coalition.

- 2:00-4:00pm - a Disorientation Guide to the U of M’s History, (in Coffman Union, room 324) – speakers on the 1969 occupation of Morrill Hall that led to the creation of the Black Studies department, struggles for equal access including the fight to save General College, the AFSCME union's struggles for a more democratic and equitable U, and more – with free food, followed by discussion about how to create a better U of M.

- 5:00-6:00pm - Rally and March at MCTC plaza – speakers on issues facing students and teachers at MCTC and the MSCU system.

- 6:00-9:00pm - Free Concert to Defend Public Education -- in Loring Park -- featuring: Guante, Usual Suspects, Fresh Squeeze, Junkyard Empire, Poetic Assassins, surprise guests, speakers, free food, info tables, and more.  Organized by the Public Education Justice Alliance MN (PEJAM).

- all day – Student Strike (and Dance Party) to Defend Public Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato (at Wigley Administration Building between Morris and the Student Union)

These actions are also connected with Ethnic Studies Week, October 1-7, which is described by its organizers as “a nationally coordinated week of actions to defend ethnic studies and academic freedom.  It was inspired by opposition to the May 11 passage of HB 2281 in Arizona banning ethnic studies in the AZ public schools and the May 21 passage of new social studies standards by the influential Texas State Board of Education.”  In order to defend the right to teach and learn ethnic studies and “the diverse stories that make up the U.S. experience,” the organizers, including many in the Twin Cities, will be facilitating events in which, “in hundreds of individual classrooms, K-12 and college, students will be listening to speakers, watching films and pausing to reflect on the importance of ethnic studies.”