OccupySF Prepares for Direct Action Rally
to Restore Education, Social Services Funding

Several groups including OccupySF will combine forces March 1st for a statewide, non-violent, coordinated day of direct action with a rally outside the State building in San Francisco to demand that cuts to public education and social services are fully restored. File photo by Luke Thomas.

February 29, 2012

On March 1, 2012, San Francisco occupiers, educators, students, community members, and unions will unite for a Statewide Day of Action to demand that the California Government fully funds public education and social services for the 99%. The Statewide Day of Action will lead to a five-day “99 Mile March for Education and Social Justice” from Oakland to Sacramento, and a convergence of hundreds of people on March 5th to nonviolently occupy the State Capitol in Sacramento.

Local organizers declare that public education is a social good, and the cornerstone of a democratic society, a vibrant economy, and the social and intellectual development of every individual. Unwilling to rob Peter to pay Paul, the organizers believe that essential social services provide a crucial safety net for the most vulnerable members of society, and therefore serve as a measure of society’s moral standard. The broad-based coalition of members of the 99% demand that decision-makers in Sacramento tax the rich, pass the Millionaires Tax, pass the Oil Tax to Fund Education, and reject regressive taxes. Additionally, Occupy San Francisco is picking up the rising national call to forgive the student loan debt that threatens this country’s future.

David Solnit, from the Occupy San Francisco Direct Action Working Group, explains that, by holding a teach-in within the State Building, the 99% is educating legislators and occupying a political system that provides the 1% with tax loopholes, and allows the 1% to transfer the 99%’s money out of education, and into bank bailouts.

“The ultra-wealthy will always be able to send their children to expensive private schools, but the 99% need a strong, affordable public education system,” said Ben Hansell an occupier from Occupy San Francisco. “The 1% may not care about CalWORKS or skyrocketing community college fees, but we are standing up during the first week of March to let the politicians know that we refuse to passively watch as the crimes of Wall Street deprive the 99% of a quality education. The answer to the budget shortfall is obvious; tax the rich!”

“I’m asking people to come out and support public education on March 1st and March 5th because, as a teacher working in San Francisco public schools, I’ve had enough of furlough days, lay off notices, class size increases, and cuts to educational programs and infrastructure,” said Andy Libson a science instructor at Mission High School.

“As a student, I’m seeing the public university system being dismantled around me. Many of my fellow students are either being priced out of school or having to take on massive amounts of debt; even while working. We are paying more and more for less and less, and when we finally graduate, there are few job prospects for us,” said Terence Yancey, a philosophy major at San Francisco State University.

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What: San Francisco Nonviolent Direct Action & Teach-in followed by a Mass Rally, Music, Art, and Speakers to Fully Fund Public Education and Social Services

When: March 1, 2012 – Teach-in at 3:00 p.m.; Rally at 4:00 p.m.

Where: Teach-in at the California State Building, 455 Golden Gate Ave.; Rally at San Francisco Civic Center (Polk and Grove)

The San Francisco Day of Action is endorsed by dozens diverse groups including AFT Local 2121; California Faculty Association (SFSU); Chinese Progressive Association; CODEPINK Bay Area; SF Jobs with Justice; Bay Area Labor for Peace and Justice; La Raza Centro Legal; Occupy Bernal; Old Lesbians Organizing for Change SF Bay Area Chapter; San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO); SF Occupy Solidarity Network; SEIU Local 1021; United Educators of San Francisco; Young Workers United, Occupy CCSF, Occupy SFSU, and Occupy San Francisco.

FCJ Editor

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