NEW YORK CITY—On January 26, around 2,000 teachers, students and parents attended a rally called by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and then entered a mass hearing of the Panel for Education Policy (PEP) at Brooklyn Tech High School. The overwhelming majority, if not the entirety of those that attended were there to speak out against mayor Bloomberg’s proposal to close 19 public schools, which would be voted on by the PEP at the end of the hearing.

The meeting lasted over 9 hours, not ending until after 3am the next morning. It opened with Bloomberg’s Schools Chancellor, Joel Klein speaking for several minutes almost inaudibly over the roars of shouts, boos and chants (PEP hearing footage on Facebook). Throughout the course of the night speaker after speaker from the audience called for a vote against the proposed closing. Many pointed out that the closing schools do not even meet the Department of Education’s (DoE) own convoluted criteria for “failing” schools. Almost all of them, however, are large schools that serve predominantly Black, Latino and working-class neighborhoods.

Some called the hearings a sham accusing the PEP of being a rubber-stamp for Bloomberg. In fact, two speakers performed a brief show with sock puppets mocking the PEP, which was met with thunderous applause. Despite the determined efforts of over 300 speakers pleading their case, the decision to close these schools had already been made. Eight of the 13-member panel are appointed by Bloomberg, the other 5 by the borough presidents. The proposal to close all 19 schools was approved in each case by a vote of 9-4, with all 8 of Bloomberg’s appointee’s voting in favor along with the representative from Staten Island, where no schools are being closed.

Since 2002 Bloomberg has closed 91 public schools to make room for privately-run charter schools or break up big schools and replace them with smaller ones. But up until now the school closures had not sparked off such angry opposition. In the lead up to the PEP hearing, there were lively hearings at each of schools proposed to be closed, where hundred of teachers, students and parents came out in protest. These protests culminated on the 26th at the PEP hearing where mass opposition to Bloomberg’s education policies was unequivocally expressed. Juan Gonzalez of the Daily News wrote that “mayor Bloomberg has ignited a firestorm among parents and teachers.” (1/27/10)

The whole hearings process has revealed, on the one hand, the completely undemocratic, top-down nature of mayoral control despite this recent addition of more “input” from parents, student and teachers, and on the other hand, a growing anger and desire to actively fight back on the part of ordinary working people and youth. The vote will bring frustration and disappointment, but there is also real potential to build a wider fightback if the fight to defend public education is linked to the other attacks on public services.

Bloomberg has since threatened massive layoffs if the teachers don’t accept concessions on wage increases and even bigger layoffs if Paterson’s austerity budget proposal for the state passes. These attacks can only further galvanize growing opposition to Bloomberg. January 26 was just the first battle in a much bigger fight.

The NYC branch of Socialist Alternative has energetically supported the struggle to stop the school closings and is active in the Grassroots Education Movement which is playing an important role in building these struggles. We are currently organizing for a demonstration on March 4 as part of the National Day of Action to Defend Public Education. Our members in the UFT are running for executive positions in the upcoming elections as part of an opposition slate which advocates mobilizing the rank and file to fight back against Bloomberg’s attacks on the union and the drive to privatize public education. On January 26 we distributed hundreds of copies of the fifth issue of our local newsletter, New York City Socialist, reproduced below.

from New York City Socialist, Issue # 5, January 2010

January 26 is only the beginning of the fight
Stop ALL School Closings!

During the past month New York City has witnessed the beginning of a real grassroots movement involving teachers, parents and students pushing back against Bloomberg/Klein’s threat to close 20 public schools. Vigorous protests have been held outside many of the affected schools and crowds of up 900 have attended public hearings with the overwhelming majority opposing the closings.

The planned protest outside the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) meeting at Brooklyn Technical High School on January 26 will bring matters to a head. This body which is completely unaccountable to ordinary people (8 of its 13 members are directly appointed by Bloomberg) will be asked to decide the fate of these schools. The demand coming from thousands of protesters inside and outside the hearing must be loud and clear: stop this farce now! Not a single school should be closed until the school system as a whole is brought under transparent, democratic control.

Inevitably the PEP will rubber-stamp Bloomberg’s plans although it is possible they will concede not closing a couple of the schools. Even this would represent a partial victory for the movement. But it is critical that January 26 is seen not as the end of the movement but as the beginning of spreading it further. As long as the schools slated for closure are open resistance must continue. And if the movement gains steam, more closings will be stopped.

Privatizing public education
For many people, the threat to close these 20 schools, has led them to draw wider conclusions about Bloomberg/Klein-style “education reform” which we have lived through for eight years. As the media has slowly begun to expose, there has been no significant improvement overall in student performance during this period although as anyone familiar with the schools knows there has certainly been plenty of chaos.

But having failed to improve the existing schools, Bloomberg/Klein have now made it clear that their answer is to privatize as much of the system as possible, first and foremost by opening ever more charter schools which are privately run but receive public money. This is being sold to working class parents as their children’s ticket to a brighter future. But does anyone really believe that billionaire Bloomberg or his hedge-fund manager buddies who have “adopted” many of the charter schools as their latest trendy acquisition really have the interests of students from poor and working class neighborhoods at heart?

The truth is that, under capitalism, the future for young people from these areas is very bleak. The present crisis of capitalism has brought mass structural unemployment which is here to stay. Those lucky enough to have a job will continue to see their wages and working conditions under attack. The situation will of course be worse in black, Latino and immigrant communities. The main purpose of the education system from the point of view of the bosses and corporate politicians is to instill obedience in the future workforce or non-workforce. High stakes testing and highly regimented charter schools fit perfectly with this agenda.

The attack on the teachers’ unions
Of course, high stakes testing, merit pay and charter schools are being promoted not just by Bloomberg/Klein but with increasing determination by the Obama administration. One of the central goals of this corporate agenda on a national level is to drastically reduce the power of the teachers’ unions.

For example, if Bloomberg gets his way principals would be able to ignore seniority when laying off or “excessing” teachers. If more schools are closed this will only increase the pool of “excessed” teachers Bloomberg is looking to put on the chopping block.

The response of the union nationally and locally has been weak to say the least. Outrageously, AFT president Weingarten’s most recent policy speech focused on how to streamline firing “incompetent” teachers. Not a word about firing incompetent anti-education administrators like Klein. In reality the union’s total dependence on its relationship with the Democratic Party leaves it without any strategy but to keep capitulating and hoping for “fair treatment”.

We should welcome that the UFT leadership has called for a major mobilization on the 26th and has taken a more critical line towards charter schools. This is partly the result of pressure from the ranks including the work of the recently formed Grassroots Education Movement. However, no strategy to mobilize the union beyond the 26th has been put forward by the leadership. This is in the context of the teachers’ contract having expired three months ago. Without mobilizing the membership around real contract demands and keeping everyone in the dark about the negotiations the union has now declared an “impasse”. Turning over the teachers’ fate to an allegedly “neutral” third party while doing nothing to mobilize the membership is a dangerous road.

Broader attack
The school closings come on top of a series of cuts to public education, most recently another 1% of mid-year cut this month. Furthermore, over half a million students face losing their free MetroCards due to the crisis in the MTA, whose new austerity budget makes massive cuts in services including completely shutting two train lines and 21 bus routes as well as laying off 700 transit workers.

In higher education, CUNY and SUNY has been hit by three consecutive semesters of cuts alongside a tuition hike last fall. Higher tuition and transit fares while cutting services means simply we’re paying more for less. None of the underlying problems of fiscal crisis of city or state have been solved so there will inevitably be even more cuts. This is part of a broader attack on public services and the workers who provide them as the corporate establishment aim to solve this crisis on the backs of ordinary working people and youth but we must say, “No! This is not our crisis and we won’t pay!”

The rallies at schools slated to be closed along with other developments such as the newly-elected reform leaderships in the Transit Workers Union local 100 and Teamsters Local 804 representing UPS workers show that working people are increasingly looking to defend their interests.

The movement against school closings should become the beginning of a broader fightback against the attacks on the public sector. There needs to be a full mobilization of the unions and working class communities on the streets. In doing this we will inevitably come up against the opposition of the bulk of the political establishment, both Democratic and Republican. It is after all a Democratic governor and legislature that have been implementing these cuts, not just a Republican mayor. As this struggle develops, both here and around the country, other questions will be posed including the need for independent candidates representing the interests of working people to run for higher office.

• Fix public schools don’t close them; restore all cut funds
  
• End mayoral control of the schools; disband the PEP
  
• A moratorium on further charter schools
  
• Roll back tuition increases at SUNY and CUNY
  
• End the cuts to transportation and other public services; tax the rich to pay for what this city needs
  
• For a mass mobilization of NYC unions, parents, students and the wider working class communities to make it clear we have had enough