On Thursday March 4th, students, faculty, staff and parents on campuses throughout Connecticut and the nation rallied as part of the National Day of Action to Defend Education.  Wesley Strong, a graduate student at UCONN, is one of the national organizers for the Defend Education campaign.  In the first half of this split interview, conducted before the March 4^th actions, he outlines the state of the modern education system today (K – post graduate university), and from what forces that system needs defending.

How did you become involved with organizing for March 4th?

I have been an organizer for Connecticut Students Against the War. CTSAW was invited to participate in the initial calls to assemble a nationally organized call for March 4th as a day of action to defend education.

Describe from your perspective the state of the education system as you see it.  How has this changed during your time as a student?  How do your answers change when looking at things from a national scope vs. a local one?

The education system here in CT has yet to feel the full brunt of the crisis. While California faced a 32% tuition hike last semester and while other states face hikes far larger, CT faces an average of around 6%. This is by no means an indicator that we are avoiding the crisis. Rumors coming out of UConn are suggesting they will reach for a 20% hike next year. This compounds years of consecutive tuition hikes, resulting in a cumulative hike of 50% from 2003 to 2011 (based on next years approved hikes) in the CT state University system. K-12 schools across the country are facing similar attacks. While many in CT are aware of the state of schools in Hartford, they are not aware that these schools are in this state because of a collective desire from business and government to push for privatization as a solution. To achieve this, they provided tax breaks to the rich over the past 30 years, continually cut funding for education and other social service programs, privatized schools altogether (an achievement that Education Secretary Arne Duncan is known for achieving during his stay as the Chicago CEO of schools), attacked teachers’ unions with reforms in attempts to force them into competition with each other (merit pay) in order to create a wedge to dismantle unions altogether – which are a strong barrier in the path towards privatization. In the K-12 system, government and business succeeded so well in dismantling and under funding the public system, that some private schools appear to function better, even though that is achieved mostly by skimming the smartest students from the public system. We are not seeing any significant signs of change either as Obama and Duncan push the “Race to the Top” program offering grant based aid only to schools [that] make privatization reforms. While CT may be quiet right now in comparison with other states in the US, I would expect the outrage to grow as the public education system begins to be dismantled through financial means.

Can you expand on how education is under attack and on who is attacking it?

Education is under attack from the same social forces that have redesigned our social system since Regan. Regan began a process of redesigning the economy, promoting privatization, giving business more access and mobility, dismantling the social support systems, and outright attacks on workers and unions. The purpose is to increase the amount of profit the private sector makes. This is colloquially known as “free trade” or globalization that workers across the world have been fighting back against since the 1980s. The current crisis has opened the door for privatization in education, decreasing the state’s responsibility to provide equal and accessible education, and redesigning the system to best fit the needs of the private sector (education in biotechnology, finance, etc. but not in liberal arts). This process is happening right now as charter (private) schools are promoted as the solution to the troubles in public education. The truth is that the success of private charter schools is because of massive reductions in funding for public ed along with charter schools skimming the talent from the public system. As education becomes more and more privatized, we have less and less democratic control over it. This push towards privatization is an attack democracy and will forever change the face of education if we do not stand up and fight back against it now.

What do you see as the objective of March 4th?  What are the larger goals, beyond the demos themselves?  How will these actions serve to impact the state of the education system as it currently exists?

March 4th will culminate a national student and worker movement to fight for education rights and could be a starting point for people to come together around economic issues. It has the possibility to unite students and workers, and bring the energy and direction of students into longer term struggles. I can predict with almost complete certainty that there will be a national education rights conference sometime this summer, given the amount of developments w have seen on the ground and the expected desire from students and workers to codify these actions with greater collaborations.  Different states have different issues and I…expect that these actions will begin to show the power elite the power that we can hold on a grassroots level. I would expect small changes to occur, but without a radical shift in macro-level economic policy, more significant changes are suspect. Free market capitalism has driven many of these changes and can be connected to almost all of the problems that people are addressing on the 4th. I am currently exploring this point further in a pamphlet set t be released soon called Neoliberalism and Education which will be posted on the national website <defendeducation.org>

Sadly, struggles for educational rights are not new.  Where do you seek inspiration that can aid you in the current struggle?  Are there any groups, individuals or historic moments that resonate deeply with you in your work today?  What lessons do you take from these peoples/struggles, and how does this inform your present work?

Berkeley in the 1960′s, California last semester, labor struggles of the 30′s and 40′s. Plant occupations in France. Plant occupations here in the states during Vietnam. There are endless numbers of actions and historical events from which to draw inspiration. It is best informed by labor movement struggles, as schools are also points of production – cultural and intellectual production.

As a grad student now, how has your perspective of student activism changed since your days as an undergrad?

My perspective has changed to focus more on longer term movements and issues. The education rights struggle is deeply tied to 30 years of outright attacks on unions and workers, many in the same push towards greater privatization designed to increase “financial efficiency” (increase profit, decrease overhead costs – mostly by combating and eliminating contracts that protect worker’s rights).

In the second part of this interview, conducted two weeks later, Wes discusses the successes of the March 4^th actions, the future of the movement to defend education, and issues an urgent call to students, faculty, and parents to get involved.

What event did you take part in on March 4th and how did that event go?

I spoke at a gathering of about 10 students at Southern CT State University and at a gather of students at Middlesex Community College. Both went fairly well and represent some significant opportunities to organize a fight back. SCSU is currently one of the major points of organizing in the state.

What other events happened in CT and what were they like?  What were events like nationally?

There were a few other actions in CT. Graduate Employee Student Organization @ Yale held an event with decent turnout, UCONN students had good turnout for their event as well. Nationally, there were major demonstrations throughout California, NYC, and several other locations.

Describe for us your analysis and impressions of the March 4th day of action.  How was it a success?   What tangible victories have come out of M4 organizing work thus far?

The best victories are local victories. We have begun a struggle here in CT, and in each local area, the struggle is growing. Building this power is absolutely crucial to future victories and will build a stronger movement based in grassroots organizing.  March 4^th…represents a serious kickoff of longer term work in many areas throughout the country. In this sense it was a success. National organizing is weak at best in the aftermath as the focus is still on building local power. It is clear that those who organized around March 4th do not represent the growing movement by any means, but we have shown that national organizing can happen and is very successful around this issue.

Now that M4 has passed, where does the movement go from here? Locally?  Nationally?

The focus of most of the energy is still in local organizing. A few people who built for the 4th will host a workshop at the US Social Forum, but it is clear that this does not represent everyone that organized for the 4th or everyone that is building around this issue. National organizing is very weak at this point, with little grassroots involvement since local campaigns are in beginning stages in many places throughout the country.Here in CT, we are focusing on supporting local organizing that is already happening. This includes support of K-12 organizing, support of the campaigns at UCONN and SCSU, and hopefully to expand the fight onto the campuses of CCSU, ECSU and WCSU. All of this is being done in a realistic scope, something that some organizers lacked going into the organizing.

If you could say something to students, parents, and faculty that would convince them to join the struggle to defend education in CT, what would you say to them?

Now, more than ever is the time to stand up and fight back. If we sit by, we will only lose more and more. Parents, teachers, and students at K-12 systems throughout the state have already begun this struggle. Students in higher education are soon to follow. Here in Connecticut, the state is on the full offensive attacking our public education system in order to qualify for a portion of the 4.3 billion dollars in grant based education funding allotted under the Obama bailout. If we don’t fight back against a system and a government pushing to privatize everything, we will loose the few democratic controls we have left.  Folks should check out ct.defendeducation.org to get involved with CT work, which is behind many other states, but coming together and expected to grow when we face the conditions expected next year.