Published 11 May, 2011
Anti-worker governors from Wisconsin and Pennsylvania who were attending a right-wing conference on privatizing education in Washington, DC on May 9 were met by hundreds of protestors who oppose drastic budget cuts and plans to decimate public education.
Chanting “Save Our Schools” and “Say No To Vouchers,” students and teachers from Pennsylvania traveled to the nation’s capital and joined fellow community activists and union members in a rally outside of the downtown DC hotel where Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett were speaking. The conference was sponsored by the mis-named American Federation for Children, actually a conservative organization funded by right-wing billionaires like the Koch Brothers to advance the attacks on the middle-class.
The lively crowd chanted, marched and heard speeches from teachers, parents and students, including fourth grader Noah Williams-Morrill from Wyomissing, PA who said he doesn’t want to see the school programs he enjoys cut by politicians. Protestors said that public education is a right for all Americans and is essential to our children’s future.
“Do you want our schools run by hedge fund managers?” asked a Philadelphia education activist speaking to the crowd.
Corbett has proposed slashing $1.3 billion in funding for public education while simultaneously expanding a voucher program that would funnel state money to private schools. Working families across Pennsylvania have been mobilizing against budget cuts, attempts to weaken unions and handouts to wealthy corporations.
Gov. Walker, the champion of the union-busting legislation in Wisconsin, is one of the keynote speakers at the conference and a hero to the extreme right-wingers who want to bust unions, eliminate public services and cut taxes for the rich. The school voucher and charter school agenda is part of a larger effort to weaken teacher unions and government programs, which will jeopardize the quality of American education and hurt job opportunities for today’s youth.