¡Wachale mi gente! This past Friday children, parents and teachers at Leonard Flynn Elementary School (go eagles!) were out in full effect as they sang, chanted, marched and strutted their might against the governors budget cuts to public education. An awe inspiring crowd of 150 community members marched around the beautifully mural adorned school building on Harrison & Cesar Chavez in La Misión. The united voices of Latino immigrantes, African-american, and white parents and children were heard throughout Bernal and the Mission as they chanted "Se Ve Se Siente, Flynn Esta presente". Several news crews and two helicopters were out there documenting the scene- KRON 4, NBC 11 and Univision canal 14.
C'mon now! We know SF schools are in dire shape and those hardest hit (based on academic achievement) are our Latino, Black & Pacific Islander kids (holla at Coleman Advocates). But if that isn't bad enough California's per-student spending is one of the lowest in the nation. Currently, Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed slashing $4.8 billion from California public schools, and the San Francisco Unified School District stands to lose $40 million. que coño!At my daughters school parents and maestras are talking about the lack of leadership and guidance around what to do next or who to target. Board of Supervisors and the Board of Education have no direct power and have all expressed their support for no cuts. Without a state-wide campaign focused on our local communities we can at least write letters/emails to our local state officials: Senator Leland Yee, Senator Carole Migden, Assemblyman Mark Leno and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma. Word has it that Fiona Ma has been hella quiet on this issue.
Pero no te aguites raza! In the face of adversity and rainy days (you know our community knows about tormentas) there is hope and everyday things that everyday peoples can do:uno) Educate yourself: check out the California Federation of Teachers breakdown of the budget deficit and what to do about it
dos) Get down: organize with the familias, kids and teachers at your school; if you ain't got kids in school then peep the PTA website and write some letters to your state politico
tres) Repeat ese!
muchisimo gracias to my esa Cynthia Meza, teacher at Flynn and jefita to my kids, for the great pictures.
