Alameda Public Affairs Forum, Saturday October 10, 2009

ALAMEDA PUBLIC AFFAIRS FORUM

PRESENTS:

“Revolt at Berkeley: Restoring Democracy to Education and Keeping Education for the Public”, a panel discussion with Jack Gerson, Tanya Smith and others

Sat. October 10, 2009
7pm-9pm

Alameda Free Library
1550 Oak Street
Alameda, CA

About the presentation: Will our children have the opportunity to receive a decent education? Our Education System is under attack at all levels, from K-12 through Post Graduate.

During the current economic crisis, just the time when we need to broaden the reach of learning to ever larger numbers of students, institutions of learning are forced to cut their budgets, eliminate programs, lay off teaching and administrative staff, while increasing the costs for incoming students.

What does it mean for democracy when quality education is outside the grasp of our young people, and all those seeking to retrain themselves, to find work in new fields? How does firing teachers and cutting staff help improve and deliver education? Why is there money for foreign military action, but none for health and education on our own shores? Why are the big banks bailed out, while the public schools are gutted? We will hear from speakers who helped to organize and participate in the UC Strike that took place on September 24th about this crisis and what can be done.

About the panelists:

Jack Gerson is an Executive Board Member of the Oakland Education Association a member of CTA (California Teachers Association, and teaches in the Oakland Unified School District. He has a M.S. in Mathematics (Stanford) and a Ph.D. in biostatistics (UC Berkeley).

Tanya Smith is the President of UPTE (University Professional and Technical Employees) Local 1, which is a branch of the CWA (Communications Workers of America), and professional editor for the Archeological Research Facility at UC Berkeley.

Other speakers will include UC Faculty and a student.

For background on this event, please see the article by Jack Gerson and Steven Miller at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/2304695/The-Corporate-Surge-Against-Public-Schools