Points of Unity: Grassroots Education Movement

WHERE WE STAND: We  support  public  education  and  reject  the  assumption  that  the  private  sector  can  more  
effectively  provide  public  services.    A  democratic  society  is  dependent  upon  the  success  of  its  public  education  system.  
Attacks  on  public  education  undermine  democracy.  In  order  to  create  a  meaningful  educational  reform  movement,  it  is  
vital  that  teachers,  parents,  students,  school  workers  and  community  members  organize  and  unite  with  the  common  
goal  of  defending  and  improving  public  education.

WHAT WE BELIEVE:
•Every child deserves a high quality free public education. The struggle for free quality public education is a civil and
human rights issue. No matter the race, socioeconomic background, gender, home language or neighborhood, every child
deserves a high quality free public education.

•Democratic school governance is a critical component of a democratic society. Parent, teacher, and student voices should
have significant weight in the decision-making process. When one elected official (a mayor, for example) controls a school
system, the public’s ability to participate is limited or even eliminated.

• Direct and meaningful support—financial, material and human—must be provided to public schools, especially those
who encounter difficulty. Arbitrary restructuring, phasing out, and the closure of schools have serious consequences for
students, teachers and their communities. These misguided practices have not improved education.

• Access to a high quality public education is not something that should be won in a lottery—it is a most basic human and
civil right. Charter schools allow entry only by lottery, and are not truly public schools. They do not serve our most needy
students, and they frequently divide communities, sparking intense competition over resources. While charter schools are
publically financed in part, they operate under complete private control.

• Public schools must offer a curriculum that is meaningful, relevant and engaging. Student interest should be a spark for
learning in the classroom. The emergence of scripted curricula has resulted in a degradation of teacher and student creativity.

WHAT WE SEEK:
•Full and equitable funding for ALL of our public schools. Urban schools have historically been underfunded, which has
negatively affected the level of education our students receive.

•Smaller class sizes that allow each student to receive the attention he/she needs and deserves. This is a key
pathway to ensuring our students receive a quality education. The differential in class sizes between urban and suburban
schools is a major indicator of the disparities in education.

•A humane and progressive system of assessment that assumes teachers are in the best position to assess their students.
Using a variety of tools (including tests), teachers and students can work together to improve teaching and learning. A system
based on high stakes testing results in a test-driven curriculum, which de-skills teachers, dumbs down the teaching and learning
process, and stifles creative and critical thinking. We oppose both the use of high stakes test results to evaluate students,
teachers and schools and merit pay based on these evaluations.

• School security measures that are used to foster dignity, trust and a sense of community, rather than a police presence
and system based on punitive control.

•Guaranteed job placement—at other public schools or programs—for educators who are displaced due to program or school
closings. Educators must be contractually protected with seniority transfer rights. We oppose any political attempt to fire and
scapegoat ATR’s (Absent Teacher Reserve teachers) who have worked in so-called “failing” schools.

•A strong teacher’s union built on a foundation of an active, participatory and mobilized rank and file with a democratically
elected leadership that is truly accountable to its members. We are committed to building such a union at the grassroots level.