ReFund Ca sends open Letter to Board members of California Public Colleges and Universities
On Friday, November 4th, organizations of students, teachers, parents, and workers sent the open letter below to the 50 corporate elite that sit on the boards of California's public colleges and universities. The letter calls on those corporate elite to sign the ReFund California pledge to make Wall Street pay for refunding public education. The actions beginning November 9th will demand that the corporate elite on the boards of our colleges and universities sign the pledge. Sign up to be there by visiting the week of action page.
Dear board members of California public colleges and universities,
Wall Street banks created an economic crisis for our state when their deceptive mortgage-financing scheme collapsed in 2007. Politicians rewarded them with trillions of bailout dollars that have restored record profits and earnings for Wall Street and the wealthy. Many of the corporate elite on the boards of our state’s colleges and universities have done very well recently. So, now – we hope you will agree – it is time for the super-rich and corporations to pay their fair share.
The $2.5 billion in new cuts scheduled for December cannot be passed on to students, parents, teachers, nurses, researchers and workers. We have already paid more than our fair share for the crisis Wall Street caused:
- Schools and universities have laid off thousands of teachers and workers because Wall Street corporations and the wealthy are paying less in taxes.
- Students and parents are paying nearly twice as much in tuition for UC and CSU than we paid in 2007 when Wall Street caused the current crisis.
- Hundreds of thousands of students – particularly students of color – have had to drop out or delay education plans.
- Students, parents, schools and universities are paying billions more in interest on loans than Wall Street has to pay for loans from the federal government.
- Cuts in research budgets have set back progress on improving public health, maintaining a safe environment, and many other areas.
We can only have affordable, equitable, and empowering schools, universities, and essential services if everyone pays their fair share. We have united as a broad coalition of students, parents, teachers, nurses, researchers and workers who have paid more than our fair share. We need to both change our tax system and reduce mortgage debt for Wall Street corporations and the super-rich to pay their fair share. Changing our tax system and reducing underwater mortgage debt to Wall Street would end the foreclosure crisis, improve the economy, and boost revenue for education and essential services.
As a leader with a key educational institution, we ask you to pledge to support five specific measures for all of us to pay our fair share and use all of the resources of our schools, universities, and state to reverse cuts and tuition hikes. To stand with us, please sign the enclosed pledge form and return it by mail to:
ReFund California
c/o Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment
3655 S. Grand Avenue, Suite 250
Los Angeles, CA 90007
You can also scan the pledge and email it to info@calorganize.org.
By making Wall Street and the super-rich pay their fair share, we can fund the fulfillment of California’s Master Plan and guarantee affordable, equitable, and empowering education for all.
Sincerely,
Rich Anderson, President, UAW 4123 – CSU student employees
Wendy Brown, Co-Chair, UC Berkeley Faculty Association
Xiaoqing Cao, PhD, President, UAW 5810 – UC postdoctoral researchers
Zenei Cortez, RN, Co-President, CNA/NNU – Registered Nurses at UC
Cheryl Deutsch, President, UAW 2865 – UC student employees
Carl Friedlander, President, Community College Council of the California Federation of Teachers
Pat Gantt, President, CSU Employees Union – SEIU Local 2579
Mike Garcia, President – SEIU United Service Workers West
Katherine Lybarger, President, AFSCME 3299 – UC service and patient care workers
Jelger Kalmijn, President, UPTE-CWA 9119 – UC professional and technical employees
Claudia Magana, President, UC Student Association
Bob Meister, President of the Council of UC Faculty Associations – Professor of History of Consciousness and Political and Social Thought, UCSC
Dean Murakami, Vice President, California Federation of Teachers – Los Rios Community College faculty member
Bahar Navab, President, UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly
Marcos Perez, California Regional Organizer, United Students Against Sweatshops
Joshua Pechthalt, President, California Federation of Teachers
Pablo Rodriguez, Executive Director, Communities for a New California
Chris Rosen, Co-Chair, UC Berkeley Faculty Association
Bob Samuels, President, UC-AFT – UC lecturers and librarians
Bob Schoonover, President, SEIU 721 – Southern California public and school employees
Amy Schur, Executive Director, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment
Lillian Taiz, President, California Faculty Association
Dean Vogel, President, California Teachers Association
On Friday, November 4th, organizations of students, teachers, parents, and workers sent the open letter below to the 50 corporate elite that sit on the boards of California's public colleges and universities. The letter calls on those corporate elite to sign the ReFund California pledge to make Wall Street pay for refunding public education. The actions beginning November 9th will demand that the corporate elite on the boards of our colleges and universities sign the pledge. Sign up to be there by visiting the week of action page.
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Fresno & 15+ campuses ready for Nov 9 & 16th actions!
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Mark Yudof at the Commonwealth Club
Read moreLast night President Yudof spoke at a Commonwealth Club meeting held at the Lafayette Library and Learning Center. He spoke earnestly about the budget challenges faced by the UC System and he underscored the untenable spending lavished on prisons at the expense of education. He highlighted the story of Earl Warren, born poor in Bakersfield to parents who had never gone to College, but who attends UC Berkeley and goes on to become governor and then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He wisely points out that the next Earls will be “Ernestos” or “Elenas”.
During the open-mike question and answer period, I had the opportunity to ask about the Re-Fund California Pledge...
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Nov 9th & 16th: ReFund Public Education Actions
The free ride is over. Wall Street corporations and the super-rich must start paying their fair share for public education.
The $2.5 billion dollars in new cuts scheduled for December cannot be passed on to students and workers. On November 9th and 16th, we will demand that board members and administrators of our schools and universities pledge to:
- Publicly support forthcoming ballot initiatives and legislation to increase taxes on Wall St. and California’s super rich in 2012.
- Reverse the tuition hikes, layoffs, and cuts.
CLICK TO FIND THE EVENT NEAR YOU
To contribute to support the ReFund Public Education Actions, click here
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