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| Socialist
Party USA: Statements |
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Solidarity
with the UC Student Protests; Education is our right!
by:
Stewart A. Alexander, Socialist Party USA Organizer, California
Billy
Wharton, Socialist Party USA, National Co-Chair
Nov.
23, 2009 - The Socialist Party USA stands in solidarity with the University of
California (UC) student protesters. Higher education should not be treated as a
commodity, whose price is determined by supply and demand.
Receiving an education is a social right. Insuring a free,
quality and
open national higher education system is far more important than any
war or
new weapon or bank bailouts. An educated population makes for a
more democratic
society. Restricting access to the UC system through exorbitant tuition is an attack
on democracy itself.
Tens
of thousands of students in the UC system have experienced a political awakening.
Instead of giving the support necessary for students to excel, the UC Board of
Regents is attempting to impose a 32% increase in tuition. Suddenly, the UC
system has been transformed from a place of scientific discovery and
intellectual inquiry into a site for politicians to dump California’s enormous
budget deficit. Thousands of students throughout the
university
system have responded by organizing demonstrations and building occupations.
Arrests and police repression have not stopped the movement. It continues to grow
in numbers and courage daily in defense of the right to receive an education.
This
year’s proposed 32% increase is not an isolated instance. Since
1999, tuitions
at the 10 UC campuses have tripled. The cost for one year of tuition would now be
$10,300. This does not include expenses for text books, housing and
food. Many students believe the tuition hikes will force them to drop out or attend
community colleges. This, coupled with the deep economic recession
demonstrates that a university education is increasingly becoming a distant thought for
many working families.
The
student protests have also been given the flavor of labor
demonstrations, as students, adjuncts
and full-time faculty members join the mobilizations. This has led to the
opening of classes to the entire community through
outdoor
lectures and discussion sessions, and serious critiques of the university’s labor
practices especially when it comes to the working conditions of
adjuncts. Grad students have adopted the undergraduate demand to stop the tuition
hikes and have added demands for fair labor practices and an end to the
privatization of the university.
Socialist
Party USA member and Peace and Freedom Party candidate for California Governor,
Stewart Alexander, has linked the problems in California to the policies of
the Democrats and Republicans. “The leaders of the two corporate parties,”
he writes, “have chosen to protect the interest of big capital over
students’ futures.” Indeed, what is so brilliant about the UC protests is their
complete unwillingness to accept what has been packaged as a “reasonable” “we
all have to make sacrifices” policy. Let the rich pay for the budget crisis
they created.
As
democratic socialists, we stand in solidarity with the student
protests. We
encourage all students, especially those at publicly-funded
universities, to draw inspiration
from the UC protests. Democratic socialism advances our just demands that
everything that make us human be guaranteed. Food, employment,
healthcare, housing and education are our social rights. Now is the time to demand
them.
No
to the UC Tuition Hikes!
Quality,
free and open higher education for all!
Education
is our right!
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