Big NJ Education Event #2: Newark's Students Stand Up, Nov. 4, 2013

So the day after Chris Christie's war on teachers goes viral, and the same day Diane Ravitch drops by New Jersey...

Newark's beautiful and deserving students stand up and say: "Enough!"

NEWARK STUDENTS TO ORGANIZE MASSIVE BOYCOTT TO PROTEST CHRISTIE’S CONTROL OF NEWARK PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Unable to Vote, Newark Students to Rally Against Chris Christie’s Public Education Record the Day Before Gubernatorial Election

Newark, NJ- The Newark Students Union (NSU), who organized the massive 1,000 student walkout in April, is planning a mass boycott of school to demand local control over Newark Public Schools, safer conditions in schools, greater funding, the power to enact local education policies and other issues public school students believe Gov. Chris Christie has failed to address. The NSU has already launched a promotional video highlighting Christie’s record on public education in Newark, drawing specific attention to the “puppets” he has appointed to lead his efforts.

WHAT: Boycott & Rally to Protest Governor Christie’s Control of Newark Public Schools
WHEN: November 4th, 2013 at 9:00 AM
WHERE: 30 Clinton St., Newark, NJ 

“The boycott and protest will demonstrate that the youth in Newark Public Schools care deeply about our education”, says Luis Marquez, a senior and active member of the Newark Students Union. “We’re putting our hormones to use and we’re rebelling against the politicians that don’t care about us – specifically Chris Christie who taunted public school advocates a few months ago by boasting that he ‘doesn’t care what the community thinks.’”

“The education of Newark’s students directly affects the future of the city. Superintendent Cami Anderson, Governor Christie’s state appointed superintendent, is purposely ignoring the cries echoing across the city, thus condemning Newark into a cycle of ignorance and poverty. If the government won’t support its own students, then together we’ll take the fate of NPS into our own hands,” says Davian Rodriguez, a senior at Science Park High School. 

"Students of the Newark Public Schools stand together and speak in a clear voice. These students deserve a seat at the table in the decisions that shape our future", says Josephine Stewart, a grandparent of an NPS student. “This should not be condemned in Trenton, boardrooms, corporate headquarters, or by so called reformers. It should be determined in the kitchens, living rooms, and communities in which we live. Nineteen years of Democratic and Republican meddling from Trenton is far too much. Students are not corporate playthings and they deserve the respect afforded to the rest of the citizens in our state." 

"We're putting our hormones to use..." HA!

Did I mention I LOVE these kids? God bless you all: any system that produces intelligent, energetic, committed, and tough young people like yourselves is hardly a "failure factory."



Best of luck tomorrow - Fight the Power.

Weapons not food, not homes, not shoes

Not need, just feed the war cannibal animal 

I walk tha corner to tha rubble that used to be a library

Line up to tha mind cemetary now

What we don't know keeps tha contracts alive an movin'

They don't gotta burn tha books they just remove 'em

While arms warehouses fill as quick as tha cells

Rally round tha family, pockets full of shells

Somebody tell me who this generation's Rage Against The Machine is. Or their Public Enemy. Or their Bob Dylan. Or their Bob Marley.

Because lord knows they need them...