http://www.usmlo.org/archive2003/2003-01/07-04-06.htm
School District Organizes Anti-war Teach-ins On January 14, students, teachers, staff, parents and other community members of Oakland, California schools took part in District organized anti-war teach-ins. About 30 Oakland schools - including almost all high schools and several elementary and middle schools in the district - held teach-ins in classrooms and assemblies, news sources report. An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 students participated in the programs. The teachers' union, the Oakland Education Association (OEA), helped organize the activities. Some 75 presenters including political activists and area university professors, with groups ranging from Veterans for Peace and the Black Radical Congress to the Middle East Children's Alliance and International ANSWER, gave more than 200 presentations throughout the day to initiate discussion. The School Board passed a resolution supporting the teach-ins following the initiative of students, teachers and community members in the majority African American district. The action stood against attacks in the media and from pro-war political groups and "think tanks" like the Heritage Foundation that schools should have no say on the issue of war and peace. The School Board's resolution states that "an attack on Iraq by the United States would have enormous human, financial and political consequences in the United States and the world community" and "it is essential that the people of the United States be well-informed on the causes and consequences of military action by their government." It calls for citywide public education "concerning the background of the current crisis concerning Iraq, the options available to the United States government for attempting to resolve that crisis, and the likely consequences of a United States military attack on Iraq." Participation in this first teach-in and future events is voluntary. Dan Siegel, a member of the School Board said, "Our goal is to do education and to have people make up their minds." School officials report that efforts had been made to have speakers presenting in favor of war, including invitations to the State Department and Senator Dianne Feinstein, but none would participate. Representative of the day's activities, students in one world history class at Oakland High discussed the war with San Francisco State University political philosophy professor Ann Robertson. Students compiled a list of arguments for and against a war with Iraq on the blackboard, then discussed and interrogated each. Students firmly rejected the notion that as youth they should have no concern about war, particularly since many of them are going to be asked to do the fighting. They and their teachers instead took up their social responsibility to themselves investigate and decide their stands and actions to take. Opposing those critics claiming the besieged Oakland School District should instead focus on its "low test scores" and the massive cutbacks about to be inflicted in the name of a $100 million deficit, Maurice Williams, a student government leader at Oakland High, was quoted as saying: "Here we are in Oakland. We've got so many different problems. We've got a homicide rate that's soaring. We've got a huge hole in our education system. Health care is a mess. And yet we can gather together like this and say that we are concerned about something like this." In Oakland, school board member Siegel affirmed, "We're off to a good start. This is just the first round." Future initiatives will focus even more on involving the students in participating in rigorous discussion, organizers said. _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
