Today, students across the country are taking action as part of the National Day of Action to Defend Education. You can read more about it and find local actions here, read Campus Progress’s statement here, and take action here.
The latest updates:
The national day of action to defend public education kicked off this morning with a blockade of the entrances to the University of California at Santa Cruz. Approximately 400 students are blocking the entrances to the school, infuriating commuters. As one car tried to tag along behind a police car to get through the crowd the driver has “run over” 4 students ending in at least one broken leg.
-Via @occupyca on Twitter
Students protesting at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, demanding free education for poor citizens, were dispersed by the police when they were sprayed with water hoses.
-Via iafrica.com
To get students excited about action all over the UC system today a prominent building at UC Riverside has been “decorated” with an encouraging banner.
-Via Occupy California
Tomorrow, students from around the country will be taking action against budget cuts to education, and all of the tuition hikes, enrollment caps, cuts to statestudentaid, lay-offs, wage cuts, furloughs, and other problems that they have caused. Here at Campus Progress, we hope that college administrations, state governments, and Congress are paying close attention: students are hurting, angry, and organized. You can see if there are actions planned in your area here.
There are already some great ways to follow this mobilization (for example, http://studentactivism.net/ has a great maps and a great blog), but I wanted to add two more options (below). We will also be posting some updates on this site tomorrow.
We disagree. No paranoid rhetoric about indocrination can hide the facts (via the Wonk Room):
Conservative projections on the real fiscal rate of return on public educational investments are high:10% for high quality preschool programs, 15% for innovative K-12 reforms like First Things First, and 10.3% for investments to encourage college access and graduation.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Other research has shown that increasing education levels means less incarceration, higher wages, less unemployment, and even longer life spans. Hopefully, lawmakers and the public will remember the following words of wisdom from Derek Bok, a former president of Harvard University:
“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”
Last night, Jon Stewart chatted about student loan reform with Austan Goolsbee, an economist and member of the Council of Economic Advisers. The college affordability action starts at 4:38, check it out:
State budget cuts can lead to tuition hikes, cuts in enrollment, shortfalls for state financial aid programs, layoffs, larger class sizes or fewer offered courses, and more. If there was ever a time for a large federal investment in higher education, it’s now.
Exchange is reporting that a new study shows that those that graduate with student debt are significantly less likely to have savings or investments, less likely to own a home, and more likely to have a mortgage if they do:
Analysis showed that among postsecondary graduates aged 20 to 45 in 2007, 42% of those who had borrowed money to finance their schooling had savings and investments, compared with 52% of other postsecondary graduates, all other factors being equal.
The results suggest that, while student debt continues to affect individuals’ finances after graduation, borrowers who complete their postsecondary education received labour market returns to their education similar to those of non-borrowers.
This study adds to previous research research showing student debt having a big impact on important life decisions, like getting married, choosing a career, and having kids.
The New York Times published a great editorial yesterday supporting progressive immigration reform, and the four brave students that are walking from Miami to DC to support the DREAM Act, stand up for worker’s rights, stop the separation of families, and create a fair pathway to citizenship. The Times argued that we should not wait until the economy improves to pass immigration reform, as some have suggested:
The Obama administration has vowed to press ahead with reform this year. Given the hard economic times, the politics may be bleaker even than in 2007 when reform was scuttled in an ugly battle. The need is just as real — for the undocumented and for the country.
America needs to shut the path to illegal entry and employment while opening smoother and more rational routes to legal immigration. Opponents of reform say the downturn is a terrible time to fix the system, but they are wrong. When the recovery comes, the country will need a functioning system more than ever — one that encourages legal entry and bolsters all workers’ rights.
To do this, the country needs to bring its huge undocumented underclass into the light.
You can learn more about the Trail of DREAMs at their website (you can even chat with the students live most nights at around 8PM EST): trail2010.org
On New Year’s day, a small group of students started a their journey—on foot—from Miami, FL to Washington, DC to raise awareness about the DREAM Act and other progressive immigration reforms. These courageous students, who were brought to the US as children, did not want to see their futures, and those of their classmates, put in jeopardy because they lack a viable path to citizenship.
The students are working with a group called Students Working for Equal Rights (SWER), which is asking for help with this effort (especially if you live in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, or DC). They need people to organize a reception, donate, offer places to stay, etc.
SWER has received an Organizing Grant from Campus Progress as part of the Action Alliance program. The program awards $200-$1,500 to youth-led organizations that are working on progressive issue campaigns or projects that will help build the progressive youth movement.
In a bold editorial today, The New York Times threw its support behind the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), which was passed by the House Education and Labor Committee yesterday. Despite bi-partisan support for the bill in committee, many Republicans in Congress and in the Senate are gearing up to fight tooth and nail to defeat the bill and protect the interests of banks and student loan companies. As the Times says in the editorial:
“The arguments for passing this bill and ending the subsidy program are powerful. But the Republican leadership has distorted the debate by describing the bill as a plan for pushing private capital out of student lending. It would be more accurate to describe it as a plan for pushing corporate welfare out of student lending.”
Read the full editorial here, and then take action to tell Congress why we need to pass SAFRA now!
Funding our Future is a campaign to pass a progressive federal budget for 2010 and ensure that our nation.s key economic choices invest in our education, spark reform of our health care system, and address climate change through cap and trade and clean energy investments. Click here for more info.
Conservative projections on the real fiscal rate of return on public educational investments are high:
Exchange is 
