A fired up group of public school students and parents, teachers, and community members from the RE-Fund California coalition boarded school buses and led a Tour of Top California Political Donors’ Homes in Bel-Air on Sept. 26. The event ended with a teach-in on the front lawn of anti-Prop 30 donor A. Jerrold Perenchio.Approx. 100 people participated from SEIU 721, ACCE, United Teachers Los Angeles, AFT 1475, UAW 4123, Courage Campaign, Academic Professionals of California, and the National Lawyers Guild.
Among the speakers were Jessica Tobon, a student from Maya Angelou Community High School in South LA, who described classes of over 50 students, and her mother Aurora Tobon who called for the super-rich like Perenchio to pay their fair share rather than spending his money fighting against education funding. A group of high school and college teachers – David Rapkin, Carla Colindres, Sarah Knopp, Melissa Naponelli, Kevin D’Amato, Joe Zeccola, and Rich Andersen – led a great lesson on who’s really making the big decisions for our state. Jerry Clyde, an LA County social worker, described the difficulty of doing his job with less resources each year. And Rose Gudiel talked about the multiple furlough days at the state Employment Development Department, making it hard for her to do her job of assisting unemployed residents.
Two articles posted today – in La Opinion, “Today’s lesson: the super-rich,” and the American Prospect, “Jerry Perenchio: California’s Sheldon Adelson” – highlighted the billionaires responsible for the defunding of our state and raised the question of who will pay in November’s California election – the super-rich, or students and working families?
TAKE ACTION
Our Schools are struggling with fewer resources than ever. Cuts have devastated community colleges, the stepping stone for working class students to higher education and successful careers. Vote Yes on 30 and No on 32.
Isn’t it time you got involved?
Call The 721 Member Connection (877) 721-4YOU or RE-Fund California (213) 272-1141 for more info on opportunities to volunteer and get out the vote.