Socialist Educators Happy Hour 🍻
Tomorrow Friday, May 17th 6pm
Chuck's Hop Shop in the Central DistrictÂ
Join educators, families, union activists, and socialists to help plan a fight back against cuts and closures. Come prepared to share your ideas for how to build high-quality public schools for all. Everyone is welcome to attend!Â
No School Closures!
Tax the Rich!
School Closures Threaten Our Communities: On May 8, during “teacher appreciation week,” the Seattle School Board voted to consider closing 20 of our 70 elementary schools. This plan would disrupt thousands of families, force student relocations, and jeopardize educator jobs. It would be the largest school closure in the US since Chicago in 2013.
In addition, the district wants to cut school budgets and increase class sizes in secondary schools from 30:1 to 31:1. (Seattle Times, May 9)
We Need More, Not Less: Our schools are losing students, but the answer isn't bigger classes and closures. We need smaller class sizes, stronger community ties, and a focus on individual development, inclusion, and both academic and social growth. Closing schools pushes us in the wrong direction and will only encourage more families to leave the public system.
Unused Space is an Opportunity: The district claims low building capacity (around 65%) as a reason for closures. This is a perfect chance to reduce class sizes without extra costs! Especially after the challenges of Covid, we need to prioritize smaller class sizes to support student learning and development. Our elementary schools should not have any classes larger than 18 students.
School Closures Don't Save Money: Even the Seattle Times (May 9) says significant savings are unlikely just due to building closures without staff layoffs. The superintendent claims this is about creating better resourced schools. Seattle Public Schools wrote to all families about a “system of well-resourced elementary schools.” Fewer staff for the same number of students is the opposite of well-resourced schools.
Tax the Rich to Fund Our Schools: Seattle Public Schools claim in their email to all families (May 9) that there is no alternative to school closures: “If we maintain the current system, we will need to reduce services.” Let's change the current system where corporations receive welfare and schools are underfunded. Seattle, Washington State, and the federal government have failed to adequately fund education. Washington is one of the wealthiest states in the US, yet our schools are suffering. It's time to tax the rich and Big Business who are raking in record profits.Â
Broken Political System: We're tired of politicians prioritizing corporate interests over our schools. The Democratic Party controls Seattle, Olympia and the White House. Billions go to corporate welfare, while our tax system unfairly burdens working-class families.
The educators' union, SEA, the parent associations, students and families, and many more are needed to come together to fight for fully-funded schools.
Time to Get Involved
If working people are going to win high-quality education, affordable housing, living wages, Medicare for All, and to stop the US funding for wars around the globe, we'll need to get organized, come together in strong movements, and build our own political party. Let's step up to build an alternative to the Wall Street Democrats and the even more dangerous far-right Republicans. If you are not a member of DSA yet, join us today: SeattleDSA.org/join
We are fighting for a democratic socialist society – a society based on human need, not corporate greed. A society where we have democratic control over the huge wealth that working class people produce and can use in the interests of the many, not the few. We need a political revolution against the billionaire class.
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