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Universities Set to Rally Against Budget Cuts, Pay Cuts, and Tuition Hikes

By staff

Campaign for Education Rights launching National Day of Action for Education Rights on Nov. 10

Students holding an "Education is a right" banner at Univeristy of Wisconsin.

In the midst of budget cuts, pay cuts, and tuition hikes in the face of the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, youth groups from around the country have assembled the Campaign for Education Rights and are launching a National Day of Action for Education Rights on Nov. 10 all over the country.

“We are ready and believe it is necessary to build a nationwide movement that will address economic injustices to our higher education system,” said Tracy Molm, a Campaign for Education Rights organizer and member of Students for a Democratic Society. “I’m very pleased to be coordinating this action with a national movement that is unifying the struggle for affordable and just education at our universities across the country.”

Endorsing groups of the Campaign for Education Rights include Ben Manski, Esq. –Madison College Chicago SDS (University of Illinois Chicago & Colombia College), Ericka Alonzo – Student at MTSU, Fernando Figueroa – President of Progress Student Alliance, Gainesville Area SDS, Liberty Tree Foundation, North Carolina Education Rights Coalition, Robert Palmer – Rosemount, MN, University of Alabama SDS, University of California Los Angeles SDS, University of California Berkeley SDS, University of Minnesota SDS, University of North Carolina Asheville SDS, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill SDS, University of North Carolina Charlotte SDS, University of North Dakota SDS, University of Oklahoma SDS, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee SDS, and the UWM Education Rights Campaign.

The Campaign for Education Rights describes the state of universities across the country as in a serious crisis. “We will not stand by while the rich are bailed out on the backs of students and workers. It is time for our generation to stand up to the plate and build a better future for ourselves and our children,” explains the Campaign’s website.

The Campaign for Education Rights is the product of a student and youth discussion at the We Say Fight Back conference (wesayfightback.com). The National Day of Action for Education Rights will include over ten participating schools. National organizers say the purpose of the national day of action is to help build the movement to demand education as a fundamental right, not a privilege.

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