Photo by UTLA.
As the LA teachers’ strike continues to shine a light on the effects of defunding for education in one of the biggest public school systems in the country, USC graduate worker and organizing committee member Muriel Leung shined a light on how these issues aren’t isolated to K-12. In an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Daily News, Muriel points out how austerity measures for public education in favor of tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy have created a failing education system for students from K-12 and beyond.
“As a graduate student at the University of Southern California, I can tell you that broken system unfortunately does not end at senior year. Like our K-12 counterparts, professors and graduate workers like me have watched as college funding has been slashed while the richest among us have gotten tax breaks at the cost of a generation’s dreams. Since the 1980s politicians have slashed funding for higher education. Desperate to keep the doors open, universities hiked tuition, cut tenure track positions and decreased faculty and graduate worker pay. The result is a failing education system, mounting student debt, and educators forced to flee our field or live in poverty.
“In a country as rich as ours, everyone – regardless of if your parents are rich or poor, Black, brown or white – should have access to a quality education from cradle to career.
That’s why I support the bravery of the LA teachers on strike. They have the courage to say what our politicians won’t: it’s time to invest in our students.”
Read more here.
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