[act-ma] 11/2 12:30 PM, Dewey Square, Education for the 99%! March Against Student Debt and the Corporatization of Higher Ed

[Alex Kulenovic]

Join us 12:30 at Occupy Boston (Dewey Square) for "Education for the 99%!"' a march against student debt and the corporatization of higher education! The march will start at Occupy, make stops at Bank of America, the Harvard Club, and the State House, then loop back. We'll hear from students and others about the causes of astronomical increases in student debt and stand in solidarity with labor unions currently in struggles on our campuses. 

After the action, spend a few hours at the campsite participating in a teach-in, volunteering with one of the working groups, and making signs, then join the Oakland Solidarity March at 5pm!

Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=264031466966993
Contact: Alex.Kulenovic at phenomonline.org

More info below:

In a few months, total student loan debt will exceed a trillion dollars. How much is $1,000,000,000,000? A stack of one trillion one dollar bills would circle the globe at the equator two and a half times. This is not just a crisis for a whole generation of students and their current and future families; it has the potential to be the next "bubble" that crashes our economy.

Like so many things, the 1% are rapidly making higher education a privilege for themselves alone. It's time for the 99% to reclaim it as a right!

On November 2, starting at 12:30, a broad coalition including PHENOM,Jobs with Justice, Mass Uniting, SEIU, UNITE-HERE, and Occupy Boston will hold a street action in Boston's financial district to highlight the crisis, how some are profiting from it, and what we should be doing about it. We will start at the Federal Reserve Bank, where there will be some theatrical events and rallies, then we will march over to the State House to rally and tell our legislators we've had enough! It will be fun, dramatic, and memorable! Please spread the word! 

Total outstanding student debt has doubled in the past five years - in contrast to home loans and credit card debt. Banks are making big profits as mushrooming interest charges lead to distorted career choices and increasing poverty. State cuts to higher education lead to increased fees and increased borrowing and make the problem much worse for those on public campuses.

But this does not just affect public college students. It affects those at private colleges as well as at public ones; it affects alums; it affects workers trying to put their kids through school; it will affect the broad economy as more people with more debt have less to spend.

PHENOM, in conjunction with Jobs with Justice, Mass Uniting, UNITE HERE, Students Occupy Boston, and others, is hitting the streets to shine a spotlight on this issue and how it connects with other aspects of the corporatization of higher education.

We will rally in the financial district and march to the State House. We will demonstrate - through our signs, through street theater, through speeches, through our passion - that banks need to be held accountable and politicians need to work for us!

We are the 99%! Education is a right!

Bring signs and props!




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