MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 3:00 pm
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Jess Burgan: 215-232-3792, jess@fightforphilly.org
Participate in National Day of Action for Education
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Students, teachers and community members from across the city will gather in front of Governor Corbett’s Philadelphia office to rally against his proposed cuts to public education and universities. The protesters will call for an end of tax breaks for rich corporations and the 1% to close a budget shortfall, rather than continued reductions to education funding.
For the second year in a row, Governor Corbett’s budget is cutting higher education and public school funding. Cuts to higher education in Corbett’s plan would total more than $260 million, including cuts to the State System, the state-related universities, community colleges and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. The governor’s proposal also adds up to $100 million in cuts to public K-12 schools. If the governor’s plan is approved, public schools will have lost nearly $1 billion since he took office.
Meanwhile, Governor Corbett is letting corporations off the hook for nearly $1 billion in taxes that would help prevent these cuts and help protect services.
The national day of action has been called to protest the fact that more than 40 states have cut support to higher education in order to deal with tight budgets. Students, teachers and community members will march to the rally from Drexel, Temple and the University of Pennsylvania.
WHAT: Protest of the Governor’s proposed cuts to education funding
WHO: Community members, unemployed workers, teachers, students
WHEN: Thursday, March 1 at 3:00 pm
WHERE: Governor Corbett’s Office, 200 South Broad Street
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Last Thursday night, Fight for Philly members attended the School Reform Commission (SRC) meeting at the School District of Philadelphia. The meeting was held to discuss multiple hot button issues concerning the community and children of Philadelphia.
More than 40 people went up to the microphone last night to talk about their concerns, including community members, parents, and clergymen. Issues that were touched on included the ongoing problem of cutting school staff, most notably being school nurses and school psychologists. These positions are essential in the growth and safety of hundreds of special education students throughout the city.
Fight for Philly was there to drive home our point to SRC board members: we need to investigate the swap deals made by Wells Fargo. Most importantly, we need to have Wells Fargo renegotiate these bad deals, and use the recovered funds to plug the hole of the dwindling school budget, and to prevent more school and program closings.
We were not alone in our mission. Jack, a freshmen at Central High School, recommended that a petition be introduced to Wells Fargo to demand them to pay back the money to our famished school district. Another speaker, Rolanda King, even went as far to the tell the SRC members that she would return to her job as a Parent Ombudsman for free if the SRC investigates the swap deals.
Fight for Philly is offering real solutions to our problems. Now it’s up to us to put the pressure on our elected officials, community leaders and the entities that do business with our city. Our future is in our own hands, and it’s up to us to make it happen.
Hundreds of students from across the state gathered in Harrisburg to demand Governor Corbett to rekindle his lo
ve for education.
The “Fall Back in Love with Education” event was held in the Capitol building’s Rotunda and was emceed by concerned students.The students were supported by several Philadelphia based community organizations such as Action United, JUNTOS, Philadelphia Student Union, Youth United for Change, Media Mobilizing Project and representatives of Occupy Philadelphia.
Parents of students who attend public schools in the Philadelphia area voiced their concerns. In particular, a Hispanic woman described the poor conditions of a school her son attends and the lack of bilingual aids in the school where multiple languages are spoken. A student from Pittsburgh explained passionately how the current state of schools is “hurting” and Governor Corbett needs to reform his idea of public education.
The students and protestors chants echoed through the halls of the Capitol building and hopefully those chants reached the ears of Governor Corbett.
There are plenty of resources in Pennsylvania to provide a high-quality education for all. We are continuing our crusade against big banks and as we demand a fair budget for the 99%.
On Thursday, March 1st, Join Fight for Philly and students from college campuses all around Philly on our National Day of Action for Education
On Thursday, February 23rd, Fight for Philly team members in West Philadelphia are meeting to discuss and plan for upcoming actions, and learn more about where our elected leaders stand in terms of putting Americans back to work.
There’s plenty of resources in Pennsylvania to provide a high- quality education for all.
Instead of protecting rich corporations like Comcast and Wells Fargo, the Governor should demand the 1% pay their fair share of taxes so we can protect our schools and communities.
Join students, teachers, workers and community members as we demand a fair budget for the 99%
Last Tuesday, Fight for Philly members visited multiple Wells Fargo locations around the city in the hopes of delivering “broken-heart valentines” to Wells Fargo Bank Executive Hugh C. Long.
Here’s what happened:
After visiting these locations, we joined together and paid a visit to Mr. Long’s office located on 123 South Broad Street. As Fight for Philly members tried to enter the building, we were quickly stopped by security officers who asked us to leave.
Officers then stood firmly in front of the doors, not allowing us to even step foot inside the building. They even went as far as to lock two out of three main entrance doors and check the IDs of individuals who were trying to enter the building.
Realizing that we exhausted all of options in trying to see Mr. Long, we decided to give him a phone call. Surprisingly, someone did answer and had a brief conversation with one of our organizers. Whether it was Mr. Long or not, he said that he could not comment on the school swap deals and that he could not meet with us. But, Fight for Philly wasn’t about to give up that easily, and we said will not stop calling until we get that meeting.
Finally, we all made our way together to the final Wells Fargo location on Market Street in a final attempt to deliver the precious broken-heart valentine to Hugh C. Long. We were greeted by the bank manager and we asked her if she could deliver our valentine to Mr. Long. Finally, she agreed and we asked for her business card so we could follow up with her and we exited the building.
Fight for Philly will not rest until Wells Fargo agrees to renegotiate the bad deals that they made with our schools and our city. Each and every day—whether it’s because our children’s education is suffering, or the cut after cut that affect our daily lives, we gain a new energy to Fight for Philly.
On Tuesday, February 28th, the West Philly chapter of Fight for Philly will be focusing on our volunteer leader training. The goal will be to train current and new volunteers on the organizing conversation.
On Friday, February 10th, members from Fight for Philly, One Pittsburgh, Our DC, and NY United took their message of the 99%, the need to end tax loopholes for the 1%, and the idea that Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney is the poster boy for the 1%, to the streets of Washington, DC.
Hundreds of protesters, each dripping the colors of their respective organizations, took to the streets in front of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel to express their distaste for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) taking place inside.
Before protesters flooded the streets in front of the hotel, members from each organization gathered the National Zoo. With the air filled with excitement and anticipation, members marched steadily to the CPAC event.
The march was led by One DC members holding a sign that read “CPAC: Poising Politics, Killing the American Dreams for the the 99%.” For more than three blocks, the crowd of concerned marchers cheered “We are the 99%” as the sounds of the Fight for Philly drumline filled the air, capturing the attention of many on lookers.
When we finally reached the hotel, chants of “SHAME, SHAME, SHAME” rang out. A few CPAC attendees tried to shout out insults over our chants, telling us to “get a job” (which we would love), but they were no match for our members’ voices.
“We’re bringing attention to the 99 percent,” said Inocencio Quinones, an organizer with the advocacy group One DC. “They’re”—referring to the people attending the annual right-wing confab—”not paying their fair share of taxes. We’re paying more than our fair share.”
Around 2 pm, after hours of demonstrating and feeling that our voices were heard, we made our way back to the National Zoo. Waving signs and shouting “Who’s America? Our America!” we marched back with our heads held high. As we were making heading back to the buses, you could overhear the community members discussing how “we will be back.” To anyone around, it was clear that we will never stop fighting for working families and the 99%.
Watch video of the day here:
Call on Bank to “Be a Sweetheart” and return millions of dollars in cancellation fees to School District
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Philadelphians from across the city will deliver Valentine’s Day-themed messages calling on the bank to pay back the millions they made on bad deals with the School District through interest rate swap agreements. After canvassing at several neighborhood Wells Fargo branches, activists will gather at the Wells Fargo Building to deliver their hand-made cards.
The large financial institutions that helped cause the Great Recession continue to cause suffering in our neighborhoods through their reckless behavior. While taxpayers provided billions of dollars in bailouts to banks in the wake of the financial crisis, municipalities and school districts have been forced to cut services and lay off staff without receiving any financial consideration from the banks for the high cost of swap deals.
According to a recent report by the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, the City and School District have lost over $332 million in net interest payments and cancellation fees relating to swaps negotiated with bailed out financial institutions including Wells Fargo. The City could potentially lose over $240 million in additional net interest payments from still-active swaps between the City agencies and the same bailed-out financial institutions if interest rates continue to remain low.
WHAT: Philadelphians Deliver a Not-So-Sweet Valentine to Wells Fargo
WHO: Community members, including unemployed workers, teachers and students directly impacted by cuts to the School District
WHEN: Tuesday, February 14 at 2:30 pm
WHERE: Wells Fargo Building, 123 South Broad Street
VISUAL: Hand-made Valentine’s Day cards bearing messages such as “It’s not Us, It’s You,” “Have a Heart: Pay Back Our Schools,” and “We Deserve a Healthy Relationship”
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