Students Stand together to Defend Public Education Rights

Today, students from Georgia Students for Public Education and the Progressive Student Alliance hosted a protest rally inside the GSU campus courtyard where students voiced concerns about Georgia State’s recent tuition hikes, student fee increases and budget cuts.

At the rally, students spoke candidly about education budget concerns using a bullhorn. Some students shouted chants, some used profanity, others passionately expressed personal their testimonials, in efforts to bring awareness to the recent financial changes concerning higher education. Students also boasted a giant report card that yielded all F’s. The mock report card was representative of protesters feelings towards Georgia legislators. Spectators of the rally were also encouraged to fill out similar report cards that would be delivered to the state capital later in the day.

Walker Berhart, a senior at Georgia State and member of GSPHE said that GSPHE decided to answer the call to action back in July.

“ I haven’t been affected personally besides the mandatory tuition hikes and student fee increases, but I am worried that the recent changes could continue and become permanent,” Berhart said.

This will be the second time this year that activist have organized nationwide to exercise their right to defend public education. The first National Day of Action took place earlier this year on March 4th 2010, and involved some 32 states around the nation including New York, California, Maryland, and Illinois.

The call to action was prompted by the media coverage concerning national budget cuts, rising tuition, hiring and salary freezes, teacher furloughs, teacher and staff layoffs, changes of academic policy and curricula, substantial changes in workload, and the increasing repression and harassment of immigrants in high schools and universities.

Rallies to defend public education are scheduled to take place all over the nation today. Georgia Institute of Technology, Kennesaw State University, and the University of Georgia, are just some of the Universities that are scheduled to have similar rallies.

If you missed the rally at 12:15 p.m. on the campus court yard today, you’ll have another chance to express your concerns to legislators this afternoon when organizers meet again at Woodrow Park at 4:30 p.m. for a brief rally and then march to the Capitol to present report cards to legislators at 5:30 p.m.