Mexico City Erupts Over Neoliberal Education Bill

[Catherina]

Thursday Sep 12, 2013 1:34 pm
Mexico City Erupts Over Neoliberal Education Bill
By Michelle Chen


Teachers have gathered en masse in Mexico City to protest President Nieto's new education reform legislation. (Eneas De Troya/Flickr)

For the past several weeks, the metropolis has pulsed with a labor insurrection. There have been fierce union-led rallies, clashes with police, and mass demonstrations that have paralyzed the city, climaxing with an estimated 12,000 teachers storming the streets on Wednesday. The catalyst is Mexico’s new education reform legislation, championed by President Enrique Peña Nieto and his PRI party, which teachers union activists blast as a thinly veiled attack on organized labor.

After lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to implement the reforms last week, demonstrations flared across the capital, blocking traffic and drawing crowds around the French, Spanish and U.S. embassies. The National Education Workers Coordinating Committee (CNTE), a radical union faction representing a third of Mexico’s public school teachers, has mobilized tens of thousands of protesters. The conflict is now widely seen as as a principle test of Peña Nieto’s political strength, symbolizing the class and ideological tensions between Nieto's center-right PRI party and Mexico’s embattled leftist movements.

The government maintains that the law, which amends articles of Mexico’s constitution that guarantee the right to public secular education, is necessary for improving management of Mexico’s school system and raising the quality of teaching. Reflecting the same neoliberal “reform” impulse that politicians have pushed in the United States with charter schools and draconian testing systems, the idea is to tighten controls on educators and students by imposing standardized tests and evaluations. The reforms would also ease the process for firing teachers, aiming to dismantle traditional union control and cronyism in employment decisions. As in the U.S., the "reformers" are pushing "merit-based" performance measures other market-oriented reforms.

...

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/15590/mexico_city_erupts_over_neoliberal_education_bill/

[denverbill]

1. You know, it's almost impossible for me to believe there is not a worldwide conspiracy.

Rich versus poor. Neoliberal against worker.

Rich people in every country seem to be organizing internationally against the average people. TPP. Destruction of unions. Elimination of government jobs. Elimination of pensions. Cutting taxes on the rich. It seems to be happening in every country in the world simultaneously. The only exceptions are countries like Venezuela and Ecuador, which are also the only democracies in the world that apparently, the US doesn't like.

[Judi Lynn]

3. We've seen the same dirty schemes at work right here, haven't we?

It does look as if the same element in every country takes encouragement from the filthy gains made by other fascists in other countries.

In time, they are going to fail. Won't be easy, but after all, there are so many, many more of us than there are of them, and we also have the moral advantage, while they strain, twist themselves in knots to find ways to claim they deserve to be the only ones with access to education, health care, food, adequate housing, transportation, etc., etc.

They all "think" alike. They all are eventually going to lose.

[Catherina]

4. How right you are: Black Hawk helicopters bought from USA for 'drug war' being used on protesters

anticorrupcion_ No mas Impunidad! 21h
Helicópteros Black Hawk adquiridos para combatir el narco, hoy son utilizados para reprimir maestros #CNTEseQueda

[Judi Lynn]

2. Now would be a great time for the people to start rallying even more

behind these valuable parts of the society. It's not going to get any better, in fact, will get far worse, if they lose their moment in the world's line of vision.

Removing the opportunity for education from the entire population is a monstrous step away from civilization: reserving it just for the materially comfortable keeps the only advantage far, far out of reach of the masses of people who still have to struggle so hard day to day for the rest of their lives. That's NOT what life is supposed to be, obscenely wealthy few surrounded by helpless, lost, suffering masses of people who are just as intelligent in every way, every bit as capable, if they only had the tools they need to climb out of their disadvantage handed them when they are born into dire poverty.

Anyone who actually supports NOT educating all children is clearly an enemy of life, an enemy of the human race. They cloak their poisonous raving in terms which attempt to make it appear the poor are just lazy, and greedy, or they would have wealth, as well, so they simply don't deserve their tax dollars.

We ALL know who is lazy and greedy, by god, every one of us. No one is fooled by the oligarchs, even the despicable clowns who support them.

[Catherina]

5. Exactly! You will like this

Viva la causa! ‏@70torinoman 48s

Graffiti in Mexico City, "Police, remember who taught you how to read and write." (Via) @JagerJohnson #CNTEseQueda"

[Judi Lynn]

6. They have the unavoidable truth on their side. Good for them.

What a shame the gov't is fighting them so hard.

[Aerows]

10. Sigh

Catholic Church, actually, still the interference of everybody.

[Catherina]

7. American professor missing after protests in Mexico City.

Latino Rebels ‏@latinorebels 7m

American professor missing after #13SMX protests in Mexico City.

[Catherina]

8. BBC video

[Judi Lynn]

9. It's very clear there are a lot of rough guys in there

who probably never even finished school!

There is a distinct difference in the people: there are ones who most surely look like teachers we've all had, then there are clear thug types who barely look capable of sitting still a reading a book.

We definitely are acquainted with agents provocateur. Looks as if the teachers are outnumbered in this demonstration, or at least overpowered! It's an old, old stunt: getting tough guys to raise hell then the cops move in and start hauling off the real protesters to jail, or worse.

Sad.

Thanks for the video report.