Category Archives: Tom Corbett

by | April 27, 2011 · 3:52 pm

Why we MUST turn out tonight at the Chester County Public Education Rally

[Please share widely among WCU Faculty, Students, Staff, Family members, Friends]

Tonight’s Chester County Rally for Public Education is on, rain or shine.  Current weather forecast (as of about 11:45 am) says a slight chance of rain the evening.

If you (and students are invited to do this too) want to join the APSCUF Funeral Procession (mourning the death of higher education if Tom Corbett wins) and march up to the courthouse, meet at the APSCUF office around 6’ish.  Wear black if you have it.

If you can’t or don’t want to join the procession, just be on the courthouse lawn @ 7.

If you’re still not convinced that YOU have to YOUR PART in this fight, if you still believe that us loudmouth rabble-rousers will do your part for you, if you don’t think the threat is serious enough to warrant being at the courthouse for one stinkin’ hour, read on.

This is a somewhat modified version of the “speech” I gave at the student-led walkout/rally last week in front of Sykes Hall, starting after the hortatory “thanks for coming” stuff.  –Seth

I have only four things to say today, and I’ll make them very quick.

1.  We’re winning this fight.  If you’ve read or listened to or seen any news in the last couple of weeks, you know that lawmakers in both parties are pushing back hard against Governor Corbett’s original proposal to slash our state budget allocation by more than half.

The reason we’re winning is because we’re doing THIS WORK: rallying, writing, calling, postcarding, petitioning.  Let there be no mistake about that.

2.  Now that we fall all good about ourselves…  We haven’t WON anything yet.  There won’t be a budget in place for weeks, and a lot of bad [oops!] can go down between now and then.

That means we can’t afford to let up.  The gains we’ve made in both legislative and public support are important and impressive but fragile, and the second we stop pushing, the second the hammer falls on us.

3.  Now that we’re all scared again, there are two important things for us to be doing right now.  First is turning out for events like the Rally for Public Education at the Chester Co. courthouse on Wed 4/27.  Second is to make sure our contact networks are alive and well through the summer so we can stay organized and keep fighting together.

4. And finally, whatever happens between now and the passage of our budget; whatever happens between now and full restoration of the budget we need and deserve: don’t ever forget who picked this fight.  It wasn’t us–students, faculty, staff members, university employees, our families, our friends.  It wasn’t us, and the people who did pick it need to pay a steep price for that.

For those of you (and I know who some of you are) who are getting ready to graduate, or who don’t believe the current attacks on public education mean anything to you, I have only this to say:

If you intend to teach in a public school at any level, you’re a target.

If you care about anybody who teaches in, otherwise works for, or attends a public school, you’re a target.

If you believe that anybody besides the wealthiest Pennsylvanians deserve a shot at achieving anything remotely resembling a secure future, you’re a target.

Don’t let the slow place of the budget process lull you to sleep.  FIGHT!

Leave a comment

Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Budget Cuts, Collective Bargaining, Communities, free speech, K-12 Education, PASSHE, Public education, Rally, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, West Chester University

by | April 22, 2011 · 11:33 am

Come mourn public education under Corbett!

If Corbett’s budget passes, faculty will be retrenched, programs will be gutted, classes will grow huge, and service loads will become unmanageable. Our public school colleagues are facing the same problems. CORBETT WANTS TO KILL PUBLIC EDUCATION.

So WCU APSCUF has decided to hold a Funeral for Public Education before the Chester County rally on Weds 4/27.

Join the funeral procession as it marches down High Street. Meet at the WCU campus (exact location TBA) at 6:30 on 4/27. Dress in black and look for the coffin!

Leave a comment

Filed under APSCUF, Budget, Rally, Tom Corbett, West Chester University

Tagged as , , , ,

by | April 13, 2011 · 12:45 pm

Just in case you’re not clear on the political context…

…for Tom Corbett’s proposal to slash the PASSHE budget and all public education budgets in PA, for the Feds’ desperate rush to cut spending in the middle of deficit and so on, this gem of a video makes it all crystal clear.  Thanks to Kevin Mahoney from the KUXchange for posting.

 

So remember–

Wed April 27, 7 pm.  Chester County Courthouse!  Rally for Public Education!

Leave a comment

Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Budget Cuts, Budget Deficit, Collective Bargaining, Contract Negotiations, K-12 Education, Kutztown University, PASSHE, Public education, Shock Doctrine, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, West Chester University

by | April 12, 2011 · 1:33 pm

Change of Date for Chester County Rally for Public Education

As soon as I can make the technology work, I’ll post the flyer for Sen. Dinniman’s rally at the Chester County Courthouse, the date of which has MOVED–

New Date: Wed, April 27

So you can have Wed, April 20 back for yourselves, but the 27th?  We need you there.

Leave a comment

Filed under APSCUF, Budget, Communities, K-12 Education, PASSHE, Penn State University, Public education, Rally, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, University of Pittsburgh, West Chester University

by | April 12, 2011 · 11:13 am

Common ground is fine, but it doesn’t guarantee fairness

By now you’ve probably seen the news out of State APSCUF of management’s announcement that they plan to issue retrenchment letters on all fourteen PASSHE campuses for the 2012-13 school year.

We’ll have plenty more to say about the specifics of that announcement and how we respond to it in the near future; it wasn’t entirely unexpected, but neither do we take it as anything other than hostile.

In the meantime, this morning’s Inside Higher Education features an article on a labor conference last week at which faculty union leaders and university managers got together to talk about how to find common ground from which to advance the mutual interests of universities and systems.

Ironically, the article mentions Pennsylvania specifically as an example of a place where faculty and management ought to fighting together against outrageous budget proposals–and it published one day after management announced that they may retrench faculty all across the system.

Knowing that managers in Massachusetts, Minnesota, and other places actually respect the faculty in their states made this announcement out of PASSHE even that much more toxic.  At a time when we should all be fighting desperately to win over legislators who can protect our budget, and we’re seeing examples of state system managers doing just that, instead the Office of the Chancellor (OOC) is firing shots across the bow.

So what does this mean for you as WCU faculty?  A few things:

1. If you haven’t already written letters and made phone calls to your legislators about the budget, do it NOW.  Our campus management has been with us on these efforts, but the OOC just isn’t.  Don’t wait around for PASSHE to do its thing–do it for them.

2.  Go to rallies and show your face: April 26 in Harrisburg; April 27 at the Courthouse in downtown West Chester; May 3 in Harrisburg.

3.  Continue to get ready for what now appears to be an even nastier negotiations season than we already expected.  Make sure your APSCUF reps know you to find you off-campus.  Try to put a little money aside in case of a job action.  Read the emails that come from State and Local APSCUF because they have information in them you need to know.

One last thing–it’s tempting to be (some combination of) scared, frustrated, and angry at the current state of affairs in our system.  Obviously I can’t dictate your emotional reactions, but I’ll make this pitch (which some of you have heard me say before).  In difficult times, the urge to panic, the urge to withdraw, and the urge to organize/mobilize are exactly the same.  MOBILIZE!  It’s a much healthier response.

Leave a comment

Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Collective Bargaining, Contract Negotiations, Inside Higher Ed, PASSHE, Public education, Rally, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, West Chester University

by | April 11, 2011 · 2:23 pm

The good news is good BECAUSE of what we’re doing. That means we need to keep doing it.

This article from CBS Philly should sound two chords at once:

1. PASSHE’s position in the Legislature is improving; even some very conservative Republicans, who otherwise don’t support much public anything, seem to be on board with protecting at least most of our budget allocation.

2. The reason the Legislature is coming around to this position is that WE ARE MAKING THEM. It’s our efforts on the streets, in the press, in hallways, and everywhere else that are pushing an otherwise not-often-friendly legislature in the right direction.

The upshot is, as our colleague Cherise Pollard (who pointed me to this link) put it, we have to keep working.  We should take this news as ENCOURAGING, but it’s encouraging us to KEEP PUSHING.

Tired of getting yelled at in ALL CAPS?  Show us what you’re doing to protect our schools and we won’t have to :).

 

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Links, PASSHE, Penn State University, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, University of Pittsburgh, West Chester University

by | April 8, 2011 · 11:12 am

Information about another rally

From Kevin Mahoney at the KUXchange, news about a rally April 26 in Harrisburg.  This one merges issues of higher ed, K-12 ed, public and private sector unions.  Details about times/speakers/sponsors forthcoming.

For any student readers or community members–if you’re interested in co-sponsoring this rally, you can use the flyer that’s linked in the post and add your organization’s name and contact info.  Let me (Seth) know if you do this, so I can tell my colleague who designed the flyer to add you to the sponsor list.

Also, Kevin has designed and put up for sale t-shirts in support of the event.  As always, Kevin uses proceeds to support pro-education, pro-student, pro-workers-rights efforts.

Leave a comment

Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Collective Bargaining, Communities, free speech, K-12 Education, Kutztown University, PASSHE, Public education, Rally, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, University of Pittsburgh, West Chester University

by | April 8, 2011 · 10:54 am

President Hicks’ Comments to the Board of Governors

From the State APSCUF blog.  President Hicks’ comments at their April meeting call on them to remind our state of the work we do and its importance.  I think it’s important for us as faculty to take up his call as well.

Leave a comment

Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, PASSHE, Public education, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, West Chester University

by | April 1, 2011 · 9:21 pm

Save the date! Wed, April 20. 7 PM.

At today’s event on campus, Sen. Andy Dinniman announced a Chester-County-wide pro-public-education (pre through college) rally and made an awfully convincing case that WE NEED TO TURN OUT IN FORCE.

Details forthcoming, but here are the vitals–

Wed April 20

7 PM

Chester County Courthouse Steps/Lawn/Wherever else we spill over

If you care about anything on this list, you should be there–

*WCU/PASSHE

*K-12 Education in PA

*Pre-K educational opportunities

*Anybody you know who goes to school at any of those levels

*Anybody you know who works at any school at any of those levels

That just about covers it.  Senator Dinniman said two things today that really hit.  First, he said that without pressure from us, we can’t expect the State Legislator to do anything for us.  Second, he said that with enough pressure from us, they can’t say no!

Leave a comment

Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Communities, K-12 Education, PASSHE, Public education, Rally, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, West Chester University

by | March 31, 2011 · 5:56 pm

The House Democratic Whip Is on Our Side, but…

From yesterday’s Centre Daily Times, Rep. Mike Hanna, the House Democratic Whip, expresses his strong support for funding PASSHE and rejecting Gov Corbett’s budget proposal.

He strikes just the right tone, reminding the Governor (or whoever on the Governor’s staff does his reading for him) that PASSHE tuition hasn’t, in fact, skyrocketted or “gotten out of control,” a mistake (?) the Governor made during his budget address.  [The Governor seems unable to understand the difference between state-owned and state-related universities.]  Rep. Hanna also strikes the tone in his strong reminder that middle and working-class families in PA are the ones who suffer most from this proposal–exactly the people who seem to have voted for Governor Corbett because he convinced them he was on their side. 

I have one quibble with Rep. Hanna’s position.  Throughout the piece, he makes moves like this one:

These efforts now further complicate our ability to deal with the extreme budget cuts proposed by the governor.
He uses the terms extreme, catastrophic, etc, all of which are correct.  My concern, however, is that by so empatically labeling the cuts as extreme, Rep. Hanna is setting the stage for the Legislature to rationalize smaller but still horrific cuts and claim credit for compromising while doing so.
We need to do everything we can not to let that happen.  So I recommend writing a letter (not on university e-mail or letterhead!) thanking Representative Hanna for his support, and reminding him that even a fraction of the cuts Corbett has proposed are still nearly impossible for the universities to bear. 

Leave a comment

Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, PASSHE, Penn State University, Representative Mike Hanna, Tom Corbett, University of Pittsburgh, West Chester University