The Peace and Justice caucus in the American Federation of Teachers held a roundtable discussion on “Fighting Back in the Schools” during the July 2008 AFT Convention in Chicago. Labor Beat edited excerpts from those presentations, including dramatic footage of student protests, in the face of police repression, against the privatization of the public schools in Detroit and St. Louis. The message is clear: public education, a long-fought-for gain of the working class over the last century and a half, is targeted for annihilation by corporate America. Speakers are: Gloria Brandman, Teacher, NYC Public Schools; Steve Conn, teacher, Detroit Public Schools; Jim Hamilton, Missouri AFT; George Schmidt, Chicago, editor of Substance Newspaper; Julie Washington, Elementary Schools Vice President, United Teachers Los Angeles; Pablo Rodriguez, instructor, San Francisco State University.

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