> What's remarkable is that intellectuals on this list are so
> attracted to news of free speech rights being violated, but are not
> vociferously discussing the 65% Solution, TABOR and other issues
> that are a far more immediate threat to public education and
> teachers jobs in Colorado.
Would Colorado teachers feel free to discuss with students the 65% Solution, TABOR, and other issues that threaten public education and teachers' jobs?
When CWA Local 4501, representing about 2,000 campus workers at OSU, went on strike, we took over the administration building and occupied it for a month, and many of us teachers (TAs, lecturers, professors) held classes in that temporarily liberated building (the president and other administration officials fled to an off-campus location!), the Oval, or alternative locations, in solidarity with the striking workers. In response, the administration sent the following letter to all students:
"[Y]ou should expect all of your classes to meet in a normal fashion, focusing on the subject matter that is outlined in course syllabi. If you feel that your instructors are not respecting your right to the education for which you have registered and paid, please contact Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Studies Martha Garland at 292-5881, garland.1 at osu.edu, or Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Susan Huntington at 292-6031, huntington.1 at osu.edu" (which I posted here during the strike: <http://mailman.lbo- talk.org/2000/2000-May/010064.html>).
The school management wants that power to narrowly circumscribe teachers' speech, which they can and do use for anti-union purposes as in the case of OSU in 2000, and unions should fight that.
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org>