The national significance of the "Proposal E" referendum
On November 2, 2004, a referendum known as Proposal E will be placed
before the voters of Detroit, Michigan. A "yes" vote will make permanent
the takeover of the Detroit public schools which began five years ago; a
"no" vote will restore a fully empowered school board and restore the
franchise to the largest majority-black city in the nation. It is the
most important battle right now for the defense of public education and
the fight against racism.
Over the past several years - coterminous with the attack on affirmative
action - many inner-city, majority-minority school districts have been
taken over, sometimes by state governments, sometimes by city mayors,
and sometimes handed over directly to corporations. In all cases, the
aim of bypassing democratically elected school boards and putting all
power in the hands of an unelected central authority has been to force
through a series of unpopular measures that would be impossible to
implement through a normal, democratic process. School closures, massive
teacher and school worker layoffs, and unrestrained cronyism in the
management of school finances and contracts have been some of the
methods used for the purpose of degrading the public school system and
forcing the adoption of school privatization and charter schools.
The forces of privatization, corporate avarice, segregation and racism
have support in the state leadership of both political parties: the
city's mayor, the Democratic state governor, the Republican-controlled
state legislature, and the local Chamber of Commerce. They will be
spending a great deal of money to deceive voters on the nature of
Proposal E (claiming that a "yes" vote will essentially restore the
right to vote because it will result in a school board which - although
ceremonial, token, and powerless before an appointed "CEO" - is
nevertheless elected).
The takeover of the Detroit schools is massively unpopular. BAMN
has helped organize the opposition since the takeover's inception. A
coalition of forces for a No vote on Proposal E is being built across
civil rights, labor, church, and community organizations. If we defeat
Proposal E, it will be the first time in the country that the takeover
of a school district has been reversed. We can build on that victory by
going on the offensive against the takeover of school districts around
the country, fight for equity between school districts and for real
school integration. Only an elected, accountable leadership can unite
and mobilize the people of Detroit to fight in Lansing and Washington
for the kind of influx of funding necessary to reduce class size and
increase books and supplies in Detroit's public schools.
We need your support to build the campaign that can express the
aspirations of the people of Detroit for democracy, equality in
education, and mobilize the overwhelming opposition of the city to the
takeover of the Detroit public schools. See the links below to find out
more on Proposal E and how we can organize to defeat it.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
