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October 26, 2011

Students, Teachers, Activists Occupy New York City Board of Education Meeting 
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In New York City, more than 100 students, teachers and educational
activists occupied the city's Board of Education meeting Tuesday night
to protest the city's education policies — including budget cutbacks,
layoffs, large class sizes and an over emphasis on standardized testing.
After New York City School Chancellor Dennis Walcott and school board
members fled the meeting, an impromptu people's "general assembly" was
held. Speakers included an eight-year-old student named Indigo.

Indigo, eight-year-old student: “Mic check. I’m Indigo and I’m an
eight-year-old third-grader and I’m sad Ms. Cunningham is doing work
for free. I don’t think it’s fair that teachers are getting
laid-off. I think it would help me learn more if we had smaller classes.
My teacher, Ms. Lamar, has to shout to be heard. We also need more
support for teachers at the beginning of the year. We had 32
children.”



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