On Oaxaca and the revolutionary teachers

[black magick hustla]

Many of us know how the teachers in Oaxaca are pretty well organized, and how they managed to become pretty much a pain in the ass to the mexican state.

However, I have been struggling with this question.

What about the children in the schools were those teachers work? Oaxaca 's schools are known for sometimes not having classes due to militant teachers. Certainly, while schools are ultimately a tool of the current class in power, public education does help kids as a possible medium to get out of poverty.


Also, it is pretty well known that public school teachers receive a relatively high salaries compared to most jobs. The average public school teacher gets about half of what an american public school teacher gets, which it is alot, considering the conditions of mexico.

So what do you think about this situation? It doesn't matters that kids that cannot afford private education do not get proper instruction?

[DPCC2002]

"To this end, the APPO has formed a "teachers' police" which has evolved into a highly disciplined, efficient, and popularly controlled self-defense force, capable of going on the offensive if necessary. In addition, classes were resumed so the children would not lose an entire school year, and so as to avoid the pressure to end the struggle from parents worried about the effects all of this would have on their children's education."

I pulled this from an email that I recieved from Hands Off Venezuela

"40,000-strong teachers' union of Oaxaca - Section 21 of the National Education Workers' Union (SNTE) - has fought for better wages and conditions, proper funding for schools, supplies, uniforms, and increased student grants, which currently amount to less than $40 a month (unable to afford school uniforms or supplies, and compelled to bring more money into the household, thousands of children drop out of school at an early age in order to work and never receive even a primary education).

Like most Mexicans, the teachers of Oaxaca were sick and tired of a government more interested in back-room political deals and looting the treasury than combating poverty. They were sick of a government that sat idly by while torrential floods swept away entire villages. They were sick of a government that turned a blind eye to the rampant murders of community activists. They were sick of a government that spent millions on un-necessary projects (contracted out to political cronies), while basic services were neglected or non-existent. Above all, they were sick of Oaxaca's Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortega, the personification of this rotten system. Ruiz is a classic specimen of an old-guard PRI party boss - a corrupt and violent thug with close ties to big business and drug traffickers - which in Mexico are often one and the same."

-pulled this from the same source. I hope this helps you out. If you would like to read the entire message just tell me and I'll post it, there is quite a bit more information contained