Milwaukee, WI – Students for a Democratic Society’s call for a National Day of Action to Defend Public Education was answered by the Education Rights Coalition, Milwaukee SDS, undergraduate and graduate students, union members and community members who rallied on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, March 14.

At present the U.S. government spends about $128 billion on education, a meager amount compared to the $851 billion military budget. Additionally, student loan debt has surpassed $1 trillion, more than the U.S.’s level of credit card debt.

Rallying in Spaights Plaza (during midterm examination week), students held signs like “Chop from the top!” and “Education is a right!” and a large banner that read “Fund education not occupation!”

Tiffany Strong from SDS, Jorge Maya from Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES), and Gilbert Johnson, Vice President of AFSCME 82, gave personal testimony to the rising cost of education and its unaffordability, especially for disabled, undocumented, poor and oppressed nationality students.

Gerardo Alvarado, an organizer from Youth Empowered in the Struggle, said, “Until scholarships are available for undocumented people the rates for immigrant students attending college will be low.”

After rallying in Spaights Plaza, the demonstrators marched to present their list of demands to Chancellor Michael Lovell and Vice Chancellor Michael Laliberte at Chapman Hall.

Reminiscent of a protest a couple years back when 15 students were arrested in a standoff with UWM police outside Chapman Hall, the coalition members were met once again with a locked building guarded by university police. A sign on the north entrance read “No admittance! Use east entrance!” When asked if they could enter as a group a police officer replied “not today!” as he let in individual staff members.

Protesters refused to leave until an administrator met with them and received their demands. They then were greeted by another officer and Dean of Students Jim Hill, who asked for a representative and who claimed they did not know where the chancellor and vice chancellor were. Hill insisted he would present the demands to the chancellors himself. After stating the demands of the protest in a mic-check outside Chapman Hall, the coalition members marched back to Spaights Plaza where they held several more mic-checks in and around the student union, again announcing their demands.

The Education Rights Coalition presented the following demands: that all student loans be forgiven; chop military spending and more money for Pell grants; Increased availability of scholarships for disabled, undocumented, poor and oppressed nationality students; and increased availability of funds for state employees.

#MilwaukeeWI #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #EducationRights #ChopFromTheTop #EducationRightsCoalition

Milwaukee, WI – Hundreds of students, faculty, and staff rallied at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM) for the March 1st National Day of Action for Education rights. Members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), AFSCME Local 82, and AFT Locals marched across campus chanting “No remorse, no regret, we wont pay our student debt!” The crowd stopped at the Chancellor's office to present the demands of the Education Rights Coalition, where they were met by members of the administration. The coalition demands include a tuition freeze, student loan debt forgiveness, and collective bargaining rights for public employee unions affected by Governor Scott Walker's union busting.

The campaign also demanded the administration “Chop From the Top” by cutting salaries of university administrators before cutting the pay of faculty and staff. The university administration also held their own event on March 1st, an event to select a new Provost who will receive an estimated $80,000 pay raise to his six-figure salary, all while faculty and staff are seeing the biggest cuts in decades. Protesters marched into the event early to conduct their own teach-in led by graduate student members of AFT Local 2169.

The teach-in

When the Interim Provost took the stage to make his case for an $80,000 pay raise, teachers, students, and staff who have been affected by cuts began a silent picket inside the room, holding “Chop From the Top” signs. During the question and answer period, SDS member Willa Leannah grilled the Provost about the anticipated pay raise while students are struggling to pay tuition. Students at UWM work more hours than students at any other state school, while UWM tuition doubled in the last ten years and the UW system was cut 21% by Scott Walker's administration. Student loan debt has already surpassed credit card debt, and is expected to exceed $1 trillion this year.

#MilwaukeeWI #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #SDS #EducationRights #MilwaukeeSDS #EducationRightsCoalition