Two dozen high school and college students from Baltimore and Washington and one high school teacher from Baltimore were arrested on Feb. 5 on the steps of the Maryland State House in Annapolis. They were taking into custody after staging a “die-in” to protest what they called the “historic underfunding” of public schools.
The Baltimore Algebra Project, a student-run civil rights organization that attacks the racist and anti-working class nature
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After surging past police officers, the students strung crime-scene tape on the railings of the State House to convey the criminal nature of the government’s education policies and to point out that crime rates increase when educational funding decreases. Christopher Goodman, organizer for the Algebra Project, explained to the demonstrators: “We are identifying this place as a crime scene. Every year that they underfund our schools, they kill us.”
This message is both personal and political for members of the Baltimore Algebra Project. Two weeks before the Annapolis rally, 18-year-old Zacharia Hallback, an activist with the organization, was murdered during a robbery.
Algebra Project members made it clear that Hallback’s death was not an isolated incident, and that better jobs and education funding would save lives in the city. In an opinion piece published by the Baltimore Sun, Algebra Project teacher Jay Gillen wrote: “This is what Zack tried to tell us while he lived. Will we listen now that he is dead?” At the Feb. 5 rally, the students laid down a coffin in honor of Hallback and chanted their group’s motto, “No education, No life!”
The specific demand of the Annapolis protest was to keep intact the Thornton Education Bill, which aims at reducing the funding gap between suburban and city schools.
Governor Martin O’Malley, who campaigned with the promise of improving education, has threatened to repeal the bill. O’Malley’s proposal would strip public schools of $133 million in anticipated funding, and Baltimore public schools in particular would suffer a $45 million shortfall.
The proposed cutbacks in Maryland are part of a nationwide trend. Bush’s proposed budget for the coming year includes cutbacks on key social programs, while Pentagon spending is to increase by 8.1 percent. In Washington, D.C., just an hour’s drive from Baltimore, Mayor Adrian Fenty is attempting to close 23 public schools despite fierce opposition from community members.
Lacking adequate educational and job opportunities in the capitalist system, youth are often left to choose more extreme measures to make ends meet. Every year, thousands upon thousands are channeled into the prison-industrial complex or become prime targets for military recruitment. A recent study found that only three out of every 100 African American males that enter kindergarten will finish college.
A fighting movement, challenging both the politicians’ criminal policies and the capitalist system that thrives on such criminality, is needed to secure free quality education for all. In Baltimore, the Algebra Project is leading the way.
No education, no life!
