Point Austin: We Have Just Begun To Fight

At Saturday's rally, watching the river of people flow around the Capitol, I ran into Louis Malfaro of the American Federation of Teachers as he was marveling at the size of the crowd (final estimate at 12,000) turned out in six weeks by the newly established Save Texas Schools volunteer network. Malfaro had his own AFT lobby day scheduled for Monday, and by comparison he cheerfully mocked his own efforts: "We're expecting 4,000 people – but of course we're professional organizers, and we had six months." (He got closer to 10,000.)

It was indeed truly inspiring to see so many people from so many communities gather together in Austin to defend the public schools, although it remains to be seen what effect it will have on the Legislature and Gov. Rick Perry. Malfaro called attention to the many "cracks in the GOP" reflected in recent official statements. Both the Senate and House budget chairs – Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, and Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie – and several other legislative veterans have made it clear they cannot write a rational state budget without at least using some of the Rainy Day Fund (aka the Economic Stabilization Fund, for fans of fiscal stability). But these rational voices are assailed on the right by tea party ideologues and on the campaign trail by Perry, who couldn't even be bothered to have his staff attend a House budget meeting this week to respond to Pitts' queries about the governor's position. Don't call him, he'll call you – the governor is now treating elected representatives as he does the media and the voters.

Nevertheless, Malfaro pointed out that this behavior, at least on public education, is alienating a crucial GOP constituency: folks from small Texas communities far and wide, who may well be accustomed to voting Republican but who are also well aware that the school district is often the only game in town, and that game is not football. As the Mineral Wells ISD superintendent told the local newspaper: "I feel like we're the city council of New Orleans waiting for Hurricane Katrina to hit. It's not like we can avert the hurricane. We're just waiting to clean up the damage."

The current draft budgets reflect a potential 100,000 layoffs of public employees statewide, meaning at least that and perhaps a third again as many lost jobs in private employment. The governor may not be listening, but GOP state reps who have to run for re-election next fall (some were reportedly in attendance Saturday) are certainly feeling the pressure.

Building a Caste System

Even under the most optimistic scenarios, under which the reactionary holdouts finally come to their senses, the final budget will extensively hollow out public services statewide and devastate many of the communities which, beyond jobs, rely heavily on public institutions for basic economic and social needs. (Lord knows they're not paying for those luxuries on minimum wages.) One could hear that angry desperation Saturday in the terrific oration (see "Keep Texas Smart – and on the March") by John Kuhn, superintendent of the Perrin-Whitt Consolidated ISD, who has already earned national acclaim for his "Alamo Schools Letter" in defense of the public schools.

Saturday he gave his letter an inspirational and analytical introduction, making it plain that what is happening to his tiny district, northwest of Fort Worth in what is increasingly No-Texans Land, is not just cyclical but structural and by design: Business and political interests (see also: Wisconsin) are abandoning public education, the great equalizer of American life, and replacing it with a privatized caste system enforced by artificial "accountability" standards, under which tax cuts for the rich are institutionally prioritized over education for the rest of us. "I will never follow the lead of those who would exclude the kids who need education the most, so that my precious scores will rise," declared Kuhn. "I will never line up with those whose idea of reform is the subtle segregation of the poor and desperate. I want no part in the construction of this American caste system."

The Union Makes Us Strong

All in all, although the sound system was uneven and the sight lines unfriendly, Saturday's rally was a welcome, even heroic pause in the Texas juggernaut of public policy driving against the public interest. One of the marchers' most telling signs read, "Teachers unions are now outlawed in Wisconsin and Communist China." Of course, she could have added Texas, where, as Perry proudly declared, public employees have never had the basic human right to collective bargaining. (Corporations, on the other hand, are allowed to drive hard bargains with the state all the time – that's why we have a failed social services distribution system, why we meekly hand over public transportation and highways to private interests, and why corporations just love the Texas nontax, free-ride way of doing business.)

The last 40 years have meant accelerating inequality in American life, as the top 1% of the population grabs a radically greater and greater share of national wealth, and the rest of us endure steadily declining real incomes. It's no accident that that period coincides with the steady decline of union membership and political influence; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's determination to break the public employees unions could simply not have happened a generation ago – worker solidarity would simply not have allowed it.

We've forgotten a lot about solidarity, including in Austin, where plenty of so-called "progressives" only use the word "union" with arrogant disdain, because they don't really understand what it means. It's worth noting that while our Texas Capitol springtime rally brought out 12,000 from a state of 25 million, a simultaneous cold-weather Madison rally – in a state of 5.6 million – gathered together 100,000 people ready to take back their government and their fundamental rights to economic and political power. That's quite a testimony to the power of unionism, solidarity, and a tradition of understanding that political and economic democracy are inseparable. It's a lesson we need to learn in Texas, and to teach each other, together.