YINZERCATION: …Tuesday, Gov. Corbett’s office refused to accept letters from school children in Pittsburgh, and was greeted with a rally at his front door in Harrisburg. (See “The Governor Must Listen.”)
But Wednesday took the cake. Yesterday, Pennsylvania literally took to the streets, protesting Gov. Corbett’s education cuts with large demonstrations in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh. In Philadelphia, several thousand people marched through the streets chanting, “Save our schools!” Organized by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the parade included a sea of bus drivers, janitors, and other school workers who have been uniformly pink slipped by the state in its effort to privatize the Philadelphia education system. Fourteen people were arrested in a peaceful sit-down demonstration designed to get the Governor’s attention. (Check out some great photos: Philadelphia Inquirer, 5-23-12)
At the very same time, several hundred people marched through the streets of Pittsburgh to Governor Corbett’s downtown office. After denying entrance to a small group of moms and kids on Tuesday, it was no surprise that the governor’s office refused to accept a message from representatives of yesterday’s group. Eleven protestors then sat peacefully in the street in a planned demonstration and were arrested for blocking traffic. These folks – parents, teachers, school workers, preachers, community members – chose to take a bold stand to send a strong message to the Governor. “We can’t afford to stand by and watch public education eroded,” the Rev. David Thornton of Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church in the Hill District, told the crowd. Governor Corbett “needs to understand that we are in this fight for the long haul because we care about our children and quality public education for all children.” [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5-23-12] … (more)
EDITOR: And then things got worse!
