Fight to Win @ School of the Arts

I'm writing this because I would love nothing more than to see Brizard's offensive budget defeated. I was one of the main organizers of the SOTA Budget Protests in 2009. I'd like to share what I think can be learned from the '09 campaign so that the 2011 campaign can be better and can win.

On letter-writing, etc:

There's nothing wrong with writing letters, in fact it's good to do it. But it's not enough. The problem is not that the school board don't know it's wrong. They know it's wrong, they just have other priorities than your education (especially Brizard). So we can't convince or persuade our way out of these cuts. They have to be defeated politically, forced to back down. There has to be enough public pressure on them that it's bad for them to pass the cuts. This isn't easy to do, but it is possible.

On the question of a walkout:

I was one of those in favor of this back in '09 when it was discussed, but I want to discuss the question. If it's going to be done, it's got to be done big and with student unity on deciding to do it. No sense in half-ass walkouts, in fact they're dangerous. And if a walkout is done it must be done openly, not with fire alarms or other chaotic measures, but walking out resolutely in full view of everyone. Having said that, and maintaining that I think a walkout is a decent idea, i'd like to also say that there are plenty of alternative tactics to achieve the same goals: sit-ins, occupations, in-school actions, outside protests, etc. Since it seems like the biggest concern is that walking out of classes we're trying to save sends the wrong message, then do the opposite: stay in and refuse to leave. The same effects are had: media attention, confrontation, showing students are bold and powerful.

On student organization:

In 2009, SOTA students started a movement to stop the budget cuts to our school. We ran a great campaign, but we didn't win. And the next fall, the issue was dead: no one was keeping up the fight. Now more cuts are threatening and SOTA students are little better off than we were in '09. We didn't build a student organization that could keep the fight going. Now the '09 protests did have an organization: it consisted of myself, Katy Rebholz, Megan Gilfoy, and Aleigha Spinks. Later we brought in Peter Balonon-Rosen and Chelsea DeBaise (the then-incoming Student Government Pres and VP). And we held 2 or 3 meetings where over a hundred students packed into rooms to semi-chaotically discuss plans. Now we did really great stuff with that system, but there were some problems with it:

First, it was basically run by 4 people. We had to do it this way because the alternative was to just gather everybody together and hope a plan emerged from the noise. There was no process for involving lots of students democratically and still being able to function. The choice was do it ourselves or it doesn't get done, so we did it. But what was needed was a democratic organization capable of running a large-scale, long-term campaign.

The other reason a large democratic organization is needed is to decide tactical questions like the walkout. In '09 the 4 of us had decided to do it and then 2 of us decided against it and we cancelled it. But something like that really should be decided by the whole group (or as close as possible). This would help keep students united, whatever the decision: if we all made the decision then we're all together on it.

Now the Student Government is elected by students and that's democratic in a way, but we all know that those elections are about popularity, etc. There are lots of reasons for this. I'd like to mention a few.

The Student Government isn't elected based on who can really “get the job done” because there is no job description either in writing or in practice. So without any other criteria, students just choose their generally favorite people and, as we all know, nothing happens.

SOTA Student Government consists of 4 people: President, VP, Secretary, and Treasurer. And only the Pres and VP can vote on School-Based Planning (where there's some real power). There is a structural problem here: no 2 people, no matter how committed or well-chosen could possibly represent the whole student body. Now there is a section in the Student Government Constitution that calls for a Student Congress with 4 student representatives from each grade level. To my knowledge, this Student Congress has not been a reality for some time (if ever). This is understandable, though. Said congress is given no real power and unless there is clear work to be done, then you either get nobody (like at SOTA) or some kids who like to play politician (like most college student governments).

I have some ideas to propose for discussion:

A democratic student organization is necessary to fight for the interests of students. This could mean starting one from scratch or it could mean rehabilitating the Student Congress section of Student Government; doesn't really matter – whichever works. It could be called Student Government, Student Congress, Student Union; again name doesn't matter – whatever works. What does matter is that it involve as many students as possible in the decisions affecting the school, that it make these decisions democratically, and that student decisions are final (no administration interference).

The next question then is what real power would this organization have? Well there are two kinds of power to talk about here: institutional power (getting voting seats on school-based planning, etc) and people power (the power of students protesting, writing, organizing, etc). I think that an organization like this (especially now) could be a way to channel the amazing energy of students into a way to effectively use the people power of students to fight against budget cuts (or any other future threats to students). Such an organization should also demand institutional power.

Questions about the specific structure of a Student Organization must of course be decided, not by me but by current students themselves. But i'll throw out some ideas/suggestions. The way the Congress is supposed to work (if I remember it right) is that 4 students are elected from each grade in much the same way as Pres, VP, etc. This could work, but I think I have a better idea:

• Each arts class could elect one student representative. So you'd have a Freshman Dance Representative and a Junior Tech Representative, etc. This way the elections are small scale, easy to manage, and much more specific. Each class would also be able to pick a new representative at any time.
• 4 grade levels times 7 departments makes a 28-person Congress (or whatever it's called) that can easily decide things and still keep in touch with the whole student body class-by-class.
• That 28-person body could pick 4 or 5 people to really run all the detailed stuff (like Katy, Megan, Aleigha, and I did) but they would be responsible to the decisions of the 28 and through them the whole school.

This organization, whatever its specific form, should establish a working relationship with the Rochester Teachers Association (RTA) and the Board of Education Non-Teaching Employees (BENTE) as well as other unions and community groups. Only by students uniting with teachers and workers as allies can we hope to really beat Brizard and the threat he represents.

To Victory,

Crescenzo Scipione

Class of '09