Save Our Schools March, the organization that galvanized the national education activist movement, has recently reconstituted itself as Uniting to Save Our Schools (USOS).

The right of every individual to a high quality, free, and equitable public education has yet to be realized. This is because our public education system is a direct reflection of the broader social, political, and economic ills that plague our society, and an economic system based upon profit rather than human needs and human rights. In order to transform public education, we must work to eliminate all forms of human exploitation, including systemic racism, as well as existing inequities in healthcare, housing, jobs, food security, and the environment. The corporate agenda controls the two- party system and drives critical decisions that determine the nature of public education. Corporate profit and greed also drive enormous military budgets and war spending resulting in diminished resources being allocated to public education. Creating a public education system that is equitable, democratic, humane, and nurturing will require fundamental changes to the institutions of power and wealth that benefit the few at the expense of the many.

All public schools should be environments where everyone can begin to realize their full human potential and work together to envision and create a more just and equitable, democratic society. Schools must be responsive to student creativity, foster a sense of care and responsibility for oneself and others, and cultivate a desire to critique and act upon inequities. This requires a fully funded public education system in which professional educators receive the respect and support they deserve. While many educators currently engage their students in active, meaningful learning, our struggle to transform the education system cannot be divorced from the larger struggle to dismantle the structural, systemic forces that undermine a just and equitable democracy.