• Activists Relating Their Compelling, Personal Stories to Elected Officials

Dec. 2009 - Since the beginning of the fall semester, student mobilization interns across LACCD haven’t had a chance to catch their breath. To date, they have planned and held six townhalls meetings, 15 legislative visits, collected tens of thousands of ‘Stop the Cuts’ postcards, conducted 10 surveys and held five campus rallies.

Their enthusiasm and activism has captured some good media attention along the way – they were on the front page of the Daily News last month protesting their budget cuts. The program also made the front page of the Pierce college newspaper. They are featured this month on the LA Federation of Labor web site and they got some good coverage in the Perspective, the CFT publication for faculty.

“We have a great program and really good group of enthusiastic students this fall,” said student intern coordinator Zack Knorr. “They’re really bringing the budget crisis and its impact on their education home to their fellow students and to state legislators in Sacramento.”

Legislative visits included meetings with Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Assemblymembers Mike Eng, Bob Blumenthal, and Felipe Fuentes and Senators Alex Padilla, Gil Cedillo, Rod Wright, and others.

In a meeting with Rep. Fuentes, Mission College interns were able to establish a strong relationship with the legislator, sharing their personal stories with him. They presented him with tens of thousands of postcards they had gathered from other students in support of No Budget Cuts, and they got him to commit to speak on campus in the spring.

Two Town Hall meetings at Mission and Pierce Colleges on Oct. 29 featured hundreds of students asking legislators tough questions about the budget. At Pierce College Assemblywoman Julia Brownley fielded many questions from students about the budget process and heard their displeasure over more cuts. At Mission College, Los Angeles City Councilmember Richard Alarcon took questions from students asking about the future of their education, and focusing on the California state budget cut crisis.

“Many students are concerned about the cuts and their effect on community colleges,” noted Pierce intern Emily Harake. “But what they may not realize is that the schools they want to transfer to are also being hit hard by cuts so it is important to fight for affordable education everywhere.”

Community college student Joana Batz, 21, says her hands-on experience in grassroots democracy, through the internship program is grooming her to be part of the next generation of progressive activists. But she has also performed a valuable community service by connecting with voters who are often left out of the political process.

“I got a lot of thank yous from Spanish-speaking voters,” said Batz, a student at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, who has phone banked for this year local downballot races in this year’s local elections. Phone banking allowed Batz to educate voters about cuts in disability centers, reductions in library hours and layoffs of teachers.

Batz’ mother is a Marriott housekeeper and proud member of Unite Here, Local 11. The internship has also been a chance to learn more about the labor movement, Batz said.

“I just really, really wanted to get involved with the unions,” she said.

Zack Knorr, a community college philosophy instructor who runs the program for Local 1521, said 55 students are currently in the program, or about six students for Los Angeles’ nine community colleges.

In addition to receiving class credit and a small stipend, the students receive 16 hours of classroom training on mobilizing and organizing. Students have helped organize teach-ins, rallies and town halls attended by hundreds and have led delegations to visit the staff of U.S. senators about the Employee Free Choice Act.

The result has been the formation of a powerful coalition of students and faculty fighting to protect education. Knorr said students’ stories have the most influence on elected officials.

“They represent these students,” Knorr said of legislators. “If they’re going to represent their constituents, they need to support education.”

But Knorr hopes that students have more than just an impact on the budget discussion.

“They’re going to be progressive activists for the future,” he said. “These are people who are going to go on to be union organizers or politicians.”