After a frenzied month of planning by the conference organizers, more than 800 individuals, representing hundreds of schools and organizations from across the state, and representing all sectors of public education, joined together at this historic conference to decide on a united, statewide action plan.

The powerful actions taken by workers, faculty and students during the September 24 strike within the UC system prompted a call by the UC Berkeley General Assembly for a Statewide Mobilizing Conference at UC Berkeley for exactly one month later — October 24th.

On the one hand, the conference sought to both strengthen and broaden the mobilizations that were taking place at universities across the state. On the other hand, the conference aimed to coordinate these efforts to build a united fightback against the budget cuts on a statewide level and across public education as a whole.

After a frenzied month of planning by the conference organizers, more than 800 individuals, representing hundreds of schools and organizations from across the state, and representing all sectors of public education, joined together at this historic conference to decide on a united, statewide action plan.

The conference began with an open floor discussion, during which proposals regarding the best next steps to advance the struggle against the budget cuts were put forward. The majority of proposals overwhelmingly supported mass action, particularly striking, over lobbying and petitioning.

During the afternoon breakout sessions participants met according to sector — K-12, JC, CSU and UC — and expressed much of the same sentiment. Echoing the proposals brought forward earlier in the day, the breakout discussions centered around how best to build mass actions locally, while coordinating with allies on a statewide level.

After quite a bit of back and forth, the afternoon session voted, as its principal decision, to call for a Strike and Day of Action on March 4.

To coordinate upcoming actions — such as the upcoming November 17-20 UC and CSU protests against the fee hikes, which are necessary building blocks to build momentum for March 4 — the conference created a volunteer Coordinating Committee that has statewide representation.

The conference was significant on many levels. The huge turnout for this conference speaks to the depth of the economic crisis, the disillusionment many feel within the corporate political process and therefore the importance of building a mass, democratic movement.

Most important, however, was the overwhelming sentiment to act together — united as students, teachers, and workers across all regions and sectors of public education.

Through independent organizing and united mass actions we can stop the privatization and resegregation of public education.