Thank you to the over six hundred attendees and volunteers from all over the state for making last Saturday’s conference a success!

Please bookmark this website and keep an eye on it in the future. In the near future, we will be posting videos of the general assemblies and news on the developments from the conference. We are also working hard to transition this space into a central hub for the fight to save California’s public education systems. There a lot of exciting ideas planned for the future — stay tuned!

More big news: The California Federation of Teachers (CFT) has endorsed the conference! This is in addition to the recent endorsements by the Berkeley Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Berkeley Persian Student Association (PSA). As always, the support and commitment of these organizations is very much appreciated.

A full list of endorsements can be found here. Interested in adding your name to the list? Get in touch with us at oct24conference@gmail.com. Thanks!

Do you reside in Berkeley or are otherwise local to the area? Can you spare some of your precious time to help out with the conference? If so, please read on!

We’re currently looking for volunteers to help out with the following throughout the day: food preparation, food service, child care, registration, and traducción al Español.

Most of these opportunities will require a partial day shift at a minimum, but definitely contact us even if you only have an hour or two to offer — we can certainly use any and all help we can get.

If you’re interested, please attend our volunteer orientation an hour before registration: 8:00am on Saturday at the Pauley Ballroom. Hope to see you there!

Big day for endorsements: Both AFT Local 1493 and the Peace & Freedom Party have endorsed the conference! In addition, a number of individuals have done so as well. As always, the support and commitment of these organizations and individuals is very much appreciated.

A full list of endorsements can be found here. Interested in adding your name to the list? Get in touch with us at oct24conference@gmail.com. Thanks!

We are now accepting requests from outside groups and organizations to table on the 24th.

Tables will be set up along the side of the conference room. Those in the Berkeley area: Please have a representative attend our committee meeting on Monday, October 19th at 6pm. We will be in the courtyard of the Free Speech Movement cafe at the UC Berkeley campus. We intend on reviewing proposals for tabling preference from campus and community groups.

For additional information, please send your request in advance to oct24conference@gmail.com. Include the name of your organization, contact information, and a list of persons staffing the table.

More news to report: CUE Local 3 voted to endorse the conference yesterday! As always, we’re very thankful for their support and commitment.

Now, we’ve been listening carefully to your suggestions and comments, and one of the most often requested features is a public online forum to discuss proposals for the campaign.

So today, we’re proud to introduce a new forum for the conference (and beyond)! You can take a look here: http://www.savecapubliceducation.org/forum/

A guide on how to use the forum has been posted at the link, and has also been attached below:

Thanks for participating! The “Proposals” forum is an area where community members can submit and discuss direct action proposals for the upcoming conference and beyond.

Note that you *DO NOT* need to register for an account if you only plan on commenting on existing proposals. We want to make it as easy as possible to participate and provide input. We do ask that you sign your comments at the end if you choose to post as a guest.

You must register, however, if you wish to post your own ideas. This helps tie proposals to a given user and provides verifiable continuity in discussions. The registration form takes less than a minute, and all accounts are activated immediately.

To avoid redundancy, please view current threads and try to limit your submissions to one proposal per thread. We may choose to merge or moderate any proposals that have already been posted.

And, as always, thank you for your interest and enthusiasm. United, we can win the fight!

We’ve just finished a large update to the Housing & Transportation section of the website. You can view the page by clicking here. Please read and note the following:

• If you either need or can provide a carpool: Please join the H&T Google Group at http://groups.google.com/group/oct-24-conference-housing-transportation and post a topic with either [NEED] or [PROVIDE] in the subject line. We may also attempt to coordinate carpools, as needed.
• If you are in need of housing: Please view the page immediately to view your options, then e-mail us at oct24housing@gmail.com with your top three preferences from the list of options, the size of your party, and the length of your stay (Friday and/or Saturday).
• If you have any special needs or requests: Please contact us immediately and we will do our best to accommodate them.
• Otherwise, for general advice on how to get to the venue and/or hotel recommendations, please view the page at your leisure.

If there are still any questions about housing or transportation, please contact us at oct24housing@gmail.com. Thanks!

Fantastic news: Members from Local 1 of UPTE-CWA 9119 voted last Thursday to endorse the conference! We’re very thankful for their support and commitment to this effort.

In addition, we’ve posted a Spanish translation of the invitation. You can view it by clicking the “Also available en Español” above; it’s also included below.

INVITACION AL ENCUENTRO DE MOVILIZACION PARA SALVAR A LA EDUCACION PUBLICA

Tenemos la capacidad para detener los catastróficos recortes presupuestales, los aumento de colegiaturas y los despidos, sin embargo, salvar a la educación pública en California requiere coordinar nuestras acciones a escala estatal.

Invitamos a todos los estudiantes, trabajadores, profesores y sus organizaciones de la UC; CSU, CC y K-12, en todo el estado, a participar y forjar colectivamente el encuentro de movilización para salvar a la Educación Pública. Esta jornada se realizará en la Universidad de California campus Berkeley (entra en contacto con nosotros para los detalles de logística).

El propósito de la conferencia es a la vez simple y urgente: democráticamente decidir un plan de acción estatal que nos lleve a ganar esta lucha que define el porvenir de la educación pública en el estado, especialmente en lo que se refiere a la clase trabajadora y a las comunidades de color.

¿Por qué en Berkeley? El 24 de septiembre más de 5 000 personas protestaron en forma masiva y paralizaron de manera efectiva el campus como parte del paro en toda la Universidad de California.

Ese mismo día por la noche se reunieron más de 400 personas y representantes de docenas de organizaciones, y colectivamente decidieron llamar este encuentro.

Convocamos a todas las organizaciones e individuos en el estado que quieren salvar la educación pública, a respaldar este encuentro y a contribuir colectivamente a que se haga realidad.

¡Salvemos a la Educación Pública!

¡No a los recortes presupuestales!

¡Por la solidaridad en todo el estado de estudiantes, trabajadores y profesores!

Informes: oct24conference@gmail.com

Para respaldar el encuentro y más información.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but to ensure that we’re able to best accommodate all conference attendees, we ask that everyone update their RSVP with the new link above (or by clicking here).

The revised form removes the requirement of a Facebook account, allows us to better track our numbers, helps us get an idea of your housing and transportation needs, and gives a breakdown of geographical representation.

Even if you’ve already confirmed on Facebook, please RSVP again using the form above. Help us make this a successful conference for everyone involved. Thanks for understanding!

The links at the top of the page have been revised to include the both the conference agenda and the directions to the Pauley Ballroom. Additional information will be posted shortly.

Feedback on the agenda is encouraged — this is your conference as much as it is ours, and we’re always looking for suggestions to ensure that this is productive for everyone involved. Share your thoughts by clicking the comment link at the top of this post. Thanks!

Agenda:

9:00AM – Doors open

10:00AM – Conference begins

10:00AM to 10:45AM – Explanation of conference and greetings

10:45AM to 11:45AM – General Assembly: What Next For Struggle To Save Public Education?

15 minute break

12:00PM to 1:30PM – Break out groups/Task-forces

1:30PM to 2:30PM – Lunch

2:30PM to 4:00PM – General Assembly and Voting: What Next For Struggle To Save Public Education?

4:00PM to 5:00PM – Network/coordinating