It’s been a while. For the uninitiated: This website was built after the first UC student and faculty walkout on September 24th to help coordinate future efforts. It was central in arranging the October 24th statewide conference, which issued the call for the statewide protests last month that were covered by local and national news outlets.

Since our last update several months ago, the fight for public education has raged on. Other groups have done a splendid job keeping the general public informed of their efforts. What has become increasingly clear based on the numerous websites and Twitter feeds, however, is that there’s still a need for a centralized area to share information.

That’s where we come in. The decision to bring the site back was simple: We want to fill the void and provide a one-stop place that allows anyone, whether they participated in past events or were critical of such actions, to quickly get informed and involved in advancing the core goals and values of the movement.

While there might not be a consensus on how to achieve those ends, we all agree that our public education system is broken. Let’s come together and go from there.

Starting next week, expect regular updates with the latest news and events. Shortly afterward, the site will be overhauled to remove references to the October 24th conference and broaden its focus toward the future of the movement.

We’re excited to be back. Stay tuned, and thanks for sticking around!

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!

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’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!

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!

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.

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!

• 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!

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.

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!