Screenings expose privatization effort
Screenings expose privatization effort
The film “Backpack Full of Cash” has become a featured attraction at events across Massachusetts that are engaging union members and raising public awareness about the threat of privatizing public education.
Before the movie was put into wide release, MTA members attending the 2017 Summer Conference were among the earliest viewers of the documentary — a cautionary tale about how privatization is undermining public education.
Back then, “Backpack” helped frame the issues connected to the No on 2 campaign to keep the cap on charter schools.
Now locals are pairing the film, narrated by actor Matt Damon, with forums that help educate community members about the assault on public education and unions.
In Marshfield, more than 70 educators from about a dozen South Shore locals met in the high school cafeteria two days before Thanksgiving for a pre-screening discussion about why unions are essential to high-quality schools. A short video made by Wisconsin educators about the decimation of workers’ rights in that state in 2011 sparked further conversation.
Hull Teachers Association President Deborah McCarthy pointed out that collective action by unionized educators is essential to fighting for funding and policies that give students access to high-quality public schools where teachers — rather than standardized tests — set the classroom agenda.
The South Shore educators concluded their forum by creating their own “backpack full of cash.” They wrote on oversized “dollar bills” what they would like to see in their own public schools — if they had sufficient funding. Their wishes included more field trips, experiencebased learning, upgraded technology, after-school programs, and better pay for paraeducators.
Participants then marched together into the high school auditorium and joined approximately 50 residents of area communities to watch “Backpack.”
“We made a strong union presence when we walked in, and after the movie, there was a lot of discussion about why unions matter,” said Marshfield Education Association Co-President Chris Galvin. “There were a few politicians and their representatives there as well, taking notes.”
In Arlington, educators flipped the script, first showing “Backpack” and then holding a community forum.
Members from MTA locals in Arlington, Burlington, Lexington and Belmont organized the Jan. 8 event and worked with the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance and First Parish Unitarian Universalist of Arlington to promote the screening and discussion.
As was the case in Marshfield, the conversation turned toward the impact of having too little to spend on the needs of students and educators.
Lisa Guisbond, executive director of Citizens for Public Schools, encouraged school committees, educators and community activists to make the need for more funding known.
She offered a scenario that educators had previously used for union organizing and community building.
“The resolutions against charter school expansion that school committees passed during the No on 2 campaign were very influential,” Guisbond said. “We need to do it again for school funding. It’s worth fighting for.”