Teach the Budget

First Edition of the UC-Santa Cruz Newsletter!

educate and agitate — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 07:23:08 +0000

Report: Regents’ fishy dealings with Wall Street set to cost the UC over $200M

educate and agitate — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 17:15:52 +0000

A team of UC Berkeley students have just published a report on the Regents’ incompetent and fishy dealings with Wall Street. The gist is that the UC Regents have engaged in shady investments that are set to cost the university about $257 million.

It’s worth reading the full report, which you can find here.

More Teaching Tools

educate and agitate — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:55:04 +0000

More teaching tools (from winter 2012):

A PowerPoint presentation to go with the curriculum.
Our short video on the UC budget crisis. (Also posted below.)

***Bonus Materials***

Economic Supplement: Who paid for the economic crisis? Chock-full of stats on the financial crisis, the growing wealth gap, and the truth about taxes.
Charting Inequality: A collection of jaw-dropping charts and graphs illustrating the growing wealth divide.

Dismal Stats on the State of the U.S. Economy

educate and agitate — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 22:30:06 +0000

It’s by now common knowledge that economic inequality in the US has grown at breakneck speed since the 1960s. But the extent of the hardship many Americans face is pretty harrowing. Below is a round-up of stats that reveal the urgency of the problem.

Nearly 1 in 2 Americans (48%) is living in poverty or considered low-income.
The portion of working-age Americans who are living at or below the poverty level is 56.7%–the highest it’s been since the 1960s.
1 in 5 U.S. children are living in poverty, defined as $22,350/year for a family of four.
The average unemployed worker will spend over 40 weeks looking for another job.
Nearly 1 in 5 working Americans consider themselves underemployed.
1 in 3 Americans does not have enough savings to cover one month of housing costs if they lose their jobs.

When it comes to poverty, race and gender matter–by a lot.

In 2010, the poverty rates among blacks and Hispanics was nearly twice the rate among whites (15% vs. 27%–remember, this is defined as $22,350/year for a family of four and does not households considered to be “low-income.” The rate for Asians was 12%.)
Single mothers are the most likely of all groups to be poor. In 2010, 31.6% of female-headed households were in poverty

See our page on growing income gaps for a comparison on how the 1% have faired.

Student Debt Situation Worsens

educate and agitate — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:51:09 +0000

A new report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBN) contains some pretty grim numbers. Here are some highlights:

About 40% of Americans under 30 have outstanding student loan debt. That number is about 15% for all American adults.
The average amount owed is about $23,000 and more than half of those with student loan debt–about 57%–owe more than $10,000. Current students will graduate with an average of $26,000.
While previous reports had loan default rates at a rather conservative 9%, FRNB notes that these estimates do not account for the fact that roughly 47% of student loan borrowers are in deferral or forbearance–meaning their loans have not yet come due, either because they are still in school, still within the post-graduation grace period, or for some other reason.
When the researchers looked only at those borrowers currently in the “repayment cycle”, they found that 27%–over a quarter of student loan borrowers–are late on their payments. (A loan is technically in default when no payment is made for 270-360 days.)

Additionally, while this report does not do a demographic breakdown, it’s important to note that we know from previous studies that these dynamics hit underprivileged communities the hardest, as students of color and first-generation college students on average take on more debt, earn less upon graduation, and thus default at higher rates.

As debts and defaults balloon, this system looks more and more like debt peonage. It’s time to rethink student debt.

New Poster Campaign on the Regents!

educate and agitate — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:00:49 +0000

These posters tell the dirt on the unaccountable and corrupt, multi-millionaire and billionaire UC Regents who profit from our university while raising tuition, cutting services, and laying off workers and teachers.

The posters are 11×17, black and white, and perfect for posting at bus stops, near bathroom lines, or anywhere students gather or have time to kill. Check them out. More coming soon!

Coming Soon:

Sherry Lansing

Leslie Tang-Schilling

New Flyers for March 2012!

educate and agitate — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:39:46 +0000

Flyers for organizing!

UC-Santa Cruz-specific flyers:

COMING SOON: New flyers targeting the Regents!

From other spaces in the movement:

“Somos el 99″ (from dignidadrebelde.com)

Jon Stewart on Romney’s tax returns

educate and agitate — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:56:24 +0000

Last night’s Daily Show offered a spot-on critique of what Romney’s tax returns reveal about the candidate’s 1-percenter politics. While the Right wing frames its fiscal policies in terms of “individualism,” in effect their positions amount to a regime that favors the rich and chastises the working- and middle-class. Moreover, Romney’s stance on taxes is based on a blatant fiction: GOP-ers claim that 47% of Americans pay no taxes–but the reality is that 86% of Americans pay taxes. The remaining 14% don’t pay taxes because they are elderly or disabled and can’t work.

Watch the video here.

Teach the Budget 2012!

educate and agitate — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:00:55 +0000

The new TtB Fall 2012 curriculum is here!

Use it to teach your students, your friends–or yourself–about the budget crisis at the UC, and how it connects to state and national political and economic issues. Then come back to our site for more info on what’s going on across UC campuses and how to get involved. If you’re planning something on your campus, contact us and we’ll post a link and help spread the word. (Note: the specific information on buses included here is UCSC specific. Folks at other campuses may consult their UAW 2865 campus organizers for details specific to their campuses. Find contact info at: www.uaw.org)

Don’t forget these other useful materials:

Sign-up sheet to get on the bus and Occupy the Regents November 14 & 15!

Half-sheet Occupy the Regents Flyer

Full-color Occupy Regents Poster

Short on time? Make a class announcement instead. Use this script as a guide.

Reserve your bus seat for Occupy the Regents here.

Need more TtB? See more teaching tools here.

Tax Kim Kardashian! Support the Millionaire Tax!

educate and agitate — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:46:12 +0000

For information on this campaign, click here.