During this time when we are witnessing the global meltdown of finance capital and the catastrophic breakdown of the global capitalist system, we are facing difficult choices surrounding the funding of education. $3 billion  slated for education has already been cut in California and we are facing the likelihood of cuts of $2 to $4 billion more in the very near future. LAUSD has already cut $427 million this year and teachers and students are suffering the consequences which will only get worse, and which only prelude the disaster we are sure to face in the coming years.

 

At this time it is imperative that the LAUSD cut the funding for JROTC, a program already in violation of the California Education Code for its role in military recruitment and by involuntarily placing students into its programs (and which costs over $2.6 million a year of district funds). With 31 JROTC programs located in working-class communities, it is clear that education funding needed by such communities can better be spent on general education needs and extracurricula needs , especially given the unhealthy fact that

 

California is shamefully ranked at 46th in the nation in per pupil spending. We don't need the continued promotion of a  poisonous pro-war militaristic culture. It is this paradigm of consciousness that has cut across all sectors of social life, naturalizing war and aggression as permanent, and viewing alternatives to slaughter and death as an aberrant weakness. It is this mindset that reinforces our predatory social and economic relations, distorts history, and puts corporations ahead of people.

 

The funding for the JROTC must be cut, especially at this time.  There is no other option that is acceptable. 

 

Peter McLaren

Professor

Graduate School of Education and Information Studies