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News reports this morning suggest that summer Pell Grants will be eliminated under President Obama’s budget deal with congressional Republicans, but that the Pell program would be otherwise untouched.
The elimination of summer Pell comes as no surprise, as Obama floated the cut in his own budget proposal two months ago. But as course offerings are being scaled back at campuses across the country, ending aid for summer classes will make it even more difficult for low-income students to complete their degree requirements in a reasonable time.
Republicans had sought to cut the maximum Pell Grant award, which now stands at $5,550, by fifteen percent.
As noted earlier this week, some activists have called for a third March Day of Action in defense of public education today, building on the protests of March 2 and the high school walkouts of March 11. Today’s actions, whatever they may be, build on yesterday’s protests at the New York state capitol and the ongoing occupation — launched earlier this week — at the University of Minnesota.
I’ve heard about some stuff that’s on tap for this afternoon, but given the nature of the call, I expect that there may be surprises as well.
I’ll be updating as the day unfolds.
Early this morning, as a thousand students and other activists protested at the capitol, New York’s state legislature passed a budget for the coming year that includes deep cuts to education — and a tax break for the wealthy.
As demonstrators chanted, yelled, and negotiated with Albany police over pizza delivery, the two houses of the legislature made their way through the long list of votes required to approve the state’s spending structure. There was no drama in the chambers to match the drama outside, and final approval came without any surprises at about one o’clock in the morning.
A fascinating breakdown and analysis of the demonstrators’ tactics can be found here.
Video footage shot in Fortnum & Mason’s Saturday while the store was being occupied by UK Uncut protesters appears to show police asking activists to remain inside the store, and assuring them that they will be allowed to disperse peacefully once outside. The protesters were later arrested en masse as they left the premises.
Of 201 arrests made in connection with Saturday’s demonstrations, at least 138 came at the Fortnum & Mason’s occupation, despite the fact that police and store officials agree that property damage at the action was minimal and violent disruption to the store’s operations non-existent. Police made few arrests at the far more aggressive “black bloc” actions that day, in some cases being videotaped standing by as masked protesters vandalized shops and offices.
March has already seen two days of national student action this month. On the 2nd, students at dozens of college campuses from coast to coast staged co-ordinated budget protests. On the 11th, high schoolers in more than twenty states walked out of classes in support of their teachers and in solidarity with demonstrators in Wisconsin.
On Thursday, the last day of March, there may be another — the folks at Defend Public Education, one of the big boosters of the March 2 day of action, are calling for a day of walkouts and strikes on March 31.
I’ll have more on those plans as the week progresses. In the meantime, however, some students and other activists in New York are planning to get a jump on Thursday’s actions by staging a Wisconsin-style state capitol occupation in Albany beginning on Wednesday the 30th.
Stay tuned…
studentactivism.net 
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