On Thursday, June 26, activists will converge at Westlake Park in Seattle for the
Educating the Gates Foundation rally. The Washington BATS, a grassroots group of career educators, encourages the public to attend this event to learn about The Gates Foundation’s control of our nation’s public education system. A goal is to galvanize a coalition of supporters for a NEXT direct action to reposition teacher experts – not business leaders – as the voice of education transformation.
The rally will feature speakers including Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant and University of Washington Associate Professor Wayne Au. Attendees will march to the corner of 5th Avenue North and Mercer where NPE Board Member, Anthony Cody and United Opt-Out co-founder Morna McDermott will speak about the ways that the Gates Foundation has influenced public policy in an undemocratic fashion.
NPE asks that you please support this action and share it with your friends and associates on social media. This rally is an opportunity to bring to light the unprecedented influence that a private foundation has on our democracy.
A live-stream of the event will be available on June 26 starting at 5 PM PST on http://www.schoolhouselive.org. For more information about the rally, check out http://educatingthegatesfoundation.com You can also find up-to-date reports on the organization’s Twitter feed.