Make It Viral: Strike to Save Public Education March 4

An interesting take from Inside Higher Ed:

The tricky thing about viruses is that it’s impossible to know where they might spread next or what damage they might do if they mutate. The same could be said of “viral” protest movements like the one that started in California months ago.

Talk of a series of March 4 demonstrations across California began in October, and since that time a loosely connected cyber network of angered faculty and students have planned their own protests across the country. What has emerged is the promise of the collective angst of cash-strapped public education -- from K-12 through the college sector -- bubbling over in hot spots from sea to shining sea.

They may face different levels of budget cuts, hail from different institutions and reside in different states, but these activists are all saying -- in one way or another -- “We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore!” While that’s a message that many college administrators may privately embrace, since they too feel increasingly shortchanged by the state's budget-setters, the fervor of the protest movement presents a delicate dance for campus and system-level leaders trying to promote their agendas and keep the peace at the same time.. . . .