70,000 Mexican Teachers Strike, Protest over Test-Driven Education!

Mexican Teachers Strike, Protest over Test-Driven Education
By Dan La Botz
May 31, 2011

Seventy thousand teachers in the Mexican state of Oaxaca struck May 23, demanding better funding for their students. The strike began with a march from four different points to the city’s square, where the educators rallied and then spread out to put pressure on both government and business.

Teachers blockaded government offices and private companies, closed major intersections, and “liberated” the toll booths on the privately owned highway to Mexico City. They also attempted to shut down the airport.

The Oaxaca strike comes as Mexican President Felipe Calderón signed an agreement May 26 with Gordillo, the teachers union head. The pact is intended to transform Mexican education by rewarding teachers for their students’ success in passing national achievement tests.

The teachers opposition caucus rejected the national achievement test, the new teacher evaluation system, and the broader education overhaul that Calderon has argued for since his term began in 2006. The teachers say test-driven education is bad for both students and teachers, and that linking bonuses and prizes to test scores will encourage fraud.

Please read the full article at:

http://labornotes.org/2011/05/mexican-teachers-strike-protest-over-test-driven-education

I expect we might learn how resistance is done , if we pay attention to Oaxaca.

from the article:
"Teachers blockaded government offices and private companies, closed major intersections, and “liberated” the toll booths on the privately owned highway to Mexico City. They also attempted to shut down the airport."