November 2, 2011—Several hundred students and faculty rally and march from Laney College through downtown to Occupy Oakland in the city center.  Along the way the marchers were joined by others engaged in the Alameda Central Labor Council-sanctioned "Day of Action" activities, including shutting down several banks, dancing in the streets, and giving and listening to speeches about the need for the top 1% of income earners to pay their fair share so that the other 99% can have decent schools, services, jobs, and a future. By the time the marchers got to Broadway, chanting "We are the 99%,", there were more than 5,000 of them, and more coming all day long.  

October 21, 2011—CFT president Joshua Pechthalt was among speakers from other unions and community organizations on October 21 who called for Republicans in Congress to vote for a jobs plan.  The press conference was held in front of Esperanza Elementary School in Los Angeles Unifiied School District to emphasize the need to rehire laid off educators.  Mike Myslinski photo

October 14, 2011—The California Federation of Teachers issued a statement today formally endorsing the "Occupy Wall Street" movement.  Click here for the statement. CFT members in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Oakland have already been participating in the occupations for the past two weeks.  Shown in photo:  Rebecca Hensler (right), counselor in Denman Middle School, during Occupy San Francisco event before school on October 12. The CFT also recommends Department of Education-approved materials on the historical background of the "Call to Action" for November 2.  Matthew Hardy photo

October 13, 2011—Hundreds of San Francisco educators, joined by Occupy San Francisco and friends from the broader labor movement and community, greeted disgraced billionaire Rupert Murdoch and former Florida governor Jeb Bush at an "education reform" conference held in a San Francisco hotel.  The conference featured such "reforms" as privatization, vouchers, and merit pay schemes.  The demonstrators said that Murdoch, under investigation in England for scandals surrounding his right wing news empire, could best help education by paying his (and Fox News's) fair share of taxes.  Fred Glass photo