Deconstruction: California Students Protest Education

¶ … deconstruction: California students protest education cuts New York Times article deconstruction: California students protest education cuts McKinley, Jesse. (2010, March 4). California students protest education cuts. The New York Times. Retrieved May 10, 2010 at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/education/05protests.html?pagewanted=print Question a: Retelling: From the point-of-view of a retired California resident whose children went to private schools. Unsurprisingly, the necessary cuts in state financing and tuition hikes caused vocal student radicals to take to the streets in California.

This has been typical of the state for as long as I have been a resident! A responsible young adult should realize that everyone has to feel some pain in the struggle to get state spending under control after years of liberal fiscal policies. Yes, education is valuable, but the state cannot afford to spend any more on education than is allotted in the new budget. California faces a 20 billion budget deficit! Today's students do not think that the rules of dollars and cents should apply to them.

Ironically, given that they were protesting the harm this would do to their education, the students chose to skip their Thursday classes for a so-called "strike and day of action to defend public education." Their demonstrations recalled the 1960s in terms of the level of the student's anger and vehemence. On the north steps of the State Capitol, a thousand radicals used drums and bullhorns to thunder their message to passers-by.

Several hundred students also protested at Bruin Plaza at the University of California, Los Angeles, where people in one group had painted threatening images of skulls on their skin. Sadly, many peaceful students who did not take part in the demonstration were prevented from attending classes because campus and building entrances had to be blocked by law enforcement personnel for safety reasons. And commuters were still inconvenienced, even non-students: more than 150 protestors stopped traffic along an interstate in Oakland and protesters at UC-Davis tried to block an interstate.

Yet despite the demonizing of Governor Schwarzenegger, the governor has stated over and over again his profound disappointment at being forced to impose such fiscal restrictions upon the California university and public school systems. He called the cuts he was forced to make "terrible." However, it is clear that the state is reaping what it has sown with irresponsible fiscal practices, and the Democratic majority's proposed 12.5% tax on the state's oil producers would only further hamper a still-lagging economy. Increased fuel costs will translate into reduced growth for the state.

All Californians, in the wake of the recession have had to make due with less: fewer services and less available resources. This is true of parents with students at private as well as public schools.

But sometimes trying times call for budget cutting, and state employees should not be exempt from this fact, merely because they are government workers or if the are students receiving help from the government in the form of cheaper tuition -- much cheaper than my own children paid for their educations! When times are hard, students should turn to private charities that can afford to help them.

Back in the day, when my kids needed money, they held a bake sale! Question B: Two to four binary oppositions Students and teachers vs. state legislators: In the article, the student's interests are being posed as inexorably opposed to that of the sate legislators.

However, given that university students vote (and the cuts affect California universities that are disproportionately composed of state residents) and presumably have an interest in the state prospering, why are students and their supposed representatives being viewed as in total opposition? A similar argument is true for teachers.

However it is also worthy of questioning -- if teachers care so much about education, why not construct a more feasible proposal to make the cuts less painful, such as reduced salary increases or a modified benefits packages? What should be cut instead? The teachers are protesting the cuts, but not offering guidance as to what should replace the cuts to education in the state budget. Students, teachers, and other demonstrators vs.

police: Police offers may (and very likely) do have children in the public school system, many of whom aspire to enter California's university system because of its low cost and high quality. Although the police must suppress the violence of some demonstrators, they are not necessarily personally opposed to the demonstration's goals. Furthermore, many of the police officers may once have been students themselves, not so long ago.

The students are portrayed as acting in a way that is injurious to the campus community and to the community at large -- by disrupting classes, for example, and blocking state highways. However, they are a part of the community the police are sworn to protect. The police actions may also be designed to protect the demonstrating students just as much as other members of the community, although the article suggests that the outside world must be protected from the students. Republicans vs.

Democrats Republicans are portrayed as being more supportive of the reductions than Democrats, although both parties are struggling with the need to make budget cuts. The Republican governor is said to reject the necessary cuts, while the Democratic representatives are attempting to use selective tax increases to prevent the cuts that will result in higher tuition, larger class sizes, and an increased college tuition burden upon California's middle class.

However, both parties have an interest, presumably, in coming together and mitigating the harms that will result from budget cuts, given the likely unpopularity of the measure. Politicians vs. The people: Politicians are instating unpopular cuts to accomplish a goal that is quite abstract to many Californians, namely the need to balance the state budget. Politicians are being portrayed as working 'against' the people by either cutting school funding or raising taxes (or both). However, politicians are not above the law.

They must live in the state and live with the consequences of their actions. The people elect politicians and can vote them out of office if sufficiently mobilized to do so. Question c: Text deconstruction "On Wednesday, Gov.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican in his last year of office, said the layoffs and reductions in courses carried out by some schools in the state were "terrible." The bottom line, he said, was that 'they need much more money.'" Interestingly, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is merely referred to as a lame-duck Republican governor. His celebrity status is unremarked upon, as is the fact that he came to power after a recall of the former governor.

The failure to reference his famous movie roles in films such as the Terminator increases his sense of credibility as a career politician who is seriously and genuinely upset at being forced to make such.