Translated by Thomas Mosley
"We will recover and strengthen the national directorship of education." - Gabino CuéFinally the Oaxacan and the federal governments have shown the courage to act against Section 22
MV Note: Section 22 is the Oaxaca division of the National Union of Education Workers, SNTE. This state section is controlled by members of the National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers (CNTE), a group within the national union that is opposed to both the national union leadership, for being controlled by the government, and the recent education reform. What is discussed here is part of a long-standing conflict between the CNTE, the SNTE and state and federal govenment. See extended MV Note below.**Yesterday, Tuesday, Governor Gabino Cué announced the disappearance of the State Public Education Institute of Oaxaca (IEEPO), dominated since its establishment by the National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers, which will be replaced by a truly public institution. State and federal security forces took over IEEPO facilities, anticipating some kind of resistance which has not yet happened. The measure was described by Governor Cué as a recovery of the national directorship of education.
The decision is the same as the one taken in 2009 when Felipe Calderón extinguished Luz y Fuerza del Centro [Central Light and Power, a government-run power company in Mexico City which Calderón claimed was inefficient. Its workers were fired and the operation taken over by the Federal Electricity Commission].
Section 22 and the CNTE will not take it lying down. The interests that are being touched are enormous. We will see protests and blockades and acts of violence similar to those led by the Mexican Electricians Union for years [protesting their being fired from Luz y Fuerza]. The big question is whether the federal and state governments will be willing to defend the decision to the end, or if they will or back down as they have often done.
The decree published yesterday reforms the IEEPO created on May 23, 1992, by then-Governor Heladio Ramírez. The Institute has always been controlled by the union, which had the power to appoint its supervisors and most of the employees. Both the Oaxacan and the federal governments have blamed the 1992 agreement between Heladio Ramírez and Section 22 for the education problems in Oaxaca. The IEEPO failed to punish teachers who did not report to work because the supervisors appointed by Section 22 simply did not record the offenses.
Section 22 has not announced what measures it will take to address the disappearance of the IEEPO. Yesterday Secretary General Rubén Núñez said that the state assembly would decide after consulting its members. Although he has rejected the charge that the IEEPO is under control of the Section, Núñez said yesterday that the disappearance of the Institute is a "provocation to democratic teachers". The truth is that both parties know perfectly well that the extinction of the IEEPO strikes at the heart of Section 22’s undue control over education in Oaxaca.
If the CNTE has objected so strongly to the education reform, then we must assume that it will not surrender to a measure like this one. The evaluations of teachers are not really a threat to the power of the union since not even the worst of the teachers can be fired [those who fail the newly required standardized test three times are to be placed in non-teaching positions]. However, the possible dismissal of teachers on the public payroll who are assigned to work for the union or the dismissal of those who do not report to the classroom in order to participate in protests would be a heavy blow. The union derives its power from the teachers who do not teach.
On several occasions Governor Cué has indicated that he doesn't have the strength to confront the union. Section 22 has more than 81,000 union members while there are only 3,000 Oaxaca State Police. Therefore, the federal government's support is crucial. It remains to be seen, however, whether federal and state authorities are willing to use public force to defend the [constitutionally stated] rights of others [children to receive an education, the public to free passage through public streets and highways], or if they will continue to allow society to be affected by blockades and robberies as has been customary [CNTE teachers have been on strike for long periods, blocked streets and sacked and burned public and political party offices].
The decree ending the IEEPO may be the turning point not only for educational reform but for a Oaxaca government that has spent its time fleeing rather than governing for several administrations. Today may be the time for Gabino Cué to really become the governor of Oaxaca.
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Sergio Sarmiento is a daily columnist for Reforma. His positions are generally conservative.
MV Note: Sarmiento is addressing a part of the ongoing conflict over the Education Reform passed in 2013, between teachers belonging to the National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers (CNTE) and the federal government and, as discussed here, the state government of Oaxaca. Section 22 is the SNTE union section in Oaxaca which is controlled by CNTE members.
Central to the reform is the requirement that teachers take standardized, multiple choice exams to demonstrate their competence to teach. If they fail three times in a row, over three years, they are to be removed from their teaching position and placed in a non-teaching job, so as not to lose job security guaranteed to government workers by the Constitution. Also, all new jobs and all promotions are to be determined by competitive exams, the first of which were just administered in June and July. Previously, the union had controlled new job assignments and promotions.
The CNTE maintains that nationally administered, standardized tests are not an appropriate way to evaluate teacher competence, especially those teaching in poor, rural, often indigenous communities which lack the economic and cultural capital to support children's learning. Further, they charge that such tests are aimed at making teahers and students into submissive workers in the global, neoliberal capitalist economy rather than be humnaistically educated to be critical thinking, autonomous persons. They also protest that removal from a teaching position based on such tests is a violation of their labor rights as established in the Mexican Constitution.
Oaxaca, a poor, rural and heavily indigenous state, is one of the centers of strength of the CNTE, along with similar, neighboring states of Guerrero, Chiapas and Michoacán. Thus, the state is the scene of almost constant protests and teacher strikes. Governor Gabino Cué won office in 2010 supported by a broad political coalition in oppositon to long-time control by the PRI Party of the Institutional Revolution. He has sought to negotiate with section 22. Suddenly, this past weekend, he issued a decree abolishing the existing Oaxaca State Institute of Public Education (IEEPO) and establishing a new one headed by a council composed of heads of various secretariats of the government. Apparently this is to wrest control from the CNTE.
Oaxaca, a poor, rural and heavily indigenous state, is one of the centers of strength of the CNTE, along with similar, neighboring states of Guerrero, Chiapas and Michoacán. Thus, the state is the scene of almost constant protests and teacher strikes. Governor Gabino Cué won office in 2010 supported by a broad political coalition in oppositon to long-time control by the PRI Party of the Institutional Revolution. He has sought to negotiate with section 22. Suddenly, this past weekend, he issued a decree abolishing the existing Oaxaca State Institute of Public Education (IEEPO) and establishing a new one headed by a council composed of heads of various secretariats of the government. Apparently this is to wrest control from the CNTE.
Cué is also currently under attack for supporting the construction of a convention center in Oaxaca City that is seen as unnecessary, violating an important nature preserve and historical site and benefiting govenment officials financially.